Fig Tree Starts. 11.29.2021

My Hardy Chicago fig tree here in Battle Ground was destroyed by voles. Voles are cute looking little mouse-like creatures with cute looking little perky ears, that are really Satanic demons They chew through tender trees at the base, killing them. They also sometimes gnaw at potatoes underground. Yes, voles are pure evil. In this case, the tree fell over. I thought if I propped it up, it might survive. But no, it's now a dead stick. The parent tree, source of the start for this one, is still thriving in Vancouver. It needs a major pruning. It also had three big, six foor tall shoots growing out of the base. Yesterday I tried to remove those shoots, thinking if I can get one with roots, that's a head start at replacing my dead Hardy Chicago fig tree. It's a good, solid, hardworking and hardy tree, and makes a good reliable fig crop every year. Reminds me of me. Back to the shoots, this was the best I could do. I could not get the others with roots. If I was smart, I would have air layered them, say, starting last March. Then I would already have nice size, well rooted Hardy Chicago fig trees. We wont go there. Anyway, it's not much root for such a long stick.

That's a lot of tree with just some puny little roots. I planted it anyway. I might cut it bit shorter, I don't know. It has a long Winter and Spring to grow new roots, and if fig trees are good at anything, it's growing roots. Well, and making figs, too, but that'll be a year two ahead. I once stuck a plum stick that big into the ground as a garden stake, and it grew very nicely. In case that start doesn't survive, I cut some nice sticks to root as hardwood cuttings. Some times, those will root if you just shove them into good soil and leave them pretty much alone. Just water if they need it. If they don't grow, at least they are there as row markers. So I did that.

With one exception, I grew all of my fig trees from cuttings, and more than that to give away. It's been a while since I did that. I usually started them midwinter, not this early. I could store the sticks in the fridge for the winter, but there's no room. So, I'll see if I can start them now. I cut the sticks short enough to fit into plastic bags. I washed them with soapy water. Then I scored each with a razor blade, making an incision through the cambium layer which is where cells are regenerated and serves as stem cells for making baby roots. Then I treated each one with Dip'n'Grow rooting hormone. Then wrapped in wet paper towel, placed into the zipper plastic bag, and put them on a seed starting warming mat. Possibly (probably?) the incision and rooting hormone are not necessary, and I have done it without a warming mat, but I have it so why not? Might help.

So that's my fig tree starting experiment for this year. We will see if any of these methods work, or all of them. If there are extra fig trees started, that's fine. I can always find them a new home.

Raised Bed #4 Is Put To Bed For the Winter. 11.29.2021

Raised Beds #1 and #2 are the two biggest and new ones, already all done for the winter. Raised Bed #3 was the onion bed in 2021, then cleaned up and planted with garlic back in Sept and Oct. This is Raised Bed #4. It was mostly peppers, but also lettuce, radishes and odds and ends that got messy. Today I cleaned it up, got rid of the weeds, loosened the soil a little. At one end, I replanted shallots and some potato onions that I had stuck into there among the other plants. The shallot was grown last winter from a grocery store shallot, and made four jumbo bulbs I separated and replanted them. The potato onions are much smaller and I'm growing them out of curiosity. The other end of the bed is two rows of garlic. Except for the garlic end, I added a layer of tree leaves, then seven big buckets of the new top soil, then a thicker layer of tree leaves on top. The additional top soil makes up for this year's settling.

So this bed is ready for the winter. So now there is just one bed to get ready. It needs some parts from the hardware store, so it will take a while. There is no rush, it won't be planted until May or June. However, I want to give ut a chance to settle and cure, so my self imposed deadline is mid Dec. Meanwhile, I have completel cleared the bed and contents to ground level. So that's a start.

Raised Bed #2 Is Completed. 11.24.2021

Well, this one is done. On top of the purchased top soil, I added a layer of leaves, then a layer of compost. Not a lot, but maybe enough to provide some humus and inoculum for the leaves. It will get more mixed up when it's time to plant. Then I finished emptying out the former garlic-then-bush beans raised bed that needs rehab, transferring that soil to the new bed. One nice thing, there were lots of earthworms in that soil. Of note - none of the green bean plants had rhizobium nodules. So, when I plant the late winter legume, they will need an inoculum. Anyway, then I added the soil from that former garlic / green bean bed, added a little horticultural lime, mixed it up, and smoothed it a bit. It was notable, how much easier it was to work a bed at this height. Very nice! I think the soil was not crumbly enough. It will get lots more leaf mulch and compost to help with that. It grew great crops thus year, however, so may be perfectly fine as is.

Then I gave it a blanket of Mapke leaves. They are already becoming moldy, so maybe most will break down by Spring.

The bed that will be taken apart, put back together but with a better mole barrier (I hope). There is no rest for the wicked.

I'll disassemble this the rest of the way, then probably add two layers of fencing, then reassemble the bed with wire stays for the rebars that hold the planks in place. It will take some effort, but not even 25% of the work I did on those cement block beds. After that, the final raised bed just needs cleanup, and the pathways need some thought and a bit of work. One bed already got cleaned up when I planted garlic in Sept or Oct. I have all winter long to do that. Just for my first thoughts, I like the size and height of these new beds very much. It's a good thing. I intend never again to do such a labor intensive project. Time to make the best of what I have already made.

Tree Leaves and More Tree Leaves.

This sounds like work but isn't bad. Plus it will save a lot of labor, plastic, and garden food. Here are where the second and third truckloads of leaves went - Half of the bed where I raised sweet corn this year, will be squash next year -

Most of the bed, where I raised squash this year, to be sweet corn next year and some former lawn to expand that bed a bit.

Here, the thick layer of leaves will kill all of the weeds and grass, and prevent them from growing next Spring until I work the soil to plant those crops. The lower layers of leaves will decompose and add humus, and make it easier to work, more fertile, and absorb / release water better. Any leaves that remain when I want the garden beds, will be mulch. I could hire someone to rototill instead, in the Spring, for weed management, but that doesn't improve tilth. I could buy compost, but the leaves are free. Also people need to get rid of their leaves, so it's win/win. I could lay down black plastic to kill weeds, and will in some areas. But the leaves work just as well and have those benefits. I do this every year. Collecting and using tree leaves have improved the soil so much - fertility, earthworm populations, moisture managenent, tilth.

Raised Bed Project, Continued. 11.22.21

Here is the second raised bed so far. I leveled the ground, placed wire fencing and plastic mesh on the ground to frustrate moles, built the sides, and filled most of the way, 2/3 full with the new top soil.

I waited to build the end wall, so that I could haul in most of the soil using a shefl barrow. Then I built the end and finished the first 2/3 layer of topsoil.

Then I added a few inches layer of leaves to build up organic matter a bit during the winter.

Next I'll add some compost, then top the bed with enriched soil from the bed where I raised garlic, then green beans, this year. Then top it off with leaves and add the occassional mushroom or earthworm as I find them. This is too much work. I'm glad the worst is over, although those last layers are still needed and then rehab / rebuild the bed that moles destroyed. That onechas plank sides, and isn't as tall, so maybe not as much hard labor.