WINTER GREEN NOTES

Building Healthy Soils

Grow Your Own Fruit

Garden Calendar

Sowing Guide

Fruit Tree Pruning and Maintenance

Winter Citrus Care

Recipes for an Abundant Harvest of Lemons or Limes

Winter is a very different time in the garden depending on your climate zone. In cooler areas it is time for a clean-up of the orchard, particularly tree pruning and spraying to control diseases on the new spring growth. Protecting trees and plants from the impact of frost should be a priority early in the season. In the subtropics and tropics it is the best time of year to be out in the garden; the hot, humid weather is a distant memory, pest numbers are down and the vege garden is powering.

BUILDING HEALTHY SOILS

         What all areas have in common is that winter is a good time to consider the health of the soil. In cooler areas green manure crops are used to prepare the soil for spring planting, often providing a mulch crop as well. In the subtropics and tropics the gardens have been through the deluge, nutrients have washed away and the soil, if it wasn’t well mulched, will have been compacted by the heavy rainfall. Compacted soils lack space and ‘space’ is where all the action is in a healthy soil. It is where the plant roots, earthworms, beneficial soil organisms and water are found. Creating more ‘space’ is fundamental practice to improve the health of the soil and that of plants.
 

Simple steps to build soil health:

• Add Biochar, as its porous structure holds moisture and nutrients and creates habitat for microbiological life. It increases the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil.

• Add gypsum (calcium sulphate) at a rate of 500g/m2 to soils with a high clay content to improve structure; soils without good structure will suffer higher plant losses from lack of aeration in the soil.

• Use a garden fork to aerate the soil by pushing it in with a levering action, not lifting or turning it over.

• Check the pH and add lime if needed. Calcium is highly mobile and easily lost during heavy rain. More information on soil pH.…

• Sow a cool season green manure crop to increase organic matter levels and feed the soil life. An increase in organic matter will improve structure and reduce loss of nutrients by leaching in the future. It also sustainably replaces the lost nitrogen. Growing a green manure crop is as easy as spreading seed onto freshly dug and raked ground. The traditional method of digging-in is not necessary and creates unnecessary work without an increase in fertility. By slashing and leaving the green manure crop on the surface you create mulch for the following crop and the roots slowly decompose over time, similar to a slow-release fertiliser.

• Growing your own mulch reduces costs and the risk of weeds being imported into the garden. Consider planting a few beds with lucerne that can be cut for several years as a mulch supply. Lush, fast growing plants such as Queensland Arrowroot Canna edulis and comfrey provide abundant supplies of mulch in the subtropics. Comfrey has the added advantage of being extremely deep rooted so that it cycles nutrients lost from the topsoil back to the surface in its leaves. This deep nutrient mining is essential for the health of soils in heavy rainfall areas.

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments. It differs from landscape design in that the main aim is functional rather than ornamental. It aims to create gardens that are ecologically sound and economically viable, which do not exploit or pollute, and are therefore sustainable in the long term. One of its most basic aims is growing food to produce a life-supporting system, a ‘human ecology’.

Eating out of your garden is healthy and enjoyable! There are many benefits attached to growing some of your own food, the food is fresher with a higher vitamin content, and free from chemical residues. You get more for your effort, edibles use the same watering, fertilising and weeding as many ornamentals. Best of all there are taste benefits; better flavours and the opportunity to try unusual varieties without paying gourmet prices.

VINE CROPS
Vines can be used to create privacy or for shade:

• Grapes need excellent air circulation to reduce mildew problems, good varieties are Pink Iona, Carolina Black Rose and Marroo Seedless.

• Kiwifruit needs a cooler, wind sheltered, east facing site, ‘Dexter’ is a good choice, you will need a male and female plant.

• Passionfruit comes in a range of varieties, a personal favourite is Panama Gold.

• Pitaya, a climbing cactus has attractive flowers and edible fruit.

(The trees listed below are suitable for SE Queensland and northern NSW but many will do well in other areas.) An extended article on Fruit Trees for Small Gardens is available.

