A list that I have worked on and keep adding to and adjusting is what fruit is available for harvest in each month of the year. Photo / Supplied
A list that I have worked on and keep adding to and adjusting is what fruit is available for harvest in each month of the year. Photo / Supplied
One of my favourite parts of the garden is edible plants. Vegetables, stone fruit, berry fruit, citrus to name a fraction of what is available and what we are lucky enough to be able to grow in Whanganui's temperate climate.
Many people share the ideology that it would be greatto be able to eat off the land and know what goes into your food.
A list that I have worked on and keep adding to and adjusting is what fruit is available for harvest in each month of the year. Today's column publishes the most recent version of this.
Living in Whanganui, touted as the fourth most temperate climate in the world, we climatically can grow and harvest fresh fruit every month of the year. If one was to be living in a colder climate this would not be possible, but it would be possible to grow, harvest and store fruit for use every month of the year.
So delving into a large number of sources, this column outlines the varieties of fruit that can be grown in Whanganui and harvested fresh each month. I will be interested to hear from any gardeners who read this and can shed more precision, or any correction on harvest times of fruit varieties. As the harvest time is based on climatic conditions and some books and catalogues do not specify the area for which they are written, harvest may vary by a few weeks.
If this inspires you then get cracking, now is a great time to be planting fruit trees in your garden. Many varieties that are only available in the garden centre seasonally are in store now with limited stocks. So take advantage of the moist soils, make your selection in store and you too can have a year round fruit harvest at your place.
Stone fruit pest watch – time to spray for curly leaf protection
With a great run of warmer days in July, the buds on peaches and nectarines are certainly looking close to swelling so keep an eye on them. The moment they start to move apply Freeflo copper and Enspray 99 oil to prevent curly leaf and get rid of any residual insect problems. These two products can be mixed together.
These certified organic oil and copper sprays can be used on all fruit trees as a winter clean-up which will remove over-wintering insect larvae and kill fungus spores. This will reduce pest and disease incidence in the coming summer. We recommend doing this spray combination twice two weeks apart.
Brown-rot on peaches. Photo / Supplied
Time soon to spray for protection against brown rot that destroys peaches, nectarines and sometimes apricots and plums, just as they ripen. Many come looking for a remedy each year when their fruit is rotting – the only fix for this is preventative spraying soon. Make sure you have on hand Yates Fungus Fighter to spray once at commencement of flowering, once in full bloom, once at petal fall and once at shuck fall.
•Gareth Carter is general manager of Springvale Garden Centre
