Fruit, vegetables, herbs

163 Pages·2012·39.273 MB·English

by  Mason, John

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B Y J O H N M A S O N
CONTENTS
CREDITS 4
About the author 5
John l. Mason 5
CHAPTER 1 FOOD FROM THE GARDEN 6
What can you produce in your garden? 6
CHAPTER 2 DECIDING WHAT TO GROW 10
CHAPTER 3 SUCCESSFUL GROWING 13
Light 15
Temperature 16
Soil 16
Nutrition 18
Water 21
Wind 23
Cold and the garden 23
Different growing methods 25
Where to get helpful information 26
CHAPTER 4 FRUITS 27
Introduction - fruit trees for all climates 27
How to develop an espalier on a wall 29
Good backyard fruit trees for a range of climates 30
CHAPTER 4 PART I – DECIDUOUS FRUIT TREES 31
Winter chilling requirements 31
Pests and diseases 35
Deciduous fruit encyclopedia 38
Bare-rooted fruit trees 42
Pruning deciduous fruit trees 42
CHAPTER 4 PART 2 – CITRUS FRUITS 46
Tolerance to different climates 46
How to grow healthy citrus 47
Citrus species 50
CHAPTER 4 PART 3 – TROPICAL FRUITS 57
What fruits when 57
CHAPTER 4 PART 4 – BERRIES 69
Berry fruit 69
CHAPTER 4 PART 5 – NUTS 87
Introduction to nut growing 87
Commonly grown nuts 89
CHAPTER 4 PART 6 – VINE CROPS 96
Grape varieties 100
CHAPTER 4 PART 7 – USING PRODUCE 103
What to do with excess fruit 103
CHAPTER 5 VEGETABLES 115
Why grow vegetables? 115
The site 116
Choosing what to grow 120
Feeding and watering 121
Planning the cropping programme 121
Pests and diseases of vegetables 123
CHAPTER 6 MUSHROOMS 132
Four easy steps to growing mushrooms 132
CHAPTER 7 SPECIAL GROWING TECHNIQUES 138
Growing produce in containers 138
Hydroponics 143
Permaculture gardening 149
More special growing techniques 156
APPENDIX 159
Acs global partners 163
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CREDITS
© Copyright: John Mason Disclaimer
The information in this book is derived
Written by:
from a broad cross section of resources
John Mason Dip.Hort.Sc. FIOH, FAIH,
(research, reference materials
FPLA
and personal experience) from the
authors and editorial assistants in the
Photos: John and Leonie Mason
academic department of ACS Distance
Education. It is, to the best of our
Editorial and Research Assistants:
knowledge, composed as an accurate
Rosemary Davies
representation of what is accepted
Marie Beerman
and appropriate information about the
Gavin Cole
subject, at the time of publication.
Adriana Fraser
The authors fully recognise that
First published in 2012 as an e-book
knowledge is continually changing,
and awareness in all areas of study
Published by ACS Distance is constantly evolving. As such, we
Education encourage the reader to recognise
that nothing they read should ever
P O Box 2092, Nerang MDC, be considered to be set in stone.
Queensland, Australia, 4211 They should always strive to broaden
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As such, the publisher and author do
ISBN: 978-0-9873176-6-7 not accept any liability for actions taken
by the reader based upon their reading
of this book.
PAGE 4
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John is a well respected member of
JOHN L. MASON
many professional associations, and
author of over thirty five books and of
Dip.Hort.Sc., Sup’n Cert., FIOH, FPLA,
over two thousand magazine articles.
MAIH, MACHPER, MASA
Even today, John continues to write
books for various publishers including
Mr Mason has had over 35 years
Simon and Shuster, and Landlinks Press
experience in the fields of Horticulture,
(CSIRO Publishing).
Recreation, Education and Journalism.
He has extensive experience both as a
public servant, and as a small business
owner. John has held positions ranging
from Director of Parks and Recreation
(City of Essendon) to magazine editor.
The author, John Mason, at Monet’s
Garden in Giverny outside Paris.
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CHAPTER 1 FOOD FROM THE GARDEN
Home grown produce somehow has a special quality. Some say
it tastes better, others believe it is just healthier. And there is no
doubt it is cheaper!
Watching plants grow from seed to
harvest and knowing that the armful of
vegies and herbs you have just gathered
for the evening meal will be on the table
within an hour or two of harvest, can be
an exciting and satisfying experience.
Believe it or not, you can grow a lot of
food on a standard quarter acre block.
The key to success is planning. Choose
what you grow, how you grow it and how
much you grow, very carefully. There is
always the danger of having heaps of
spinach and not enough strawberries,
and who prefers to eat spinach instead
Nuts, great in cooking or on their own
of strawberries with cream?
WHAT CAN YOU PRODUCE
IN YOUR GARDEN?
What you produce from your garden
will depend on the amount of space
that you have. Obviously the larger the
property the more potential you will
have to produce a large variety of crops.
Large properties can support a range
of fruit trees, vines, vegetables, herbs,
grains and even hay and straw as well
as animals and chickens.
Of course you can grow more produce
given more land. You may also be more
successful in a mild climate with good
rainfall, th an in a dry one; it is still
possible however to grow at least some
food, just about anywhere, and in any
climate and circumstance.
■ Herbs for cooking and sprouts
for salads can be produced on a
