Sunday, November 27, 2011

From a Blue Mountains local in exile

On 25/11/2011, at 9:26 AM, Liz Connor wrote: Oh, I wish I could be at your Collective Sufficiency discussion in the flesh — of course I'll be there in spirit. Good luck! We're embarking on an Extended Family Sufficiency project here: stepson Vern and his wife Fran have the farmland with lots of vegies and fruit, a fair amount of bush and a wonderful creek (Nicholls Rivulet); son Mat has the bush-block with home-made cottage; and I have the north-east facing suburban block close to public transport etc and an almost home-made cottage. We're planning to work together and separately to try and provide for as many of our combined food needs as possible (two vego females and two carnivorous males). Mat intends to keep a blog... I'm also very interested in the fruit butters. I've been making low-sugar fruit spreads in small quantities for a while without knowing what to call them — not sterilising them and eating them within a fortnight ... The Huon Valley is a wonderful place for scrumping beautifully plump and juicy blackberries growing along the roadsides, but the street trees are all non-edibles... I have a bush-tucker ground-cover growing along my front boundary, where I've been allowing natives to self-seed and just taking out the obvious weeds... its very small berries were quite juicy and tasty, and it's spreading out very nicely thank you.
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BLUE MOUNTAINS FRUIT CALENDAR

We can harvest a wide range of fruits and nuts locally each season.

Local fruit and/or nut gardeners are invited to make additions or suggest modifications to the following work-in-progress compiled by Lizzie Connor.


SPRING HARVEST

Across the mountains: loquat, mulberry, rhubarb, strawberry and (in late spring) raspberry

Best in the lower mountains: avocado, jaboticaba, lemonade


SUMMER HARVEST

Across the mountains: apricot, blueberry, boysenberry, cherry, currant (red, black, white), gooseberry, kumquat, loganberry, loquat, mulberry,nectarine, peach, plum, raspberry, rhubarb, strawberry and (in late summer) almond, apple, fig, hazelnut, passionfruit, pear (incl. nashi), pomegranate, youngberry

Best in lower mountains:lemon (Eureka), lemonade, lime, mandarin, orange, persimmon (non-astringent) and (in late summer) avocado, babaco, macadamia, rockmelon, wampee, watermelon

Best in upper mountains: jostaberry, lemon (Meyer), persimmon (astringent)


AUTUMN HARVEST

Across the mountains: almond, apple, chestnut, feijoa, fig, grape, hazel, kiwi fruit, kumquat, medlar, olive, passionfruit, pear (incl. nashi), plum, quince, raspberry (some), rhubarb, strawberry, strawberry guava, walnut

Best in lower mountains: avocado, babaco, cherimoya, grapefruit, lemon (Eureka), macademia, monstera deliciosa, orange, pine nut, pistachio, rockmelon, tamarillo, walnut, watermelon, white sapote

Best in upper mountains: lemon (Meyer), mandarin (Satsuma)


WINTER HARVEST

Across the mountains: apple, hazelnut, kiwi fruit, kumquat, pear (incl. nashi)

Best in lower mountains: grapefruit, lemon (Eureka), orange, tangelo

Best in upper mountains: avocado (Bacon), lemon (Meyer)