Myrtus Ugni plants are on fire in our garden at the moment. They are all beauty and bursts of pink sherbet. 
Originating from South America, these plants also go by the name of Chilean Guava and, more recently, Tazzi Berries – Tasmania’s attempt of claiming them as our own. Before having our own, we would make annual visits to the local retirement home where they’re in abundance as a popular landscaping plant. Most people plant them as an ornamental not realising these little berries are full of edible delight. 
These tough plants can be grown in full sun to partial shade, thrive in good soil, but are charging on in a pretty crappy area of our garden. They’re planted in full sun on the edge of a dry bank where the soil is a combo of heavy clay top soil, plus a bit of sub soil mixed in thanks to excavations. After an initial period of regular watering we don’t do anything for them anymore – they’re just getting on with it. Our kind of plant. 
We chose to plant them in this particular spot so they can also function as a living hedge, preventing people from slipping down a fairly steep bank. Left unattended, their average height is somewhere around 1.7 metres, but apparently they can get up to 3m in super prime conditions. We’ll be pruning them to around 1m high and .5m wide, keeping them nice and compact in a tight space. 
As you can see above, the path is really narrow as we’re all about maximising growing space. We made it just wide enough to wedge a small baby in… 
To make sure they can hang out and admire the natural beauty life has to offer. 
The one ‘downside’ (which isn’t a massive downside) is that the fruit is tiny, meaning the harvest is slow and that you tend to eat more than you actually put in the bowl. But we don’t mind. We might if were trying to farm them, but on a backyard scale they’re just fine. 
We really enjoy using plants for multiple functions, sure they give us good food, but they’re also being a living fence and providing entertainment for small babes – what a clever plant.]]>
Urban Goats
Since we've lived here, we've had goats for around 7 years. A solid 6 year stint with Gerty and Jilly - two toggenburgs (you can read about them here) and then a year of another batch of goats (with a goat share arrangement) which came and went a bit while we tried to...
Beautiful fruits been enjoying ours for a good while. Also haven’t given up the bushes that much attention and they are are thriving. Great plant to have!!
Hi, have you found any recipes? A friend made a jam, but it was tooo sticky. Yummm, but wasn’t easily spread. I have thought of a juice, but would need a truckload. lol…I love your description “bursts of pink sherbet”. oohhh maybe they could be dried into a replacement sugar?? well there’s a thought…cheers tamsin. love your site.
Hi Tamsin, Glad you like the bog. In terms of recipes, we don’t even bother cooking them as fresh is best! :-)
Hi all, I currently have 8 plants as a hedge on a north-east facing front yard in the lower Blue Mountains. This lot (my third attempt) was planted 3 years ago. They come from Daleys after my local Bunnings ordered them for me as they seem very hard to find otherwise. They vary in size and leave appearance and they have yet to flower and fruit. I’m wondering whether I got the real deal or something isn’t right with the conditions. I’ve never seen a plant or fruit other than on photos but wanted something unusual and edible for my hedge. Any contributions will be greatly appreciated!
Hi Marla, It might be possible you have the ornamental version which people to use for hedges. Best to talk to Daleys directly to clarify. Good luck :-)
Any idea where to find one to buy around Hobart? My tiny one died before it got going!
Just all around you local nurseries :-)
Hello,
We recently planted ours and is doing well so far. Surprisingly the possums and wallabies haven’t found it either. Do you think this is just luck? We haven’t protected it but wondering if this is flirting with the inevitable??
Not sure where you’re based Mike. But if you’re in Tassie, then yes it’s likely they’ll find you eventually :-).
Does it grow well in Brisbane?