We have six avocado trees here at Tullamore Farm and we are having a bumper crop this year.
People are sometimes a little reluctant to grow them because they can get quite large and they can attract the wildlife.
Consider your options, minimise the risks and perhaps you will be enjoying your own fresh avocados.
The main way we enjoy them is cut in half, add salt and pepper and eat with a spoon. Simple but delicious.
The avocado in the photo is about seven years old and this is the third crop from that tree.
It would be twice the size if we did not prune it back every year. We prune ours every August and ensure we take the lower branches and any crossing plus those reaching for the sky.
This keeps a nice compact tree with plenty of energy and health to punch out lots of tasty avocados.
To date we have had no issue with fruit fly or the wildlife but we do harvest when a reasonable size and allow them to ripen inside.
Most varieties purchased are grafted and this gives most home growers a better chance of getting the tree established.
Once established, they are very hardy and do well here in the Scenic Rim. We fertilise ours twice a year with some of our well made compost and keep them well mulched.
For most of the fruit trees we plant here we always start with digging a good size hole and filling and planting with our compost. Ninety per cent of the fruit trees, including avocados planted here, are started this way.
Some would say that compost is too rich for an initial planting but we find that works really well for us.
Compost, when you consider it, is just very rich soil.
Now that I have finished this column, it’s off to harvest some avos and share one for morning tea.
