Staff Christmas Party Photos
Christmas 2010 Staff Picture & Well Wishes
Improving your drainage
Drainage is one of the most important factors to consider when planting fruit trees. If you have heavy clay based soil it is important to plant your fruit trees into a raised mound which improves the drainage and gets your trees off to a good start.
Dig the hole into the ground as normal and then create a mound, with compost and the top soil from the hole. In these pictures I am planting a coconut, as I have heavy soils and coconuts grow along our sandy coastline I added a wheelbarrow of sand to create my mound.
To reduce competition from weeds, I recycle my old newspapers 8 sheets thick, which keeps the weeds at bay - for a little while at least
and then I cover this with a healthy layer or organic mulch, lucerne hay is perfect to use as mulch as it is rich in notrogen and feeds the trees as it composts.
Dig the hole into the ground as normal and then create a mound, with compost and the top soil from the hole. In these pictures I am planting a coconut, as I have heavy soils and coconuts grow along our sandy coastline I added a wheelbarrow of sand to create my mound.
To reduce competition from weeds, I recycle my old newspapers 8 sheets thick, which keeps the weeds at bay - for a little while at least
and then I cover this with a healthy layer or organic mulch, lucerne hay is perfect to use as mulch as it is rich in notrogen and feeds the trees as it composts.
London Plane Trees
I occasionally receive calls from customers who have followed the directions of their GPS to Daley's Nursery via the bridge at the end of Clark's Lane. The main problem with these street directions is that this particular bridge washed away back in the flood of 1989. So those who leave the gravel road on Clark's lane and persist down the goat track end up here where the remnants of the old bridge can still be seen. If you arrive late in the day it is worth sitting quietly for a little while as you may be lucky enough to spot a platypus in the waterhole and if you fancy a dip the nursery is just across the other side of the Richmond River, which on a hot day such as today is cool and inviting.
The bridge was built in 1900, this picture shows the same view from Clark's Lane looking back towards Daley's Lane, with Saville's Homestead in the background. This bridge was the only way to cross the Richmond River near Kyogle until 1912 - without getting wet.
Many years ago around the time of the Second World War or soon after someone in Kyogle planted an avenue of London Plane trees on either side of the river, these trees still stand today. There are four trees on the Daleys side of the river which have matured into impressive specimen trees while the six trees on the harder, dryer side of the river along Clark's Lane are about half the size, in fact it is hard to believe they are the same age.
This is the avenue from Daleys Lane leading down to the river, the nursery is in the background. London Plane are famous for their attractive bark pattern, their old bark flakes off to reveal fresh pale coloured bark underneath creating beautiful splodgy patterns in green, white and pale brown. The trees are striking when they are deciduous as the attractive bark becomes more pronounced.
They are also fabulous habitat trees, longicorn beetles burrow into the wood creating small holes that over time form larger hollows that are vital for many of our native birds, possums and other hollow dwellers. I discovered this small skink using one of the large hollows yesterday as I peered in to see who was in residence.
London Planes are common street plantings as they are very tolerant of atmospheric pollution and compaction of the soil around their roots. They are also useful as specimen trees in parks and large gardens where they can be given plenty of space to spread and mature to full size, they can grow 20-35m tall and have a spreading shady canopy. They do however have irritating hairs on the foliage which may cause allergies and asthma in some people, but if given plenty of room they are a stunning addition to the landscape.
The bridge was built in 1900, this picture shows the same view from Clark's Lane looking back towards Daley's Lane, with Saville's Homestead in the background. This bridge was the only way to cross the Richmond River near Kyogle until 1912 - without getting wet.
Many years ago around the time of the Second World War or soon after someone in Kyogle planted an avenue of London Plane trees on either side of the river, these trees still stand today. There are four trees on the Daleys side of the river which have matured into impressive specimen trees while the six trees on the harder, dryer side of the river along Clark's Lane are about half the size, in fact it is hard to believe they are the same age.
This is the avenue from Daleys Lane leading down to the river, the nursery is in the background. London Plane are famous for their attractive bark pattern, their old bark flakes off to reveal fresh pale coloured bark underneath creating beautiful splodgy patterns in green, white and pale brown. The trees are striking when they are deciduous as the attractive bark becomes more pronounced.
They are also fabulous habitat trees, longicorn beetles burrow into the wood creating small holes that over time form larger hollows that are vital for many of our native birds, possums and other hollow dwellers. I discovered this small skink using one of the large hollows yesterday as I peered in to see who was in residence.
London Planes are common street plantings as they are very tolerant of atmospheric pollution and compaction of the soil around their roots. They are also useful as specimen trees in parks and large gardens where they can be given plenty of space to spread and mature to full size, they can grow 20-35m tall and have a spreading shady canopy. They do however have irritating hairs on the foliage which may cause allergies and asthma in some people, but if given plenty of room they are a stunning addition to the landscape.
