Produce

The image below is a Google Earth image of a slice of modern Hawthorn surrounding Glenferrie road which runs through the centre of the photo from top to bottom.

Hawthorn is a wealthy suburb within which you would think land owners would have space for decent sized backyards. Unfortunately this isn't the case, modern inner city suburb living has a stronger emphasis on a large house rather than a good sized functional yard. Some of the larger buildings pictured are apartment complexes where living conditions are even more cramped and garden areas basically non-existent.

So with that little background story painting a picture I wanted to see what kind of vegetable harvest someone could expect from a relatively small plot of land say 5m x 2m, using every centimetre. I'm going to look into how much of each, regarding carrots, jalapenos and broccoli you could grow in such a small area with a monoculture theme.

Carrot

Spacing between plants - ~5cm

Spacing between rows - ~15cm

Number of plants - 1320 that's a lot of carrots!

If each carrot weighed around 100 grams that's a harvest of 132kg of carrots. Another bonus of growing carrots is that when it is time to thin out the young plants you get a very sweet treat of baby carrots.

Jalapeno

Spacing between plants - ~30cm

Spacing between rows - ~30cm

Number of plants - 119

Number of fruit per plant - 40

Total number of fruit - 4760

Think of all the delicious deep-fried jalapeno poppers to be eaten, salsa to be made and spicy sandwiches now possible to create.

Broccoli

Spacing between plants - ~40cm

Spacing between rows - ~40cm

Number of plants - 65

I'm not sure anyone has the want or need of 65 heads of broccoli but you never know.

As you can see a small plot of land can produce a whole lot of food provided you look after and mulch your veggies well. Even if you live in an apartment complex speak to the landowner and see if you can use that small piece of land even if it is only 2m x 2m and you may even make some new friends when people start to take an interest in your project.

Is it a Bird of Paradise??

Strelitzia reginae - The 'Bird of Paradise'

I think most people would agree that the crowning glory of the Bird of Paradise is its flower. Its very unique appearance is spectacular. The combination of blue, red, orange, white and the form of an elegant birds head makes this an outstanding specimen and talking point in any garden. 



This image shows what the amateur gardener is trying to achieve, namely the flowers. 



Now that we have all seen the flowers, it's time to look at the plant when the flowering season is over. Below is an image of densely planted Strelitzias in grass which doesn't look too bad if not a little boring (ignoring the shadow of course).

This third image from the front of a house in Hawthorn is something I think we are all a little more familiar with. A randomly planted specimen with perhaps one or 2 flowers present and foliage that at times appears half dead. There is no cohesion between the plant and its surrounds.

I believe people buy this plant because it seems like a good idea at the time, more of an impulse buy than a well thought out acquisition. In my opinion this one time super fashionable species should not be present in new planned gardens across Australia, unless it fits the overall theme of the garden.

Do you agree or are you still a fan of the Bird of Paradise, I would like to read your comments....

Aussie Lime

The Australian lime is a plant I believe should be as common in Australian gardens as the lemon tree. The lime is native to the wetter regions of northern NSW and southern Queensland. Although native to these areas the lime can be grown in much drier and/or cooler regions such as Perth and Melbourne.

The plant itself is a large shrub or small growing up to ~ 6m with small oval shaped dark green leaves up to 40mm long. Plants are generally slow growing and may take from 5-15 years to reach maturity. Recently Australian lime varieties have been grafted onto common citrus root stock making the lime more suitable for nursery sale and some varieties have been described as having 'vigorous growth'. The young foliage is a purple/red colour which matches the pink/purple flowers of some varieties. Prospective buyers should know that generally the stems have many sharp thorns making it slightly dangerous for children to be running around at home.

The fruit has very desirable pulp which doesn't burst when removed from the fruit like you would observe with oranges, mandarins, lemons etc. Here you can see that some varieties have been bred for their differing pulp colours, these limes are in strong demand by restaurants which use them as decoration as well as for their strong citrus flavours. Some bars use the pulp in drinks such as the Mojito for a new take on cocktail decoration. I'm sure that some of you will want a plant just by looking at this picture (I know that I do), imagine having this fruit available in your backyard.

I did manage to grab a glimpse of an Australian lime in a Hawthorn garden but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture. If you would like to get a closer look at the finger lime there are a couple of trees at the Burnley campus of Melbourne University, in the tropical section of the garden. 

Pomegranate goodness

Having grown up with a couple of pomegranate plants in the home garden I've always found them interesting, not to mention their unique fruit. Pomegranates originally came from the Middle Eastern areas of Iran and Iraq and have been cultivated for thousands of years. They get a mention in both the Book of Exodus and the Quran. The ancient Egyptians used the fruit as a treatment for tapeworm and other infections.

One of the things that appeals to me about the plant is that it will grow in most Australian climates, successfully growing in hot dry conditions. The plant is deciduous giving it another string to its use as an ornamental fruit bearing plant for the backyard.

This dwarf pomegranate (right) is being used as an ornamental plant in a property on Glenferrie rd with more planted along the pathway to the front door.

