18 | T HE B A R OSSA M AG // GA R DENING
Favourite
Summer Fruits
There’s nothing quite like the smell of a
fresh, perfectly ripe peach in summer,
or its sweet juicy flavour. Summertime
provides such a rich bounty of different
fruits which makes it one of my favourite
seasons. If you have never experienced a
fully ripe, homegrown peach or nectarine
you really haven’t lived! Store bought
fruit has absolutely no comparison to
the sweetness, juiciness and flavour to
that of homegrown deliciousness. If you
have been thinking about putting in a
fruit tree at home so you can enjoy your
own sweet fruit, but are unsure of which
varieties to choose, I’ve complied a list of
my all time favourite Summer (and some
Autumn) fruit tree varieties. Starting with
my favourite fruit- apples...
juicy crisp flesh which becomes even
sweeter and juicier if left to ripen on the
tree after leaf fall (store bought grannies
are picked before they are properly ripe
in my opinion). These green skinned
apples are great to eat fresh and are the
best cooking or stewing apple.
My favourite Peach.... Elberta peach is
probably one of the most popular peaches
for good reason. When picked ripe is has
the sweetest, juiciest, melt in your mouth
peachy flavour. Delicious as fresh fruit,
this variety is also great for drying and
stewing. I know I mentioned it earlier, but
the smell of a perfectly ripe peach really
is one of Summers treats, don’t forget to
sniff a ripe peach this Summer!
WORDS BY KRISTEE SEMMLER
THE BAROSSA NURSERY
them the perfect guilt free treat to take
to Christmas parties. This sweet Cherry is
used for fresh fruit, jams and preserving.
My favourite Plum... definitely Satsuma
plum. We have an old tree on our property
that fruits every year, and I just love eating
them fresh from the tree. If I didn’t love
apples so much this plum would be my
favourite! The flesh of this plum is a
deep ruby red and it is firm, yet sweet
and juicy. Great eaten fresh. Also great
in jams, stewing, or one of my favourites,
plum cake. Yum!
1.Firstly, Pink Lady Apple; for me an
apple needs to be crisp and juicy and
this certainly fits the bill! A great pink to
reddish pink eating apple that keeps well
and tastes oh so sweet. My favourite Apricot... Moorpark -
another popular variety, Moorpark
apricot has an excellent juicy and strong
apricot flavour - it really is the best. It
is delicious when picked ripe from the
tree, but is also excellent for jams, drying,
stewing and cooking. Stewed Moorpark
apricots are a favourite for my little boy,
he just loves them. My favourite Nectarine.... Goldmine.
Nectarines are another fruit that really
should be picked and eaten fresh and
when fully ripe. I always get disappointed
when I buy nectarines from the shop
thinking ‘they smell pretty good, surely
this time they will taste good...’ but they
always seem to be hard and lacking
flavour. Left to ripen on the tree they
are so fragrant and sweet and juicy (no
hardness to be found). Another example
where there really is no comparison
between store bought and home grown.
2. Secondly, and some people may
disagree with me, but I just love Granny
Smith apples. Please don’t compare store
bought to homegrown here! Store bought
can be really quite sour, but a homegrown
Granny Smith has beautifully sweet and My favourite Cherry... Starkrimson
Cherry is exceptionally productive and
produces a large amount of fruit without
the need for a pollinator. These large
heart-shaped crimson fruit generally
ripen just before Christmas making My favourite Pear... Williams pear. This
is one fruit where it should be picked
while still firm on the tree, it’s flavour
develops more when picked and left (or
refrigerated) for a few days or weeks.
Beautiful white, juicy flesh. I love eating
My favourite Apple(s)... as my favourite
fruit I can’t just have one favourite variety
so I’ll sneak in my top two.
this one fresh, but it is also great for
drying, preserving, stewing or in juices.
Last but not least
My favourite grapes.... for a white variety
I love Centennial seedless and Emerald
seedless. For a red variety you can’t beat
Flame seedless. Once again store bought
grapes have nothing on their homegrown
counterparts. They may look big and
juicy in the supermarket but they just
have very little flavour. And juiciness!
Try homegrown and freshly picked and
you’ll soon know the meaning of juicy!
I love fresh grapes cold from the fridge
as a great summer snack, Or even better,
alongside some local cheeses on a cheese
platter with a glass of wine in hand.
Homegrown fruit... Seriously it’s the
best! As an added benefit, you know what
goes on it chemical-wise and it’s not cold
stored for weeks or months or exported
thousands of miles before it gets to you.
For very little effort growing your own
fruit trees can give you a feast of fresh,
juicy flavour! If you don’t have a big yard,
don’t worry, Barossa Nursery have lots of
dwarf fruit trees too that can be grown in
pots so no one misses out on this Summer
fruity love. Happy gardening.
We invite you to join us at
Krondorf Creek Farm
One of the Barossa’s most beautiful new
Cellar Door Experiences is now open.
Wind your way through our estate vineyard and arrive
at Cellar Door, housed in the restored 1850s smokehouse.
Sink a little deeper into the Barossa.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Friday to Sunday 12pm to 5pm | 224 Krondorf Road, Krondorf
krondorfcreekfarm.com.au