Garden Update. 11 Aug 2020.

 Lots of food and collecting seeds.  Shirley poppy seed heads are becoming light brown, so I cut them off and place them, pod down, into glass jars.  The dry seeds fall into the jar for collection.  It works out almost the same for garlic chives.

Harvest:  beans, potatoes, cucumbers, a few peppers, blackberries, a few figs, Asian pears.

Here is a cucumber salad I made, all but onions from the victory garden.

Here are some Roma beans.   I love these.  They are great, stir fried or air fried with a little seasoned salt, garlic, oil.

Here are some Chinese beans, from many (20?) years of home-saved seeds.  Tasty and "meaty", similar in a way to Romas but a more distinctive flavor.

Lots of big cucumbers.  Next year, try one or two plants instead of three.  These might be hybrid so 

I'm not sure if I want to save seeds.

Triple Crown Blackberries.  Of the ones I've grown, more productive, better flavor, juicier than almost any other.  This year I will cull out the inferior Arapaho, Babycakes, and maybe Prime Ark Freedom.

I big Brunswick fig.  This tree's production is miserly, but requires almost no maintenance and I have room, so I leave it there.  The figs are huge and sweet, when they ripen.

Still lots of summer squash.

Garden Update 7 Aug 2020

 I haven't been posting everything.  We have had some good stuff for the kitchen, out of the garden.  I guess since this is the "Coronavirus war", this is my "Victory Garden".  In addition to the photos, we are getting a lot of bush beans, especially Dragon's Tongue, a spotted thicker Roma type bean.

Breba figs are ripening.  The big brown fig is a Brunswick, which rarely gives anything.  The others are all Desert King, very flavorful and sweet.  Both trees are cutting-grown. Neither gets any supplemental water any more.

Kennebec Potatoes.  This row us providing about 3 pounds per plant.  These are very good.  Eight plants in a row gives about 24 pounds per row.  These are great air fried or baked.

Triple Crown blackberries.  For productivity, flavor, size, juiciness, Triple crown beat, by far, all of my other varieties- Arapaho, Prime Ark Freedom, Ebony King, Babycakes.

The first tomatoes of the year.  Sungold and Bush Early Girl.  OK, Early Girl did beat the other slicing tomatoes, with no other ripening ones on the vine yet.  Haven't tasted it yet. 

Yellow Jacket Traps in Fig Trees. 5.1.19

Yellow Jacket Trap.  5.1.19

 Up until now, there was only one, male, yellow jacket in the traps that I set up a month or more ago in the fig trees.  Today I noticed several, and at least two of those are queens.

Last year I lost the entire fig crop to yellow jackets.  That was the first time that ever happened.  It was disappointing, so this year I'm being as pro-active as I can be.  Plus, yellow jackets are aggressive and vicious, and I worry about someone with an allergy being stung.

So far, so good.  I refreshed the traps with new bait.  It's cheaper to just buy the bait, when you already have the traps.

Since each queen is a potential colony with hundreds, maybe thousands, of yellow jackets, by catching them now, the numbers should be greatly reduced later.  I'm not looking to eliminate every yellow jacket, just to have a decent fig crop and avoid stings for myself, other people, and my dog.

Interestingly, there were queens appearing from time to time in the house through out the winter.  I don't know where they were living, or how they entered the house.  In the firewood?  Around electrical fixtures or plumbing?  I never discovered the source.  They seem to be gone now.  I also dispatched the ones that I found in the house, using a fly swatter, at the time that I found them.  I had a trap in the sunroom, but none ever got into the trap.

Yellow Jacket Trap.  51.19

Smith Fig. Hardy Chicago Fig. 10.2.18

Smith Fig.  10.2.18

Smith Fig.  10.2.18

 Even though I don't have much expectation regarding Smith Fig, I left the tree in that space.  This tree is better adapted for the hot, humid Louisiana climate, not the cooler Pacific NW.  Two winters ago, I thought it was dead.  But it came back.  Last winter was very mild.  This summer was longer and hotter than usual.  This tree grew significantly.  The brebas were plentiful but fell off when small.  Today I noticed some ripe figs.  The one on the left appears overripe, the one on the right about perfect.  Both had sublime flavor - the expected flavor for dark figs, rich, sweet, juicy.  Now I will be checking, daily, for more ripe figs.

The lower pictured figs are from Hardy Chicago.  Also called Chicago Hardy.  I started this tree from a cutting taken from my Hardy Chicago fig tree in Vancouver.  It's interesting.  These are smaller, darker, sweeter, and richer, than the ones in Vancouver.  The site is sunnier, dryer in summer, more exposed.  I don't know about the soil differences.  I'm very happy with these figs, too.

