Fall in the Orchard. 11.8.14

North Side of Orchard.  11.8.14

Wild Plum Seedling.  2 years old.  11.7.14

Buddleia Windbreak West of Orchard.  11.8.14

Fig Row, South of House.  11.8.14

 Some views of mini orchard spread around the yard.  This is end of the 3rd summer here at Battleground, so many of the trees have had 2 full years to acclimate and grow.

Pawpaws were planted the first summer.  Never having grown them, and read about difficult to get started and slow to grow, I'm pleased they have done this well.  The smallest is Rebecca's Gold, about one foot tall.  NC-1 is the largest, about 4 foot tall.  Sunflower, about 3 foot tall.  I'm also pleased about the persimmons.  Nikita's Gift was so tiny I wondered if it would grow.  Now, sturdy and looking promising for future years, although  only about 4 foot tall.  Saijo is about 8 foot.  I did give  them - and the paw paws, organic nitrogen this Spring.

Peaches - Oregon Curl Free about 9 foot tall.  Charlotte about 8 foot tall.  Indian Free about 3 foot tall.  Q-1-8 in it's first year, grew rapidly, 5 foot tall.  The only one of the 3 older trees to have bad leaf curl was Charlotte.  That was also the only one to have peaches - only 2 - this is only the 2nd year old for these.

 Wild Plums, the largest seedling is about 8 foot tall.  This is 3rd year from seed, the first being in container.   There are 3, only one in a prime location for sun and with protection.  Deer eat up to about 4 feet, but the top looks very good.

Other plums, Stanley didn't bear but is very large now, mature looking tree.  Has spurs with promise for flowers.  Satsuma died.  Replaced with cutting-grown Hollywood, 1 foot tall 1st year from cutting.  Toka was best tasting, 3 plums. 7 foot tall.  Methley, no plums, growth now 5 foot tall.  NOIDs already on property, the smallest / deer mangled fully recovered and above the usual deer browsing height; the largest had only about 4 plums.  Now both with multiple bud grafts of other varieties. 

Cherries, lots of deer browsing.  Very discouraging.  The sweet cherries and tart cherries need better protection.  Sweet cherries did establish well, now about 5 foot tall.  Central leads are good, branches browsed to within the narrow cages I installed on these.   Montmorency did very well when I got the deer fence in, 8 foot tall and lush.   I can buy more fencing if I use the truck to commute this week.  North Star and Almaden Duke unprotected browsed nearly to death, we'll see what happens next year.  Both have some bud grafts that are looking tenuous, we'll see.

Apples, this is first year for most.  Wondering if minidwarfs are a good idea.  The dwarfs - JonaRed - shipped from Starks, excellent growth, and multi-graft disease resistant, Rubinette, Pristine, and Queen Cox, shipped from Raintree, almost as good.  The columnar apples, planted at about 18 inches tall their first year, now about 3 foot tall, Golden Sentinel had one apple - very good, Scarlet Sentinel had none.  They are in cages.

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry and NOID Forsythia. 11.8.14

Figs, South of house, recovered from frost kill.  Sal's was not frost killed, now 4 foot.  Tiger, Carini, Smith all grew multi-trunks to 2 or 3 foot.  Petite Aubique, 18 inches, but sturdy.  I'm in process of installing gnaw-screens as leaves fall.  When colder, plan to add inverted trash can protectors for the young ones, and chicken wire or bird net to deter deer and rabbits, for Sal's.  Plan next year- replace the NOID with Lattarula from container, in Spring.  Maybe add one more to row, Dominick.   If any die back again maybe replace with Dominic instead of adding one more.

Buddleia hedge grew to 8 foot tall, for those in 2nd year - Blueberry and Peach Cobbler varieties.  They weren't all that attractive, but the windbreak will be useful.  That side is source of wind.  Honeycomb, in 2st year, grew about the same as the others did last year.  Anticipate pruning all back, so they can grow bushier and not over-tall.