Coffee Tree Has Beans Ready to Pick
Growing Dwarf Coffee Trees is very easy throughout Australia. I have used some Bonsai Bags so you can move them around wherever you like to get shade or out of the wind.
You can actually just pick the red beans off and then suck out the juices while chewing on the seed and then spit out the pulp. It is mildly sweet surprisingly. As the coffee bean legend goes the goat farmer apparently found he could stay awake by doing this.
I have never seen it done but for all you Coffee shop owners out there who have an outside place for your customers or even inside area with a bit off sun. Why don't you add a few coffee plants?
Their flowers are a great strong sweet smell even at 4 meters away. Their beans are strikingly red and I think would be a great talking point. Their leaves unlike my one below which has been a bit neglected are a large deep green.
Coffee Beans Ready to Pick
The Coffee Tree in a Bonsai Bag 35L
And in unrelated ( non coffee ) news here is some flowers from the Dwarf Tropical Anna Apple Tree.
Fruit Fly Spring Australia
So the start of Spring is a great time to develop a fruit fly control strategy. There is a whole range of organic methods through the Wild May Fruit Fly Control Systems but you need to get onto it early and stop them breeding up. The other method is exclusion netting where you place a special fruit fly net over your fruit before they get stung by fruit fly that have bread up and become rampant.
We have got a great 2 minute video for you which discusses this in more depth. So if you want to get juicy nectarines and peaches this season without nasty surprises we hope you enjoy this video.
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/Exclusion-Bags.htm
Spring Flowers, Buds & Fruit Forming 2010
Blueberry Plant Blossoms Spring 2010
Black Sapote Tree or Chocolate Pudding Tree Fruit Forming 2010
Apple Buds Forming Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Macadamia Nut Flowers Spring 2010
Black Sapote Tree or Chocolate Pudding Tree Fruit Forming 2010
Apple Buds Forming Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Apple Tree Flowers Spring 2010
Macadamia Nut Flowers Spring 2010
Myrtaceae Biosecurity Restrictions
Customers in WA, SA and Victoria may notice that many plants that we were once able to ship to you without any problems are now generating the warning quarantine won't allow these plants into the state. The reason for these changes stem from the Myrtle Rust outbreak which has occurred in southern NSW, as a result all plants from the Myrtaceae family are no longer allowed to be shipped from NSW into WA, SA, QLD or Victoria. We do apologize for any inconvenience however we do take our responsibility to biosecurity seriously and therefore at this stage we will not be shipping these plants across the borders. Unfortunately the family is huge and includes many native plants such as Eucalyptus, Acmena, Syzygium, Austromyrtus, Eugenia, Leptospermum these families also include many of our fruit trees and bush food others we can no longer send include Feijoa, Myrciara and Psidium.
If anyone would like more information contact your local domestic quarantine service.
http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/
If anyone would like more information contact your local domestic quarantine service.
http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/
Paypal Now Accepted.
So just before you press checkout you will have the option of Paypal... Enjoy :)
Bare Rooted Grapes
It is the middle of winter here in Kyogle and at this time of the year we are receiving our bare rooted plants from around the country. Many of these products are higher chill than our subtropical climate allows us to propagate and grow with ease and so it is that we have looked beyond our humid hills for a supplier of bare rooted grapes that we can offer to our customers as a great product at a great price.
Nina, one of our propagation experts is holding an example of the Menindee Seedless grapes so you can see what you will be buying. The bare rooted selections of grapes include the Menindee Seedless, Thompson Seedless and the Crimson Seedless, all of which are well suited to regions with cool winters and long hot dry summers requiring about 500-600 hours of winter chill, unfortunately they will not thrive in humid coastal climates.
Winter is the perfect time to plants grapes while they are deciduous, it is important to be prepared and have a trellis ready for the vine to climb once it shoots with a burst of vigorous growth in the spring.
Links - DPI Grapes info
Nina, one of our propagation experts is holding an example of the Menindee Seedless grapes so you can see what you will be buying. The bare rooted selections of grapes include the Menindee Seedless, Thompson Seedless and the Crimson Seedless, all of which are well suited to regions with cool winters and long hot dry summers requiring about 500-600 hours of winter chill, unfortunately they will not thrive in humid coastal climates.
Winter is the perfect time to plants grapes while they are deciduous, it is important to be prepared and have a trellis ready for the vine to climb once it shoots with a burst of vigorous growth in the spring.
Links - DPI Grapes info
Bare Root Stock Arrived 2010
We have plenty of bare root fruit trees ready for you to order online. Winter is a great time for mail order while they are dormant.Popular Bare Root Stock includes Apricots, Apples, Peaches, Quinces, Almonds, Plumcotts, Nectarines, Mulberries.
