Growing grapes can be a wonderful hobby and a challenging experience. You can grow many varieties of grapes; the fruit of each cultivar has an aroma, flavour, and other qualities that make it unique. The fruit can be eaten fresh or used for jellies, jams, juices, dessert recipes, or home-brewed wines. Besides the obvious uses for the fruit, grapevines can be attractive ornamentals in a garden setting - particularly with stunning autumn foliage. In general, grapes require full sun and soils with good drainage and moderate fertility. Plant vines with a northern to western exposure, with protection from wind. Train the vines against a fence or along wires.  Prune grape vines in winter when dormant, pruning back to the main framework of the vine. Grape vines take about two years from planting to produce fruit, and can live for up to 100 years if well looked after. Fruit bears on one year old wood.

While firmly adopted by New Zealand, Kiwifruit are actually native to China (Chinese Gooseberries). Kiwifruit is a good source of potassium, magnesium, Fibre, Vitamin E and has twice the amount of Vitamin C than Oranges. Best planted into well drained soils in sunny positions protected from winds and late autumn and spring frosts. A male pollinator plant must be planted with the Hayward variety for cross pollination. Fruit is ripe when skin colour is even. Vines grow 6-8 metres wide and 3-4 metres tall.

Raspberries are one of summer’s great delights and are an ideal home garden plant for most temperate areas of New Zealand. Raspberry canes are best planted in a site with full sun and good soil drainage. Raspberries don’t like soil with a Ph higher than 6.5. Canes should be planted about 1m apart, and should be contained or managed to ensure the canes don’t spread. With Summer Fruiting varieties remove canes that have fruited immediately after fruiting, leaving the new vegetative (non-fruiting) canes to overwinter. These will produce next years crop. Autumn Fruiting/Everbearing raspberries can be pruned to produce fruit once a year or twice a year. To keep it simple cut off or mow plants to the ground every winter. This results in one long crop starting later in summer. Raspberries contain Vitamin C, Fibre, manganese and antioxidants.

Red Delicious is a heart-shaped fruit with a striking bright red skin that is sometimes striped. The flesh is crunchy and very juicy with a mild, sweet flavour.

Peasgood Nonsuch is a juicy fresh eating apple with a large, handsome and regular shape. This versatile apple cooks to a sweet and delicately flavoured puree, bakes well and makes a great addition to salads. A good, regular cropper and a reasonably disease resistant tree. Self fertile variety. Spur bearing in the mid-late season. 

Cluthagold is a cross between a Sundrop and a Moorpark. Cluthagold is a large, oval apricot with very good eating quality. Flesh is firm but melting, with very good flavour. Skin is orange with a lovely red blush. This tree is very hardy and has a vigourous, spreading habit and produces fruit that ripens two weeks after Sundrop and one day before Moorpark.

Cluthalate is a self-fertile, late season variety that ripens 30 days after Sundrop and 14 days after Moorpark. Its orange fruit is of medium size, with melting flesh that is sweet and juicy. Best grown in areas with cold winters and hot, dry summers.

Dawson is a delicious eating cherry with firm red flesh encased in rich black skin. Fruit is of medium size, ripening on approximately the 17th of December. Tree habit is upright and spreading.

Beautiful, large, carmine-red apples with creamy, very crisp flesh. Sweet and very low acid. Ripens late and hangs well on the tree. Fabulous winter keeper. Tip and spur bearing.