By Beatrice Hawkins
My daughter grows blueberries in her home garden and has grown them in all the gardens in the various places she’s lived, from the tablelands and the western area of NSW to inland WA.
They are a decorative plant to grow and a great fruit to have.
They are a very rich source of vitamin C and antioxidants, tasty, and if you are lucky enough to have a surplus, they freeze easily and well.
They are best planted in late autumn through until early spring and, although they prefer full sun, will grow in partial shade.
They require really good drainage as they are a shallow rooted shrub with fine, surface-feeding roots needing a slightly acidic, sandy soil for good drainage with the top layer enriched with organic matter to feed the surface roots.
They love the consistent moisture provided by drip irrigation but are very susceptible to dissolved salts in water making bore, town, grey or recycled water unsuitable. Best results are obtained using rain water.
The bushes grow about two metres high and 1.5m wide. As they are very sensitive to pesticides they should be planted in clear ground and with their shallow, easily damaged roots, should be hand weeded for at least the first 12 months.
If, with all this care, they survive, they will begin to yield fruit after about two years and after 4-6 years will supply two to seven kilos of fruit per bush. All I can say is that my daughter is one very long-suffering and determined young lady.
Even with the high price of blueberries I will take the easy way out and buy them fresh in season or as Australian frozen fruit and enjoy them, rather than try and grow them!
Some of the best citrus I have ever eaten came from the western areas of NSW.
Having grown up on the central coast of NSW I thought there was nothing better than oranges from the Gosford area. That was until I got married and was introduced to fruit from Narromine and Bourke.
I had, over the last many years since I shifted from the area, forgotten just how good the flavour was.
There really is nothing as sweet and wonderful as a freshly-picked navel orange from this area at this time of year and I have been really getting my share of vitamin C over the last few weeks.
Some trivia – oranges from an orchard in the Bourke region, where I’m currently staying with friends – were sent to Queen Elizabeth for use by the royal household for many years.
I have also helped cut up fruit for some of the best marmalade I’ve tasted for quite some time from the abundance of oranges and lemons on my friends’ trees. More will be made when we get to town and get more sugar! I will also bring fruit home so I can make some for the Extravaganza.
Unfortunately the pollution in the Darling River and the increased salinity of the water has killed a good many of the trees and made gardening a trial where once anything grew well and a large vegetable garden and orchard thrived.
My ‘Lots of Lemons’ tree and the native finger limes that I have in large pots, while doing well, just seem so insignificant in comparison to the trees out in the west, that I wonder why I bother with them also! But they are lovely and it is a delight to be able to shift the pots around and have the wonderful citrus perfume when they are in flower, so I will persevere.
Another memory from my childhood is Black Muscat grapes from Mudgee, as Mum’s relations used to send cases them down by train to the ‘coastal cousins’. The only grapes that grew where I lived were the old Isabellas, a very poor excuse for a table grape in comparison!
I have tried Muscats from many areas since and Mudgee muscats are still the best – sorry Stanthorpe!
I do have a Black Muscat vine growing on my back fence so I’ll see how they stack up when they start producing.
Don’t forget the Warwick Horticultural Society Gardening Extravaganza on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 July, during Jumpers and Jazz.
St Mary’s Hall in Wood Street is the venue and interesting stalls and information on gardens will be there for your perusal and enjoyment.
Devonshire teas, barista coffee and cake and a variety of warming soups with crusty bread will be available to tempt you to indulge and rest a while in the pleasant surroundings of the recently updated hall.
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
