Late Summer Cleanup. Vitals.

Since I'm on call this weekend and could potentially have to return to work, the day was spent puttering and doing late summer cleanup. Some painting was done, some weeds pulled, some deadheading.


This is the ginkgo seedling that I planted to replace the dying monkey puzzle. The seed was planted 6 or 7 years ago in a Chicago apartment, and transported to Vancouver 5 years ago. The original plan was to create a large bonzai-type tree. However, the need for attention (primarily the need not to miss watering) makes it safer to plant in the ground, so here it is.



Irises were dug and replanted. Dividing and replanting is needed about every 3 to 5 years. I already gave away a number of starts. Now was time to cut out the old rhizomes and replant. Irises are said to like lime, so several handfulls of crushed eggshells were mixed into soil.



The strawberry bed was cleaned up and thinned. Some plants were moved to the border of the tomato bed. I read that the leaves should be removed in July and cleaning done then, so I'm about 1 1/2 months late - but if they don't make it, it's not a big loss. Looks bare now but I suspect that they will fill in. They were too closely planted, and it was hard to locate strawberries. I may thin them some more.

Vitals today: 205.5# (lowest this year) BP=136/88 HR=68 

"Volunteers" and today's putteriing

This is probably 'golden nugget' tomato, an open polinated Oregon variety which I grew for three years. It popped up in the rose bed. I didnt notice until I saw the yellow tomato.



This is probably 'gambo' pepper, an heirloom variety that I grew last year. It popped up in a flower pot along with some Italian Parsley; not much room left for the Euphorbia that was planted in the pot.



This is a morning glory that I grew last year. It looks very nice sprialling around the cleome. It's excessively exuberant - and there are others around the yard.

I remember the concept of 'volunteer' plants from growing up in Quincy. The volunteer is a seedling that sprouted, without human intervention, from seeds that fell or were otherwise distributed (such as seeds spread by birds, or a fruit pit abandoned after eating the fruit, or seeds that survived composting kitched scraps). Around the yard are volunteer Rose of Sharon, and semi-volunteer rose bushes (from discarded prunings that somehow survived and sprouted). These represent the tenacity of life, growing without effort from me or any other grower (such as commercial outfits). As such, they are treasures.

Unless they turn into weeds (like ivy, but that's another story).

Today's puttering:
1. I planted a seedling ginkgo, to replace the slowly dying Monkey Puzzle tree. Who knows whether there is something wrong with that yard location (in which case I might have doomed the ginkgo). I hope it's not Sudden Oak Death - but as slow as this tree has been dying (over three years), it's not sudden.
2. Cleaned up the strawberries. Removed old leaves. Pulled out crowded strawberries, and planted at the edge of the tomato bed and blueberry border.
3. Deadheaded roses.
4. Mowed the brown but weedy lawn. Maybe this will be the year to try an eco-lawn?
5. I think I'm going to pick some grapes now.

2 miniature and one columnar apples.

Jonagold. Last year this tree had fire blight and was "appleless". This is the first year to produce some fruit. Almost ripe.



Liberty. This tree was free of blight last year. The apples were bland. Will try eating them sooner this year, maybe there will be more flavor.



North pole. Also bland last year. Does anyone know when to pick the apples?

Today I pruned the sole non-fruiting apple tree (a golden delicious). This tree had a severe case of blight last year, and survived but no flowers this Spring.

Summer pruning keeps the trees compact. There are various methods. In some methods, the branches are cut back to a couple of nodes (Lorette pruning) in mid and late summer (more than one pruning). Since these trees are still young and small, I did not trim back so severely. I did cut back about 3/4 of new growth on the golden delicious. About one month ago, I similarly pruned several dwarf Cherry Trees.

Here is a good article about maintaining a backyard orchard. The key features are:

1. Plant a diversity of fruit trees for a succession of fruit over many months.
2. Choose dwarf varieties.
3. Plant them close together.
4. Keep them pruned to control size and optimize production on the small tree.
5. Don't be intimidated by pruning. Some shapes, such as espalier, can further increase the amount of fruit in a small space.

I would also add,
1. Also grow small fruiting plants (such as strawberries) and fruiting shrubs (such as blueberries and raspberries) which can be very productive in a small space. Fruiting vines, such a grapes, can produce in areas (such as an arbor on the side of a house or over a deck, that might otherwise not allow for plant growth.
2. Try container methods, which expand the climate limits by allowing for storage of dormant plants indoors, and which can be moved to different locations depending on yard needs and plant size.
3. Mix in other plants to improve pest control. I think that some herbs, such as chamomile, mints, chives, garlic chives, lavender, and others, attract small insects that help control pests.
4. Changing to a minimalis attitude about the lawn can reduce the nitrogen and water used in the garden. Decreasing nitrogen use can improve fruit production (by decreasing rampant growth favoring leaves over fruit). Im not sure about the effects of decreasing watering on fruit production, but at least one reference startes that an overwatered lawn also reducesfruit production.

