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• Camellia sinensis does well in dappled shade beneath larger trees. The tea camellia is the common source of tea leaves but this attractive species of camellia doesn’t look anything like the flakes we tip into the teapot. The leaf tips are harvested regularly throughout the growing season and the different types of tea (green, black etc) are the result of postharvest treatment. Although the tea camellia doesn’t have the big, showy flowers found in most garden camellias, it makes a charming garden shrub. It has glossy, mid-green leaves with slightly serrated edges and pleasantly fragrant, small, creamy white flowers. While it’s fun to harvest your own tea, it’s best to allow the plant to establish itself for the first few years before attempting to pick many of the leaves. It will grow in full sun but must be kept well watered through the heat of summer. And, in spite of its long association with warm parts of Sri Lanka and India, the tea camellia, a native of China, is surprisingly tolerant to cold. There are plenty of tea substitutes that can be grown in the garden, too. The New Zealand native manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is said to have been first christened ‘tea tree’ by Captain Cook when he infused some of the leaves to make a hot drink. Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citridora) is an Australian rainforest tree that is grown commercially as a native tea. Other widely gown plants are infused to make herbal teas. Yates seed range includes borage, lemon balm, peppermint and oregano, which are all popular herbal infusions. Growing from seed is a cost effective way of developing a herbal tea garden. Ref: Yates
   
• Processing tea at home  Pick early in the morning about a barrow load, chop it up and let it rest all day then she puts it through her garden mulcher and she puts it through 3 times, then put it back into the tub and let it ferment overnight (no water) then the following day, put it out to dry and cover with plastic so the wind won’t blow it away and it’ll be wettish. You need 2 days of hot sun so at the end of the 2^nd day you put it through a sieve and it comes out fairly fine and that evening, pack it in tightly into large ice cream containers and clamp the lid on and it’ll last for 2 years and it will never go mouldy.  Ref:  John Marshall’s mother’s recipe – Cairns

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In Samoa, they take the leaves and soak them in coconut milk with onions, then wrap them in banana leaves, then wrap them in breadfruit leaves and they’re cooked underground. Instead of cooking in the ground, use a baking dish – one layer of taro, one layer of onion with a can of coconut cream and a bit of corn flour to thicken it together with a bit of salt and it’s marvellous.  With the Samoans in NZ, I’ve modified all their recipes and when they use to have a wedding or some other celebration, they would come round and ask me to make something. I’ve just changed my chook house by taking the roof off so I could walk inside. I put in some plastic roofing iron together with some shelves and my durian that was in another warm shed that looked like it was going to die for the last 6 months has now grown 4 inches. I’ve got a betal nut and 2 dwarf coconuts, rambai, petaloi, breadfruit, and chetalang so I’m also making a tunnel house and half of that is going to be a hot house and I’m growing them in large pots min. 20ltr.  We’re also growing Taro and Sweet Potato in bathtubs because as we’re on sand, Sweet Potato in the ground goes down very deep, I need a backhoe to get them out. bandicoots & hares escaped goats wallabies! I don’t know how it’s going to turn out as it’s only in its early stages but I put bales of hay in the baths and 4-5 varieties of Taro, 1 or 2 types of Yams and the Sweet Potatoes.  I’m also going to grow vegetables in the tunnel house as it’s too hot outside. I grow Pitaya inside tyres about head height by putting 2 steel pickets inside with a crosspiece – I had over 200 flowers but didn’t get any fruit this year even with hand pollinating.  Ref:  Errol 

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• Solanum betaceum (syn. Cyphomandra betacea)
   
• Take cuttings 45cm long from 1 or 2 year old wood. Remove leaves & cut squarely at the base immediately below a node. Only select cuttings from disease free plants.
   
• Cuttings are taken from branch ends of tamarillos and rooted in sand after dipping them in a rooting hormone. This results in smaller tamarillo plants with a denser growth pattern as opposed to larger plants with spindly branches that don’t support fruit loads well. This dwarfing of the plant also makes picking the fruit easier. The Tamarillos were grown from cuttings to produce a squat tree as opposed to a tall seedling growth pattern, we have tried grafting onto multiple salonacea rootstock however the best seems to be cuttings from the fruiting branches that create dwarf like trees. Ref: Tropical Fruit World
   
