Christmas trees are coming! - Dec 04, 2015
Dear Gardening Friends,
Our famous fresh cut Christmas trees are arriving this weekend! I will be getting up at 4am in the morning to unload the trees so my enthusiasm for Christmas may be diminished.
We like our trees to be on top of the truck rather than all squashed on the bottom so we get our supplier to deliver to us first.
This is great news for you, because our trees always look so much fresher. The biggest trees always sell out first so come early in the morning for the best selection. We open at 8.30 am on Saturday and Sunday.
A Christmas tree is just like a fresh bunch of flowers so don’t tie it to the hot roof of the car and speed along the highway at 100kms an hour!
Wrap it in an old sheet and take it home inside your car in air conditioned comfort.
When you get it home cut 5cms off the trunk then stand it in your Christmas tree stand. Keep the water storing tank filled up with water. Your tree can drink up to 4 litres of water in the first 24 hours. This water keeps the tree hydrated and keeps it green right up till Christmas.
If the tank runs dry you need to cut another 5cms off the bottom so don’t let this happen. The more hydrated your tree is the more pine fragrance it gives off. When you come home from work your house will smell like Christmas!
Fresh Cut Christmas trees cost $59.99 and Christmas tree stands cost $39.99. We will have trees available until the last week of Christmas or until our supplier runs out!
Last year his farm got hit by a hail storm and the trees were all damaged. This year they are looking sensational. I was down at the farm on Monday and the trees have never looked better.
We have started selling Christmas presents at the nursery. Potted plants make great Christmas gifts and they are just so much better value than a bunch of flowers. We have New Guinea Impatiens covered in flowers for just $15.99. These can be grown in pots or grown in the garden. Your friends could keep them in the pots for a couple of weeks and use your gift as a table decoration. We gift wrap for free and you can get a quick parking spot right out the front.
Yvonne has done a lovely job with the displays inside the shop for Christmas. We have beautiful potted mini gardens in ceramic pots that are ready to go. We know you are busy at this time of year so you need something fast! Come and have a look.
We still have beautiful Hydrangeas covered in buds and flowers and these look amazing when they are gift wrapped and they are less than $30.00. Hydrangeas have looked fantastic in gardens around Macarthur and the best ones are always growing in an eastern facing positon where they get morning sun followed by afternoon shade. They do grow well in big pots but they have to be watered daily when the weather is hot.
I have been eating home grown tomatoes on toast for breakfast this week. My father planted his tomatoes 3 weeks before me so his are already producing sweet tasting tomatoes. His favourite tomato is Tim’s Italian Tomato. This pear shaped tomato is so sweet and delicious. I found this heirloom variety growing in L’aquila in Italy. We still have seedlings available if you would like to try it. Remember with these larger fruiting tomatoes you need to pick them when they start to turn yellow then ripen them inside on the window sill. If you don’t they will get stung by fruit fly!
Great news this week. We raised $1380.00 for the African AIDS Foundation in Camden. We sold over 300 of Arthur’s Big Greek Tomatoes thanks to our garden club members. Dr John Shwarz was so happy to get the cheque. South Africa is having a drought right now so John’s Charity can certainly use the money. I would like to thank Arthur Panoutsopoulos from Kings Charcoal Chicken in Queen St Campbelltown who let grow his families heirloom tomato. I’m growing it in my garden too so I can collect more seeds for next year and I am just amazed how heathy this plant looks. It has big thick stems and lush green growth. We still have a few plants left but you will have to hurry.
Steve Cooper was kind enough to drop in a Giant Pumpkin vine seedling off at the nursery for my son Dan. Steve has been entering his Giant Pumpkins in the Camden Show and they are enormous!
Now Dan is going to try and grow a Giant Pumpkin too! He has been getting up early every morning to water his newly planted Pumpkin. He has already had success growing heirloom varieties last season.
We will keep you posted.
Dan plants his vines on a mound of compost improved soil and they seem to thrive. He will mulch around the base of this one with Sugarcane.
Pig isn’t enjoying the festive season as much as us. He spends a lot of time counting his legs during ham season!
Happy Gardening
Tim