Hardy Chicago Figs.  10.2.18

Hardy Chicago Figs.  10.2.18

Fig Jam. 9.20.18

 Despite the challenges of yellow jackets, and then ants, I harvested a bowl of figs yesterday.  For ants, I usually wrap a 6 inch section of trunk with plastic wrap, then apply Tanglefoot over it to prevent them from climbing.  But had not done that until last week.  Their numbers are greatly reduced now, and there are figs without ants to harvest.

I usually dry extra figs for later use in breads or hot cereal, but this time wanted to make jam.  I make freezer jam, because I have not learned canning.  I also think that canning cooks longer, and I don't know the effect of that on the nutrition.

However, there is cooking with this jam before freezing.  That breaks down the structure of the figs so they mix better with the pectin solution.

I used Sure-Jell, the one for less or no sugar.  The fig recipe still called for what seemed to me like a lot of sugar.  I followed the recipe because it cautions that using less sugar can result in the pectin not jelling.

It's pretty easy.  I used about 4 1/2 cups of figs.  Washed, cut into half, then used food processor to cut them into a chunky mixture.  I didn't puree, because I like chunks of figs in the jam.  That yielded 2 1/2 cups, which is what the recipe called for.

Then placed into sauce pan.  Mixed pectin with water as the recipe in the box described, added the sugar and lemon juice, and brought to a rolling boil while stirring.  Then portioned into  pint size jars, let cool, and froze. 

This actually jelled almost too well.  I might have been able to use less sugar.

The recipe was:

2 1/2 cups chopped figs.
1 cup water.
1 pkg pectin

 1/4 cup lemon juice (3 small lemons)
3 1/2 cups sugar.

I  mixed the pectin with 1 cup cold water to disperse, and heated in microwave for a minute.  Stirred, then stirred into the pan of figs. Added the sugar, then lemon juice.  Brought to rolling boil, frequently stirring.  Then immediately ladle into clean pint jars, apply lids, then let cool before freezing.  The lid is not tightened until it is frozen.

The appearance is nice, reddish jelly.  It was very good stirred into yogurt.

I think next, I'll try the Pomona pectin, which I read does not require sugar, or as much.

Continued, Fig Tree Progress Report. 7.5.18

Carnini Fig Tree.  6 years.  7.5.18

Carini and Sicilian White.  7.5.18

These are most of the other fig trees.  They are in a row on the sputh side of the house, with a hill sloping downwards both south and west.  They have full sun on south and west, and some on the east. Name and ahe is with photos.

Carini, Lattarula, LSU Tiger.  Lots of brebas, maybe in a month.  Main crop starting to grow.

Hardy Chicago - main crop starting to grow.

King - lots of brebas.

Celeste - young, only 4 feet tall.  Main crop starting to grow.

Sicilian White - young, about 5 feet tall.  Several brebas, maybe next month.

Celeste Fig Tree.  3 Years.  7.5.18

King, Chicago Hardy, and LSU Tiger.  5 and 6 years.  7.5.18

Lattarula.  7.5.18

Lattarula, Petite negri, Carnin.  7.5.18

Sicilian White.  3 years.  7..5.18

Fig Tree Progress Report. 7.5.18

Fig tree "Smith", about 7 years old.  7.5.18

Fig trees "Champagne" and "Atreano", about 7 years old.  7.5.18

Here are a few of my fig trees. 


I left the Smith for dead last year, after historic cold spell winter of 2016-2017 left most of the shoots looking dead.  It survived and grew anyway.  I thought it would have brebas this year, but they fell off.  The main crop seems to be developing nicely.

The Champagne is an O'Rourke (Louisiana) development.  It has not had many figs.  It is starting to develop main crop.  No brebas.

Fig tree "Brunswick", about 17 years old.  7.5.18

The Atreano has its first two brebas this year, nicely developing.  There is some competition from a fir tree to its east.  Main crop is also developing.

I moved the Brunswick at around 10 or 11 years old, to its current location.   Much of the original trunk died over the subsequent years, but there was vigorous growth of new sprouts from ground level.  It looked like there would be a lot of brebas, but only a few have not fallen off.  Main crop is often lost to fall rains.  We'll see how it does this year.

These trees have full South and West exposure, and some have full East exposure as well.

I'll have to post separately on the row of fig trees, south of the house.  Some of those are more established as thriving in the Pacific Northwest.

I grew all of these trees from dormant cuttings.  When small, some had winter protection, but I've left them unprotected for the past several winters.  I did have deer fences surrounding them, but as they grow taller and seem to have tougher leaves, I removed the deer fencing.  There is rare browsing of some lower shoots.

