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Thursday 2nd February, 2017



Hi


There are Wheenys and then there are Wheenys and before anyone jumps to the idea of anything well.... of a more manly connotation, this is strictly about grapefruit.  Don't ask me how this cultivar of grapefruit got this rather dubious name other than in my opinion that its the most... sourest of grapefruit or should I say the most grapefruit of flavours.  Must confess that I haven't had Seville orange as marmalade to compare, well of the homemade kind anyways.

Now I have to say here and now that I am not really a grapefruit fan, though some may say that I'm into Wheenys, but even the sweeter versions of Morrisons Seedless, Golden Special and Cutlers Red don't cut the mustard with me but I do adore Marmalade of any kind on my Vogel toast in the morning. 

The truth is that I used to give dad (Pete) a bag of grapefruit, a large bag of sugar and say Dad (in that tone that all children use as a big con) ..... will you make us some marmalade please and of course he would.
There was no marmalade left in our pantry and no Pete around to make my favourite spread so I saw that there were a few Wheenys left on the tree (that the possums hadn't found) so I thought to myself.... I am just going to have to give this a go..... it can't be that difficult and I have the inbuilt knowledge of what Dad did and said.

Take those grapefruit and turn them into something way more tasty than you can buy from the supermarket. I googled the basics and learnt that 2 kilos of fruit, need 2 kilos of sugar and 2 litres of water.
Wash and slice the grapefruit very thinly with a sharp knife. Forget those fancy gadgets and do it by hand as this makes the best result. Place in a non metallic container and soak overnight... I don't know why, but dad did this too.  

Next day, tip all into a tall pot and boil for 40 mins quite quickly, then lower the temp and add 2 kg of sugar until dissolved  and then bring back up to a rapid boil.
Boil for one hour at a fast boil, stirring at regular intervals so that it doesn't stick but start testing for readiness at 50 to 55 minutes.
For me this is the tricky part.
I took a saucer from the freezer so it was cold so I could drizzle jam off the wooden spoon onto the saucer to test it. If a skin formed then it was going to set.
I had jars with seals at the ready, washed and sterilised either in the oven or with boiling water. I found that even the little half size Agee jars are good with seals and screw tops or I could reuse jam jars with seal lids.

Now Harry's sister in law, Lyn, happened to be around  and advised that adding the juice of a lemon to the mix just on setting time would also help, so that is what I did.
 
I often say observation of plants helps make a good gardener and obviously this would apply to cooking too, the more batches you make will help teach you when its going to set. My first two batches were winners so I think that I was lucky or Pete was watching... not long enough your jam will be runny and too long you will end up with toffee. Too runny you can reboil but marmalade toffee .... well!!!

I am going to have to try my hand at some different forms of marmalade with other kinds of citrus as we often have an abundance of limes, lemons and oranges. I imagine that the equal weight of fruit and sugar must be pretty much a jam preserving rule.
      
Symptoms of Summer
Goodness I think that over the last week summer finally arrived, Daytime temps seemed to hover around the mid to late 20's and the sun was out and brightly shining.

Interestingly, some plants feel the intense heat and you can see the physical effects of such intense temps. Roses are a classic plant that shows symptoms of prolonged heat with much reduced flower size and the flower colour may be faded or washed out due to the high light levels. The first blooms of spring are much more true to colour than say those in the heat of summer and of course the Autumn flush will. I will add here that the blooms in the heat of summer blow much more quickly too.

Leaves that have gone yellow in the centre of your rose bush and then drop is a sure sign of a shortage of water. In the nursery all our plants are in bags, but just one day being short of water will result in yellowing leaves that drop. Of course plants in the ground have far more of a buffer than those in bags.
If you are going to water, then water long and deep. A soak hose going all night is the way to go as watering is targeted and constant. Water in the morning or evening, though if a plant is in desperate need of water it doesn't matter when you do it. Long deep watering should last for 7 to 10 days and is much better for the soil.

There is so much good in using mulches and composts in the garden and especially during the summer time.
Mulch layers like shredded bark help keep the soil moist by preventing evapotranspiration. They also tend to facilitate water being absorbed and of course will help hold water in their own right. 
Plants like roses, while under duress of water shortage and intense heat, will increase their susceptibility to fungal infections like black spot.  Black spot symptoms are leaf yellowing, black spots and also leaf drop.

Another common affliction of intense heat and dry weather are mites that cause a faded looking yellowish
leaf. If you can imagine these little mites all sucking the chlorophyll out from the underside of the leaves with the end result being scruffy looking yellowish leaves. They are pretty tiny to view and I used to be able to see them but these days I only manage to see the damage they do.
 
Mites don't like being wet so hosing the underside of the leaves is a good way to deter them without using chemicals but you have to do it regularly.  We have a weeping orange in a pot that got mites and Harry wet the underside of the leaves every time he watered it and this has cleaned the little blighters up... 
Conqueror oil will also work but this one must cover 100 % of mites to work so will need repeat applications to gain control. 
Pour on cattle drench will also work at the rate of 1 ml per litre of water if you are friendly with someone that keeps animals.