Lemons are indispensable in the kitchen
kitchen bench.
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■ A balcony, veranda or courtyard There is a wide range of vegetables
can produce buckets of vegetables, and fruiting plants that will grow well in
berries and herbs if you go about it pots and containers. So if space is fairly
the right way. limited - you can still enjoy the joys and
rewards of growing some of your own
■ Even an arid desert garden can fruits and vegetables. The smaller the
produce food, if you choose property though the more thought you
appropriate plants and apply a few will need to give to what you do and
horticultural tricks to the way you don’t grow. Ask yourself what would I
grow them. like to produce? Then take it from there.
Vegetable gardens can create ambience
On a small property, you will need to use ■ Verandas and balconies - for
all your available space efficiently too. growing potted plants that need
Make an inventory of your garden and extra protection, or use as a potting
think about how each feature or structure area, or for tool storage, or for
could be used or modified to produce drying herbs and other produce.
something. Here are some examples:
■ Garden shed - add a lean-to shade-
■ Walls, fences - for supporting house, greenhouse or chicken run.
climbing plants and espaliers;
to shelter plants and to improve ■ Pergolas - to support climbers.
fruit ripening.
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■ Swimming pool - convert to an
aquaculture garden that supports
fish, ducks and productive water
plants.
■ Incorporate terraces supported by
retaining walls on sloping sites.
■ Rotate vegetable and crop plantings to
get the most out of each bed of soil.
■ Make the most of window boxes, pot
stands and shelving in greenhouses
Delicious fruit pies
USE GREENHOUSES
Greenhouse growing is another
possibility that will help to protect crops
from weather extremes. It allows you
to modify the climate to control the
conditions that will prevent heat stress,
cold temperatures, drying winds or
lack of soil moisture and soil nutrients.
And it can help you control pollination.
Furthermore a green house will also
give you added protection from such
pests as birds, rabbits or other animals
chomping through all your hard work!
Greenhouses protect herbs from
extreme weather conditions
A decorative platter of fresh produce
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You may choose to have your pecking in your garden beds or around
greenhouse set up with a hydroponic your pots and fertilizing the soil at the
system so all the plants are same time.
automatically fed and watered through
the growing season for you. This of Alternatively you may already be hooked
course may be your worst nightmare on growing vegetables and want to set
approach to growing produce! You may up a much larger and more serious
prefer organic techniques with plants growing area, so you can grow enough
growing in organically enriched soils, in to sell through market stalls or to locals.
raised beds or pots. You might like to
use chickens to control insect pests -
The sky is the limit for your new interest!
The best: freshly picked and cooked produce
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CHAPTER 2 DECIDING WHAT TO GROW
There are hundreds of different food plants that can be grown at
home, ranging from fruits and vegetables to herbs, nuts, berries,
vines, mushrooms and more.
The plants chosen can be plants that ■ Consider what you use the most. If
grow well in a garden located in the you eat lots of apples and potatoes,
tropics, gardens located in temperate then grow those. Growing and
or cool climates and they may be producing the fruits and vegetables
deciduous, evergreen or a collection of you and your family like the most
these. The challenge is to choose the can make a sizable reduction to
right combination to suit your family. the overall food budget. There is
no point growing large amounts of
But whatever you decide you should be what no one wants to eat, through
aware that different types of plants will it is exciting to try a couple of new
yield different results, and you need to varieties of vegetables you have
carefully select what you will grow and never eaten purely to see if it is
where you will grow it (particularly if something you may like to include in
you have limited space or limited time in your growing plan for the future.
which to care for crops).
Consider the Following:
■ Some plants require more attention
than others (e.g. many soft fruits need
pest and disease control and pruning,
while nuts and citrus need less).
■ Be aware that even though it may
seem ridiculous, it is sometimes
possible to buy something for less
than it might cost you to grow it.
On the plus side though, if you
have grown it yourself, you know
what chemicals have been used in
the production and you also know
exactly how fresh it is. Though
sometimes store bought produce
may be cheaper, generally its ‘
shelf life’ or storage qualities may
be less than half that of home grown
produce, so you may even need to
buy two or three lots from the store
to cover the time that fresh home
grown produce will last in your
Apple trees are great for the home garden
own storage.
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