Fig Update. Looks like a good year. 6.4.18

Brunswick Fig Tree with Brebas.  5.4.18

The fig trees are doing great this year.  With a mild winter, and early spring, those with breba crops have lots of growing fruits.  The trees that look the most promising this year for big early crop:  Brunswick, Carini, Lattarula, and Desert King.  It's interesting, since Brunswick has not usually done that well.  But it's a big, sweet, delicious fig when it does. There is also a small tree that I started from a bonus cutting a number of years ago, "Sicilian White", with some brebas.

Trees that, earlier, had a lot of brebas that fell off:  Atreano (one remains, which will be the first taste if it matures), Smith, Hardy Chicago.

Most of the new growth on the fig trees, is past the 5-leaf stage.  That's when I tip the new growth to encourage a main crop.  I've been doing that on the daily tree inspections.

Moving an Established Fig Tree. Delayed post from Nov 2017

Moving an Established Fig Tree.  Nov, 2017

 I decided to move a fig tree, that I originally planted in 2001.  It was at my old house in town, which I have been gradually converting the yard into a more conventional lawn and specimen planting lawn, for eventual sale.  That process is almost complete, but I didn't want to lose this good fig variety.

This tree was bought via mail order from Wayside Nursery on the East Coast in 2001.  It was sold as Petite Negri.  They sell fig trees using the same photo, but different name, currently.  On the defunct figs4fun website, it was identified as Aubique Petite.

Root Ball of Fig Tree.  Nov, 2017

Planted and a Little Wilted.  Nov, 2017

Whatever the true name, this tree does not grow as fast or large as many other varieties.  I 16 years, it's grown to about 8 feet tall, and similar spread, and bushy.  I had it pruned to a single trunk, but let some suckers grow in case the main tree does not survive the move.

This is probably my favorite fig by flavor, richly flavored figs, black skin and dark red flesh.  On the down side, it has almost no breba crop, and the main crop usually ripens when the rains come, so most are lost to mold.  The tree  grows slowly, and cuttings take a few years to start producing, so I wanted to preserve the tree rather than just taking cuttings.

The old location was near the base of a slope, shaded on its South and Western sides and a little Eastern shade as well.  Maybe it will produce earlier and better in a sunny spot.  The new location has full sun on South and West, and almost full sun on East.  It is near the top of a slope.  North of the location is the light yellow painted house.  This change of location might have the intended effect of earlier figs, although Battleground is a higher elevation and a little colder during winter, than the old Vancouver location.  The soil in the new location is also softer and more fertile.

I'm not getting younger.  It took 2 days to dig.  I had to remove some lower branches and suckers, to dig a trench, then dig under the tree.  I got all of the root ball that I could handle.  Obviously, a lot of root mass was lost, probably 75% of it,  a couple of roots as big as 3 inches diameter.  Leaves were already starting to yellow and fall before the move, and many fell completely, within a week after the move.  It's a drastic trauma to the tree, but fig trees are tough and resilient.  The stems continue to look healthy, with healthy looking buds.  I think it will adjust it's top growth next Spring, with slower growth, while the roots branch out and re-establish during Winter and Spring, in the new soil.  I will have a nice mulch, and water weekly.

As a backup, one of the suckers already had roots, so I had already severed that from the parent tree, and planted into a container. 

Late blooming fruits, and developing fruits. 5.22.17

Persimmon Nikita's Gift, flower buds.  5.21.17

 The late blooming fruits are not affected by early spring rains, which gives them a better chance compared to Asian pears, plums, peaches, and cherries.  The persimmons have lots of nice flower buds.  Some of those, and some leaves, have hail damage, but I think most should pull through.  Some fruit trees, maybe most, don't bear the first year they bloom.  Yates American Persimmon has lots of little flower buds, for the first time.  So we'll see about that one. 

Grapes are an exception, usually bear grapes if they bloom, even the first year.  This is the first year they have a lot of flowers at the Battleground place.   Some are 2, 3, or 4 years from planting or cuttings.

Persimmon flower buds, Saijo.  5.22.17

Persimmon flower buds, Coffee Cake.  5.22.17

"Illinois Everbearing" Mulberry flowers.  5.22.17

 Mulberry tree is covered with flowers.  Looks very promising.

Early figs forming on "Lattarula".  5.22.17

Grape "Buffalo" flower buds.  5.22.17

Fruit. 7.15.16

Some nice fruit now.  I look forward to these all year. Lots more figs enlarging on the tree - Lattarula.  This is the last of the yellow plums -Shiro.  There will only be a few of the red plums - Hollywood.  More than I expected.  

Fig Progress Report. 5.20.16

Brunswick Fig Breba Crop.  5.20.16

Fig brebas are getting big.  Brebas are figs that grow from buds on last summer's stems, and ripen during this summer.  Figs that grow on this year's stems are called Main Crop, and ripen in the fall.

