12:00a.m. 6th September 2008

| Gerry & Valerie Zwart

The change in gardening attitudes in recent times has seen the emergence of many more home vegetable gardens, ensuring their owners of good healthy food at any time. Picked fresh as you need it, even having some spare produce to share with friends and neighbours.

And there’s no worrying whether those tomatoes, beans or peas have been treated with chemicals or other unwanted products.

> Grow your own vegies and save

Now, thanks to some innovative horticulturalists, we have a breakthrough in our methods of growing one family of vegetables, which is bound to prove very useful for everyone, in particular those who have restricted space.

Tara Valley Production Nursery is producing grafted vege trees, with all plants in the range being members of the Solanaceae family: tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants and chillis.

These plants have been grafted on to stock which, according to the growers, will ensure they not only survive but produce good crops of fruit for up to four years.

These perennial plants grow about 1.5m tall and 1m wide.

They are perfect for growing in containers in good-quality soil, flower in spring and summer with spot flowers throughout the rest of the year. They a few weeks to develop fully mature fruit, and all fruit is full-sized except the tomato, which is a cherry variety.

These wonderful vegetables require a full-sun situation, regular feeding with a complete controlled-release fertiliser, as well as a seaweed product like Seasol and others like blood and bone, which should be applied as directed on the labels. During summer the growers recommend watering two to three times weekly, and once or twice a week during winter. Provide regular mulching about 100mm thick – always away from the stem.

We’re also told that the plants may leaf spot when there is a lot of rain, which can be combated by using copper spray or eco oil.

They’re available in Bunnings; other outlets will have them shortly.

For Father’s Day, why not go with the whole family to the beautiful Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens at Tanawha.

The winner of the Annette McFarlane gardening books in our recent competition is Delsa reinbott, of Aroona.