Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Planted Garlic. 10.17.17
Today I planted garlic. Three rows from my own harvested garlic, I think German Red. Four rows of this Duganski from Territorial. I also bought another type from Territorial, but the cloves were soft and shriveled. I don't know if they are worth planting, or could have a disease. I may try those in an unused raised bed, not anticipating planting onion family in that bed so maybe it would be worth a try.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Nerine and Geraniums. 10.12.17
I moved these out of the rain, and will let them dry out as much as possible before moving them to the garage for the winter. This planting is about 3 or 4 years old now. The nerine is a nice surprise. I thought they had died out.
Labels:
geranium,
nerine,
overwintering geranium
New Load of Arborist Chips. Mulching Young Trees and Borders for Next Year. 10.14.17
We had a large, old, dead tree cut down. The arborist had a truck load of chipped tree branches, including those from our tree, so I asked for them to use as mulch.
It will take several truck loads to haul all of them. So far, I've mulched a major section of the woods edge border, which I spent the last 18 months cleaning up and planting with trees, shrubs, and perennials. It was fairly clean already, but with about 4 inch thickness of arborist chips, should not need any significant maintenance for most of 2018.
That's a major step in reducing my workload next year. Many of the things that I planted there, were unwanted plants and shrubs that needed a new home. Some were sizeable. I didn't want to buy things that might not do well, or more likely, be eaten by deer. Deer are the major limitation to what I can grow. At this point, I just want to get trees growing above deer browsing height, and stick to the ornamentals that they don't like to eat. I know they won't eat the dwarf mugo pines, crocosmia, gladiolas, ferns, Helleborus, daffodils, or hyacinthoides. Not sure about the Rhododendrons. I'm watching for deer damage to the Dawn Redwood, but so far they have not taken a liking to it.
I also mulched the year old Chestnut trees. They still need some hardware cloth to protect from rodents, then they too are set for the winter and for 2018 as well.
It will take several truck loads to haul all of them. So far, I've mulched a major section of the woods edge border, which I spent the last 18 months cleaning up and planting with trees, shrubs, and perennials. It was fairly clean already, but with about 4 inch thickness of arborist chips, should not need any significant maintenance for most of 2018.
Chestnut Tree, One Year Old. Double-Fenced, Mulched, and Ready for Winter. 10.12.17 |
That's a major step in reducing my workload next year. Many of the things that I planted there, were unwanted plants and shrubs that needed a new home. Some were sizeable. I didn't want to buy things that might not do well, or more likely, be eaten by deer. Deer are the major limitation to what I can grow. At this point, I just want to get trees growing above deer browsing height, and stick to the ornamentals that they don't like to eat. I know they won't eat the dwarf mugo pines, crocosmia, gladiolas, ferns, Helleborus, daffodils, or hyacinthoides. Not sure about the Rhododendrons. I'm watching for deer damage to the Dawn Redwood, but so far they have not taken a liking to it.
I also mulched the year old Chestnut trees. They still need some hardware cloth to protect from rodents, then they too are set for the winter and for 2018 as well.
Labels:
arborist chips,
borders,
chestnut trees,
Dawn Redwood,
deer,
mulch
Sunday, October 08, 2017
Update: Transplanted Old, Minidwarf Apple Trees, 2 seasons later. 10.8.17
Jonagold on M27. 10.8.17 |
I'm happy with how they responded to transplanting and care.
Liberty on M27. 10.8.17 |
Labels:
Jonagold,
Liberty,
M27,
transplanting fruit trees
Kitchen Garden Harvest. 10.8.17
The turnips were planted in a raised bed in July. This is a massive turnip now.
The squashes are butternuts, scallops, and some compost volunteers. Those may be natural hybrids of different types that I grew last year.
The squashes are butternuts, scallops, and some compost volunteers. Those may be natural hybrids of different types that I grew last year.
Fall/Winter Projects. A New Deer Cage for Young Chestnut Tree. 10.8.17
Maraval Chestnut Tree in Deer Cage. 10.7.17 |
The make-shift deer cages mostly worked for the young chestnut trees. Minimal damage. However, I wanted room to grow for next year, potentially the last year or next-to-last year they will need deer cages.
This year, some parts of my orchard had major, disappointing, set-backs due to failed deer cages and more aggressive browsing. I think there are more deer this year, and saw a group of five in a neighbor's yard this week. There are no deer predators now, and hunting is not allowed. I don't know what will happen as the population increases above what the ecosystem can handle. Meanwhile, with a hot dry summer, and probably more hunger and thirst, they ventured into tree and plant varieties that they would normally not eat, and they were more aggressive about getting into barriers that they would normally not bother with.
I usually use standard welded wire fencing, holes are 2 inches by 4 inches, and height 4 feet. That was usually fairly secure, but then deer learned to grasp leaves that stuck out through the fencing, pulling to rip off branches much further in the cage. In some cases, branches were pulled off the trees, leaving big wounds. One tree was completely destroyed. Deer also reached over some of the fences to chomp down branches that emerged above the cages. So, I changed some of the fences to plastic fencing with 1 inch gaps. That prevented leaves from sticking out through the gaps, but the material was too flexible, and in some cases the deer pushed the fencing down, giving access to entire trees to eat the tree. I want to be more prepared for next year, and avoid more disappointing damage if possible.
Maraval Chestnut Tree in Deer Cage. 10.7.17 |
Now it has stronger fence posts to prevent knocking the fencing over. The fencing is 6 feet tall, and is 2 layer, with both the sturdy, wide-mesh metal, and the narrower mesh plastic. As the tree grows next year, I may need to add a bit more, higher, level, but I think this will be good, for the most part, for protection in 2018. After that, I think these trees will be tall enough to dispense with the fences.
This was the chestnut variety Maraval. Next, I need to to the same for the Marissard seedling that grew as much, and the smaller Marigoule that I moved to a new location last week.
Edit 10/8/17: Now Marissard seedling is also in a new, larger, double-fencing cage too. I hope these work. It's really disappointing to check on trees and discovered that a year of effort, or more, has become a salad for roaming deer.
Marissard Chestnut Tree in Deer Cage. 10.8 17 |
Labels:
chestnut trees,
deer,
Deer Fencing,
Maraval
Saturday, October 07, 2017
Yates American Persimmon. First Taste. 10.7.17
Yates American Persimmon. 10.7.17 |
These are smaller than Nikita's Gift, and earlier. Not quite as sweet, I think as Nikita's Gift or Saijo. They are a wonderful rich flavor, thick texture, not as liquidy as some ripened astringent Asian persimmons I've eaten.
All I can say is, definitely worth growing.
Yates American Persimmon. 10.7.17 |
Thursday, October 05, 2017
Airlie Red Flesh Apple. First Harvest. 10.5.17
Last year I picked up some scion of "Arlie Red Flesh" apple at the Home Orchard Society scion exchange. It took, grew rapidly, and there are a few apples on that branch. This was my first one, ever. Cool to look at, slightly tart, sweet, pretty good tasting apple. Others have re-named and trademarked this apple as "Hidden Rose", but it is not patented.
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