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry, not in the 5 X 5 grid but nearby.   Now 8 foot tall.  Had some nice mulberries this year.  No dear browsing.  Most branches probably too tall.  It may be hard to install bird netting next year due to height, but I should try. 

Urine Fertilizer. Eco San. Progress Report. 6.7.14

Urine for Fertilizer.  6.7.14

Ginkgo biloba with rapid growth.  6.7.14

 Last winter I ran across several web reports and research studies involving use of urine as fertilizer. I summarized the information here.  I could find, concentrating mainly on research reports and objective information, and background.  This is the report of my experience so far.

First, there is nothing scientific about my observations.  I did not do any comparative experiments.  Therefore, observations are just that - my experiences.

1.  Collection process.  No brainer.  Once you get used to peeing into a bottle, urinating toilet feels abnormal, wasteful, and strange.  It's easy  to pee into the bottles.  I discovered I've been watching my urine, and when it looks darker, I make sure to drink more fluids.  I rinse the bottles with each use, so they are clean.

2.  Storage.  I don't store the urine.  Usually, only 1 or 2 or 3 bottles collect in a couple of days.  As soon as possible, it goes into the garden.  That way, odor doesn't develop and ammonia is not lost to the atmosphere.

3.  Dilution.  These are 2 quart bottles.  There are 4 quarts in a gallon.  Watering can for garden is 2 gallons.  I usually use 1/2 bottle, so 1 quart.  Pour half bottle into watering can.   Fill with water.  So the dilution is roughly  1:8.   Different authors give different dilutions.  This seems good enough and is fairly cautious.

4.  Esthetics.  I don't see any issues.  Maybe it's because I'm male, but I don't smell anything in the garden.  I think it's more, with the dilution and most goes into the garden  immediately, the solution soaks into the soil and doesn't leave anything to evaporate.

5.  Application.  During late winter, I applied around trees and shrubs that I thought could use an early boost.  I did not use winter application around trees I thought were risk for too early growth and risk for frost.  Trees that got urine solution - Ginkgo biloba, lindens, maples, young apples, Laburnum, young cherries, young paw paws, young persimmons, mulberry.  Shrubs that got urine solution - Viburnum, Lilac, hydrangea, buddleia, forsythia, rose of Sharon, weigela.

Plants that did not get urine solution during the winter:  plums, pears, figs.

For annuals and vegetables, in late winter and spring, I used small amounts, dilute, for Four O'clocks, peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes, potatoes.

4.  Benefits.  The benefit varied by plant.  Again, I can't claim this is a research project.  Comparing this year with last year -

Last year the lindens, both American and European, had pale appearing growth, and not much of it.  The American linden had about 3 inches of growth.  This year, it's not done yet, but so far looks like 18 inches.  The leaves are larger and dark green.  I'm not sure if the European lindens have more stem extension, compared to last year.  I think so.  The European lindens have stopped making new growth.  The American linden continues to make new growth.

Last year, the Gingko biloba, I moved here from Vancouver, grown from seed 1 years ago, didn't make significant growth.  It leafed out, but stem extension was under an inch.  The leaves were yellowish pale green.  I think the soil here is low nitrogen.  This year the growth is vigorous.  The top has grown about 18 inches, and show no sign of stopping.   There is slight distortion of some of the leaves - splits and a little bit of curl.  I may have used too much urine solution.  I will not add more.  I want the growth to mature and harden before fall.

The Laburnum is a mixed bag.  The growth is more vigorous, compared to last year.  Some of the new growth has curly leaves.  I also noted that for a couple of other plants, so i think I used too much.  However, the Laburnum in general has much more vigorous growth, compared to last year.  It is more bushy and stout.

The persimmons and pawpaws grew much faster this year, and bigger leaves.  The bigger more tender leaves may have attracted deer, who liked eating those young leaves.  They decimated the cherries, which they didn't touch last year.  I'm in the process of making more tree cages.

Other plants that appear to have benefited, with very vigorous, strong looking growth - Viburnum, Buddleia, Rugosa rose. 

