Ive Never Eaten A Strawberry! - May 23, 2025
Dear gardening friends
Asir just came in wearing his Oodie. Hayden's just told me everyone owns an Oodie. I don't, but I think it might go great with my Crocs. Asir was wearing great sandals. He had a great smile too.
He's just moved into a house in Broughton street, it's a rental so he can't grow things in the ground, but that doesn't stop him gardening, he tells me.
Asir grows everything in pots. He loves our Tim's Best Potting mix, he knows all about it. Today he's buying Mint. I tell him about how I grew Mint in a big pot for my mum. She loves Mint. It's growing so beautifully.
I give Asir some big pots that I got from our pot recycling bin recently, his eyes light up.
It's love.
Do you have an Oodie?
Where have I been? I've been through life and never eaten a Persimmon. I have a very good friend who never ate a Strawberry until he was 40, not sure if he's still eaten a Banana.
But I fell in love with Persimmon trees without ever eating the fruit. I just love the autumn foliage so I planted a variety called "Fuyu" in my garden.
I planted it in my garden where another tree had died, due to a really wet spring a few years ago. The Persimmon tree just sat there for a year and didn't grow at all.
Last spring I pruned it even though it had almost no growth. I put a bag of Tim's Cow Manure around the base as a mulch, then covered it with Woodchip.
The tree suddenly came alive, it sprouted new growth in abundance and then it came into flower. The flowers turned into fruit during summer and I've just finished eating the last Persimmon. OMG they are delicious!!!!
Persimmon Fuyu is crunchy like an Apple. It's even crunchier than an apple, yes. It's like eating a cricket ball. But when your teeth finally crack it, the fruit is juicy and sweet.
The fruit ripen in autumn, they don't get fruit fly, I've sprayed it with nothing, it's organically grown.
Today the leaves have turned bright red, it's the colour red I love the most, there's so many reds, did you know that?
But check out the foliage, it's incredible when the sun shines on it, it makes you want to write poetry. Makes you want to plant one, made me plant one.
They cost $100, they have been this price for 10 years. They are always the most expensive fruit tree. It's a collector fruit tree. We have about 5.
You can get varieties that you eat gooey. I haven't taken on one of these yet.
I sent this story to my friend, who didn't eat a Strawberry until he was 40. This was his response.
"Classic. You always make me smile.
Banana: they gave me one on a Qantas flight as a snack on the way to Perth. I was so hungry I had to try it. I ate half. My verdict: over-rated ! "
I spotted this beautiful Banksia spinulosa growing in a garden in Dumaresq St Campbelltown. It's not often you see a beautiful garden around a block of units.
But you could see straight away that a real gardener designed this, I'd love to know who?
When you get good design the garden just looks better.
Garden maintenance is important too. This Hairpin Banksia has been pruned so it can grow into this smaller space, and look how amazing it looks.
I've noticed as I'm getting older I'm falling in love with Banksias more and more. They come in so many beautiful colours, some actually look dead, and they still look great.
Some Banksias look like old men, and you find yourself waiting to hear what they've got to say. It's not much.
The Native birds love these nectar filled flowers. They would call on this shrub several times a day. You would hear them talking to each other, or maybe they are just talking to the old men too?
Everyone wins when you attract nature into your garden. Nature makes us feel good.
My mum is going to be so happy, I've just come home from the Dentist. I don't go to Dentists, they terrify me.
But today it was raining, and Hayden went to the Dentist, and he survived. So I rang up my Dentist thinking I'll book it in for next week, or the week after.
"We have a vacancy at 10.35am today" she said. I really, wasn't prepared for that answer, but I booked it. You're going to have to leave straight away Hayden said. So I did.
I arrived, I was so nervous, I always start by telling the Dentist that I'm not very brave and I don't like Dentists.
I know it's crazy to get them offside before they even start. But she said, "she's nervous too, don't worry."
I felt like a car at one point, I had so many people standing around me looking in at my engine. They had so many tools in my mouth at the same time, I was expecting they might want me to hold something.
The drilling lasted for ever, I was expecting oil. I stopped her at one point to ask was more drilling really necessary? Just a bit more she said.
There was little pain, I chose the no needle method. It actually wasn't that bad, I survived, at the end I gave a five minute speech to them about what a great job they did. I didn't miss anyone. I even wished everyone waiting all the best.
I bought a new toothbrush, I really wanted red, they only had blue. I buy this tiny toothbrush because a dentist laughed about how big my toothbrush was once. You could have used it on horses apparently.
I'm feeling so good now, wasn't I brave.
Zygo Cactus are bursting into bloom. These hardy shade loving plants flower through autumn. They are so easy to grow in pots or hanging baskets. They will thrive in morning sun positions.
We pot ours up using Tim's Best Potting mix and they grow beautifully. We have Zygo Cactus from $9.99. They are covered in buds. We have lots of colours and some named varieties should be arriving today.
Happy gardening
Tim