Grafting Progress Report. 3.21.16

First bud break on grafted ginkgo tree.  3.21.16

 This is one of the ginkgo trees that I grafted 2.2.16.  At this stage, growth doesn't prove the graft took, but it does show it's alive.  Considering about 7 weeks have passed from the graft, I'm thinking they have taken.  More new growth, especially vigorous, will make me more confident.

I don't have a pic, camera battery died, but the pear grafts from about the same time, also look good, with larger bud growth.

In addition to the apple grafts from Fedco last week, I added more today.  These came from this weekend's Home Orchard Society scion exchange yesterday.  From those, I grafted -

Red Airlie apple, which is sold in stores with the trademarked name "Hidden Rose".  Inside of the ripe apples is pink.  According to reviews, these apples are slower to brown after slicing.  Flavor is considered good.  Late ripening.

King David, apple.  I looked for this one via Fedco, they didn't have any this time around.  Thought to be a hybrid of Jonathan and an unknown, possibly Arkansas Black or Winesap, 1893, apple looks more like Arkansas Black.  Very resistant to fireblight. 

Dolgo Crabapple, because crab apples are considered good pollinizers for other apples.

Hawkeye, considered the original Red Delicious, before Red Delicious underwent multiple generations of sports giving us the famous beautiful, cardboard tasting apple.  Hawkeye is said to be the true "Delicious".

These are all the apples varieties my little trees can handle for now.  If some turn out to be duds, I can prune them out and let others take over.  The multigrafts should all be self pollinating, and each branch should give at least a couple of pies, or a few bowls of apples, which is all I want from each variety.  For me, it's like a collection, I see something interesting and add it.  The cost is minimal - $5 for scion at Fedco, or free at the scion exchange.

The new scion from this year, assuming they take, will need 2 or 3 years to produce fruit for a taste.

I also grafted the following, yesterday and today:

Onto the Stanley European plum, a plum labeled as "Red Washington European Plum".  I grafted that one as a polllinizer for better or more fruit production on Stanley.  If it's a good plum, that will be good too.  I don't have more info on this plum.

Male Hayward Kiwi - to pollinize the no-name kiwi that has been growing for 3 years in my arbor.  I didn't want to buy an additional plant, not knowing if it would help.  Kiwi turns out to be very soft wood, hollow with a pith.  The wood was also delicate, fell apart easily.  I needed several tries, and in the end it was not clean.  The kiwi sap is syrupy.  It might take.

I grafted three grafts of Petite Negri Fig from home, onto the extra Dominick fig tree at Battleground, to see if I can get a good start of this fig without growing from cutting.  Fig wood is also soft, and fragile, with a central pith.  These might or might not take.   I had stored the scion, well wrapped, in the refrigerator to keep it dormant until the understock started growing.  The figs are all producing buds now.

Flowers on Ember Plum.  3.21.16

I did a whip and tongue from Toka.   That was also stored in the refrigerator, well wrapped.  I used one of the Hollywood Plum own-root starts as understock.  I want a spare Toka.  It's a delicious plum, a vigorous pollinizer, but the existing tree appeared to have some canker last year.

This leaves a male scion for the hardy kiwi, and a persimmon scion, "Chocolate" to add to either Saijo or Nikita's Gift.  From my readings, persimmons are difficult, and take best if the under stock is already growinbg actively.  That will need to wait a few weeks in the refrigerator.

Native Plum Seedling in Bloom, 4 years old.  3.21.16

From grafts done last year, Ember and Hanska plums are now blooming.  They are later, compared to the Asian plums.  One Ember plum is a free standing tree, grafted March 2015 onto Hollywood rootstock.  The seedling plum, taken from what I think are native American species plum tree, is just beginning to bloom for the first time.  This tree is 4 years old.  It has been raining a lot, so I don't know if they will pollinize even if compatible.

Fava Bean Progress Report. 3.21.16

Fava seedlings about 6 weeks after planting.  3.21.16

These are the favas I started 2.13.16   They are looking succulent and vigorous.

The seeds I planted one week later also look good, about 1/2 are above ground.  Raining too much to weed or hoe, maybe better during the next few days.

Book Review. How to grow perennial vegetables, buy Martin Crawford. 3.17.16

Red mulberry

This week I went to the local library and checked out the book, "How to Grow Perennial Vegetables" by Martin Crawford.  2012.

This book is interesting because growing perennial vegetables allows us to have plants that require minimal maintenance, fit into a permaculture landscape, and puts to work some plants that might otherwise be taken for granted or considered weeds.

The book is well written and interesting.  There is a comprehensive list of plants with descriptions, instructions for how to grow them, and culinary uses.  The format is easy to follow and informative.

Plants that were interesting to me -

Violet

Apple mint -  because I recently saw a video about how to make a tea from apple mint.
Asparagus - which I just planted yesterday, "Millenium".  I don't know how that will do, but it's worth a try.
Chives and Chinese Chives - which we already grow.
Columbine - for the leaves.  Salad greens.  I didn't know that.
Dandelion - multi uses, greens and root.   Planning to experiment with both the weed and improved cultivars.  One application is a sort of "wilted lettuce salad" which involves saute of the leaves.
Daylilies - for the flowers or flower buds.  The unopened buds can be used as a sort of green bean - like vegetable.
Hostas  - eat the young shoots as a fresh vegetable, apparently popular in Korea.
Horseradish - I think I will add some in the orchard row.  That should at least give the moles and voles extra flavors to savor as they tunnel through.
Sedum spectabile - I didn't know that!  Already growing many bunches for bees.  Use leaves as a fresh green.  The book states, "succulent and juicy and ready to add to a salad on a hot summer day"

Linden

Linden - leaves for cooking like spinache, or salad.  I imagine better in spring when fresh and young.
Mulberry - leaves can be used as a cooked green. Also, I imagine better when fresh and young.
Opuntia cacti - for nopales.  I don't know how they will do but I am experimenting with them.
Oca - I found these in a catalog but way too expensive.  If I can find a less expensive source I will try.
Rhubarb - mostly uses as a pseudo-fruit, but can also be savory.
Violets - leaves for soups, have a thickening effect.