I used a small amount on bearded irises.  I wonder if that contributed to the epidemic of bacterial rot, by causing soft too-vigorous, too-early growth   I won't do that again.

So far, the tomatoes look amazing.  Last year they were slow growing, and several were pale to yellow.  This year, they are growing fast, with stout stems, dark green leaves.  Some are blooming and others look close.  I think they are earlier and show a lot of promise.

I'm not sure about the peppers.  They don't look vigorous, but are starting to produce.  I don't think they like the cool nights.

I did not use it for root crops like radishes and turnips.  I would expect the extra nitrogen to stimulate leaves but not good root crop.

The 4 O'clocks didn't all get urine solution.  Of those that did, some had curly leaves like the Laburnum.  I stopped, and used water without urine, then very dilute balanced Miracle Grow for tomatoes, and now the leaves are growing out normally.

Gingko biloba top growth.  6.7.14

Redmond Linden.  Second Season.  6.7.14

Redmond Linden Top Growth.  6.7.14

Laburnum with Curly Leaf Growth.  6.7.14

Interim Conclusions.

I don't see much negative from this method.  Almost none.  I need to avoid over doing it.  Some plants may be too sensitive to the high nitrogen, the salts, or some other aspect.  I won't use it again on irises, and will be cautious with Laburnum.

Odor - wise, it does not linger like fish emulsion.

I think it's best to use within a few days of collecting.  During the winter, I may store in a cold shed.

There is the 

Plans.
 Some trees make a burst of growth in Spring, then spend the summer maturing and photosynthesizing to make next Spring's burst of growth.  Giving more nitrogen now seems counter productive, so I won't.  I'm a little concerned that some plants grew too vigorously and have 't stopped, so could be soft going into winter.  But we still have a long season ahead.  So I am hopeful.  The Buddleia grew so fast and vigorous, I wondered if it would bloom.  They are now producing many flower heads, so I think that's not a problem.

I gave the figs a one-time boost, but that's all.  I don't want them going into next Winter too soft and weak to survive.

I don't want to over-do it.  I think the tomatoes got all they are going to get.  The garlic is going into ripening time, so no more nitrogen.  This year the garlic is the biggest they have ever been.  It will be interesting to see if they went all to leave and stem, or have nice big bulbs.  The potatoes got a boost today, but that's all.  Again, too much nitrogen isn't good.  Other big-nitrogen users, from what I read - squash and zucchini.  So they got some today.

Laburnum with Vigorous, Healthy Appearing Growth.  6.7.14

It's interesting how much urine we make in a day.  I probably won't want to use any for trees, shrubs, vegetables in late summer and fall.  That would risk burst of growth that doesn't get to harden off for winter.  Then, rather than wasting it, I might sprinkle the grass.  The grass will take up the nitrogen.  When I cut the grass, the clippings are used for mulch, which benefits the plants many ways and gives a slow release of nutrients.

This is a concept that provokes some negative reactions.  A lot of people are misinformed, or uninformed, regarding almost every aspect.  Health, environment, resource wastage, sanitation, toxins, esthetics.  I hope as more information collects, gardeners can learn how to use this fully renewable, non wasting, beneficial method to benefit their gardens in a safe and effective manner.

Buds are opening. 4.11.14

Brunswick Fig Bud with Brebas

My Dad's Gingko tree at Battleground

"Sunflower" Pawpaw buds

Nice to see more buds opening


Of the figs atr Battleground, the established Brunswick and Sal's fig trees are alive.  I don't know yet about any of the others I planted last year.

If I remember correctly about last year, the Brunswick fig tree too a long time to develop green buds.  That was the first Spring after I moved it here.  Maybe the same will be true for the others.

The Gingko biloba tree I moved here summer 2012 is budding out nicely.  This tree is about 15 years from seed that my dad collected in Quincy IL.  This was the smallest of the 3 trees, the only one small enough for me to move when I did.

