WINTER CHILLIN’
RACHEL VOGAN highlights crops that need our attention now.
Bust out the berries
Little compares to the satisfaction of devouring home-grown, sweet and delicious berries. Many of my berries never make it inside – I can often be found scoffing them in the garden as soon as I pick them!
By getting a few basics right now, you will set up the platform for an abundant crop. It is all about choosing the right spot, pruning correctly, providing protection from birds and keeping the plants well fed.
Full sun is a staple for all berries – both sunlight and heat are required to ripen the fruit. However, that does not mean they need to be protected from frosts or low temperatures. Berries require a period of winter cold to stimulate fruit development, so do not be tempted to plant berries in a heated tunnel house.
Large pots and containers are good options for berries. Try planting taller berries, like boysenberries, in the centre of a barrel and underplant with strawberries.
BERRY DIFFERENT
Not all berries grow the same way. Some mature into large trees, such as the mulberry; some are shrubs, such as blueberry, the prickly Worcesterberry and gooseberry; others form climbing and rambling plants, such as boysenberry and blackberry; and then there are the ground-covering strawberries and orangeberries.
BERRIES WITH BENEFITS
Not only do berries taste amazing, but they also provide numerous other benefits and uses.
1. BOOST THE BODY
Berries are a good source of nutrients, fibre and antioxidants.
2. COVER THE GROUND
Strawberries and orangeberries can be used as reliable and productive ground covers.
3. ADD VISUAL APPEAL
Many berries add welcome form and texture to the garden with colourful and interesting foliage.
4. CONCEAL GARDEN STRUCTURES
Climbing berries, like blackberry and boysenberry, can cover up ugly walls and fences.
5. FEED THE POLLINATORS
Berry flowers are good food sources for bees and other pollinating insects.
FREE BERRIES
Numerous berries readily grow from hardwood cuttings taken in winter. This is a super easy and efficient way to increase berry plant numbers. Select strong healthy stems of gooseberry, Worcesterberry, boysenberry, blackberry or tayberry and make 10–15cm long cuttings. Insert into free-draining potting mix, water and place in a sunny spot. Roots will appear in late spring.
10 OF THE BEST
1. Mulberry
Sweet ebony-black berries smother this large deciduous oak-like tree. Once the berries are ripe, you will need to be quick as the birds love them. Early settlers brought cuttings of black mulberries to New Zealand, which is why large 10m trees can be found in some of the country’s oldest gardens. This is a berry for a large garden – allow five years from planting for the plant to start fruiting abundantly.
2. Blueberry
Hardy and tolerant of cold temperatures, blueberries form a mounding shrub, with a habit that can be trimmed into a hedge. Consider using them as an ornamental shrub as the charming bluish-grey foliage, which turns to shades of pink, red and orange in autumn, is highly attractive. Some varieties are self-fertile; however, I would recommend planting a few to encourage better pollination (and you can never have too many blueberries!). Blueberries prefer a slightly acidic soil and are an ideal plant for large patio tubs and urns.
3. Worcesterberry
This mid-sized deciduous shrub, Ribes divaricatum is a member of the currant and gooseberry family. The fruit is super tasty, like a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry, but sweeter. Harvest when black. The plants have sharp thorns, but do not let that put you off planting them – the berries are too delicious!
4. Gooseberry
An old-fashioned fruit, which forms a dense medium-sized shrub, the gooseberry is a tough easy-care plant that’s easy to grow from cuttings. Pretty pale-green flowers appear in spring and quickly develop into large marble-sized fruits in early summer. The prickly stems are exposed in winter when the plants drop their leaves.
5. Raspberry
One of summer’s favourite berries, raspberries also fruit in autumn, with some varieties producing two crops in one growing season. The stems are tall and require support to keep the fruit from falling onto the ground. The trick with raspberries is to prune them at the right time of year. Prune early-season varieties as soon as they have finished fruiting to allow next season’s growing stems to form; prune late raspberries back in winter or spring to force new fruiting wood to appear in the next season.
6. Tayberry
A cross between a red raspberry and a blackberry, it was named after the Tay River in Scotland. The fruit is slightly larger than that of its parents, with the red fruit turning black when ripe. Once established, the plants reliably produce sweet dark fruit in summer.
7. Blackberry
With modern plant breeding, non-invasive blackberry hybrids have been developed for the home garden. These quick-growing and sometimes thornless varieties pump out piles of fruit without taking over the garden.
8. Boysenberry
Large super-sweet berries appear on the tall rambling stems of the boysenberry plant. In autumn, the foliage changes from dark green to rich plum-red, making the plant very ornamental. Find a spot where the long stems can be supported year after year. At least 2m of width is required. Prune to limit the size of the plant, as required.
9. Strawberry
Super sweet and nutritious, strawberries do not need a lot of room to grow, but full sun and a fertile soil are essential. Strawberry plants should be replanted every three or so years – over time, the mother plant’s ability to fruit reduces.
10. Orangeberry
This is a ground-covering woody plant that forms a dense mat of leaves, which quickly covers the ground. From midsummer, small, orange-coloured berries appear on top of the foliage. These are sweet and pleasant tasting. Being an evergreen, it is a plant that has year-round appeal.
Other crops to plant now LEAFY GREENS
An easy way to grow tasty fresh greens without having to do a lot is to grow seedlings of leafy greens in a bag of vegetable potting mix. Simply lay a bag of mix on its side, poke a few drainage holes into one side, turn over and cut in a few planting holes on the top side. Plant ready-grown seedlings of leafy greens like kale, silver beet, spinach and parsley. You could squeeze in eight to 12 plants.
YAMS
It is time to put aside some yummy, scrummy yams to sprout, in readiness for planting in spring. Seed yams are available in the shops. Yams from the supermarket will grow if they have not been treated with anything that prevents them from sprouting; however, the resulting crops from these ones are generally slightly smaller. Lay the seed stock on a tray or in a box somewhere away from moisture to sprout, a process that can take six to eight weeks.
Plant into well-worked soil in mid-spring. A long-term crop, yams will take about eight months to fully mature.
SHALLOTS
These sweet-tasting miniature members of the onion family are just delicious – and they are super easy to grow. Plants readily germinate from seed or seed bulbs can be planted. With the seeds, sow in trays and prick out once the plants are big enough to handle – the seedlings are exceptionally fine. If planting bulbs, poke half the bulb into the ground and leave the tip sitting just above the ground. Growing from bulbs will produce a large shallot, whereas seeds will produce a larger quantity of smaller shallots.
SILVER BEET
Low-maintenance and abundant, this crop deserves every accolade it gets. From the pretty rainbow-coloured hybrids to the large dark-green varieties, all look attractive. From planting seedlings to picking leaves, allow three months at this time of year. Once mature, plants keep producing leaves for six to eight months. Full sun is ideal, but it will crop in a shady spot at a slower growth rate. Silver beet thrives in tubs and buckets.
A punnet of six plants will feed a family of four easily for a meal or two a week.