Tim and Arthur join arms to raise money! - Sep 25, 2015
Dear Gardening Friends,
I have just been down to look at my Kiwiberry vine. I only planted this vine a couple of weeks ago and it has already sent out tendrils and attached itself to the wire fence. I also noticed it is has flower buds!
Kiwiberries are a fast growing deciduous vine that produce up to a thousand small, green, smooth skinned berries that taste like Kiwi Fruit. You can eat them like grapes. They have only just become available in fruit shops and they cost a fortune. But my research has found they are so easy to grow.
We have a variety called Actinidia arguta Issai. This variety is less vigorous and self-fertile, so it’s perfect for the suburban garden. It grows best in a sunny position and it needs good drainage so plant it on a mound of Tim’s Planting Compost improved soil.
It will need support. I’m growing mine on a wire fence. It can grow several metres wide so you will only need one! Plants cost just $19.99 and they are selling fast!!!!
While I’m talking about vines, Yvonne has been bringing in Passionfruit to share for the last month. She planted one of our seedling grown Passionfruit vines last spring and now she is reaping the rewards. She has picked hundreds of sweet tasting Passionfruit off this fast growing evergreen vine.
You may not be aware that I am not a fan of Grafted Nellie Kellie Passionfruit vines. We have been selling these for 20 years but I have heard so many stories about the understock suckering and becoming an unstoppable weed.
That’s why we have brought out our own variety of Passion fruit. Tim’s Big Black Passion fruit vine won’t sucker and it will produce hundreds of sweet tasting Passion fruit every year. Plants cost just $9.99. Plant it on a mound of Tim’s Planting Compost Improved soil for best results.
If you are a lover of roses bring your nose down to our nursery now. All our potted rose bushes have burst into bloom this week and they are looking sensational. Ryan has been spraying them with his secret concoction of organic fertilisers. The leaves are so green and healthy and the flowers are enormous! Talk to Ryan about his secret recipe. We call him Mr Seasol.
The plants have been growing so fast and so big we have been moving them apart and shifting the labels to the top of the plants.
There has never been a better time to find perfumed roses for your garden. You can come and smell the roses and choose the most fragrant varieties. It just makes sense that you should buy roses while they are flowering. So often the label says they are fragrant but when you sniff the flower it has almost no perfume at all. You can also look at the leaves to see which varieties have the best resistance to black spot. Two of the most perfumed varieties I sniffed this week were Freesia and Paradise. These two would look great planted together in your garden.
You still have plenty of time to plant tomatoes. I only planted mine this week. I had beautiful broccoli growing in my garden and it was still producing so I didn’t want to pull it out. I have planted only 4 varieties so far. Tim’s Fruit Fly Resistant Tomato for obvious reasons. Tim’s Italian Tomato because the large pear shaped fruit taste delicious and Tim’s Giant Tomato just because the fruit are huge! I’ve also planted one of Arthurs Big Greek Tomatoes so I can collect more seeds for next year’s crop. These plants should be available from next week if the temperature warms up. All money raised is donated to The African AIDS Foundation.
I bumped into Arthur during the week in Queen St and I gave him a bear hug. This time last year I bumped into Arthur looking in the window at Real estate. Arthur and his family work very hard at Kings Charcoal Chicken so he owns a few properties. As he noticed it was me he put his arm through mine while we had a conversation about his famous Big Greek Tomato. Greeks are very affectionate so they think nothing about holding another man’s arm. The conversation went on for a while and I realised that Arthur and I were starting to look like a couple. I said goodbye to Arthur and went to walk away only to discover Arthur was heading in the same direction so he kept his arm through mine, so now we are walking down Queen street arm in arm, I almost felt like we should skipping. I retold this story some weeks later in Arthurs Chicken shop and they all had a laugh.
Dan and I planted our Watermelon and Pumpkin seeds this week. Seeds are amazing things. Such tiny little things can grow into these amazing fruit providing creatures. Dan grew enormous heirloom pumpkins last year and we shared the seeds with our garden club members in Autumn so if you got seeds plant them now. If you have children looking for something to do during School holidays here is a great project.
Watermelons are probably more suited to the suburban garden because the vine is less vigorous than a Pumpkin. Get the kids to dig a hole in a sunny position. Mix a bag of Tim’s Planting Compost into this soil then make a mound. Plant the Watermelon seeds or seedlings directly into the mound and water daily. (Don’t forget the snail bait) Within about 10 days the seeds will pop up and with daily watering in no time you will have several vines. Direct the vines where you want them to grow! Pick the Watermelons when you drum them and they sound hollow. The kids will love this. Invite friends over for the feast and turn your child into a hero! Keep some seeds for the following season. Easy and fun!
Pig was missing from last week’s newsletter and we had several “Where’s Pig Gone” emails. It was all hush hush last week because Pig was part of a coup that saw Tony get the chop! Pig has been rewarded with the Minister for Transport Portfolio. Pig has never had a licence and his car doesn’t even have a steering wheel so he is more than qualified for the job!
Happy Gardening
Tim