Some fig trees are mainly breba producers, some are mainly main crop, some are both.

The Battleground fig trees are 3 to 5 years old, except for Brunswick which I moved there 4 years ago, and was 10 years old at the time.

Brunswick rarely has brebas, and is one of the sweetest figs, so the handful this year is great.

Brunswick goes by other names - Dalmation, Madonna, Castle Kennedy, Magnolia, Kennedy, Clémentine.  Ancient varieties often go by many names, because they have been taken from place to place, and people who forgot the original name gave them new names.  Later, they are found to be the same variety, but many people then know them by other names.   Brunswick's place in the Pacific NW is tenuous - there are other fig trees that bear more figs, are more reliable, and that have most before the fall rainy season, which makes the last figs on this tree moldy. But when it bears, the figs are so amazingly sweet, juicy, and "fig flavored".

Brunswick Fig Tree, moved Dec 2012

Carini Fig Breba Crop.  5.20.16

White Marseilles / Lattarula Fig Breba Crop.  5.20.16

I moved this tree to Battleground as an experiment.  I didn't know if it would survive.  Now, after more than 3 years, it has increased a little in size, and growing many new shoots from the base.  I will let the largest of those shoots grow, since they seem more vigorous than the top.

LSU Tiger Fig Tree.  5.20.16

Other fig trees with brebas this year:

Big breba crop:

Lattarula - also called White Marseilles and Italian honey Fig.  Both the big original tree and the smaller tree grown from cutting and planted at Battleground, are covered with figs.   This is an old variety - Thomas Jefferson was enthusiastic about White Marseilles fig.

 King - also called "Desert King" - only the one at the old place.  The cutting at Battleground is slow to establish.  I expect it to need a few more years.  Once established, this tree grows huge for a fruit tree.  The tree at the old place is covered with breba figs.


 Carini - a NOID from a Fig Forum member.   Really should have a place in the Pacific NW.  Generous sized figs, reddish coloration, sweet, vigorous, and bears a lot at a young age.  Probably comparable to Lattarula, which is one of the best.

Fig trees with only a few brebas -

Petite negri - worth it for the fall figs.  Usually has a few brebas.

Hardy Chicago - rarely has brebas but is among the first of the Main Crop summer figs.  The few brebas it has, usually fall off.

No brebas at all:

Sal's fig - usually has a main crop, but the tree is not thriving at all, much smaller than any of the other, similar range in size as Petite negri but the figs are not as good.  Very hardy even in our coldest winter, but I am thinking about replacing it with Celeste, when that cutting reaches a bigger size, maybe Spring 2017.

LSU Tiger - Modern fig tree from Louisiana, very big juicy figs, bears well, very vigorous, but not brebas this year.  Hardiness here not known, last winter was so mild it wasn't a good test.

Smith Fig - an old Louisiana variety.  May not be hardy here.  I planted outside last summer, survived the mild winter.  No figs yet this year.  Not fertilizing because I want the growth to be tough for next winter.

Champagne Fig - a modern Louisiana variety.  The figs are nice, sprightly yellow figs, small.  I don't know the hardiness here and no brebas this year.  Not fertilizing, as for Smith.

Dominick's Fig - a heritage variety from a fig forum member in the Eastern seaboard.  I have two, one might become the rootstock for Petite negri.  Haven't tasted from this tree yet.

Atreano - this might have had some if not for deer.  I did not protect it well.   Considered good for Pacific NW.

Other than a NOID - I'm thinking was labeled as "Sicilian white" but the label is lost so not sure, very young with 2 brebas on it's skinny stem, and Celeste - grew from cutting too late last year to get much growth, still in container for this year - I think that's all of my fig trees.

Where there is vigorous top growth, I have been snapping off the terminal leaf, leaving 5 or 6 leaves per shoot.  Tipping the shoot is thought to stimulate earlier and/or better production of main crop figs, and that is also my experience.  I am not doing that for the smaller Battleground fig trees, because I want them to get in as much good growth this year as possible.   I did tip the strongest growth on Brunswick, Lattarula, and LSU Tiger.

Fig Status Report. 3.31.16

Carini Fig Starting Growth.  3.31.16

Lattarula Fig Starting Growth.  3.31.16

All of the fig trees came through the winter with no damage at all, and all have primordial breba buds swelling.  Even the more tender fig trees, Smith and Champagne, were unfazed.  Thank you El Nino.

I attempted a graft of Petite negri onto the extra Dominic.  I don't know how that will come out.  The scion were refrigerated for a few months due to not wanting them to start growth before I could graft in Spring.