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14 - 20 JANUARY 2011 8-14 JANUARY 2010
Look after your fruit trees today and have great harvests tomorrow by
Clodagh & Dick Handscombe Practical gardeners and authors
IN ADDITION to doing the winter cutback and cleaning up flowering plants and trees during the winter months, fruit plants, bushes and trees also need attention, the main tasks being pruning, winter sprays, fertilising, clearing away weeds and cleaning up rotting oranges and persimmons. It is also a good time to plant up new fruits except in very frosty gardens when it is wise to wait until the worst of the frosts and ice are past. Pruning needs to take into account the type of tree, it’s age, it’s health, the most appropriate shape and size for your garden and whether the prime reason for your having fruit trees is the spring blossom or the maximum fruit crop. For instance, our 22-year-old perpetual lemon tree has just been pruned to improve its visual shape. Take out half the central growth to let air in and reduce the chance of pests, and
trim back recently fruited end growth to stimulate a larger crop of flowers and fruit. Being a perpetual flowering tree and creating fruit to harvest throughout the year we have also applied some well rotted horse manure around the tree – not against the trunk as this can cause rotting of the bark but from two feet away to the drip line where fine roots below the earth wait for raindrops to fall off the tree and dissolve some of the nutrients from the rotting manure. Come the spring we will also give the leaves a nutrient spray if some leaves have been caught by air frosts during the winter. By the way, if you do not have a perpetual fruiting lemon tree, plant one up this winter or spring. Look out for the Lunar, Cuatro Estaciones or Eureka varieties. In the soft fruit area of the garden we have pruned the redcurrant bushes and planted up the longer prunings as a row to hopefully double the dozen bushes we currently have and runners from our cultivated and wild strawberries were removed and planted up this week to replace some oldish plants and expand our production. Likewise raspberry cuttings invading an adjacent asparagus bed
Pruning needs to take into account the type of tree, it’s age, it’s health
have been dug out and used to create an additional row and to enable a friend to also have a tasty row of raspberries this summer. THERE IS A BOOK TO PREVENT AND SOLVE PROBLEMS As often happens we run out of space which is why we wrote ‘Growing Healthy Fruit in Spain- from strawberries to oranges and watermelons’. It will help you prevent and solve the many problems, often selfcreated, experienced by expatriates in their Spanish gardens and orchards and when growing fruit trees in containers on apartment terraces and rooftops. The book covers the growing of some 70 types of fruits with advice on which are best on the coast and in inland situations,
what in pots on rooftops and what in mixed gardens and orchards, what and how to buy, how to plant correctly, watering feeding and pruning needs, avoiding and reducing pest problems etc.. It is now recognised as the bible for growing fruit in Spain – in a Google search a minute ago the book came up as six of the first page of ten items out of an internet listing of six million related items. Now is a good time to buy it as many plantings can be made now and many need pruning during the winter cut back season. You will find it in bookshops such as Bookworld and the book section of Carrefour if not sold out, or you can buy from internet bookshops such as Santana Books, Amazon and The Royal Horticultural society.
Clodagh and Dick’s practical gardening books will be found to be useful for both experienced and new gardeners coming to Spain. The useful quartet of books can be obtained from bookshops or by email from the websites of Amazon, Santana Books, Bookworld and The Royal Horticultural Society. © Clodagh and Dick Handscombe www.gardeninginspain.com Januray 2011.
Green
Zapper
1/2 Pineapple 1 small red finger Chilli 3 oz of Watercress 1/2 Lime with skin 1/2 Avocado (makes 2 glasses)
THIS JUICE is very energising owing to the combinations of sugars: a good source of beta-carotene and folic acid for strong growth and immunity. It cleanses the liver of toxins and aids digestion. The chilli helps to lower cholesterol and stimulates circulation. Peel the pineapple and halve the chilli and remove the seeds. Juice the pineapple, chilli, watercress and lime. Add the juice to the blender along with the flesh of the avocado and blend until smooth. PINEAPPLES contain vitamin C, potassium, iron and folic acid. Their juice cleanses the intestines and also helps to boost the immune system. CHILLI PEPPERS contains vitamins A and C, iodine, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. They have a
positive effect on blood cholesterol, stimulate, tonic, antiseptic, anti-bacterial, relieves mucous, decongestant and a stomach muscle relaxer WATERCRESS contains beta carotene, iron, vitamins A, C and E and potassium. It is a diuretic, cleanses the intestines, stimulates appetite and a natural antibiotic LIME contains beta-carotene, folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, potassium and bioflavonoids AVOCADOS contain potassium, essential fatty acids, vitamins A, B, C and E, riboflavin, iron, calcium, copper, phosphorous, zinc, niacin, magnesium and folic acid. A great anti oxident and one of the most energy dense fruits
These recipes are supplied by The Kamala Centre. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at The Kamala Centre on office@thekamalacentre.com or call us on 965 985 869. If you would like a copy of any of these recipes you can download them at our website www.thekamalacentre.com www.obsidianretreat.com