Some Early Flowers. 3.12.2021

 Something is removing some of the older bulbs.  That's not all bad - then I can buy and plant more this fall.  Last year I bought via mail order, as a COVID precaution, so the selection was less.  Also, I was not up to planting so many last fall.  Still, there are a few blooming here and there.  Some of the hyacinths are a few years old, so maybe those are less appetizing to underground herbivores.

Helleboris do very well here.  I think that is, in part, because they are poisonous.  However, they tend to be droopy and their colors seem to say "I'm here to remind you of 1980".

Early Training for an Apple Espalier. 3.12.2021

 This is the Honeycrisp™ tree that my helper planted for me recently.  It was nice being able to compare the trees at the nursery (Tsugawa), so that I could find one to Espalier, with two potential lowest tier branches, two mid tier and one center to grow the third tier.  Or graft with something else.  This was the closest I could find in the semidwarf size, which I wanted to compensate for the lower vigor I think Honeycrisp™ has.

I used heavy, 7 foot (above ground) steel fence posts. Those are re-used from prior tree protection fences.  In a future year, if they turn out to not be sturdy enough, I can put in something sturdier.  Or brace against the deer fence.  A few days ago I tied bamboo, 9 foot lengths, for the horizontal parts of the trellis.  If I decide later to add a 4th tier, I will figure that out then.  The bamboo is harvested from my yard, Phyllostachys but I don't know the species.  They were sold 20 years ago as "Timber bamboo" but so are a variety of species.  This one grows about 25 feet tall, poles up to about 2 1/2 inches diameter.  Not "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" size.  More like "Crouching Chicken, Hidden Squirrel.   but it makes nice garden size bamboo poles, strong and durable.  I measured 9 foot lengths, so each arm of the tiers could be about 4 1/2 feet long.  If they get one apple about every 5 inches, that will be roughly 20 apples (max) per tier, 40 for two tiers, which is plenty for an apple that won't keep more than about a month in my pantry.  I may graft something else for the 3rd and potential 4th tiers.

Some of the branches were at about their limit for maturity, for bending to where I wanted them without breaking.  It takes a firm yet sensitive hand although my clumsy hands worked OK this time.  I tie the part proximal to the central trunk, before tying the more distal aspects.  The branches don't extend to the ends of the poles.  I will let the end buds grow to their maximum this year, which I hope will be 2 or three feet, then bend those down to complete the tiers.

Horizontal branches are more likely to bloom and bear fruit, compared to verticals.   Plus, they are amenable to summer pruning and puttering, for my senior accessible garden and puttering meditation refuge.  Summer pruning is ideal for maximizing apple production in a small space, as inspired by the in the early 20th century French pomologist, Louis Lorette.   The English translation of his book is copyright 1925.  The Lorette System of Pruning.

From the linked reference:
-Winter prune only for major framework.- Prune mid June when new shoots are nearly mature.
 -Wait until branches are pencil thickness to prune them.  Then leave the basil leaf tuft and cut two buds beyond that.  Those will become fruit spurs.
-In later growing seasons, every month remove any branches that are pencil thickness.

The Espalier that is furthest along is the Redlove™ Era™, this year in its third leaf.  So far, so good.

 

 

New Apple Tree. 03.08.2021

 Last year I accidentally bought two Redlove™ Odysso™ apple trees, because I am a space cadet.   One has found a new home, so there is a space there for a different tree.  Even though I have something else for that spot, I've been thinking about adding a Honeycrisp to train as Espalier.  Today we made a trip to Tsugawa Nursery (wearing masks, although it was outside), and I sorted through all of their Honeycrisp trees.  They had some on the highly dwarfing MM27 rootstock, but I think that is too dwarfing for Honeycrisp, having done it before (although M27, not MM27).  They also had some on a "semidwarf" rootstock, not labeled.  I opted for that.  I think that will work out OK, given that in my hands Honeycrisp is low vigor and I will be training the branches horizontally and summer pruning for Espalier.  I looked through the trees and found one that I think is a reasonable subject for Espalier.  

That's the big tree on the left.  Since no trip to Tsugawa can be made without getting more, there is a camellia, two Japanese maples for my helper, a hardy fuschia, and some pansies in the group.  Plus Tsugawa gives a Veteran's discount, so I want to support them.  My helper will plant the Honeycrisp in a day or two, when there is a chance to bare-root it, then I can do preliminary Espalier training.

More Potato Starts. 03.08.2021

 At Winco, there were some potato starts.  I just bought one box,  I have more coming from Fedco in Maine in a few weeks.  These are my most favorite of all potatoes, Kennebecs.  I sliced a couple in half to get more plants.  It's enough for a row.  I will let them dry and grow a little bigger in the sunroom for a week or two before planting.

Emerging Lettuce Seeds. 03.08.2021

 These started germinating quickly. Lettuce Black Seeded Simpson, planted a few days ago, no warming mat.  This is nice.  Of course, there are many more to follow.  It's interesting, they emerge so much larger than the seeds seem to suggest.