The book describes many times more than this list, which other than oca and apple mint, I already grow.  All very interesting and useful

I'm fairly impressed at this list, so many edible plants already in my yard, and quite a few that I have not sampled.  I suspect some are better and some are not so good, but we can be sort of like Euell Gibbons, we can "Stalk the Wild Asparagus", in our own yards.


[All images via public domain website, vintageprintable.com]




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Kitchen Garden Progress Report. 3.17.16

Container Planting of Radish and Spinach Seedlings.  3.17.16

 I did a lot of gardening today.

Large half-barrel size containers with greens and favas are coming along nicely, roughly one month after planting.  Pictured, radish and spinach.  Favas are also growing nicely both in containers and in-ground, and scallions are more than a foot tall - Eqyptian Walking Onions.

Grape cuttings look good, about one month.  I am starting Interlaken and Price.  These will get extra TLC this year to achieve planting size as soon as I can manage.

Grape Cuttings at One Month.  3.17.16

Favas Germinating at one month.  3.17.16

Apple Scion, Fedco.  3.17.16

 Fedco apple scion came yesterday.  I stored in refridgeratore overnight.  Scion includes Milo Gibson, Sweet-16, Baldwin, Newtown Pippin.  Some were very small.  I multigrafted 3 existing trees, and also created one from a one-year plant of semidwarf stock taken from the stump of a prior apple tree.  That last was a rind graft, because the scion was so much smaller than the rootstock.  I used Mil Gibson because it is rare and unique.

The seedling gemetic dwarf peach is blooming at 4 years.  Others at same age and younger are not blooming.  I'm designating these as "gremlin peaches" because the trees are so tiny, suitable for container.  I don't know what they will be like.  They need a designation because it's too much typing to continue stating "seedlings of genetic dwarf peaches".

I planted herb seeds indoors in seed starting soil, in reused, washed seedling 6-packs.  I started seeds for greens in the outdoor half barrels.  As pictured below.

Rind Graft, Milo Gibson Apple on unknown semidwwarf rootstock.  3.17.16

Seedling Gremlin Peach at 4 years.  3.17.16

Seeds planted indoors.  3.17.16

Seeds planted outdoors in large containers for greens.  3.17.16

Genetic Dwarf Peaches. Progress Report. 3.14.16

Genetic Dwarf Peach "Garden Gold"  3.14.16

Genetic Dwarf Peach "Honeybabe".  3.14.16

 All of the genetic dwarf peaches are blooming.  The almost insurmountable challenge with these, is peach leaf curl disease.

There are several ways to address leaf curl.  Among those, sprays, cover the trees for the winter to prevent fungal growth in the buds, or be more creative and intense, growing in containers.  To grow in containers, one can buy  a bare root tree and plant in container, or try growing seedlings from genetic dwarf varieties.

During fall, 2014, I dug up the smallest of my genetic dwarf peach trees, and planted in container.  That required significant loss of very large roots.  Even so, in 2015, that tree was the best of any of my peaches, and the fruit was the most delicious peach crop I've had in years.

Here is a summary of my varieties:

Garden Gold.  White flesh.  Approx 14 years old.  Always blooms well, gets a bad dose of PLC - peach leaf curl disease - loses most of the peaches, recovers, gets a few peaches for fall.

Honeybabe.  Golden flesh.  I like the flavor better than Garden Gold.  However, Honeybabe has worse leaf curl.  This year it looks even worse than usual.  I don't know if it will survive.

Genetic Dwarf Peach "Eldorado".  3.14.16

Seedling from Genetic Dwarf Peach.  4th year.  3.16.14

Eldorado.  As described, excellent small peaches.  PLC was as bad as the other varieties, even though I had it planted under semi-shelter.  Containerized and not exposed to rain during wingter 2014-2015, there was almost no PLC at all, that cleared up quickly, and it made a great crop.

Empress.  I bought this as a bare root tree, winter 2015-2016.  It is planted in container.  No way to know how it will do.

Seedlings.  I have several seedling trees.  Initially, this was unplanned.  The parent varieties are either Garden Gold or Honeybabe.  This winter, the first is starting to bloom, at 4 years old.  I kept it in a shed for much of the winter, then on a deck not exposed to rain.  No way to know yet if it will bear fruit, or what the fruit will be like.

If I was to start over, I would grow these peaches, only in containers.  I would save seeds from the first year or two fruit, to experiment with.  

Container growth requires a lot of attention.  They dry out quickly, so need water on a daily or twice daily basis.  Wrapping the container with foil can reduce soil temp, but they still need daily watering.  Container trees need pruning to keep branches close to the core, to reduce top heaviness and risk of falling over, and broken branches.  Genetic dwarf trees over-set badly - something like 90% of fruit should be removed at pea-size stage.  Fortunately, the trees are small so that does not require ladders.