Last spring we planted an edible passion fruit vine on this north facing fence, the idea being to green up the fence, maximize vertical space and also, share fruits with the neighbours.
As we all know, passion fruits are of the tastiest fruits around, imagine having your own private and almost unlimited supply just a few meters from the kitchen .
Rio steel mesh, even if a bit more expensive than wire, will outlast it many folds.
Passion fruit sorbet, or a strong “Royal Cosmopolitan” with a fresh squeeze of passion fruit… divine!
The free ranging bantam chickens living in this backyard needed to be kept away from the young plant, so a simple loop of recycled plastic chicken fencing did the job.
To prevent the chookies from digging the vine, comfrey roots have been planted around the base of the fence. It should grow quickly, and provide an impenetrable barrier and a good source of green food for our feathered friends.
After few months, the beast has already reached the full height of the fence.
Note; Passion fruit vines can handle LOTS of nitrogen, so all that chicken poo is good news. It is also said that passion fruit vines tend to have a hard time finding enough iron, a grower once even recommending burying a liver in the ground near by a few months before planting! Not having any livers in our tool box, we opted for good old steel, which will slowly rust away and provide the vine with that little extra iron.
If only for the flowers, passion fruit vines would be worth growing!
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