Fig Row. Final Fall Cleanup. 11.12.14

Fig Row.  11.11.14

Today I took a little time to clean up the row of fig starts.  Most have wire screens.  There has been no rain for  days, so grass was mowable. 

All mowed grass went into mulch.

Plastic covered areas will be used for bee forage next year.  Killing the grass with plastic cover for the winter.  Late winter I can plant the bee plants.  Most likely annual herbs such as I grew this year in other locations.

The end result will be a row.  Then I dont have to mow circles around the trees.  Much easier and faster, low maintenance.

They have all hardened off.  Not as soft as last year.  Most are about knee high to waist high.  Most are multiple trunk.

If there is super-cold predicted, I'll protect better.  Otherwise, the main protection is screening for herbivores.

Containerized fig trees are in shed now.  No need to panic when there is a hard freeze.  That method worked last year down to 8° F.

Prediction for tonight is 27° F.  I also moved containerized figs at home, into the garage.

January Gardening. Winter Seed Planting. 1.28.14

Winter Garden Bed

Planted, watered, covered, clipped.

I'm off this week for vacation.  A chance to give in to fatigue and just let it go, sleep like the dead, rest.

I uncovered the one bed that I had ready for winter gardening.  At the far end are small (less than 1 inch tall) onion plants.  Those are from Waking Onion topsets I planted ?1 month ago?.  Some were pulled out of the ground.  I don't know by what.  A couple have been chewed off.

I prepped the soil with a garden rake.  A few minutes effort.  The soil is not fluffy, but not hard either.  Not soggy, really pretty nice.

I planted seed for turnips, radishes, chinese cabbage, mesclun, spinach.  And more perennial onion sets, small.  I found those in the garage.

Spread around a dried blood - hot pepper concoction from Fred Meyer.  That was on sale.  Should deter some pests - rabbits, deer.  It was a small creature that ate the onions, I maybe a vole or slug.  If I remember, tomorrow I'll get mouse traps and spread slug bait.

Lightly covered the seeds and sets.  Watered them in.   The idea of the row cover is to let water in, but restrict air movement.  I don't know if it works.  Might change to polyethylene sheet, and accept that I have to water it myself.

The seeds were old.  1 to 4 years.  Mesclun was 4 years old.  If they don't grow, not a  big loss.  Should either plant or discard them, so I planted them.

The clips are clothes pins from Fred Meyer too.  They were about $1.99 for 25.  Compared to maybe $6 for a few purpose-made row cover clips.  I think they work better.  Wood clothes pins don't work.  They rot and fall apart.

Products for pest control, fungal disease, and animal pest repellent.

Bionide Hot Pepper Wax

Lilly Miller Chelated Iron Plus

 I was looking for something else in the garage.  Found these products.  I don't know how old.  Maybe 5 years old.

Hot Pepper Wax might be reduce risk for animals chewing on tree bark and stems.  Two potential benefits.  The wax might have antidessicant properties, reduce frost damage on immature fig shoots.  Hot pepper extract might reduce chewing.

So I used up that spray on the fig trees, saturating the bark, the stem tips, and the tree wrap.

I would like to come up with a home remedy.  If I can figure out a sprayable wax.  Maybe the wax component is minimal, could as well be replaced with canola oil or neem oil.

This summer I noted Ning's ginkgo trees were not as green as the older one I planted.  Multiple potential reasons.  Ning's ginkgos were grown in container several years, until late last winter.  To avoid too much root damage, we left potting soil pretty much in place.  Mine was in more of a native soil.  I don't remember - if I gave mine some epson salts in the early Spring, too.  Maybe. And maybe some fish emulsion. 

I also noted mulberry leaves were pale.  That may be a mulberry tree characteristic.  Or this variety.  I was thinking, either magnesium (epson salts) or iron.  Or both.

I also read about iron supplements for fig trees, on an internet forum.  I was looking for some to apply during late winter.  I found this container.  So now that's taken care of too.  I prefer completely organic, but then how do I dispose of this?  It's not herbicide or pesticide, so I will use it up.  There isn't much.  Later find a completely organic source.

 Also thinking about what to use for fungal spots on the bearded iris leaves.  This year I did not use anything.  The spots were significant by fall.  Maybe it doesn't hurt anything.  In previous years, neem worked well for leaf spot and for aphids.  I found this partially used container.  I can use it up in the Spring.

Green Light Neem Concentrate