Normally this phenomenon happens around or on the 1st day of Spring when the sun finally decides to show its glorious face from what seems like an eternity of clouds and icy weather, the birds are chirping encouraging me through their sweet songs and there is something in the air that ignites a desire to get my hands dirty, plant, nurture, watch and in the end enjoy the fruits of my labours.
I seem to have romantic ideas of Adella going out to the vegetable garden and being able to pick items which we can use in our cooking, hosting a tomato sugo making day where all our friends gather together to make/ bottle sauce, drink cold beer, enjoy each others company and listen to great music (perhaps this is not an original thought but highly influenced by Looking for Alibrandi?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9NcWQH-ec, pickling, preserving and harvesting lemons to make fresh lemonade.
In principle all these are fabulous ideas and things that I would wholehearted love to do but somehow something always seems to hinder my best intentions. I will give you a few examples of my amateur farmer fails;
- The day I decided to orchestrate a mother/daughter planting of the snow peas. In my head I had already been awarded the gold star for motherhood as Adella began to dig in the soil and position where we were going to but in the plants. What could possibly go wrong? Pointing out to your daughter a worm in a effort to make exercise educational/sensory. Daughter misidentifies worm for snake, becomes hysterical, runs inside and refuses to go anywhere near the area or at the very least venture into the backyard for the next 2 weeks. Clearly a rookie error.
- Forgetting the most essential component of backyard farming..... Plants need water.... not just every now and than or when they look like they are on deaths door but every day.
- Setting up a herb garden with great enthusiasm only to discover that within 2 days they had been attacked by monstrous beasts otherwise know as snails.
In all these occasions and many more, my knight in shining armour husband would always rectify the situation as he is quite handy and knowledgeable, and encourage me that I just need to give it another go.
In a moment of nostalgia I remembered the pure joy as a child of venturing into the very depths of the backyard to discover the uncontrollable passionfruit vine had swallowed the fence and was spitting out fruit for all to partake in. The admiration for the small branches which looked like fingers that would cling on for dear life to the fence, supporting the weight and allowing the vine to further grow. The excitement to cut the passionfruit skin and enjoy the sweet delights held carefully inside. With this in mind I decided it was time we invested in a passionfruit vine. Our childhood vine seemed to take care of itself with very little effort. How hard can it be?
Well.... anyone who has bemoaned the difficulty of growing passionfruit will be pleased to know that we have travelled this hard road too and am very proud to report, have come out the other side to the promised land of passionfruit sponge and passionfruit on ice cream.
Here are some lessons that we have learnt about the humble passionfruit;
- Problems usually occur when growing grafted varieties. Rootstock, chosen for its resistance to pests and disease, will often throw out heavy sucker growth; meanwhile, the graft, from which the plant flowers and fruits, struggles. Finally, you're left with a tangled mess and no damn fruit. To avoid this from happening, steer clear of grafted varieties.
- Choose a spot that collects full sun and prepare a free-draining soil with compost
- Water the new plants at least 2-3 times a week when they are establishing
- Due to short life span it is a good idea to plant a second plant the second year around to guarantee some longevity
- If you get flowers but no fruit consider hand pollination (not as scary as it sounds)
- When flowers appear, start increasing the amount and frequency of watering
- As the fruit begins to shrivel- the process where the jelly like pulp is drawing the last moister from the skin- the fruit is ready!
A great book that I has taught this novice a few simply tips and has given me the confidence to give it a crack in The Little Veggie Patch Co's guide to Backyard Farming http://littleveggiepatchco.com.au/
Happy planting and harvesting!
Grace xx
No comments:
Post a Comment