With Spring in the air and the scent of citrus blossoms on the breeze, we invite you to visit our Citrus Grove at The Old Mushroom Farm, KZN Midlands. The Old Mushroom Farm’s visionary, Nick’s, latest source of inspiration has been formal Victorian gardens and their grand conservatories. With elaborate steel and glass structures in the back of his mind, living, growing things have been at the fore.
Nick loves plants, about as much as he loves buildings. Fruit trees are a particularly sweet spot for him because they are enmeshed with people and culture- a ripe fruit is a source of nourishment, a harvest is a symbol of abundance, and a jar of marmalade is a preservation of home. The Old Mushroom Farm’s latest addition is a young orchard, which presents visitors to the KZN Midlands with a unique countryside citrus grove experience for those seeking a taste of fresh, seasonal produce and green surroundings.
Last week, Nick took a drive down to Port Edward to hand select a total of fourty citrus saplings for The Old Mushroom Farm’s orchard. The young trees have been planted in the field below ex-mushroom growing tunnels overlooking the farm dam, and include Navel oranges, Bearss lime, and Ruby grapefruit.
The Old Mushroom Farm’s method for planting citrus trees:
Dig holes that are around 30 litres in capacity.
Add nutrients to the holes that will help the sapling get a good start: we put in about 20l of Kraal manure, ½ cup bone meal, and ½ cup lime into each hole.
Remove the sapling from the growing bag, taking care not to disturb the roots. Try to keep the soil on the roots.
Place the sapling in the hole, and fill the hole with soil. There should be a thin layer (+-2cm) of soil covering the base of the stem making sure the roots are covered. Take care not to plant the sapling too deep as it can cause the stem to rot.
Press the soil down gently to secure the sapling in place- without compacting the soil.
Give the sapling a good watering- allowing the water to seep into the ground.
Protect your trees! At The Old Mushroom Farm we encourage wildlife and love that buck visit, but we don’t want them to kill our new trees (the tender leaves make a great snack, and the stems make a great scratching post and the buck can severely damage the young trees.) We’ve encircled each tree with wide grid wire fencing to keep the grazers at bay.
If you plan to brush-cut the grass around the base of your trees, we highly recommend placing a wide pvc pipe around the trunk to prevent the cutter from slicing the young bark (this can accidentally ring bark a tree & kill it). Cut a slit along the length of the pipe to get it around the stem and to allow the pipe to expand as the tree grows.
With a good store of nutrients, the right amount of water, and good protection the young trees should be happy as can be! We are excited to see how they flourish this growing season.
Citrus trees are not propagated in a straightforward way (they are not just sprouted from a seed). Nick explains how almost all the fruit trees one can buy commercially are grafted. Basically these darling new saplings are Dr Frankinstein’s monsters- the best parts of two trees are spliced together. One tree is grown for it’s strong root system (the rootstock), and another is grown for its prolific and tasty fruit (the scion). They are then chopped in half- tossing the branches of the rootstock, and the base of the fruit bearer, and grafted together. Amazingly the pieces of the two trees merge and grow as a single tree. Creating the perfect combination of a robust root system and delicious fruit.
Our baby trees should bear fruit in 1 to 2 years, at which point we will have a citrus feast! We’re daydreaming about an Old Mushroom Farm winter Citrus Festival with marmalade making, fresh orange juice and much merriment. In the meantime, you are invited to stake a stroll through the orchard for a memorable countryside experience. We bet our bees will love the citrus blossoms too. Whether you're here to explore, learn, or (one day) harvest fresh seasonal produce, a citrus grove visit at The Old Mushroom Farm is sure to add zest to your KZN Midlands day out.
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