Two of the pawpaws are making flower buds.  Sunflower is ahead of NC-1.  If the timing works out, I will pollinate by hand.  Pawpaw flowers are self-infertile.  The stigma (female part) is receptive before the anthers (male part) produce viable pollen.  When the pollen is produces, the stigma is no longer receptive.  In addition, even when flowers open at different times on the same tree, most varieties are self-infertile.  I hope I can pollinate one with the other, if flower timing works out.  These are small trees.  Ideally, I should not try to make them produce fruit this year.  But life is short and I would like a taste.  If possible.

New Trees progress report.

Cherry "Almaden Duke"

Jujube "Li"

 Here is the progress report for new trees planted 2012 - 2013.  Most, but not all, are fruit trees.  They are young.  Not all are pictured here.  They are in no particular order.

Duke Cherry "Almaden Duke".  Now 6 ft tall.  Growth this year, 6".  Transplant from Vancouver yard last fall.

Ginkgo seedling from Illinois.  My dad's collected seed, tree is the smallest of the 3 I grew.  6ft tall, growth 0 inches.  There were tufts of new growth from each node, but no stem extension.  Leaves remain green so far.

Madrone.  New planting this fall.  6 ft tall.

Sweet Cherry "Vandelay".  New bare root from Raintree, started late this winter, before my surgery.  3'8" of which 2" is new.

Sweet Cherry Sweetheart.  As for Vandelay.  3'10" of which  1'2" is new.  Bloomed after planting, no fruit.

"Greenspire" Linden, South side of yard near house.  6'6" of which 1'6" is new. 

 Jujube "Li".  Planted as container plant last fall.  about 1 ft tall, of which 6" is new.

Pawpaw "NC-1".  All pawpaws were planted summer 2012.  2'7" of which 7" is new.

Pawpaw "NC-1"

Pawpaw "Rebecca's gold".  This tree was eaten by an animal, leaving only about 3".  It grew to 1ft 7" tall, 3 stems.

Pie Cherry "North Star".  Planted as container tree from Lowes, late Spring.  This tree is 5'4".  Growth occurred before I planted it, about 1 ft was new.  This tree had cherries when I bought it.

Pie Cherry "Montmorency".  6'3".  I moved this from Vancouver last summer.  18" of the growth was this year.  This tree bore cherries this year.

Wild Plums - grown from seeds summer / fall 2012.  Tallest is 4'3", next is 3', and smallest is 2'.

Peach "Indian Blood".    Now 4' tall, of which 1ft 4 inches is new.

Persimmon "Seijo".  Now 4'10", of which 15"  is new.  This was bare root planted this year, from Raintree.  The growth was nice, but there is a wound on the north side, narrow, extending much of the old stem.  The wound is about a mm wide.  I don't know what that bodes for next year.

Pawpaw "Rebecca's Gold"

 Persimmin "Nikita's Gift".  2'6" of which 2" is new.  Small but survived the first year.  Persimmons are considered difficult to start, but making it through the first year is encouraging. 

Peach "Charlotte"

Peach "Oregon Curl-Free"

 Peach "Charlotte".   6ft total, of which 2'2" is new.  Fast starting tree.  Moved from Vancouver last summer, started from bare root Spring 2012 as container tree.

Peach seedling and Grape "Price"

Peach "Oregon Curl Free".  Total 4'5" of which 3'7" is new.  Same issues as for "Charlotte"

Pawpaw "Sunflower"

Pie Cherry "Surefire"

Apple "Red Sentinel"  2'4" tall and "Golden Sentinel" 2'4" tall.  Minimal added height this year.  These were planted last summer.  The rootstock may be super-dwarfing. 

Linden "Greenspire" in front yard.  This was the first of the Lindens.  9"  tall of which 1" is new. 

Peach Seedling 8" - unknown parentage, suspect genetic dwarf.  Volunteer in vegetable bed, which was treated with compost.  If it develops leaf curl, I don't plan to keep it  The "Price" grape 8" was a cutting from my vines at home.