There is still a chance: Figs from Oct 2005

Days are becoming shorter, nights getting cooler. Will there be any crop figs this year? Photos offer hope. Taken 10/15/05.

This is Vancouver Brunswick.



This is Petite Negri.



One of each. So, there is still a chance.


I think that the Brown Turkey figs will start to ripen in a few weeks.

Waiting for Gentrification: Downtown Quincy, Illinois

Well preserved architecture. I remember when this theater was open (boy am I old). I didnt have to wait for the street to clear - it was this empty already. There are so few cars - it's like a scene in an old sci fi movie, after everyone dies of a mysterous disease and leaves the town vacant (like, say, the Andromeda Strain).



When I was a high school student, this was the Quincy Free Public Library. I was a page there. Boy am I old. By the way, the year that "The Andromeda Strain" came out was about the last year that this building housed the Library.



Diamonds in the rough. If these buildings could be moved, brick by brick, to, say, Astoria, they would be a great tourist attraction. I suspect that the main reason that they are still standing is that no-one cares enough about the neighborhood to either renovate them (in the wrong hands, disasterous) or demolish (which would be a big loss).



Washington Park. These trees are huge. Lindens, Elms, Maples, Sycamores, a Ginkgo, various evergreens. What a treasure.

Three Ginkgo Trees in Quincy, Illinois

This tree is female; she is the mother tree of the ginkgo in my yard in Vancouver WA. (This begs the question - many animals have different term for male and female - ewe and ram, cow and bull, doe and buck, woman and man. So, is it ginkga and ginkgo?). In about 1965, Herman Deege taught me about ginkgos (or ginkgas) via this tree, which when young had the shape of a pine. He was a WWI veteran who was a POW in the UK.



Impressive tree in Indian Mounds Park, south side of Quincy. I dont recall ever seeing a larger ginkgo in person. Probably male, given that there are no fruit on the branches (probably why it survived. Dinosaurs may not have been a problem, but chainsaws are)



Even a ginkgo in Washington Square. Also inpressive size. Do I recall this one from my adolescence?

Travel / off line for 4 days

Flying to Quincy Illinois for 4 days. Probably can't post (at least, not photos) until return.

Quincy is a historic town, by the Mississippi River. A few interesting things happened there.

It's hot and humid in the summer, cold in the winter. Great tomato growing weather. Rich black loamy soil. Good for apples and corn and soybeans.

Ginkgo Seedling

Here is a ginkgo seedling that just popped up in the chives last week. The seeds were collected last fall, washed, refridgerated, then planted in various protected spots around the yard. Kind of the "squirrel nut" method. The picture is approximately life size.

This is the only one so far this year to sprout. It may have been the mold on the seed hulls (I had hoped that this would help soften the hull, but this was unplanned mold). Last year 7 sprouted, but something ate 4 of the seedling trees during the winter, leaving 3.

There is also a "right way", usually involving storing the seeds in the refridgerator after treating with brief immersion in diluted bleach solution (to kill mold), and nicking or scoring the seeds prior to planting in moist sand or moist paper towels.

Then again, there is the idea of eating, not planting the seeds, referred to as "ginkgo nuts'. I tried a few last fall. Maybe again this year, now that I know more about them.

The method for growing figs in Japan (with link to original site)

These photos of pruned, dormant figs are from a web site by Ken Love in 2004. It basically looks like a modified espalier style of pruning the fig trees. He describes the Japanese method as (paraphrased from the linked site):

Young trees are grown to about 2 meters tall. They are then gradually lowered to a horizontal position, over a period of about 10 days. These cordons are then tied to horizontal supports, about 40 cm above the ground.



A pair of verticals can be tied in opposite directions; or 4 in an X pattern. The lateral's tips are pruned at a length of 2.5 to 5 meters.

During the dormant season, the vertical branches are pruned to 2 to 3 nodes each. When shoots appear, only the outermost shoot is kept. During Spring, shoots for fig production sprout from the horizonal limbs. These are pruned such that new upright cordons are 30cm to 50 cm apart, with 50 being considered optimal for production. The vertical shoots are tied to supports. Each vertical produces 18 to 20 fruit per season.

There are many more photos on the site; I could not find clear photos of figs in production stage. This looks like a nice method for back-yard production of figs, since it could be applied to a limited space.

Pole ("cordon") method for tomatoes. Works for me.

The first yellow Brandywine is starting to ripen. These tomatoes are so plentiful and heavy that they bent over the steel pole. Better Boys are starting to ripen too.

The cordon (pole) method works best for me here in this climate. I think it's because it allows for maximum sun exposure and keeps the leaves away from the ground and unshaded. I pinch the new branches ('suckers') at one leaf, which some call the Missouri Pruning method.