Mr Russell made the decision to try growing pineapples at his north Deniliquin home.
He made a space for the tropical fruit in his hot house, and he and wife Elaine recently sampled the sweet flesh of the first pineapple to emerge from his efforts.
“It was just something to do,” Mr Russell said.
“It took about 18 months to grow just one pineapple on the bush. Even in the tropics they take about 12 to 16 months to mature.
“I let the first one ripen on the bush, and then moved it in to the house to ripen a little more. The aroma just filled the room.
“We got about three meals each out of the little pineapple, with icecream of course.”
Mr Russell said the pineapples were grown from the scraps of a pineapple he and Mrs Russell had used for a dish at home.
“I dried the scraps out, put it in pots and it grew,” he said.
“I used 44 gallon drums filled with my own secret potting mix, and I just waited to see what would happen.
“And once you have harvested the fruit, you leave the vine and the suckers are replanted.”
A second pineapple planted about the same time as the first is almost ready to harvest.
And given the experiment’s success, pineapples are sure to become a regular in Mr Russell’s garden from now on ... along with the giant pumpkins he grows for the Deniliquin Show’s annual competition.
7°C