Potato Flowers. 7.1.22

 Elba potatoes are blooming nicely.  These are a "late potato" but apparently bloom earlier and better than my other varieties.

Bird Deterrent For Raspberries. 7.1.22

 The raspberries are doing great.  Barely beginning to pink up.  Next to them is a redcurrant that birds stripped of every berry.  I didn't get to taste even one.

Strips of holographic tape usually deter birds, so I was generous in how much I tied to the raspberries and to the fence above them.

Here's a video.  I tie it lime a kite tail, so every slight breeze whips the strips around.  It can be noisy and in the sun, the flashes of light are almost blinding.  I added some to one of the fig trees, too.

First Garlic Harvest. 7.1.22

 These are the first of the "Music" variety garlic, that I planted last fall.  I've grown them through many garlic generations here, so they are very well adapted.  The cloves are very large, and strongly flavored.

These are not ready to dig for storage.  The paper-like covering needs to be dried out first.  I think they will be ready in a few more weeks.  Meanwhile, we have fresh garlic from the garden.

Roscoff Fig Tree. 7.1.22

The convent fig tree in Roscoff, France was planted in 1610. The wide ranging branches were supported by granite pillars. The branches covered an area of 600 square metres. The trunk itself had a circumference of 1.75 metres. The tree could shelter five hundred people. The tree lived into the 1980s, when it was removed.

Roscoff is a community in coastal Brittany, in NW France.  

Brutally Pruned "Hardy Chicago" Fig Tree Made A Comeback. 7.1.22

 Here is the Hardy Chicago fig tree that I pruned in March, as of today.

Here is how it looked just after pruning, 15 March 22.

I tipped the most vigorous new shoots, as I usually do, to promote formation of fig buds.  Given the severity of the pruning, it may not bear this year.  Or it might.

(The house has been repaired and painted recently, but it's the same tree).