Plum Seeds

These are the wild plum seeds I opened 2 months ago and placed into the fridge in a moist paper towel, sealed in a plastic ziplock sandwich bag. That was July 8th. So germination is about 3 1/2 months. One looks rotted. The other 2 are slightly moldy but growing. This was one week ago.

Here they are today. I planted them in seed starting soil. No problem from the mold. Seems like wrong time of year to be sprouting. Will grow in window.

Irises.

The 3rd raised bed is completed. Soil is from a pile behind the house. Again, mixing with compost as I filled. Maybe about 20% compost by volume. This time it's for flowers. Saving space for the spring shipment of irises. Plus added a row of Anemone rhizomes at the front. No idea if they will grow. They were like little rocks. Dry and hard.  Could have soaked them first. In this climate, with rain expected for the next 4 months, that seems excessive.  So I did not soak them.  I"m growing the Irises in a grid.  I'm not interested here in them as landscaping.  I like the flowers for themselves. The bed is just under 4 X 8, and the irises are about 7 across and 3 deep.  So a little more than a square foot each.  The smaller growing ones are toward the front.

The three iris rhizomes here with, white leaves are from dried-out shipments / store bought.  No confidence they will grow planting so late.  The far right, back one is Red Zinger, a medium size iris I wanted to try.   The lower right one is a rescue, I saved from bacterial rot this summer.  Diety.  Between them, I planted 2 rows of iris seeds from this summer's hybridization effort.  By planting them in the beds, there is minimal maintenance.

I planted some of the containerized irises. I've been coddling them for months. Four have died from bacterial rot. None of the in-ground irises did. Maybe that means, container method is not so good? The potting soil is not so good?  Mostly I want this bed for heritage irises, but some are modern.  I did not water them in.  I planted a little shallower than they were in containers. They had excellent root growth.  I tried not to disturb the roots.  No use spreading the root out.  Iris roots are deciduous, die off and are replaced as new rhizomes grow.

Trees, leaves, planning for bees. Plant trees in fall. Ginkgo.

That back yard ginkgo. The leaves are yellow now. Beautiful! I say it over and over, but I'm proud I grew that from a seed!

The big maple at the battleground place. So beautiful. Dropping leaves. They will make lots of great compost.

Found this little leaf linden, "Greenspire' at HD. Marked down from sale price of $39.99 to $8.00. Can't beat that price. With plans to start beehives, linden trees are a great choice. I read that linden pollen makes the best honey. This tree had a great root mass. Not too root bound. I did have to prune a few. There is no central leader. It will need corrective pruning for 2 or 3 years. But at that price, who can complain? I cut off a couple of small rubbing branches, that's all. Wait for bloom, prune after that next Spring.

About 8 feet tall once planted. The ground was very easy to dig now. No more summer dry soil. Not too much work. It will be a great source of pollen for the honey bees.

What does it take to make me happy? Leaves for compost is a good start. It's like a christmas present. Leafmas.

Progress Report. Mostly Allium family vegetables.

No pics today. Today I built raised bed #3. Filled about 3/4 with soil/leaf compost mix. The top soil was muddy - not the best way to build a garden bed, but not much choice. I did not tramp it down, kept my feet off, and mixed in about 25% compost, so it should be OK. When it is filled, this bed will contain ornamentals that need fall planting. I noted last weekend that the Chinese chive seeds I planted have germinated, and are 1 inch tall. Not sparse. The germination must be approaching 100%. Issue now is will the seedlings survive winter? I'm betting yes. But I have more seeds to plant in spring, in case they don't. Yellow Potato Onions in the first bed are 100% sprouted. Most are about 4 inches tall. Yellow Potato Onions in the 2nd bed are about 50% sprouted. Egyptian Walking Onions in both beds are 100% sprouted, and about 4 to 6 inches tall. Inchellium Red garlic in the first bed is about 1/3 sprouted. German Porcelain garlic in the 2nd bed is 100% sprouted and about 5 inches tall. Some of the Dutch Shallots in the 2nd bed have sprouted. Three plants so far. So far none of the Safeway Shallots have sprouted. Cilantro seeds are also sprouting in the onion "bucket" planters. Planted at the same time as the onions. Not bad for late October.

Planning the garden for next year.