• Daley’s website – Tamarillo, also known as the Tree Tomato, is a fast growing small tree that bears heavy crops of red or yellow sub-acid succulent fruit.  Blue-mauve flowers in Spring.  Fruit ripens Autumn/Winter and is ready to eat in Spring.  The fruit has many uses apart from being eaten fresh, such as being cooked in any way tomatoes would be cooked.  Tamarillo chutney and jam is a taste treat.  The yellow fruiting variety is usually milder and sweeter with slightly smaller fruit.
  Tamarillos are very quick growing and will crop in 18 months reaching a height of 2-3 meters.  They require well-drained soil and protection from wind and frost.
  Ref: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s328653.htm, 
  Even when it’s not fruiting, the Tamarillo, or Tree Tomato, makes an attractive foliage specimen tree, growing to 3-4m.  Originally from tropical South America, it thrives from the subtropics right across southern Australia.  Easily raised from seed and sown in spring, it will grow about a metre in its first year and it will fruit 18 months after planting.  The tree will have a good fruit set in autumn if provided with a frost-free aspect, good drainage, a sunny position and an annual application of enriched potassium fertiliser.  It needs plenty of water to make up for rapid transpiration through its large leaves.  Give it a light prune each spring to encourage the production of fruit on the new growth of wood.
  One drawback is that the leaves and roots can harbour mites, scale and aphids over winter and infest other plants in the spring (and if not controlled can lead to the death of the host plant as well – Ed.), although the thick skin of the Tamarillo prevents damage to the fruit itself.  The use of a systemic insecticide spray after you’ve harvested the fruit should take care of this problem.
  The skin, which is quite tough, is easily removed by dipping the fruit in boiling water for 10-20 seconds.  Being slightly astringent the fresh fruit makes a tasty addition to fruit salad, or cook the skinned and halved fruit, sprinkled with sugar, in a shallow pan in a moderate oven for 30 minutes until soft.  Serve with cream.
  In summary:
  * Autumn fruits, frost-tender
  * Subtropics through to southern Australia
  * Pretty specimen tree
  Ref: George Allen

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The Sweet Leaf Bush Sauropus androgynus has been growing well for us this year. It’s been sitting around in the bush house for some time. It seems to love the sheltered moist spot near our shed. The young tips & leaves have nutty pea/asparagus flavour & grow well from cuttings. It is a lover of warm weather & when well fed it can be trimmed & eaten all summer. It is a very high protein vegetable that Willie tells me is used widely in SE Asia. I have seen it growing as a hedge in the Redland bay area & yet some people find it hard to grow. Worth trying to find the right spot for; good tasting hot weather veggies are invaluable.  Ref:  George Allen

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March early April (autumn) is the time to establish a strawberry patch from runners. Use weed mat to control weeds and a bird net over the lot.

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Always thin the fruit by leaving only 2 or 3 fruit on the tip of a branch and bag the whole cluster. They get to be a little bigger than golf balls.

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Prune in late May to keep to manageable size for putting net over the top to stop fruit fly.  April – in frosty areas, giving Sulphate of Potash can reduce the effects of frost by strengthening plant cells. In March fertilise with high Nitrogen and Potassium   (10:3:6) If trees show sign of rust, spray with Mancozeb

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, the common name Star gooseberry actually refers to two distinct species of plant: Phyllanthus acidus, the Otaheite gooseberry and Sauropus androgynus, the Katuk. Also known as Tahitian Gooseberry, this curious and ornamental small tropical tree features a bushy crown, red flowers and abundant waxy yellow fruit. It is native to India and Madagascar where it is popular for its medicinal values and as an ingredient in sweet relishes and preserves. Its popularity has spread it widely throughout Asia and the Pacific and occasionally spotted throughout Central America. The young leaves are also cooked as a green. While tolerant to most soil types, it prefers moist sites in the full sun in the sub/tropics. Phyllanthus Acidus is an evergreen deciduous tree up to 25-30′ high and belongs to the family of Euphorbiaceae. `Phyllanthus’ is derived from Greek word that means flower on the leaves, `acidus’ on account of the acidity of the fruit. The leaves are compound, 14″ to 25″ long and crowded at the ends of the branches. The leaflets are 2″ – 3″ long by 1″ wide, alternately arranged along with branchlets, ovate. Flowers are very minute in pale white and have short dense spike like clusters arising from nodules along the branches. Clusters of fruit resemble minute mulberries and are pendulous in small clusters from the branches. They are round or slightly flattened with five shallow ribs. It is propagated by seed. It is a native of Malaya and Madagascar and frequently grown in India for its acid fruit. Star gooseberry chewed along with salt is a remedy for nausea and vomiting and also gives appetite. It can be preserved as jams. The flowers and produces fruits twice a year. Megan Osmond says to stew with apple and lots of sugar and it will taste like stewed Rhubarb.    Ref:  www; Daleys; Chitra Radhakrishnan

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Splitting of fruits depends on uneven irrigation, nutrient availability, temperature, relative humidity and genetic factors.  Ref: Ariel