Fig Progress Report

In another posting, the brebas on "Vancouver" (probable Brunswick) are shown.

Other trees with brebas now include Hardy Chicago (only a few, small), Petite Negri (few, small), Lattarula (more) and Desert King (many more).

I will try to avoid too much optimism. Brebas often enlarge then fall off. It would be great if they grow and ripen instead.

Meanwhile, I took the Desert King cuttings out of the refridgerator and stuck them into the half-barrel containers. I don't know if they will grow but the effort expended was truly minimal - I just stuck them into the growth medium such that about 9 inches was below soil line and 3 inches above soil line. If even one grows, I plan to start a tree to be kept in a less prime location. Then I expect to remove the existing tree. This is a long term plan. It takes about 3 years to reach significant fruiting stage.

Fig brebas, embryonic figs beginning to swell. Often, many if not most drop. I hope that most will stay this year.

One view of front border. The white flowers are "Stella" cherry.

A view of backyard orchard. I don't know the cherry varieties.

Pink Cherry in Bloom.

Each year, someone suggests this tree is either about to die, or that I should cut it down. Each year, it is more beautiful than the year before. Today the earliest blossoms are open, with many more to follow.

Tomato progress report

The tomato seedlings are almost too large to maintain outside now. The temperatures are still in the 40s at night, so too soon to plant outside unprotected.

I've been setting them outside in the morning, and bringing inside at night. The day temperatures are into the 50s and 60s, for the most part.

They are a little more leggy than I like, but still OK. If too leggy I can just plant them deeper.

I wasn't going to set up the "wall-o-water" units but under the circumstances, I think they are the best approach. I took the soil temperature, it's 50 degrees, so technically warm enough to plant. I will leave these units in place for 2 days then plant tomato plants. There will be some extra plants to try elsewhere. The arrangement is not planned. My garden not only has an "organic" soil/pest management/compost/plant food philosophy, but apparently has an "organic" constantly evolving shape. Not planned that way, but it is what it is. Nonlinear, no straight edges or 90 degree corners.

I planted 3 tomato plants in this barrel, too. One has a plastic container cover. I'll look around and see if I can find more, otherwise I'll buy something at the grocery store today. I think it's still too cool to have them completely unexposed, at least at night. A cover would also result in warmer soil & roots.

Doing what the honeybee does.

The sweet cherries and pears are blooming nicely. It's chilly and rainy outside at the moment. I didn't stay outside very long. I have a bad cold.

This is a 5-variety pear tree. I played the honeybee, using a paintbrush, taking pollen from flower to flower. With compact trees, it's easy to pollenate several dozen flowers in 10 minutes. That's plenty. Pears require pollination from a different variety. With a multigraft tree such as this one, I can go from variety to variety without going from tree to tree. The pollen is a bit wet. I don't know if that's good or bad.

I found the label for the Asian pear combo tree. The varieties from bottom to top are Shinseiki, Yonashi, Hamese, and Mishirasu. One is missing, I think Yonashi. Stock is OHxF 97