Four O'Clock "Marbles" at 6am. 9.1.14 |
Monday, September 01, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Second Potato Harvest. 8.31.14
Potato Harvest, Wishing Well #1. 8.31.14 |
Potato Harvest. Wishing Well #2. 8.31.14 |
Planting potatoes. Wishing Well #1. 3.7.14 |
Pretty good yield. I wondered if I could do better. One is a mix of red and white, the other is all red.
I'm happy with the yield, and quality. A few small ones might be good for next year's seed potatoes, or I could buy new ones.
The wishing wells tended to dry out on hot days. They might do better if I paint the outside white, or add reflective material, or have deeper soil. I think the deeper soil will be a good start.
Potato Wishing Well #1. 4.27.14 |
Potato Wishing Well #1. 6.21.14 |
Labels:
Pontiac Red Potato,
potatoes,
White Superior Potato
Toka Plum-Apricot Hybrid. 8.31.14
Toka Plum/Apricot. 8.31.14 |
Toka Plum/Apricot 8.31.14 |
Toka Plum/Apricot 8.31.14 |
It took some time to identify the origin of Toka. It is listed most places as a plum, sometimes described as "bubblegum plum" due to the complex, very sweet flavor. I wouldn't call it "bubblegum", but the flavor is delightful.
According to
Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest (Google eBook)
by Don Gordon, copyright 1991, this plum was developed in 1911 at the University of South Dakota. Toka is the Sioux Indian word for "Adversity". I imagine that is because of the tree's hardiness. Other plums with the same lineage are Kanga and Hanska. The book describes this fruit as a cross of 'native plum' and 'Chinese apricot' - which makes it a distant relative of both European and Asian plums, in a category all its own. Toka, on the other hand, was designed with more adverse climates in mind, has a much longer period of experience in the US, and is way beyond patent so can be used in grafting.
I happened on this fruit completely by accident. I suppose I should refer to it as a plum, but based on the flavor and the lineage, American plum/Chinese apricot hybrid would be a better description.
Wow, it's good.
Toka is considered an excellent pollenizer for Euro and Asian plums. I wonder, then, if hybridization would result in other interesting, hardy fruit.
Labels:
American Plum,
Plum,
plum-apricot hybrid,
Toka
Fig tree Update. 8.31.14
South of house, fig tree row. 8.31.14 |
Plastic to eliminate sod and weeds. 8.31.14 |
Some of the fig tree / bushes have small figs. I don't know if we'll get ripe ones this fall.
Earlier this month, I mowed down the weeds and weedy grass, and used the cuttings for mulch around the trees. I have been adding spiny juniper trimmings to reduce small herbivore browsing. Sort of a wreath around the trees. Not near the trees, but in a row on each side, I treated the lawn with nitrogen / pee-cycle. I don't want to stimulate fig plant growth, but I do want sod that can be mowed and walked on for better access.
At the rear of the photo, not showing well and fore-shortened due to distance, is the first of the black plastic mulches to heat/exclude water/ exclude light. That can be left until Spring. Then, broadcast bee forage seeds - borage or others, and I have a nice bee-foraging area. Plan to do the same between the fig trees, which will ease mowing and feed bees.
Better view of plastic weed eliminator. 9.1.14 |
Labels:
fig trees,
freeze damage,
herbivore browsing,
meadow
Grafting follow up. Cleft, Whip and Tongue, Bud Grafting. 8.31.14
Sweet Cherry Bud Graft. Grafted mid-July 2014. 9.1.14 |
Lilac Bud Grafts. Grafted June 2014. 8.31.14 |
Hollywood Plum Bud Graft. Grafted late May 2014. 8.31.14 |
Cerasifolia Plum graft. Grafted late May 2014. 8.31.14 |
Most of the earlier bud grafts, from late May, healed and merged with the stock, and did not grow. That is pretty much as I expected. They look ready for winter. For late winter pruning, the plan is to cut the stock above the buds, so that there is no auxin - inhibition and they take off and grow next Spring.
Two of the May plum bud grafts took off and grew like crazy. The cerasifolia graft shows up nicely against the green foliage of the stock tree. Hollywood would do the same. i wonder if these rapidly grown grafts will bloom next year. If they do, that will be awesome.
Cerasifolia Plum Bud Graft. Grafted late May 2014. 8.31.14 |
Sour Cherry Bud Graft. Grafted July 2014. 8.31.14 |
Sweet Cherry Bud Grafts. Grafted July 2014. 8.31.14 |
Last year's cleft graft on the Asian Pears, have almost completely healed over. I was interested to see if the expose wood, would be a problem. It looks like there is not problem. At this rate, next year they will be completely filled in, leaving a visible graft but no open wood.
