It reminds me of ice-cream – memories of Passionfruit scooped out on top of it.  It also reminds me of Sangria, don’t ask why there was Passionfruit in our mix but I do recall it vividly.  Childhood memories, comforting really when I think back as my deserts were always somewhat ‘healthy’ and ‘balanced’… thank you mum and dad!

I am not the only one who is passionate about this fruit... I've always wanted a Passionfruit vine, now that we have a new fence I thought that behind the vegie patch would be a good spot.  After a bit of research and confusion over which type to choose.  (did you know that some Passionfruit only grow for one season.. tragic)

So it was decided…. A burgundy-coloured sport of the Panama Gold passionfruit Panama red is a self-fertile passionfruit for frost-free climates. From the sub-tropics through to the true tropics this variety is gaining popularity as it produces larger fruits than the standard purple with a higher juice content. Adventurous southern gardeners will do best on a warm protected wall away from the wind. But for a short lull in the cooler months Panama Red produces fruit all year round… perfect – frost tolerant for this southern region and all year round.  The fence gets all afternoon sun, so I hope it will be warm enough for this little lady.

The other lover of the passionfruit which I was to soon discover was the ‘Earwick’.. after inspecting my newly planted vine ‘at night time’.. yes always a good time to check up on things in the patch. Especially when growing organically, snail patrol is almost a must!  Not only had my new vine been just planted… all it’s new growth had been devoured, they were sitting there munching away to my disgust (apparently they love the taste of the new growth).  After frantically searching to see what I could do other than knock them off the vine, I found some advice….‘they love tuna oil’  so that day I ate a tin of tuna, kept the oil and buried the tin in the bed with the vine.  Buried it just so the edge of the tin is ground height.  A nice trap indeed…now a week later, I have some new growth, some casualties in the tin and hope of good growing to come.