Hi everyone!
Winter is on the way. Taking his sweet time about it, which is great. I had a bumper crop of beans and zooks this year. Time to get the ice cream maker out and put some of those excess feijoas to use. Here are three great ideas for your feijoas:
- Freeze a few whole and whizz them up skin and all, then add it to the cream mix with the rest of the feijoas lightly chopped up to give it chunk. The skin gives it more flavour and a bit of colour. If you’re feeling a little crazy, add a sprinkle of chilli powder!!
- Experiment with some vodka. How about a Feijoatini!?! I haven’t seen one before. In fact I just thought of it now. Vodka, shaken with ice, the pulp of one feijoa and zest of two? Strain into a chilled martini glass rimmed with lightly cinnamoned castor sugar. Garnish with a twist of feijoa skin and a light squeeze of lime to add a touch of sour zing. Then eat the vodka soaked pulp. Good times!
- Keep some frozen whole in your freezer for smoothies.
- If you’ve filled up the freezer with feijoa ice cream, put a box or bags of them outside for passers by- Freejoas!
Now or is a great time in most areas to plant your feijoa trees; especially with the prolonged warmer weather. This will give them enough time for the roots to establish before the spring growth spurt. For colder areas, it’s best to wait until a bit warmer.
Where to plant Feijoas? They make a great hedge that will tolerate wind and coastal conditions. Plant one near the footpath. It’s a great treat for kids walking home from school. They can be planted into an ornamental garden, containers and orchards.
Feijoas enjoy sun. They’re perfect for gardens, maturing at 2-3m high and about 1.5-2m wide. There’s at least nine varieties available so research which would be best for your garden. Plant at least two varieties so you get an extended season and a better harvest. Keep them watered well and mulched so they have a better chance of keeping insects and pests and diseases at bay. Support new trees with double bamboo or pine stakes tied with upright with soft ties.
The fruits are best eaten when they’ve fallen but will ripen if picked from the tree. Give your trees a light prune in autumn after the fruit has been harvested.
As for the rest of the garden, try to get rid of any fallen fruit to keep pests and rodents away. Remove any broken limbs or fallen branches. Add some mulch have a quick weed out.
Give the us a call if you need to get the garden winter-ready — trimmed, weeded and seeded, lawn care and repair. We’ll get in there and give them the right amount of winter pruning ready for the spring flourish. We can blow out all the leaves, sort any trees that need attention. Hedges trimmed, land clearing, stump grinding and all your landscaping needs so you’ll have nothing to do until spring!