I always think of summer as another dormant season caused by the lack of available water and you can often see trees with the same symptoms as our roses with yellowing leaves which they shed some in order to conserve moisture.


Whats Coming...  forward book yours now
Eucryphia Nymansay... now we have a Eucryphia in our garden and its just gorgeous. An evergreen tree of quite an upright habit and smothers itself with largish buttercup shaped white flowers. We don't often get these different type trees and the one that we have in our garden has done so well, its a shame that these are not more freely available. 

Chillis .... for those that like it hot and I mean hot. We had to get a few more of these in as they sold quite quickly apparently these are the hottest on the market. Choose from Carolina Reaper, Fatalii white, Black Olive, Black Pearl, Cayennetta or Red Rocket.
Chillis like to be in a full sun position that is well drained, grow them like you would Capsicums Egg plants and the like. 
                
Just arrived in 
Passionfruit. Grow you own passionfruit and then preserve it for all year around use.. so easy to do. Passionfruit like to be in a sunny well drained position and with something to grow on. They don't like being to wet or too dry initially and will respond well to feeding.

Fig Black Mission for those that like the darker varieties with that soft juicy pink flesh. Figs are an easy to grow tree that fruits on new seasons wood and an excellent addition to the home orchard.  Eat them fresh and bottle them for when they are out of season.

Grape New York Muscat.. This grape is rated as absolutely the best for flavour. The oval reddish-blue fruits are aromatic with an intense rich Muscat flavour. A hardy and vigorous tendril climber that is happiest in a sunny, sheltered position. Ripe around Feb-March.  
I see that ours are all starting to swell and so now is the time to remove some of the excess foliage to let the sun into the grapes which will help the ripening process. Be careful though and perhaps do it in the early morn or late afternoon or even on an overcast day so as not to sunburn your crop.  Dont take all the leaves away either as the plant still needs them to feed itself and your developing grape crop.

Tamarillos of the red kind are always popular. Find the right spot for this member of the solanum family, warm and sunny and out of the frost to give it as long a season as possible. Otherwise very easy to grow.

Whats happening locally

Morrinsville Floral Festival  
A spectacular and creative floral event portraying scenes with colour and flair
Westpac Events Centre. Ron Ladd Place Morrinsville 
15 -18th March 2017... Wed Thurs Fri 9.30am to 6pm  Saturday 9.30am to 5pm
admission Adults $10.00  School children $2.00
Enquiries to:-
Pauline Luxton 07 8871800 pauline.luxy@xtra.co.nz 
Pam Portegys 07 889 6843 pietandpamportegys@xtra.co.nz

Finally the road works directly outside our nursery has been completed and they are now doing the section down the road a bit.  The road is of much better quality, has no passing lines which will make it much safer and the widest road verge that allows everyone to pull off to the side easily for a nice quiet entry to the nursery. 
Waitangi weekend another long one and some good weather forecast. I think that its the last long weekend for a little while so make the most of it and have fun !!!

Have a great weekend


Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team

Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.






Archived by year 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |

2017 Newsletters...

1st one for 2017 (26th January, 2017)

..... Grapefruit

Party time (10th February, 2017)

17 Feb (17th February, 2017)

Asteraceae (24th February, 2017)

Autumn Its Official 03032017 (3rd March, 2017)

The Camellia story (10th March, 2017)

Roses Half Price (16th March, 2017)

Clipped Camellias (23rd March, 2017)

Red and gold (31st March, 2017)

Wairere Newsletter 7th April (7th April, 2017)

A wet season indeed (13th April, 2017)

Form and texture (21st April, 2017)

To Bee or not... (28th April, 2017)

Mothers Day (10th May, 2017)

Its Rose time again (19th May, 2017)

Winter colour (24th May, 2017)

Roses blooms (1st June, 2017)

Healthy roses (8th June, 2017)

Birthday brekkie (14th June, 2017)

winter solstice (22nd June, 2017)

Rose Names (29th June, 2017)

Dry July (7th July, 2017)

Dry July nearly half way (13th July, 2017)

school holidays (20th July, 2017)

Tree time (27th July, 2017)

unoffical spring (3rd August, 2017)

Signs of spring (11th August, 2017)

Tui cherries are blooming (18th August, 2017)

Sunshine at last (24th August, 2017)

slugs and snails (1st September, 2017)

Never fail choc cake (7th September, 2017)

Never fail choc cake (8th September, 2017)

sandpaper vine (15th September, 2017)

In the beginning (21st September, 2017)

The Villa (29th September, 2017)

Montanas (6th October, 2017)

Crepe Myrtles (13th October, 2017)

Te Aroha Airport (18th October, 2017)

Kumara plants are in (20th October, 2017)

French Tarragon 2 (27th October, 2017)

Trees (3rd November, 2017)

what happening (15th November, 2017)

Xeronema (17th November, 2017)

Summer Watering (25th November, 2017)

Officially summer 2 (1st December, 2017)

Wairere Newsletter (8th December, 2017)

Xmas Summer Holidays (22nd December, 2017)



Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: