george street orchard

Feijoas (Acca sellowiana) are probably the most discussed crop here at George Street Orchard. People are often surprised that they can grow this far south.

They are native to South America and range in the wild from latitude 26° – 35°. In southern Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina they are common to elevations 400 – 1400 m, therefore hill country not as hot as those latitudes might suggest.

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GSO on film

on June 5, 2018June 22, 2019 By Rory Harding 2 Comments

Many thanks to Guy Frederick for making this short clip

Read the article here: This NZ Life article

Autumn 2018

on June 5, 2018June 22, 2019 By Rory Harding 2 Comments

Zingiber mioga (Japanese ginger) flowers ready to be pickled with rice wine vinegar and sugar

Kiwifruit almost ready!

‘Liberty’ apple

‘Meiwa’ Kumquat – newly planted where a feijoa just came out. Kiwifruit vine overhead on a north facing wall

‘Blackboy’ peaches

‘Blackboy’ peach slurry

‘Niagara’ grapes

‘Brown Turkey’ fig, ‘Meyer’ lemon

Autumn raspberries and tomatoes

‘Disovery’ apple

Parsley and rengarenga amongst gooseberries, plums and blackberries

‘Orleans Reinette’ apple

Winter Nellis pears

‘Egremont Russet’ apple

Kiwifruit…in Dunedin!?

on January 22, 2018November 10, 2019 By Rory Harding 8 Comments

About five or six years ago I planted what was sold to me as a male and a female (Hayward) kiwi potted together. Over the years I have trained them overhead roughly 10 m along a north facing wall painted white.

The previous three seasons both vines flowered well but no fruit ever set. During each flowering period the weather was fine and many bees were seen foraging in the blossom. I learned that kiwifruit are often incompletely pollinated by bees (wind is also a vector). In 2016 one fruit happened…

Continue reading “Kiwifruit…in Dunedin!?”