Daleys Fruit Tree Blog: 2013

Seeds

I love collecting and growing seeds and I always have. The first seed I remember planting was a date palm from a packet of dried fruits, I was about 4 years old and it grew as tall as my finger.

I love collecting seeds because they are beautiful things that are perfectly designed. Complex structures containing all the information needed to make a living plant. I love their shapes, colours and textures. With just a few handfuls I have a potential forest.

I love to grow seeds. Breaking open fruit, pods or capsules to find the seeds inside, or waiting for them to split open. I love planting them and then watching the seeds burst with life, emerging from the ground as their roots anchor into the earth and their leaves unfurl towards the sun.

I love growing seeds to see what they will become and there in nothing more satisfying that watching trees I have grown from seed mature and begin their own cycle of flowering, fruiting and producing seed.

Kath, daleysfruit.com.au

Grafted Dwarf Plum Tree - Gulf Gold Fruit Tree - Ripens @ Christmas Time

What is the best fruit tree for Christmas? The Dwarf Gulf Gold Plum Tree and this is why.

It is self pollinating and a low chill plum tree that is great for backyards. So if you live in a Subtropical climate and don't get those months of freezing weather or you live near the ocean and don't get heavy frosts then this is the plum tree for you as it only needs about 200 chill hours.

Why Christmas? Well this Grafted Plum Tree produces it's golden plums just before Christmas. Why Is it the best. Because of the taste and because of the amount of flesh on each fruit. This is because of it's very tiny seed.

Every staff member at Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery agrees this is the Champion of plum trees that we grow and the one that gives us the most success.

Buy it now : http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/buy/plum-gulfgold-tree.htm
Learn More about chill hours

Exclusion Orchard with Bee Hive Pollination - Native Australian trigona bee

When setting up an exclusion orchard that is is fully netted in to keep fruit fly out. You do however need pollination and that is where you can get a native Australian Bee called Trigona. They are a stingless bee which do a great job pollinating.

Give a Friend a Fruit Tree this Christmas

Send Mail Order Fruit Trees to a friend or relative this Christmas. The last date to send is December the 16th.

Hailstorm Hitting Kyogle, Lismore, Casino

4pm just now (18 Nov 2013) outside of Kyogle the 3rd hailstorm in 3 days. Has anyone else been hit? Keep safe everyone.

Golf Ball Size Hail Stones

Can you Critique our new Video Format? Like ? Dislike ?

The Fruitful Video Goal

We want to arm you with the knowledge/education to grow some very productive fruit trees in your backyards + We want to make you so passionate you tell your friends about what you have done.

What can we do to reach this Goal?

Via our videos how can we convert your friends to tear up their pristine lawns and make it more fruitful.

Lastly please subscribe http://www.youtube.com/user/daleysfr

See All our Fruit Tree Videos (138 so far)

Video: Plum Tree - Gulf Ruby Fruit Tree

This is a Gulf ruby plum tree and it is a really great low chill plum so it is great if you are in warmer areas. It cross pollinates with all the other gulf series plums. So you can cross pollinate it with a gulf Gold or Gulf blade. They are really lovely delicious plum. Their skin is very waxy and if you just polish it up they are a beautiful bright red skinned plum with yellow flesh. When they are fully ripe they are really delicious but you can eat them fresh off the tree and they are a bit hard and a bit sour but tangy. I think this is a beautiful plum a really versatile plum.

Uses: Preserve them, Bottle them, Eat them Fresh or make Jam.

Buy the Gulf Ruby Plum Tree
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/buy/plum-gulf-ruby-tree.htm

Fruit Trees - Making the Most of your Backyard

Kath is from Western Australia says "I live on a 5 acre block of absolute rubbish grey sand south of Perth." BUT Look at what she has done with Kaths My Edibles Page.

f you want to share what plants you are growing in your Backyard like Kath you can go to the My Edibles Page.

Gulf Ruby Plum

Gulf Ruby plums, we have had a bumper crop on our gulf ruby plum this year. When fully ripe they are sweet and juicy. Cross pollinate with a Gulf Gold plum and then thin the fruits so the weight of them does not break the branches on your tree. You will still have enough fruit to feed the family, bottle and make jam too.

What is the difference between Yellow Jaboticaba Fruit Tree, Large Leaf Jaboticaba Fruit Trees or normal Jaboticabas Trees?

Answer: LOTS

Remember to subscribe to our youtube channel to get an email every time we upload a new video here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/daleysfr

Buy Jaboticabas Fruit Trees

Video: Yellow Jaboticaba Tree

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Lovely Lime Green foliage. The fruit is tangy but not super sweet and they are yellow. They sweet along the branches rather than along the trunk.

Buy the Yellow Jaboticaba Tree

Video: Jaboticaba Tree in Full Fruit

"....so if you have some space in your garden, grow a Jaboticaba Fruit Tree"

Video: Nectarine Tree Sunraycer Low Chill Stone Fruit

Buy Sunraycer Nectarine Tree
Low Chill Stone Fruit Tree - Nectarine Tree - Sunraycer DaleysFruit.com.au
Great for if you are in a
200-225 hour chill great for coastal & subtropical regions. Orange flesh nectarine, Home grown and organic.

Video: Tropical Apple Tree Grown Espalier

Buy Tropical Apple Tree

Video: Peachcot Ora A

Peachcot Ora A

Video: Yacon Apple of the Earth

Yacon Apple Of the Earth

Jaboticaba Large Leaf but Massive Fruit

We are feasting on large leaf jaboticabas, they are just as spectacular as the small leaf but bigger. What are you enjoying straight from your garden?

Jaboticaba Small Leaf but Massive Fruit

Peachcot Ora A used in the dehydrator because of Bumper Crop

In the full dryer we used 6kg of Peachcot Ora A Tree fruit. All we did was cut the cheeks of the peachcots and remove the seed, they are ready to dry.

Peachcot Ora A Tree

Peachcot Ora A in Dehydrator

Vanilla Vines for Sale - An Orchid with a Rich History

Who am I?

I am an orchid. My flowers bloom once a year for 12 hours where I give this one chance for pollination or else they shrivel and die. Only one bee can pollinate me in the world from Mexico the Melipona Bee. When they took me awayfrom here I could not reproduce and so was quickly wiped out until a 12 year old slave boy from France worked out how to hand pollinate me. I am now the 2nd most expensive spice after saffron yet everybody has tasted me and knows who I am. I am like a human life because after pollination it takes 9 months for me to develop....... I am a Vanilla Vine

Do you know anything else about Vanilla Vines? Please share them in the comments below.

We have Vanilla Vines for Sales

Why Peach and Plum Trees can Fruit a Years Supply of fruit each Season

Our Peachcot Ora A Tree is always a star performer. It is resistant to black spot and is the perfect mix between a peach and apricot. When it fruits you have more than enough so to get a years supply you just need yourself a food dehydrator that you can pack full and then use them in cakes, breakfast muesli and sweetening up a salad. But of course when eaten off the tree the high water content of this juicy fruit is oh so refreshing.

Peachcott Ora A

Our Plum Tree the Gulf Ruby needs a Gulf Gold to pollinate it. The two work perfectly together because it is Novemeber and we will have lots of fruit from this Gulf Ruby but when it is finished the Gulf Gold Plum tree will start fruiting.

Gulf Ruby Plum Tree

Angel Peach Subtropical - Grown Fruit Fly Free

With Australia introducing new laws to restrict fruit fly pesticide being used it makes you worry about what we have been eating all these years.

As always growing your own stone fruit in your backyard is both good for you by allowing you to get out in your own backyard and also with a bit of help from natural fruit fly bates and fruit fly nets you know exactly what you are getting when you pick your apricots, Nectarines and Plums this season.

Our favourite so far this season has been our Angel Peach Subtropical. Great for places that don't get much frost like Brisbane and Coastal areas.

Here is a picture of some that we have grown here at Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery

Angel Peach Subtropical

Raspberry Plant - Atherton Raspberry - Oh So Bright

If you are looking for a tasty little bush food to fit into a sunny corner look no further than the Atherton Raspberry. The fruits are highly attractive bright scarlet red berries that have a delicious sweet, juicy flavour and will be eagerly sought out by foraging children. And they fruit in winter when their are no other raspberries coming off, perfect for raspberry lovers.

Atherton Raspberry Plant

BRAZILIAN CHERRY Tree called Black Beauty, Yes they are Sweet

Many of us know all about the Brazilian Cherry in QLD and NSW as they often grow in public areas and in some places people would say that they are a weed they grow and fruit so well. They are known for being rich in vitamins but unless you get one that is perfectly ripe it is often too tart for many peoples pallets.

At Daleys we have got a new variety called Black Beauty it grows quick and has just covered in fruit each year but instead of turning bright deep red when it is ready to eat it turns black sometimes so black there is no red left in it. It is at this stage that you can eat them. The tartness is gone and the sweet juice almost like nectar floods your taste buds.