Fruit trees and shrubs can be planted in any part of the garden, select plants to be attractive, hardy and pest resistant:

• Barbados Cherry Malpighia glabra

• Bay Laurel Laurus nobilis, can be planted in a pot

• Blueberry Vaccinium spp., particularly tetraploid types such as ‘Gulf Coast’

• Citrus Citrus spp., every garden should have a lemon tree, ‘Eureka’ is a good variety, less prone to fruit fly damage than ‘Meyer’ or ‘Lemonade’ More info on citrus

• Coffee Coffea arabica, very fragrant flowers but a lot of work to achieve a cup of coffee

• Grumichama Eugenia brasiliensis very attractive tree with fruit similar to a cherry

• Jaboticaba Myrciaria cauliflora excellent tree for SE Queensland, similar to a large black grape, no fruit fly or bird problems usually

• Japanese Raisin Tree Hovenia dulcis

• Malabar Chestnut Pachira aquatica small nut tree to 7m

• Tea Camellia sinensis

• Strawberry Guava Psidium cattleianum, useful shrub to use as a screen

• Mulberry Morus spp ‘Shatoot’ is a particularly good mulberry for small gardens as the fruit are cream coloured and won’t stain clothes

• Tamarillo Cyphomandra betacea  

  A good nursery for buying your fruit trees is Daley’s, near Kyogle NSW www.daleysfruit.com.au

GARDEN CALENDAR  This information mainly applies to northern NSW and Queensland.

MAY

• Create your own personal ’carbon sink’ by sowing a green manure; sowing now will build up the soil for spring planting. In temperate areas sow February-June; in subtropical areas March - June.

• This is a good time to sow clover, lucerne or barrel medic as a ‘living mulch’ or groundcover in your orchard. In temperate areas sow March-May or August - October; in subtropical areas sow May - July.

• Continue to maintain fruit fly traps in frost-free areas if you have guava or loquat trees; destroy any spoiled fruit.

• Check the lower trunks of your apple trees for woolly apple aphid; destroy any colonies by painting with methylated spirits. Remove any corrugated cardboard bands that have been in place to trap codling moth caterpillars and burn. Check ladders and fruit boxes and destroy any cocooned caterpillars. Try to keep poultry under the trees for a few weeks to clean up the area. Check stored apples regularly.

• In warmer areas plant new citrus trees in May / June; always remove any fruit before planting, or better still select trees without fruit for more vigour. Do not fertilise young trees until 3-4 months after planting.

• Continue to plant dormant fruit trees until August.

• Cut back the autumn abundance of growth and build a compost heap. Now is a good time to cut back ‘mulch’ plants such as comfrey or arrowroot and spread the mulch around fruit trees

• Test the pH of your soil as excessive acidity or alkalinity will interfere with nutrient uptake by plants. pH test kits are easy to use and all gardeners should have one. Remember not to apply lime at the same time as fertilisers as this leads to a loss of nitrogen, caused by it converting to ammonia and off-gassing. Always allow 3 weeks between liming and fertiliser applications. Never add lime to a compost heap as this also leads to a large loss of nutrient from the heap into the atmosphere. Agricultural lime (calcium carbonate) is cheaper to buy than dolomite (a mixture of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate). Many of the acid soils in SE Qld are already too high in magnesium, adding more is a waste of money and can cause the ratio of calcium to magnesium to be out of balance. A ratio of 7:1 in favour of calcium is considered ideal. Only add dolomite instead of lime if your soil actually requires magnesium. More info on pH

• In cooler areas plant seed or seedlings of broccoli, parsley, celery, Asian vegetables, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, peas, spinach, onions. Plant carrot, parsnips and turnips from seed only, root vegetables should not be transplanted. In warmer frost-free areas beans, capsicum, eggplant, okra, zucchini, potatoes and tomatoes can also be planted. Browse the Organic Seed Shop

JUNE

• Winter is the time when the old saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ certainly applies. Give your garden a good cleanup; collect fallen fruit, rake leaves and collect weeds for compost, clean out old piles of wood or wire (don’t forget to wear your gumboots and garden gloves). Reducing over-wintering sites for pests and diseases in this way will have benefits later.

