This morning I learnt all about fruit tree grafting. After a leisurely walk down from the village of Peyia in Paphos, Cyprus towards Coral Bay stretching out below it was impossible to resist the lure of the taverna. The only problem was – this being January in the Mediterranean – it was probably closed. The owner was there though, balancing precariously on a makeshift ladder as he set to the task of weaving grape vines shoots over the entire terrace. He was eager to display his work.
“Look here” he enthused “This is a passion fruit tree. And this one is orange. But this will be the star” He pointed to a newly planted tree with several shoots. “My tree graft”
Fruit tree grafting is common in Cyprus and basically involves combining several fruit trees into one. The end result is a stunning-looking (and space-saving) tree bearing different kinds of fruit. I passed this orange and pomello hybrid as I returned home:
In his case the taverna owner had ‘grafted’ shoots from lime, lemon and pomello all onto the same tree.
“It’s going to be a talking point when the tourists come too” he said. I could only agree.