It's early. Way early. But with little more to harvest, and not much to plant, I'm thinking about next year. My goals for vegetables next year: Productive in a short season, cool summer, that I have in Maritime Pacific NW. Reliable. Vegetable crops that are amenable to saving seeds for future seasons. What I'm thinking about so far: Melon, Minnesota Midget (SeedSavers.org) The melons are quite small - 4 inches. Fine with me, less waste. They'll be like apples or other fruit. "Resistant to fusarium wilt. 60-75 days." That's a short season. The vines are short too, 3 feet long. I can grow under a frost protector for warmth. Will look for other choices in the 60-75 day range. Watermelon, Blacktail Mountain. Also SeedSavers.org. 6 to 12 pound melons. Developed by a northern Idaho gardener, where nights were in the 40s. 65-75 days. Roma bush beans always do well for me. Seedsavers doesn't have them, but Territorial Seeds has them, and they are open pollinated. 59 days. Probably a pole bean. I have old old packets of Chinese pole beans, will try to germinate them. If they don't grow, there are other choices to look for. Red Burgundy Okra. SeedSavers.org. Also fast, 55-60 days. I have not thought about growing okra - it's a warm climate crop - but in raised bed with row cover, planted late, maybe it's worth a try. Along with some chilis. Or Dwarf Green Long Pod at VictorySeeds.com which is a compact plant: 24-30 inches tall, and 52 days. Compact size is good if plants need protection from deer. Maybe I'll get some Pink Banana Squash for an out of the way corner in the sun. Rareseeds.com. Long season, 105 days, but some nostalgia there and maybe they'll ripen in the fall soon enough to have for thanksgiving. Chilis - thinking about cayenne, which always produces for me, and a small hot pepper such as Thai. Hungarian Banana peppers always do well for me too. Tabascos are late - might not be worth the effort. I don't know yet. This one looks good -Hot Portugal, SeedSavers.org. 65-75 days. These from Territorial, Miniature Yellow Bell and Miniature Red Bell, both at 55 days. Tabascos from rareseeds.com 90 days. That one's a long shot for me, but I have grown them before. Row cover / raised bed should help for all of the chili peppers. Hungarian Hot Wax also rareseeds.com. There is also Hungarian Sweet Pepper at VictorySeed.com. 68 days. Not bad, might be better than the baby early bells. I like yellow summer squash. There is Early Prolific Straightneck at VictorySeeds.com 42 days. Same source, Dark Green Zucchini 50 days. Those are my thoughts so far. Subject to complete change. This does not include tomatoes. Probably Supersweet-100, Sungold (hybrid but exceptions can be good), Better Boy, an Italian tomato, and a couple of heirlooms. More research needed there. ANother melon that looks good, from RareSeeds.com: Prescot Fond Blanc Melon. 70 days, but not clear on climate needs.

Chicken Fortress Progress

This view looks into the chicken fortress. I've built a shelf for the nesting boxes. The nesting boxes are old plastic recycle bins. So I'm recycling, or repurposing, the recycle bin. That idea was from a website about what to use for nesting boxes. The dowel work is re-purposed from odds and ends from the garage. The wire cage material is from an old chicken cage kit that's been sitting around for a decade. About half of the wood is reused. Next, the door, window doors, and some doors for access to the egg nests, then straw and it's ready for the hens.

Moving a Small Mulberry Tree

Now it's fall. It's chilly.  It's raining every day. Good time to move some more trees, I think. Better than summer, when I moved other trees. This time it's an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry. I originally planted it March, 2010. So it's had 2 summers to grow. I decided it will be hard to keep the growth controlled. The exposure was north of a privacy fence. The neighbor to the south has a massive uncontrolled apple tree, also competing. At the Battleground place, it will have full sun to the East, South, and West. So maybe more mulberries. They are very tasty. One of the most delicious fruits I grow.
 

"Mulberry Tree Wrap" in an old vinyl tablecloth for travel. No pics digging it up. It's the usual, dig a trench, then try to dig deeply under the tree. It was difficult to dig under the tree. Despite the rain, the ground under the tree was dry and hard.

This is my one chance to inspect the roots. Impressive root system. The roots look thicker than the trunk. They were not very deep. Maybe 18 inches, at the most.

Here we are, planted and mulched with about 3 inches of leaf compost mulch. I did line the hole with chicken wire, to annoy and frustrate the mole.  The mole had a tunnel at exactly this spot, so I think the tree was a sitting duck.

I read on another website that mulberries are a tree "not" to plant, due to the berry production. The main concern is that birds eat the berries. Then the birds defecate, the purple poop stains cars. The berries also stain sidewalks. There are no sidewalks here, and no place to park a car near the tree.  Cars are few and far between.  My plan was to keep the tree small, and cover with bird net. I may still do that. I could have cut it down, and bought a new bare-root tree to plant in Spring. Then I would lose two years of progress. By moving it, I may lose some progress, but not much.

I pruned about 1 to 2 feet of new branch growth.  That will make up for root loss.  I don't think I lost a lot of roots.  Probably less than 20%.  Maybe less than 10%.  That compares to commercially grown trees, which I read lose 85% of their roots when moved.

There is also concern about spread of mulberry trees via seeds in bird poop.  I don't think that's an issue here.

Ginkgo biloba seed preparation

It's pretty easy.

They've been in the baggies for a few days. I imagine that if I wanted to wait longer, I would need to refrigerate or keep them cool outside.

It's easy. The seeds mush out. Knife is optional. I did not wear gloves. For the sensitive, gloves are a good idea. Separate the seed from the pulp. Placed the seeds in a bowl of water. The pulp went into the compost. This was under a kitchen hood that vents outside. Working outside is a good option too. Otherwise loved ones will complain about the odor.

Rinsed under running water. Dried on paper towel. Once dry overnight, I'll keep in the fridge until planting.

Home Orchard Society

Went to the meeting today. It was a great experience. I felt like I was among kindred spirits. Lots of fruit to view and taste.

Zillions of Apple varieties. All so much better than grocery apples.

These are the biggest. I don't need apples this big. They are fun to look at.

Grapes. Home grown grapes are fit for kings. People don't know what they are missing. Tasting many, I'm still convinced that grapes with seeds are superior to seedless grapes. Those tart tasteless things that pass for grapes in the grocery store should have a different name. They are not even close.

Chinese Haw / Shan zha. I didn't get a change to taste them. First time I've seen one. Second time might be on my own tree. Two years? Three?

Medlars/ I didn't get to taste these either. Another time. Later, other attendees told me they taste like spiced apple sauce.

Charlie

My best buddy. Snoring. He twitches in his sleep, once in a while. Just being there, he makes the studies, and take-home work, go better.