• Deciduous fruit trees should be pruned.

• Cut the old stems of asparagus down; top-dress with well-rotted manure or compost and mulch.

• Cut back and transplant deciduous trees and shrubs.

• Spray stone fruit for peach leaf curl (lumpy pinkish blisters), shot hole (gumming of fruit buds), rust, brown rot and freckle at early bud swell with Lime Sulphur. Collect mummified fruit.

• Check under cabbage and broccoli leaves for the small yellow eggs of white cabbage butterfly. Rubbing the eggs off with your fingers works but is only for the Zen-minded. Spray with Dipel or Success to protect young seedlings or cover young vulnerable seedlings with a Vege Net.

• In late winter check citrus trees for any sign of bronze orange bug, spray with Pyrethrum. These bugs can squirt an extremely caustic solution so wear protective gear, especially for the eyes.

• Gall wasps attack citrus trees and cause swellings in the stems. Prune out any affected wood and burn, if possible.

• Watch for aphids on soft shoots of citrus and roses, check for beneficial insects such as hoverflies and ladybeetle larvae before controlling them. If some of the aphids look like little brown balloons, they have been parasitised by a micro-wasp. Spray Natrasoap potassium soap spray as a least toxic control in the absence of predators.

• After rose pruning, spray with Eco-Fungicide or Lime Sulphur to control two-spotted mite and powdery mildew.

• Plant a green manure for soil diseases such as nematode and fungal root rot in beds that have had problems over the summer. A good choice is BQ Mulch seed mix.

• Control scale by spraying with Eco Oil. Apply horticultural glue to the tree trunk of affected trees.

Bronze orange Bug (adult)

BQ Mulch green manure

JULY

• After all danger of frost has passed, prune passionfruit vines of unwanted growth, mulch and water well. Prune the passion fruit by cutting all laterals (shoots coming from the main stem) back to two buds.
• Control scale by spraying with Eco Oil, band trees with grease or sticky barriers to stop ants.
• Top up the mulch around fruit trees.

Traditionally deciduous fruit trees (pear, apple etc) were pruned during winter. Early summer pruning has become common and has improved benefits for training young trees as it allows for smaller cuts with less stress to the tree. This is only commonsense, if you allow an undesirable branch to grow all summer, cutting it off in winter will mean a much greater wound for the tree to heal. Summer pruning can often be done just by ‘rubbing off’ an unwanted bud with your fingers. Always avoid pruning on rainy days, as dry weather aids in healing the cuts.

Winter is still a good time to do fruit tree maintenance, such as removing deadwood or crossing branches. Begin by preparing your tools, sharpening secateurs and loppers and apply linseed oil to any wooden handles.

The correct tools make the job easier, the basics you need are: secateurs for small, precise cuts, loppers for removing suckers, especially thorny ones and a good quality pruning saw for the bigger branches.

The only really safe ladder for outside work is a 3-legged orchard ladder, with foot pegs that push into the ground. Safer still is keeping fruit trees pruned low, as the fruit will be within easy reach for foliar feeding and harvesting and there is less risk of a fall.      

Remember your aim in pruning in a home garden is different to that of a commercial grower. It is essential you keep the tree small and manageable, so it can be covered easily to protect the fruit from birds, bats and possums; and in many areas, from fruit fly.

How to begin:

• Step back from the tree and try to see the main branch structure that you need to develop. It is a good idea if you are new to pruning to make a habit of regularly stepping back as you work, to see the tree as a whole. Your aim is primarily thinning the branch structure rather than just shortening every branch.

• Begin by removing all dead or damaged wood, as well as suckers from below the graft. Clear away soil around the suckers and cut as low as possible to prevent a re-appearance.

• Next remove branches growing towards the centre of the tree. These are generally not fruitful and tend to harbour pests and disease. Over-crowding also prevents entry to the centre of the tree by insect eating birds. Always remove branches that are rubbing together. Step back and take another look.

• Aim to prune out narrow-angled branch crotches, as these harbour pests such as borers and can break under the weight of fruit; a 60° angle where any branch joins the main trunk is best.

• Shorten back last season's growth; my general rule is “if I can’t reach it, I cut it off”. Tall fruit trees usually just end up feeding the birds. Most fruit trees can be kept under 3m in height.

• Finish up by removing loose bark with a wire brush; this will help destroy over-wintering two-spotted mite and codling moth grubs. Check for borer damage, particularly in citrus shoots. The first sign you notice may be a shoot wilting. Bend the shoot gently, it will bend at the point that the borer is hiding. Cut the shoot at this point and find the borer and destroy it. A narrow piece of wire is useful for pushing down borer holes to kill borer. Check the crotches of stone fruits for Fruit Tree Moth Borer larvae hiding in sawdust. Then apply Tree Paste which will stimulate rapid, healthy growth and will help to heal and seal any wounds. It helps build the long-term health and vitality of your fruit trees.

A Tree Paste Kit is a very handy way to give your fruit trees a winter clean-up

Take the following steps to keep your trees in top condition:
Citrus trees are very hungry feeders with high requirements for trace elements; a regular spray with a seaweed fertiliser such as Natrakelp or the application of either Granulated Kelp or Shuttle Seven will supply this. Fertilise citrus trees in April / May and remember to water well after fertilising. Spread the fertiliser as evenly as possible to just past the drip-line of the tree. Compost or animal manures can be used starting with about 4 kg for a 1-year-old tree to 20 kg for a mature 8-year-old tree. Blood and bone contains mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, boost it into a more ‘complete’ fertiliser by adding a ¼ cup of sulphate of potash to every kilo of blood and bone. Remember to regularly water from flower bud formation through to fruit set to retain a good crop. Prune in June or July before the spring bud burst in frost-free areas. In frost-affected areas delay pruning until after the last frost. Remove dead or damaged branches, branches growing inwards and very low branches to improve air circulation. After pruning, the lower edge of the canopy should be 60 cm clear of the ground. Always remove shoots from below the graft as soon as possible, as they steal vigour from the tree and if left too long, leave large wounds for disease to enter when they are cut. Gall wasps attack citrus trees and cause swellings in the stems; prune and burn galls before September. If citrus fruit had fruit fly damage the previous year then a regular application of the organically certified fruit fly control Eco-Naturalure Fruit Fly Bait is needed.

For more detailed information on Organic Citrus Care

COPING WITH AN ABUNDANT HARVEST OF LEMONS OR LIMES

Citrus are easily the most commonly grown fruit tree in Australian backyards, probably because they simply can’t be beaten for usefulness and ornamental appearance. Every garden should have at least one citrus tree, for the fragrance of the blossoms alone. There is a cultivar of citrus for every climate zone; in warmer areas Tahitian limes are a better choice than lemons if there is only room for one tree. A lime tree would always be my first choice of a fruit tree to plant.  Lime trees are smaller than other citrus trees, crop over a longer period, are seedless and less thorny than lemons and the fruit can be used in a similar way. Of the lemons ‘Eureka’ is a good choice for the home garden, it is thornless, has few seeds, is ever-bearing and less prone to fruit fly damage than a ’Meyer’ or ‘Lemonade’.

Once your tree is full size you will have an abundance of fruit to deal with or give away. We preserve our harvest in a variety of ways, probably our favourite being lime/lemon cordial for refreshing summer drinks and lime/lemon butter for toast and pancakes. All the following recipes use lemons or limes interchangeably.

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS:

• Have more clean, dry jars & bottles on hand than you think you will need.

• Always use heavy-based, stainless steel saucepans for your preserving.

• Organic white sugar dissolves much faster than raw sugar, with only a tiny difference in nutritional value, so we generally use white sugar, particularly for preserves like lemon/lime butter.

• Sugar, vinegar or salt are the main traditional preservatives; reducing the quantity within a recipe of any of them may greatly affect the keeping qualities of the finished product.

