It Smells Like Fruit Cake? - Oct 18, 2024
Dear gardening friends
Graham Hogan was in early this morning. He drives all the way from Kiama to buy our Tim's Cow Manure and Tim's Best Potting mix. He was telling me how he rang Graham Ross on Saturday morning just to tell him how fabulous our products are.
He bought potting mix and strawberries from his local big shed last spring and nothing grew. He was so frustrated because he's a great gardener and he wanted to grow strawberries for his grand children.
But the results were hopeless, there was no growth and no strawberries.
This season he came to us and bought our Tim's Best Potting mix, he's growing strawberries and this year they are covered in strawberries as big as golf balls he tells me. "I'm picking handfuls of strawberries every day, the grandkids love them" he tells me with a smile.
"My wife got sick of eating Cauliflower in winter, they weighed up to 3kgs, she said I can't eat anymore Cauliflower. I used your Tim's Cow manure in my vegetable garden, I couldn't believe the results. You know I did the test myself, I went and bought 3 bags of Cow manure from other places, I tipped it out on my vegetable garden, I couldn't believe it. It was full of sticks and wood. It was full of Greenwaste. I watched with amazement how much better my plants grew in your Cow manure"
Did you tell this story to Graham? "Yes I did, I didn't tell him the other products were s- - -, but I wanted too."
You love gardening don't you?
"Yes I do, I love growing things for the grandchildren".
Would you mind if I take your photo?
"No that's fine, I'd love to help tell people about your products, I want them to have success too".
I was potting up Passionfruit yesterday. We have our own variety here called Tim's Big Black Passionfruit.
One of my staff took one of these home and it grew so quickly, it covered her fence in Grassmere. It fruited all winter and she was bringing in Passionfruit and giving them away. She became known as "The Passionfruit Lady".
Now if you're thinking winter is the wrong time to get Passion-fruit you're right. Passionfruit vines are recalcitrant, they flower and fruit when they want to.
Sometimes they just flower and no fruit develop, sometimes they don't fruit at all.
No you don't need two Passionfruit vines to get fruit. You only need two, if you're growing Banana Passionfruit.
But they will fruit, they will fruit when they want to. They might surprise you. When they do fruit you won't be able to keep up, you'll be baking pavs just to use them.
What's the secret to getting them to grow? Dig a bag of Tim's Best Potting mix into the ground where you're going to plant it.
Passionfruit love good drainage but they also love water. Tim's Best Potting mix gives them everything they need.
You'll be eating Passionfruit sooner, but only when your Passionfruit vine feels like feeding you.
We have Tim's Big Black Passionfruit vines from $9.99. If you buy two, they can talk to each other.
Campbelltown Council is finally planting street trees all around Macarthur, so if you ordered a street tree in the last 5 years, you might be getting it. It's not a tree of your choice, which drives me crazy, surely they could plant the tree you like, from their list?
But you are getting a tree and Campbelltown Council is going to need our help to keep them alive. If you get a tree please water it. A bucket of water twice a week will make them grow.
If you're walking your dog, and you notice a tree like this Blueberry ash looking terrible. You could easily save it, by tipping your water bottle on the soil near the trunk.
You'd be amazed how little water trees need just to keep them alive, until rain comes. I'm going back to water this one today.
You might get cranky with Council about them not watering, that's a fair call, but seriously they really need our help. Let's put politics aside, they are planting trees now, we are all going to benefit if we keep them alive.
They are going to make Campbelltown cooler. They are going to make Campbelltown look greener and more loved. They are going to attract nature into our suburbs. Nature helps improve our mental health.
It's a win for everyone if these trees grow. If you get a tree embrace it, it might not be the tree of your choice.
But it's a tree, we can't watch them die, yes someone should water them, why don't we become someone. Someone could be you.
Today's rain will help, but once the root ball dries out it repels the water. If you've had plants die quickly, this is why.
I met Ruby at a Nursery Conference recently and she was so full of life, and so intelligent, she was a breath of fresh air. "I'm an agronomist" she told me, "And I'm about to complete my Masters degree".
She's the Sales rep for Terra Firma Fertilises, she travels all around Australia and she's just called in to look at our nursery.
Her business makes "Organic Life" in Beaudesert QLD. We've been selling this amazing organic based fertiliser for over 20 years. It was interesting to find out why it's so good.
Ruby tells me that it's made inside a huge shed. The poultry manure gets composted for 8-12 weeks. They have a huge solar powdered machine, that turns the manure over to give it air. Air feeds the bacteria that breaks down the manure naturally.
It must stink inside that shed Ruby.
"No it's beautiful, it's like a fruit cake, it smells nice". I start smiling when I hear this, my mother makes fruit cakes.
Apparently this is why "Organic Life" is so good.
Because it's composted inside, there's no leaching, so the product contains more Humic and Fulvic acid. They are natural bio stimulants that increase nutrient cycling and this increases plant nutrient uptake. It makes nature happen faster!
She's tells me they sell product all around Australia. Mango farmers in northern Australia are their biggest customers right now. The sandy soils need organic fertilisers to make the trees grow better and produce bigger, sweeter fruit.
Organic Life doesn't just make your plants grow, it makes the soil hold more water. More water means more plant growth and more flowers.
We will be fertilising our Rose bushes next week with "Organic Life". You should be using it on your garden too. It's safe for all plants except natives. But they have another organic product for these.
Because they make this pelletised fertiliser for farmers, it's made in huge quantities, so it's great value. You can buy a 25kg bag for $38.99. Use it on your flower and vegetables. You can use it on pots too.
It might smell like fruit cakes, but I wouldn't be using it indoors. You'd have to open every window, and possibly move out.
Sometimes you come across something that's so amazing, you want to share it with your gardening friends.
That's what happened when I ate this Big Yellow Tomato. It was so amazing, and so different, I saved the seeds so you could grow it too.
Tim's Big Yellow Tomato has soft skin. You won't have eaten a Tomato like this. It has more vitamins, than red tomatoes, and you're less likely to burp, after you eat them.
It's an heirloom variety so it's grown for taste. Pick it early and ripen inside to avoid fruit fly. Grow it in a big pot using Tim's Best Potting Mix or grow it in your vegetable garden.
Tim's Big Yellow Tomato seedlings cost $4.99.
They grow super fast.
Make sure you stake them.
Enjoy!!!!!
It's Rose Week. You might notice that all the Roses in your garden are bursting into bloom this week. Our Roses are bursting into bloom too. Keep an eye out for Aphids on the new growth and flower buds. They stop the Roses from flowering properly. Spray with Yates Rose Gun.
Come see our Rose bushes, they have never looked better!!!!!
Happy gardening
Tim