Our Newest Little Aussies
We dropped all our tools last Monday 12th April, shut the shop and headed into the Kyogle Council offices to watch Paning and her daughter Mary become Australian citizens. This was the second time that the staff from the nursery had filled Kyogle's Council chambers to celebrate Australian citizenship, as Sophie had taken her oath back in January. It was a proud moment for all of us watching our mates swear their allegiance to our Nation and we would like to welcome you as our newest little Aussies. Congratulations Sophie, Paning and Mary.
Growing Jujubes and Eating Them
I have been in contact with Lucy who is an avid forum & My Edible contributer. You can view her public my edibles page here:
JuJube for Sale in Melbourne
She sent me a punnet of Jujubes:
They really were great tasting almost like an apple but with a different type of sweetness and also much more crunchy almost like a pear that isn't fully ripe.
JuJube for Sale in Melbourne
She sent me a punnet of Jujubes:
They really were great tasting almost like an apple but with a different type of sweetness and also much more crunchy almost like a pear that isn't fully ripe.
Jujubes don't ripen at the same time and different varieties ripen at different times.
She says
"They only ripen one or two fruits per day so I may have to pick them over few days before sending to you. They also don't ripen off the trees. "
Daleys sells the trees Here so you can put your name down via email or sms to get notified when they are ready to be mail ordered to your address.
Jujubes, Ziziphus jujuba
However if you were in Melbourne and wanted to get in contact with Lucy she tocks many different varieties in grafted and bare rooted and they can be planted in winter
She grows all her jujubes in pots and says:
"I get 50 to 80 fruits per 5 years old tree comparing to growing in the ground you could get 5 times that much in an ideal environment. The good thing is they don't ripe at the same time so every week for my trees I only pick about a dozen riped fruits at the time. Hopefully, trees will get bigger and give me more fruits."
You can contact lucy at
jujubeforsale@yahoo.com.au
Free Fruit Tree Magazine March & April 2010
To get this offer just mention in the special instructions.
March - Order over $100 worth of fruit trees and we will give you the How to Grow Fruits & Vegies magazine.
Busting Open a Jakfruit ( Jackfruit )
Not the most beautiful of pictures, however we busted open the
jakfruit this morning for breakfast. The arils around the seeds are
delicious, they taste, like banana, pineapple, tropical fruit salady
bubblegum, were some of the comments, Jesse spat his out and Nina
refused to try it. Carla has just spent 1/2 an hour getting the rest
of the arils out of the sticky latex ladened rags, they are going into
the freezer for a more crispy taste later in the day.
Beautiful Bunchosia & Giant Jakfruit
The Peanut Butter Fruit is a beautiful and unusual fruit tree, ideal for frost free locations. The tree has glossy green dense foliage down to the ground, making it the perfect choice for use as a screen tree. It grows to about 5m at the most and can easily be kept back to 2-3m with pruning. It is at its best when in flower and fruit which both come on together and smother the tree with bright highlights from the yellow flowers and the orange and red fruits. The fruits are very unusual and not the sort of thing you will find in the shops. They are bright red and soft when fully ripe and have a hint of peanut butter flavour with a rich sticky taste and texture.
Jakfruits are also starting to ripen here in the subtropics with the heat of summer. The fruits are huge and hang from the main trunk and the largest branches of the tree which have the strength to support the weight of these large fruit. The trees will also require a frost free site to thrive and are hardy and attractive once established. The fruits are pungently aromatic and delicuously sweet to those who aquire a taste for them. The pockets of fruit that surrounds the seeds is the most edible part of this giant fruit and can be eaten fresh, frozen or dried. The pithy surrounds can be stirred fried as a vegetable and even the seeds are edible and tasty when roasted.
Jakfruits are also starting to ripen here in the subtropics with the heat of summer. The fruits are huge and hang from the main trunk and the largest branches of the tree which have the strength to support the weight of these large fruit. The trees will also require a frost free site to thrive and are hardy and attractive once established. The fruits are pungently aromatic and delicuously sweet to those who aquire a taste for them. The pockets of fruit that surrounds the seeds is the most edible part of this giant fruit and can be eaten fresh, frozen or dried. The pithy surrounds can be stirred fried as a vegetable and even the seeds are edible and tasty when roasted.
Wonderful Wampees and Glorious Grapes
After the fabulous rain we have received up here in the Northern Rivers the orchard is looking sensational. I wandered down there last week and had a feast of wampees. Personally my pick is the lively tasting Guy Sam, it can be a little sour for some though, so those of you with a sweet tooth may prefer the delicious sweet Yeem Paye. Related to citrus the wampee has a tangy sweetness reminiscent of their larger and better known relatives.
The grapes are just beginning to colour up but are not quiet ready for picking yet, although they looked very tempting dripping with rainwater.
The grapes are just beginning to colour up but are not quiet ready for picking yet, although they looked very tempting dripping with rainwater.
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