American Linden "Redmond"  5 ft tall, 4" is new.  This was container tree planted last winter.

Pear "Rescue"  4 ft tall, 9" is new, and pear "Orca, 4 ft, 9" is new.  Both bare root trees from Raintree, planted late winter 2013.

Apple "Spitzenberg" 3" of new growth on 6" of rootstock.  This was new graft, grown from new graft early Spring and given TLC with fertigation; Apple "Sutton's Beauty" 1'6" of new growth on 6" rootstock, same situation.

Chinese Haw "Red Sun", 4'8" of which 1" is new.   Bare root from "One Green World" nursery planted last fall. 

Plum "Stanley"

Sweet Cherry "Sweetheart"

Plum "Toka"

Mulberry "Illinois Everbearing", 6'4" tall, of which 11'1" is new this year.  Moved from Vancouver yard last fall.

Plum "Stanley" 7'6" of which about 2' is new.  Moved from Vancouver last year.

Plum "Toka" 5'10" tall, of which 1'4" is new and plum "Satsuma" 5'6" of which 3" is new, both bought as potted trees last summer on sale at Home Depot.

The Sourwood I planted in Sept, is 7'8" tall.

I've started applying a layer of compost around each tree.  Ran out, more expected with another truckload of compost this week.

Fruit Trees. Mini Orchard.

Almaden Duke Cherry

Jujube in bee yard

Jujube in orchard

 Almaden Duke Cherry, I moved last summer.  At the time I wondered if it would survive, due to wilting.  Growing nicely.  Only a couple of cherries now.  That may be due to the late frost, which caused a lot of damage to other trees and vines.

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry

North Star Cherry

Sunflower Paw Paw

NC1 Paw Paw

Oregon Curl Free Peach

Indian Blood Peach

Charlotte Peach

Chinese Haw Red Sun

Seijo Persimmon

 Jujube.  I forget which of the two this is.  One is Li and the other is Coco.  From One Free World last summer.  Both are late to start, but now growing.  They have a lot of growing ahead before they amount to anything.   Not a good recommendation for the source.  Planted last fall.

Nikita's Gift Persimmin

One jujube is in the bee  yard, the other in the little orchard.  This fall the other may also be in the bee yard, to provide room for another plum or peach.







Illinois Everbearing Mulberry.  Whatever frost damage was there, it's recovered.  Soon it will need a bird net.

North Star Pie Cherry.  Thanks to the rainy week, it didn't lose a leaf or wilt after planting.  From Lowes.

Sunflower and NC1 Paw Paws.  growing nicely.  They seem to leaf out later than most other trees, about the same time as the jujubes and mulberry.

Oregon Curl Free Peach.  This little tree won't have peaches this year.  It is one of the least affected I've seen as far as Leaf Curl is concerned.  From One Green World last year.  So far, not very vigorous.  There is a summer ahead for growth.  Might make up for lost time.

Indian Blood Peach.  Minimal leaf curl.  Much less than most of the others.  This year I hope it recovers from the damage I did transplanting it from vancouver.  I lost most of the roots when I dug it up.  Surprised it survived.  Can't be disappointed at it for not having peaches this year - just survive and grow.  From Raintree.

Charlotte peach.  Supposed to be curl resistant. It's not.  Or not very.  What a mess.  I will need to research replacements.  I don't want to get stuck with another susceptible peach tree.  It's making a comeback with new growth.   Give it another year to see what happens.

Chinese Haw.  Growing nicely.  From One Green World.  Bare root planted last fall.

Seijo Persimmon and Nikita's Gift Persimmon.  Both growing nicely.  Bare root, planted this spring.  From Raintree.  They will need extra water all summer, because persimmons are said to have inadequate roots to support their tops, for the first year.

The Little Orchard

Here's how the little orchard is progressing. I've planted all 3 of the planned Paw Paws, the unplanned Toka and Satsuma Plums (from big box store on sale, nice looking trees), the 2 peaches from containers at home, a pie cherry (Montmorency) and the Petite negri fig that I grew from a cutting.

