Most fruits are done. We are starting to get some apples.
Bagging fruit was not the perfect solution. Fruits have much less disease. But they also have internal mushiness due to the bags, maybe holding in too much moisture. Some of them are inedible due to the internal mushiness, even if there was no external disease. That's true for Asian pears and apples. I'm irritated. All of the web info was highly positive. That was not my experience.
I tasted the first Rubinette and Queen Cox apples. They say the first year they don't have full flavor. I could tell they were not just regular grocery store apples.
Hosui Asian pear really does have a butterscotch flavor. Smaller than the others, but good. Asian pears are much easier to pick ripe, compared to Euro pears.
Bearded Iris started again with the damn fungal spot. I cut off affected leaves and sprayed with neem oil. I don't know if that will help.
I put in the second cinderblock raised bed for Chinese chives. We grow a lot. Ning uses them as a Chinese vegetable. They are also excellent bee forage, and beautiful. These beds are 18 inches high, compared to the 12 inch high wooden beds. They are noticably easier to scratch out the weeds with a mini-hoe.
The mini-hoe is actually a kitchen tool, sort of a big fork.
All of the garlic is planted.
I moved one of the tree-ring mini raised beds to put in the cinder-block bed. Then replanted the scallions. So it's not really a tree ring. A better name would be onion ring. Also a convenient height. Lasts longer than wooden barrels or plastic containers, all of which are deteriorating. The oak barrels in about 10 years, the plastic containers in about 4 years.
Too bad about the bag. I think there must be a right time to take the bag on and off? You should still experiment with what kind of bag and the timing. Maybe next time a paper bag so there will be more air out? But then you have a lot of rain and the bag will disintegrate.
ReplyDeleteMaybe put some holes on the bag, will the bugs go in? Only one way to find out. I have use bags on my sunflowers to protect seeds from being eaten by birds and rats.
Lance, I have some bags that are like nylon hose material. Might try those next year. These were very frustrating, rotting fruit that might have been OK without the bag. You are right, paper might be better, or more holes in the bag.
ReplyDeleteWhat really annoys me is there are many websites claiming the bags are so good. I did not find anything with the negatives.