This year's Whip/Tongue grafts on the Asian pears, both the Asian pears I grafted and the European pears, have all healed over completely. Growth surprised me - most had 2 to 3 feet of growth. That is faster than the cleft grafts, in general. Not a good test, but with no exposed wood, and instant, full cambium connection, whip/tongue in theory could give a faster start.
This is only a few of the many grafts I did this year. All plum grafts took, all pear and apple grafts took. Only one of the whip/tongue grafts on lilacs took. It looks like all of the bud grafts on lilac took, so maybe that's the best method for them.
Grafting is amazing. I can't believe it works. It should - it's been done for thousands of years. But it's still amazing.
Asian Pear Cleft Graft. Grafted March 2013. 8.31.14 |
Pear Whip and Tongue Graft. Grafted March 2014. 8.31.14 |
Another Lilac bud graft, about 3 weeks. 9.1.14 |
Four O'clocks, Morning Glories. 9.1.14
Four O'clock "Marvel of Peru" 8.31.14 |
Four O'Clock "Marvel of Peru". 8.31.14 |
I transplanted some Four O'Clocks out of their deck box, into to soil in a secluded spot under the eves and now a bit cut-off by the sunroom. They will be nice there. The location is sheltered. They should have a good chance to survive the winter. I expect they will also drop seeds and may re-seed there too.
In the front bed, the 4 O'Clocks are among the brightest and most colorful plants in bloom now. Daylilies are good, but need protection from deer. Deer have not eaten any of the 4 O'Clocks. Neither have rabbits.
Four O'clocks and other flowers. 8.31.14 |
It turned out that a June start for Morning Glories worked just fine. I gave the plants to Ning and he planted them in his potager. They are a nice mix of dark blue, light blue, pink and very light pink.
I was surprised that the foraging animals did not eat morning glories.
This is a good learning for next year. I like both of these plants. I have not grown them before. They are an excellent example of what can be grown from seeds, and much better than plants that are available in the nurseries and grocery stores.
Ning embraced pee-cycling with a vengeance. His Four O'Clocks and Morning glories, and everything else, were fertilized with generous amounts. They grew rapidly, to large size, and are blooming profusely.
Ning's Potager. 8.31.14 |
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Apple Whip and Tongue Graft at 6 Months. 8.24.14
Apple Whip and Tongue Graft at 6 months. |
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Old Charlie. 8.23.14
Charlie. 8.13.14 |
Garden Harvest. Bud Grafts. 8.23.14
Garden Harvest 8.23.14 |
But here are the items Ning picked in the kitchen garden, raised beds.
Really nice. We have a bunch of zucchini already. I like the yellow supper squash better.
I did remove polyethylene tape from a few of the 3 weeks old bud grafts. They look pretty good in general. On some, the buds are hard to see, on others the buds are large and plump. A couple might not have taken, but most are promising. Also on the lilac that I budded.
Labels:
bud grafting,
chilis,
peppers,
summer squash,
Tomatoes,
zucchini
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Hollyhocks, Carnations from seeds. Saving Four O'Clock seeds. 8.21.14
Four O'Clock Seeds. 8.21.14 |
Collecting 4:00 Seeds. 8.21.14 |
They are open pollinated. There is a good chance they may not come true from seeds. That's fine with me.
I just lean the seed-containing tips into a labeled envelope and shake. The ripened seeds fall in with no effort at all. In fact, moving the plants, lots of seeds fall off.
I labeled the envelopes with the color of the plant I collected from. Even if they don't come true, If I start them next year that should give me a diversity of types. I can grow separately from red, yellow, white, yellow marble, and orange marble.
This is about 6 weeks for the carnation seedlings. I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the potting soil, scratched them in a little, and kept them watered. I didn't know they would grow so easily. Soon I need to divide them and pot them up either separately or in much smaller bunches.
The Hollyhocks are ficifolia "Happy Lights". I started them about 8 weeks ago. I have other plants in containers, either Fordham Giant or Carnival Mix, that are almost ready to bloom, from seeds started mid June. I mixed the varieties so I don't know which one.
Saving 4:00 Seeds for Next Year. 8.21.14 |
All of these are new to me. It's great trying new plants.
Carnation Seedlings. 8.21.14 |
Hollyhock Seedlings. 8.21.14 |
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