The Orchard

Montmorency Cherry.  I moved this last week, from my border at home.  It didn't seem to have a lot of roots.  The soil was dry.  I hadn't watered it all summer.  I dug as wide as I could, pruned lightly, rapped it, and moved to the little orchard.  The leaves did not wilt (good sign) but are now becoming yellow.  That suggests to me it is heading into dormancy, maybe a little early due to the trauma.  Or it may be heading into dead.  We'll know in the Spring.  It shouldn't be too big to move, under 6 ft tall. I've had it one or two years.

One of the Paw Paw trees. They appear to have held up well, despite my breaking a lot of rules. Not the least of which was planting them in mid summer.

Satsuma plum. Does it have red leaves? Or is that impending dormancy? Impending death? Mislabeled? I guess I'll know next Spring - it will grow, or not. And it will have red leaves, or not.

Peach. One of the supposedly leaf-curl resistant ones.  I plan to add one more Peach, probably the Indian Blood peach I have had for 2 seasons now.  It's still really small. I'm anxious to move the other trees that I planned to move, and plant some bare root trees in October. This is a bit of a forced lull now - I don't want to risk killing trees that I've nurtured for 2 or three years. So I'll await dormancy or near-dormancy.

Getting the little orchard going

The first fig tree was already planted a couple of weeks ago. In addition there is a deer-ravished plum, deer-ravished small apples (2), deer-ravished apricot(?), and one tree that I don't know what it is. Now that I have water, I planted two of the paw paws and 2 peaches. They were in containers, so I had to keep them watered anyway. It's hard to see much here. The post on the far left is the Petite negri fig, which is surviving and not much worse for having been planted in the hottest part of the summer. This is a grid, 3 by 5 for 15 trees total. It was going to be 3 by 6, but the gate location took care of the end three. At least I hadn't planted anything there yet. The grid will be uneven due to a few pre-existing trees, but that's OK. The 2 on the far end are paw paws, and the 2 closer ones are peaches. I debated planting the paw paws. This is not considered the time of year to plant them. These were in containers. One of the main issues is tap root, which if damaged can kill the tree. I opted to carefully slide off the containers, and planted without disturbing the root balls. My usual approach is to spread out the roots, but with paw paws the roots are said to be brittle and easily damaged. My thought is that if I'm not going to disturb the root ball anyway, I might as well plant them now. It was windy - the big leaves looked like they thought there was a hurricane. Might be a mistake. Paw paws are said to require a high humus soil, so I mixed in a lot of compost. The Paw paws are "Sunflower" and "NC-1". I have a small one remaining, which I'll wait until fall to plant. Again, not the best time for paw paws, but if I'm not going to disturb the root ball, they might as well be in the ground. The two peaches were also container grown, which I had planted in plastic barrels this spring. These peaches are reported as Leaf Curl resistant - Charlotte and Oregon Leaf Curl Resistant, and they might as well get the full test. I did spread their roots out, although I tried not to damage any. I sprayed the trees with deer repellent. Paw paws are not considered a deer treat, but I wanted to be careful. As always, we'll see. All 4 trees are loosely tied to posts, and there is a compost mulch. In addition, I scattered dog-yard cleanings as hoped for deer repellent. Doesn't hurt anything here - there is no one around to step in it, and it is close to the little trees. The theory is that deer regard the dog "spoor" as evidence of predators, so will avoid the area. My dogs are not exactly predators - they might wag their tails. But the deer don't know that. I also scattered cilantro seeds, since one of the peaches had cilantro that had gone to seed in its pot, so it was immediately available. I gave them all big doses of water. Three figs south of the house - they will get full south light and heat. Sal's is finally out of its pot, after years of container growth. The King figs are only a foot tall. Might take a while. So small they are difficult to see. They are well mulched, got lots of compost, and metal stakes so they don't get run over. I also plan to move some larger fig trees here when they are dormant.