The last few years my grapevine has been a source of disappointment and while the fruit has given the appearance each year of forming as it should, being all full of promise and hope, nothing comes to fruition properly and this year was no different.
Even my Golden Queen peach tree which is always abundant in fruit, was abundant again this year but the size of the fruit was very small due to there being very little rain and any fruit that fell on the ground was found to have a worm in it, which was rather disappointing as we often bottle-preserve what falls on the ground.
Both my plum trees were infected with worms as I mentioned in a previous post.
So, after looking around the garden for any signs of success, you can imagine my delight when I discovered my wife's efforts at watering the feijoa tree, throughout the long dry period we've had, is literally bearing fruit.
I love Feijoas and I'm so glad I managed to find a space to squeeze in one of these trees. This is only the 3rd or 4th year this tree has been in the ground so the tree is still quite small. However, I was able to enjoy a few fruit off this tree in the 2nd year I planted it which was surprising considering how young the tree was, and it was beautiful – it tasted amazing.
In the past most kiwi gardens had a feijoa tree, so when I was growing up they were the most common of fruit. Now things have changed and people don't have big back yards with fruit trees anymore – at least not as many. So, these days some people can only get these from the supermarket, or from friends who have a tree in their back yard.
Unfortunately if you're from outside New Zealand and are wondering what these taste like, I can't help you much as their flavour is quite hard to describe. When I was a kid I used to sometimes eat them skin and all – the skin is quite tart. The flesh is sweet and soft, even a bit jelly-like. Most people eat them by scooping them out with a spoon.
So I'll take whatever victories I can in the garden. Even if it's the humble feijoa.
