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 encounter with a tamarillo was at the age of about eight or nine years of age. Every Thursday, I’d accompany my Mum on a trip to the (big smoke) of Blenheim after school – it entailed a music lesson and a swimming lesson for me, shopping for Mum, and then a trip to a small fruit and vege stall just south of town before heading northwards home. I’d obviously been eyeing up the tamarillos for a few weeks, and who wouldn’t be fascinated by their exotic shape and ruby-red hue? Mum was pretty good about letting me try new things (but always with the proviso “as long as you eat it”) but the lady who owned the stall very kindly nipped off up to her house, returning with a teaspoon and a little pile of raw sugar. She sliced a tamarillo in half so I could eat it on the way home – it was great. If somehow you’re reading this, Mrs Rainbird, I haven’t forgotten, and thank you. [Read more…] about Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – Tamarillos

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 a way off.

Enter the unlikely subtropical star – the loquat, Eriobotrya japonica, sometimes known as Japanese or Chinese plum, or Japanese medlar. Native to the hill regions of south-central China, it has been cultivated in Japan for more than 1000 years, where it is now naturalised – the most likely route into the country being via seeds carried back by Japanese scholars studying in China during the Tang Dynasty. As with many exotic fruits, dispersal of the loquat to other continents via botanists, immigration and trade routes now means the fruit is cultivated widely in both home gardens and commercially across Europe and the Middle East, the Americas (including the warmer regions of the United States), South Africa, India, Australasia and Oceania. Thriving in mild to sub-tropical climates and providing the benefits of an attractive evergreen landscape specimen tree as well as a productive edible crop, what’s not to like? [Read more…] about Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – Loquats

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 as tomatoes, capsicums and eggplant. A clump of leafy perennial rhubarb is almost as ubiquitous as a lemon tree in Kiwi gardens. Love it or hate it, this tart-tasting, easy-care crop deserves a place in our backyards as a ‘hungry gap’ place-filler, with crops ripening in October and November when other fruit is scarce. Give rhubarb a go, it may be an acquired taste but it just might grow on you! [Read more…] about Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – Rhubarb

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 months when these vegetables are absent. With this gap-filling potential, I believe chokos deserve a higher profile – and they may help dispel the frustration experienced when you read a recipe in the newspaper in July that calls for out of season produce. [Read more…] about Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – The Humble Choko

Written by Anna-Marie Barnes
This article was first published in Lifestyle Block

10 year old espaliered Fuyu persimmon at harvest, Nelson region. Photo: A & B Phillips.

Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – Persimmons

May is the peak season for fresh persimmons in New Zealand, with supermarket shelves and market stalls now laden with this increasingly-popular fruit, which looks somewhat like a squat miniature pumpkin-tomato hybrid.  As a home garden specimen tree, the persimmon offers not only a plentiful source of fruit heading in to the winter months, but also a brilliant display of colour as its foliage turns in the autumn. [Read more…] about Persimmons