A cake made from Kevin - Aug 02, 2013

Dear gardening friends,

We were very busy on the weekend. You can feel spring in the air. I can see tiny new shoots appearing on plants here in the nursery. We still have another month of winter but this will pass in a flash. I drove down to the Wollondilly River on Tuesday and the Wattle trees are starting to bloom in the bush and they look fantastic. When we arrived at the river my fishing partner slid down the muddy bank and went head first into the icy cold water.

I picked 25 lemons off my lemon tree this morning to bring in for the staff. As you know I have a Kevin The Lemon growing in my garden. This season it has produced at least 300 juicy lemons. When we named this lemon tree we had no idea that the real Kevin would make his way back to the top. Our Kevin has been a huge success and it is our fastest selling fruit tree.

I have mine planted in the ground and it has grown about 2 metres high by 2 metres wide. If you grow it in a big pot it will only grow about 1500mm high.

The fruit ripen in winter and will stay hanging on the tree throughout spring. This is the best time to have fruit in your garden because there is no fruit fly around during the cooler months. Fruit Fly control has become a huge issue because Rogor and Lebaycid are no longer available.

If you are thinking about growing strawberries this spring buy them now. Strawberry plants are available bare rooted at this time of the year and you get 4 plants in a packet for just $5.99. In spring potted strawberry plants cost at least $3.99 each. Strawberry plants don’t get fruit fly so you won’t need any chemicals. They can be grown in pots or hanging baskets too if you have run out of room in the garden.

Remember fruiting plants need lots of energy and they get this from the sun. Use Tim’s Best potting mix and your plants will grow beautifully. Children love eating strawberries so get them involved with the planting. If you want even more strawberries water seasol over the foliage every couple of weeks.This helps stop the fruit from rotting during wet weather and it makes your plants grow better.

Potato planting season is coming up. Home grown potatoes taste so much nicer than the stuff you buy in the shop. Home grown potatoes are firm and almost crunchy. They make the best chips! Dig up your soil first. Add a bag of Tims Cow Manure for every 2 square metres of garden. Plant your seed potatoes deep in the ground at least 30cms apart. As the plants grow mound more soil around the stems. This will trick your plants into growing even more potatoes. When the plants begin to flower in late spring you can dig up the small potatoes. These are called new potatoes. Or wait until the leaves turn yellow around Christmas time and your potatoes will be huge!

Seed potatoes are not seeds. They are actually small potatoes that have been tested by the Department of Agriculture and deemed disease free. You can cut these in half prior to planting if you want to increase your crop. We have at least 6 varieties here at the nursery including blue potatoes! Children love growing potatoes too so get them involved with the planting. They love digging them up because it is like looking for treasure. Potatoes that are exposed to the sun turn green and become poisonous. Cover your soil with sugarcane mulch and your potatoes will be safe to eat. Potatoes can also be grown in big pots on sunny patios. Only half fill the pots then as the plants grow fill up the rest of the pot with Tim’s best potting mix.

Our Scarecrow making workshop is on Saturday the 10th of August at 10am. This is a great opportunity for you to learn how to make a scarecrow for your vegetable garden. They can be a lot of fun. The workshop is being run by The Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living here at Tim’s Garden Centre. There is a small fee of just $10.00. You need to book, so ring us or see our staff at the counter. We hope to display the scare crows in our nursery for a week to judge a winner. If you are a bit arty this could be a bit of fun for you. Children are welcome too. Visit Lifeline for some cheap clothes.

We often speak about eco oil. This earth friendly product controls Aphids, Mealy bugs, Scale insects, White fly ,Two spotted mites and Citrus Leafminer. Eco oil has now been Hippo Enhanced? Scientists have discovered that when plants are under attack from insects they produce volatile organic chemicals which become airborne. These organic plant chemicals, known as Herbivore Induced Plant Protection Odours (HIPPO), act as SOS signals to beneficial insects telling them that tasty insects (pests) are nearby!

Three years of research by Charles Sturt University showed that HIPPO Enhanced Eco oil helps attract good bugs to eat the bad bugs. I think that this is such a great idea using nature to control nature.

Eco oil is made from 100% plant oils and extracts. It contains no petroleum derivatives. It is safe for beneficial insects like bees, ladybeetles and Lacewings. Ryan has been mixing Eco Oil with Seasol and he has been spraying our rose bushes every week. Come and see how healthy our rose bushes look.

Pig has got on board with the clean up Macarthur road side rubbish appeal this week. Once you become aware how bad the litter problem is in Macarthur you will start to feel sick too.

Lisa Mac turned 40 this week. She is still looking great! You will probably never meet Lisa as she works in our office doing the wages and accounts. We did love eating her cake.

If you love eating cakes, I have attached my Aunty Una’s Secret Lemon Cake Recipe.

This will be the softest cake you have ever eaten. If you don’t have a lemon tree come into the shop and get one of my home grown Kevins.

Ingredients.

  • 125g of butter or margarine.
  • 1 cup of castor sugar.
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ½ cups of self raising flour.
  • ½ cup of milk
  • ½ teaspoon of salt.

Topping.

  • Rind and juice of one Kevin The Lemon.
  • Extra ¼ cup castor sugar.

Instructions.

  1. Cream butter well using an electric mixer.
  2. Add castor sugar, beat and then add eggs one at a time. Beat well.
  3. Sift flour and salt and add to mixer alternatively with milk.
  4. Add rind of Kevin.
  5. Pour mix into a greased ring tin. Non stick paper works best.
  6. Cook in preheated oven at 180 degrees until top is brown. Spike cake with skewer. If the mix doesn’t stick to it, it’s cooked.
  7. Remove cake from oven and let stand.
  8. Mix Kevins juice and ¼ cup of castor sugar to make syrup.
  9. Remove cake from tin and pour lemon juice mix over the top. Cake needs to be warm to absorb the juice.


Share with friends and say lovely things about Tim’s Garden Centre.

Happy gardening,

Tim