G’day everyone,
Here are my top five highlights of the week!
1. My Mandarin ‘Honey Murcott’ finally has fruit! I have been picking the fruit straight off the tree and having them for lunch. The fruit are large with a sweet taste and they are fantastic for juicing. These trees can grow to a height of 2.5 – 3 meters and width of 2 – 3 meters.
It is always a wonderful feeling when you can pick and eat your very own homegrown fruit!
2. My strawberry patch, which I thinned out a few weeks ago, is flourishing! Almost all the strawberry plants are starting to blossom and once the petals fall the strawberries will start to develop. Hopefully within the next few weeks I can start picking fresh strawberries.
3. The tomato seeds I sowed a few weeks back have finally emerged and the stems are now strong enough for transplanting. This week I will be potting them up into individual 10cm pots, and will give them a water with Seasol, which is a root tonic and not a fertiliser. What this will do is encourage the seedlings to develop a healthy root system and strong roots.
4. The Acer palmatum, Japanese maple, trees have a lot of their new spring growth and are flourishing. But I will have to plant a lot of my maples this year as they have been growing in their pots for too long. (These are one of my all time favourite trees!)
5. Lucky last is an unusual find. I was at my local hardware store for a few bits and pieces when I went and had a peek at the garden section. I did a double take when I saw this sitting on one of their display benches. A white strawberry! I have never see one in person before and I couldn’t skip on the opportunity to have my very own ‘white strawberry’ plant. I am looking forward to watching how this plant will grow and how flavorsome the fruit will be.
By Bonnie-Marie Hibbs
©BMHPhotographyTheGardener’sNotebook2014
