Contents 2 From the editor 3 President’s report 6 NZTCA Conference 2020 8 Celebrating Gorse 13 Luther Burbank 15 Honeyberry Research update 19 Kaputahi Community Orchard 25 Edible hops 28 Rainy day reading 30 Foraging in a forest 34 Chestnuts: pests and disease 39 Pips & Pieces 40 Subscriptions
Contents 2 From the editor 3 President’s report 4 South Island VP 5 Emails 7 Lucuma & green sapote grafting 10 Fig pruning 12 Dick Roberts Photography Competition 15 Soil Moisture Update 16 Black garlic 20 Citrus selection 23 Codling moth 31 NZTCA history 33 Barberries in the kitchen 36 Pomegranates and pineapples 37 Pistachio trials 39 Pest: flowering currant 40 Chestnut Q&A 47 Pips & Pieces 48 Subscriptions
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block New Zealand horticulture has a reputation for turning obscure fruits into success stories. From Chinese gooseberries (now recognised far and wide as kiwifruit) to feijoas, it seems we can take a species little-known outside of its native range, cultivate it successfully in our amenable climate, make it a domestic favourite, and then more often than not, turn it into star on the international stage. The tamarillo, Cyphomandra betacea (syn. Solanum betaceum), formerly known as the tree tomato, or ‘arbol de tomate’ in Spanish, fits neatly into this category. My first [...]
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block You’ve probably heard gardeners and self-sufficiency enthusiasts talk wistfully about the ‘hungry gap’ as winter turns to spring. In terms of fruit and vegetable production, the late winter and early spring months can be deceptively sparse, as the cold-weather crops finish or bolt to seed and the new-season crops are in their infancy. This is particularly applicable to the fruit crops – citrus has its heyday and then declines, rhubarb fills a gap, then the early strawberries pop in, but the hefty summer crops of stonefruit and berries are still [...]
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block Rhubarb and patience can work wonders – German proverb When is a fruit not a fruit? When it’s a vegetable, of course! A vegetable, you say? In botanical terms, rhubarb is indeed a vegetable, as it is the herbaceous stem portion that we cook and eat, as opposed to its actual fruit, which by strict definition is the ‘mature, ripened ovary of a plant, including the contents of the ovary’. Conversely, this means that many things we term vegetables are actually fruits – think the squash-pumpkin family, and nightshades such [...]
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block This month, we’re going nuts for almonds. Although this versatile member of the Rosaceae family does not provide a crop to harvest in September, it is a cheerful harbinger of spring, among the first of the fruiting trees to flower (somewhat profusely) in late winter and early spring. As such, I think it deserves an early spot in the productive-crops calendar and a place in your garden. Nuts are increasingly in the nutritional spotlight, and consumer demand is high, in accordance with the current trend towards plant-based eating. They are [...]
Contents 2 From the editor 3 President's report 5 Field trip - oaks & natives at Woodend 9 Wineberries 12 Rowan 15 Caigua or Slipper Gourd 20 Kiwifruit for home gardens 22 Fireside secrets: drying wood 27 Field trip - capers & quandongs 31 Growing flowers commercially 36 Index issues 101 -108 38 Chestnut cheese research 39 Pips & Pieces 40 Subscriptions
Contents 6 From the editor 4 President’s report 6 Correspondence 7 Turning vodka into gin 8 Wildwood mushrooms 12 Chinese toon 14 Early exotic fruit recipes 19 Re: Attack on fig tree 24 Tips for grafting avocados 28 DIY grafting guard 29 Field trip to Hautere Plain 32 Conference 2022 36 Photo competition deadline 37 Johnson Grass 40 Guaviyu 43 Honeyberry harvest 44 Crown shyness 46 Membership changes 47 Pips & Pieces 48 Subscriptions
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block I’d like to survey every backyard in New Zealand, from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and count up all the lemon trees. I reckon you’ll find one more often than not, and chances are those trees will usually be the ubiquitous stalwart of the hardy citrus tribe, the Meyer lemon, and not without good reason. The section I grew up on sported a very large, very old Meyer. Upwards of forty years old and a good five metres in diameter, the tree formed a centrepiece in our garden, and my mother [...]
Written by Anna-Marie Barnes This article was first published in Lifestyle Block This month, it’s time for something completely different as we step away from the ordinary and take a look at the much-maligned but eager-to-please choko. You may or may not have heard of this strange pear-shaped “is it a fruit, is it a vegetable?” Those in New Zealand’s northern climes are perhaps more likely to be familiar with this outlandish member of the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family. Maturing in late autumn to early winter, and with good storage potential, it is a handy substitute for cucumbers and zucchini in the [...]