• Never fill a pot more than 2/3 full (half full for jam or marmalade) as during the cooking process the fruit mixture will froth up and can easily boil over, making a big clean-up job.

• Always bottle jam immediately into a hot, oven-heated jar (do not heat the lids!) and screw the lid down tightly.

• Label with the name and the date and store in a cool place.

LEMON / LIME CORDIAL

• 2.5 kg sugar

• 2 litres of water

• 3 litres of lemon/lime juice

• 25g citric acid (optional)

• thinly sliced rind (optional)

Wash at least 8 glass cordial or juice bottles. Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat until completely dissolved and the mixture gently simmers. Add the citric acid and stir until it dissolves and add the lemon/lime juice and rind (if using) and bring to the boil. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from the heat. Bottle immediately into bottles that have been rinsed with boiling water to sterilise and turned upside down to drain; they do not need to be dry inside, just hot. Seal  filled bottles immediately.

LEMON / LIME BUTTER

Most recipes for lemon butter only make a cupful or two. I prefer to make a big batch if I'm going to be standing there stirring for a while.

• 350g butter, cut into small pieces

• 900g castor sugar

• 8 eggs, beaten

• thinly pared rind of 6 large lemons (or 9 limes)

Place all ingredients in a double saucepan over gently simmering water. Cook, whisking gently, until the butter has melted & the sugar completely dissolved. Pour the mixture through a strainer & discard the rind. Return the mixture to the double saucepan, cook, stirring frequently for 30-40 minutes or until mixture thickens (it should coat a metal spoon thickly & if you draw your finger across, does not run back together). Pour immediately into jars & seal. Once open, refrigerate. Lemon butter does not keep as well as jam, and should be used within 3-4 months.

TANGY LIME MARMALADE

This is a tart version of marmalade, if you prefer your marmalade quite sweet, increase the sugar to 2kg.

• 1 kg limes

• 1 ½ litres water

• 1 ½ kg sugar

Wash and slice the unpeeled limes thinly, discard any seeds. Soak the limes in a large bowl with the water overnight. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer gently, covered for about 1 hour or until the rind is soft. Take the pan off the heat and add the sugar, stir over the heat until the sugar is dissolved. Do not allow it to boil before the sugar is dissolved or large sugar crystals will form. Once the sugar is dissolved, bring it to the boil, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. The jam will froth high in the pot, so make sure the saucepan is not too full to begin with. When the jam stops frothing and settles to a hard boil, start testing for setting. To do this, chill a saucer in the freezer at the beginning of the cooking time. Place a spoonful of the hot jam on the cold saucer, put it back into the freezer for a minute, take it out and push your finger across the top of the jam. If it crinkles then it is set. Immediately remove the jam from the heat and bottle and seal. Marmalade sets as it cools so just crinkling well is the best guide to setting point. If you continue to cook it, the pectin responsible for the 'jelly' effect will start to break down and the jam will become syrupy in texture.

MOROCCAN PRESERVED LEMONS / LIMES

• 20 lemons/limes

• 1 cup of coarse sea salt

• extra lemon/lime juice

This is very easy to make and can be used to add a delicious flavour to many savoury dishes. Wash and dry each fruit, cut each fruit into quarters, nearly all the way to the base but keep the fruit intact. Pack each fruit with 1 heaped tablespoon of sea salt. Pack by pushing fruit down hard, until the juice runs, into a large sterilised jar with a plastic lid. Then cover the fruit with extra juice and sprinkle some extra salt. Make sure you choose a jar that your hand fits into easily. Seal the jar and leave for at least 6 weeks. The lemons/limes are ready for use when the skin is tender. Moroccan lemon/limes will keep at least 6 months but should be refrigerated after opening. To use, remove a fruit from the brine, discard any seeds or pith, finely chop the rind. One or two pieces of preserved chopped fruit stirred into yogurt makes a great sauce for fish or lamb. Added to a beef, lamb or chicken casserole it gives a great flavour. Do not add extra salt to a dish without checking for taste, as the brined fruit adds saltiness.

Great range of food preserving books

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