Check out our Brazilian Cherry the Black Beauty

Black Beauty Brazillian Cherry Tree

Black Brazilian Cherry Tree Called Black Beauty

Peach Tree Tropic Beauty - Low Chill Hours

Peach Trees with No Fruit fly and bursting with flavour from our orchard protected by fruit fly netting and also fruit fly bates. It may seem a hassle at first but after one bite of a tree ripened peach it is all worth while.

This variety has a very low chill hours (only 150 chill hours) so great for coastal areas that get little frost like Brisbane, The Gold Coast or Port Macquire and most of Sydney.

Peach Tree Tropic Beauty - Picture Taken 21st Oct 2013

Bundaberg Rare Fruit Newsletter

If you would like to know what is going on in QLD when it comes to rare fruit then you simply must check out the Bunaberg Rare fruit newsletter which is now online

October 2013:
http://www.rarefruitaustralia.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Grapevine-2013-Oct-MID-RES1.pdf

August 2013:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~childers381/Grapevine-2013-Aug-HI-RES.pdf

June 2013:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~childers381/Grapevine-2013-June-MID-RES.pdf

April 2013:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~childers381/Grapevine-2013-Apr-HI-RES.pdf

Soursop Tree for Sale in Australia

Australia has many places like QLD and NSW where the weather is similar to Mexico or central America where the soursop tree originated. If you have high humidity and warm winters then your backyard needs a new family member the Soursop Tree.

Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery sells quite a few varieties such as the Soursop Mountain Tree and the Soursop Kyogle Fruit Tree. These selections are grafted and will fruit much quicker and have a proven taste, size and texture that can be a gamble with a seedling tree.

Cancer Treatment

Many people have said that the soursop can be used as a Cancer Cure. Facebook and other Social Media platforms especially have shared this information. A silver bullet like eating one fruit does sound too good to be true however one thing that has been shown time and time again in the fight against cancer is eating a diet high in Fruit, Nut & Vegetables does reduce your risk of getting many common cancers and even when you do get cancer this diet is the one you are often forced to go on.

The variety of fruit that can be grown in Australia is a wonderland with our amazing climate. So a varied diet should be available to everyone by growing fruit trees in your backyard that you can not easily or economically buy in the grocery store. The Soursop would fit this ethos perfectly.

I recommend a grafted variety that costs more initially but produces fruit faster and will likely taste better.

Photo taken October 2013 in Brisbane QLD

Close up of Soursop Tree

Soursop Tree in All It's Glory

* Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery advices that you seek professional medical advice from your doctor before making changes to your diet or prescribed medication.

Avocado - Worlds Most Nutritious Fruit

Spring is a great time to get your teeth stuck into the many wonderful Tropical Fruit Trees that can be grown in Australia. Here is a picture of me taking this to new heights.

I visited tropical fruit world last weekend and got a brand new love for the World's Most Nutritious Fruit. The Avocado Tree. My tour guide told me this because he said "they contain almost all essential nutrients for us". Also he told me "They have more dietary fiber than any other fruit.". Being so smooth, creamy and delicious this was a surprise.

Lots more photos and fruity knowledge I learnt to come :)

Taste testing mulberries

I love mulberry season, the trees fruit prolifically and could well be my favourite fruit of all times. I gathered a selection from the orchard this morning and we tried them all out at morning tea time.

The pick of the day was the Angela, these are an unusual coloured fruit that I often describe as blonde/black, they are a pale purplish colour, sweet and are a good sized fruit.

Gayes Pink was also very popular, it may be only small but it has a delicious flavour and is very sweet. It was the sweetest of the fruits on the table this morning.

Of the black mulberries the Dwarf Black and the Hicks Fancy are very similar, both have a lively tang to them that makes them the ideal fruits for baking into pies or making mulberry jam with. The Dwarf Black is my favourite fruit as it is so prolific and I love the slightly sour flavour. The Beenleigh Black has beautiful large, luscious looking fruits but they did not win the tast testing competition.

Grafted Lychee Trees Fruit Quick

Paula from Worongary, QLD, AU says of her Lychee Wai Chee Tree.

"This tree hardley ever gets fed or watered and just thrives."

From the picture though you will notice Paula has netted her lychee tree. When they are red and delicious no bird, possum, bat or human can resist them.

Please check out what a detailed job Paula has done on her my edibles page.

You can create your own My Edibles Page here:

Things to know about Lychee Trees

1. The lychee Trees that Daleys sell like

Lychee - Salathiel
Lychee - Wai Chee
Lychee - Bosworth 3
Lychee - Kiamana

They are grafted so you get fruit years earlier than a seedling. They are "true to type" so you know you are getting small seeds and lots of flesh and taste superb.

2. The first 2 years of your lychee tree are crucial if you get cold weather so make sure you heap up the mulch and perhaps cover it so that it will not die from a frost.

3. When the flowers appear don't let them get wet. If it looks like raining then get out your umbrellas or tarp and protect them at all costs :)

4. Lychees are best eaten in a hammock in the shade on a hot summers day and by yourself if supplies are limited.

Fig Black Genoa

The Fig Black Genoa Tree is very popular this Spring. They start fruiting very quickly from when you purchase them and when you get a big crop and figs are selling for $2.99 each you get that gloating feeling in the supermarket.

Also a fresh fig tastes heavenly.

Spring Tip: When picking the fruit make sure you wear a long sleeved shirt as rubbing your arms up against the big luscious leaves can cause irritation.

Blooming Beautiful

Spring has sprung and the heady scent of citrus blossoms is filling the air. The orchard is buzzing with bees who are out and about enjoying the spring blossom and clear blue sunny days, just like all the passionate gardeners amongst us.

If your citrus trees are only small we would recommend that your remove any small fruits for the first two years, as heart breaking as this may seem it will give your tree the time it needs to establish into a strong healthy plant before you let it concentrate its precious energy on fruit production.

Citrus trees are highly productive trees and you can see from the number of flowers that your tree will produce more flowers and often set more fruit that it can hold to maturity. Citrus will naturally abort excess fruit but you may also choose to thin your fruits as this will give you less fruit but they will be larger in size.

Fertilise your tree once it has finished flowering and the tree has set small fruits. Use a balanced NPK fertiliser with trace elements. Don't make the mistake of using a high nitrogen fertiliser while your tree is flowering or you will get a mass of beautiful new leaf growth but no fruit.

Enjoy your spring blossoms and happy citrus growing.

Creating Your Avocado Trees

Avocado Seed In our very Hot & Humid Polyhouse

Seperate the Seeds that were successful

Some Time Later in another Poly House

Grafting onto the above Seedling the Bacon Variety

Boxes of Fruit Trees being Mail Ordered to backyards around Australia

Spring means our Staff have been busy packing boxes of fruit trees. They will make their trip to backyards all around Australia.

From 3rd September 2013 ( The start of Spring )

The 3 most popular plants in these boxes were 1.Coffee Trees, 2. Blueberry Sharpblue Plants, 3. Finger Lime Trees.

Painting the Trunks of Trees with Copper, Lime and Paint

Peach Tree - Florida Prince

I always wondered why people paint the trunks of deciduous trees. They often use Copper, Lime, House Paint and water all equal parts.

The reason is that it stops sunburn and bacterial diseases like fungal rot. So a great "Pro-Tip" to get longevity from your fruit trees.

Atherton Raspberry

If you are looking for a tasty little bush food to fit into a sunny corner look no further than the Atherton Raspberry. The fruits are highly attractive bright scarlet red berries that are about the same size as a normal raspberry but are a little more relaxed in their shape. They have a delicious sweet, juicy flavour and will be eagerly sought out by foraging children. They ripen in winter and spring when no others raspberries are in fruit so they will extend your fruiting season if you are a raspberry lover. The plants are very thorny so are best kept under control with regular pruning and make sure they are planted back from pathways to avoid being snagged. If you don't eat them all in the garden and manage to get some back to your kitchen they can be made into delicious jam or raspberry sauce.

Peach Blossoms - Spring Is coming

Peach blossoms. Brightening up the orchard and a clear sign that spring has sprung. Not to mention they are simply beautiful.

The Difference Between Citrus Trees

What is the difference between a Meyer Lemon and a Eureka Lemon?

What about Grapefruit varieties, Orange Tree varieties and Mandarines Trees

This is Bad News 7 in 100 Kids have fruit for breakfast

And this includes Fruit Juice. So this makes you wonder how many kids had a whole piece of fruit for breakfast?

Even Worse News
None in 100 said that fruit was their favourite food. But earlier in 2006 it was 9 in 100. Oh the humanity !!!!!

Biased Solution from Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery
When kids grow up with fruit trees in their backyard and put effort into nurturing those fruit trees and then partake in the "Fruits of their Labour" then this 7 in 100 is going to go up to 100 in 100.

John Picone's Orchard - Perhaps Best Home Orchard Ever.

At the end of the day, we were all feeling happy and well fed. We were also very sticky and we left Johns orchard trailing the scent of fresh passionfruit behind us.