Planting Early Greens. 03.08.2021

 Yesterday I planted saved seeds for cilantro and Black Seeded Simpson lettuce in the raised bed.  I expect to harvest those before planting peppers outside in May or June.  Today I made a trip to Winco, fully haz-matted in double masks, gloves, and goggles, but no flame thrower.  I noted some seeds, so bought another variety of lettuce and some spinach seeds.  I planted those today.  These are probably not candidates for seed saving, which is OK.  I have too many of those anyway.

Uncovering Genetic Dwarf Peach Trees for Spring. 03.08.21

 These are more appropriately called "Peach Shrubs" than trees, they are so small.  Small shrubs at that.  I covered them for the winter, using upturned trash cans.  Today I thought, "I wonder what's going on under there".  It turned out, one is already blooming and the other is growing, both very very pale from no sunshine.

I covered these for the winter to avoid issues with Peach Leaf Curl Disease, which makes inroads into the peach buds through the rainy fall and winter.  I don't know if that will be an issue with uncovering now.  There is still some rainy season ahead.  With these so pale, it's possible the sun will damage them.  I decided to just go with the flow and see what happens.

 If I remember correctly, the blooming one is called "Garden Gold" and the nonblooming one is called "El Dorado".  That second one was far smaller when I planted it last year .  I pruned off the moldy looking branches.

Getting a Bud-Grafted Peach Tree Start Ready for Spring. 03.05.2021

 This is the peach curl resistant peach that I grew from seed a number of years ago, progeny from Oregon Curl Free.  It's a good peach and on the seed grown tree there has never been significant leaf curl.  It's the most resistant tree that I have grown so far, out of many varieties marketed for disease resistance.  I labeled this peach "Sunny Day" so that I would have something to call it.

Last Spring I tried to whip/tongue graft scion onto Lovell rootstock, didn't take.  So I bud grafted onto the same rootstocks during the summer.  They took, but one was lost in hot weather.  That left this one.

It's tiny, but I think the bud is still alive.  It's a little greener in person than in this photo.   I pruned off the rest of the baby tree, above the bud.  Now it must grow from this bud or not at all.

 

Starting Lettuce Seeds Indoors, from Saved Seeds. 03.05.2021

Today I planted seeds from "Black Seeded Simpson" lettuce, a variety that I recall my mom growing with I was a little lad.  During that era, gardening was especially challenging because there were Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs running around the yard and we had to stay out of their way.   Oh, the memories.

I saved these seeds from some lettuce plants I grew last year.   Saving lettuce seeds was a new thing for me.  The flowers were a little sticky, so it wasn't as easy to separate the seeds from the chaff, but perfection isn't necessary and usually isn't an option for me. They cleaned up well enough.

There is a potential these cross bred with wild lettuce, which might result in bitter, smaller leaves.   We'll know if/when they germinate and grow.

Lettuce germinates at 60F to 70F, so I won't use the warming mat.

The variety "Black Seeded Simpson" was introduced in the late 19th century, so people have been growing it for more than 130 years.

Up-potting Apple and Pepper Seedlings. 03.05.2021

 Yesterday got a bag of potting soil during senior coronavirus hours at Costco, so this morning I up-potted the three apple seedlings and two of the peppers, from their six-pack cells into individual larger pots with actual potting soil.  They had good root systems. My theory, borne out by experience but never tested, is that when the roots reach the sides and bottom of the container and start winding around, the plant growth slows down and it doesn't thrive.  

The apple seedlings look surprisingly healthy, considering I don't know what I'm doing.  I wonder if, on being in real sunshine, the red coloration will darken. 

Background info:  

 The apple seedlings are Redlove™ Calypso™ X Golden Sentinel.  

So far, Calypso™  has red flesh and is sort of cranapple flavored. Quite tart and crisp.  Smaller than my other apples, although first year fruits are usually not as large or good as those from more mature trees.

Golden Sentinel is a Canadian development, a cross of ‘Discovery’ X (cross of Wijcik Spur MacIntosh x Delicious). Discovery is an English cross of . Worcester Pearmain with, possibly, Beauty of Bath, reported to have a bit of a strawberry flavor and red coloration that sometimes bleeds into the flesh. So Golden Sentinel has some good flavor genetics. I like it although it seems to be biennial bearing.

My pipe dream is to create a columnar apple tree with reddish leaves, pink flowers, red flesh apples that are sweeter than Calypso™ but more fragrant than Golden Sentinel, which I think is a good apple as is. Since two of the seedlings have reddish leaves, I might be part way there. They have a 50% chance of columnar trait. According to the Canada Plant Inspection Agency, Golden Sentinel has shorter internodes compared to McIntosh Wicjik, so it’s possible that I might see that in seedlings although I don’t know if I would recognize it. I try to put these on a top shelf where they get more sun, because I don’t know if the wavelength of the LED lights is suitable for red-pigmented leaves.