Edible garden: A little fruity

Prepare your apple trees for the colder weather to come. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

It's time to get your fruiting trees prepared for winter, advises Janice Marriott.

Deciduous fruit trees like apples, pears and plums have given their all for another year, so prepare them well for winter.

Sprinkle lime around the trunks and keep the area around your trees clean. It's important not to leave fruit to rot on the ground because insects will use the fruit as homes in which to incubate the next generation of fruit-eating pests. Bury the fallen fruit in the compost or directly into the garden.

When all the leaves have fallen, rake them into a pile to turn into the best-compost-ever leaf mould.

If you have a columnar apple tree, be extra careful at this time of year. Because they have short branches there are many crannies in which disease spores and insects can settle.

I blast these trees with the hose then spray them with copper oxychloride.

My Ballarat apple tree is hugely prolific at the moment. It's the perfect apple for making sauce as it fluffs up as soon as you heat it. Peel and core the fruit then cook with a little sugar and cinnamon. Serve with cream or icecream. What could be simpler?