Something you may know is that pomegranate fruit is used to create grenadine, a syrup used in many cocktails. Pomegranate juice is a relatively sour drink that has been consumed in India and Persia for many years and is now beginning to make in roads into western cuisine.

These days the plant is grown around the world usually for fruit production but also as a purely ornamental plant. Some cultivars do not bear any fruit and are purely grown for their attractive flowers. The petals are usually a bright red with a crepe paper like appearance. Some more recently bred cultivars have different coloured flowers and you can even get varieties with black fruit.

Bonsai Chillies

Perhaps there aren't actually any bonsai chilli (bonchi) plants in Hawthorn, but there will be by the time I've managed to get a full season of growing into some plants and cut them back for the winter months.

Although people may not think of chillies as a species that will bonsai very well, they in fact can be turned into amazing specimens in a relatively short period of time. One downside of bonchis is that chilli plants are not generally not long lived, up to ten years is pushing the limit, but this also provides the creator to pursue new projects and not be stuck with something that will outlive any human.

Bonchis are a great idea in cooler climates where chilli plants will definitely take a turn for the worse during the winter months. So instead of leaving your plant to inevitably die the idea is to cut the plant back severely and transform it into a bonsai. Chillies species are very strong and can survive being hacked back practically  to the ground, think of how you would prune a rose and do the same to a chilli plant. Once the above ground part of the plant has been cut back the same can be done to the roots. Exposing the roots earlier in the season will give them that 'woody' appearance which is highly desirable in bonsai's. Now the plants are ready to be placed into a suitable bonsai pot.

These heavily pruned plants will shoot in spring and can be wired to fit the desired form. Plants will fruit and can be surprisingly productive as a bonsai. Another bonus of wintering chillies as bonsai's is that at any time the plants can be returned to the ground/pot and resume its regular form. Bonchis can also be used as 'mother' plants from which cuttings can be taken to grow new plants, this is a great use of some stems that may not be in your desired design of the bonchi.

Here are a couple of bonchis by the people at Fatalii's Growing Guide. I highly recommend that you visit the website below where you get taken through a step by step guide on how to grow your very on bonchi's.
http://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=105

Here's a bonchi cultivar created by the people behind fatalii's growing guide, the 'Dutch-Habanero F1' with a great crop of tasty chillies.

This bonchi is the cultivar "Bolivian Rainbow'. This variety is more widely known for its spectacular upright colourful fruit.

The loquat.

Everywhere you look in Australia there seem to be loquat trees happily growing minding their own business and producing delicious yellow fruits with distinct brown seeds. This picture of a healthy mature loquat tree preparing to flower was taken outside the house I'm renting in Hawthorn. It is one of 3 on the property and one of many on the street. I'm definitely looking forward to munching on one or two when getting home each day. So here's some more information about one of the trees you probably see everyday...

The loquat is often thought to have originated in Japan and even its botanical name Eriobotrya japonica suggests it does, but it was introduced to Japan over 1000 years ago from south east China. Japan is still the largest producer of loquats ( up to 17,000 tonnes annually) with some of the major producers have monorail systems to transport their fruit from their hillside plantations.

Loquat trees are most suited to elevations between 1000ft and 5000ft. Extreme summer heat at low elevation is detrimental to the plant and hot dry winds such as those experienced in Perth can cause leaf scorch. At the other end of the scale a mature plant can withstand temperatures as low as -11 degrees Celsius while the flowers and fruit can survive in temperatures as low as -3 and -4 degrees Celsius respectively. Loquats can survive in most soils of moderate and even low fertility as long as it has good drainage.

As you can see in the image below the loquat is suited to nearly all Australian climates (I'm not convinced that put out in the desert without watering a loquat will survive), the exceptions being the elevated areas and Tasmania due to its cooler climate. Trees may grow in climates not 100% to their liking but may not produce any fruit, becoming an ornamental plant taking advantage of the large green leaves.Seeds from mature plants are quite easy to propagate and I have done so myself by taking seeds, placing them in pots and covering with a little soil. A couple of weeks later, watering most days (in summer, Perth full sun on bricks) young plants were growing in all three of the pots. Generally plants grown from seeds are for ornamental purposes or to be used as root stock. Trees grown from seed may take 8-10 years to fruit. There are now over 900 varieties of loquats in the world and in 2003 a new seedless variety was developed in Japan.

Apart from just eating the fruit it can be made into jams or some people prefer to make spiced loquats with cloves, cinnamon, lemon and vinegar and/or other spices. Fruit that is slightly under ripe has enough pectin present to make jelly.

##FUN FACTS##
Loquats can have a mild sedative effect lasting up to 24 hours if eaten in large quantities.
Seeds and young leaves are slightly poisonous and have a bitter taste to avoid being eaten.

Morton, J 1987, Loquat,  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/loquat.html
O'hara, S, Eirobotrya japonica, http://www.gimcw.org/plants/Eriobotrya.japonica.cfm
Wikipeida 2012, Loquat, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat