Plum Scions for 2015. 12.15.14

Image source:  Vintageprintable.com

I went ahead and placed an order to Fedco. Apple scion as in previous post. Each will be a branch on a multigrafted tree, so I don't need room for more trees.  And so there is a range of ripening times, so I don't suddenly get more fruit of a particular type, than we can use, and waste  them.   Also the following plum varieties:

"Ember.  Late Summer. (Prunus salicina Shiro x P. americana var) 1936... red-blushed fruit...Rich yellow juicy sweet flesh is very firm and meaty but tender.... Tastes and looks like an apricot...

La Crescent. Late Summer. (Prunus salicina Shiro x P. americana Howard Yellow) 1923.... thin-skinned yellow fruit is sometimes blushed with a little pink. Tender yellow juicy fle...aromatic and suggestive of apricots...

South Dakota. Late Summer. SD 27. Prunus americana unknown parentage. 1949... tough yellow skin with bright red blush. Medium-firm yellow flesh is meaty, juicy, sweet... very long flowering period... pollinator for all hybrid plums...developed before 1907.

Hanska. Summer. (Prunus americana x P. simonii) 1908. Medium-sized bright red fruit with a heavy bluish bloom. Firm fragrant yellow semi-freestone flesh. When cooked, the fruit has a strong apricot-like flavor reminiscent of its Chinese “apricot plum” parentage. "

All info is from the Fedco catalog,  edited for brevity.  It seems like a lot.  On the other hand, how much does 1 plum, or 1 apple, cost at the grocery store?   Each scion is $5.  If these take, each grafted branch can give a couple dozen a year, for potentially many years.  They are intended to give a diversity of size, shape, flavor, color, and ripening times.  The main trend here is 3 with apricot flavor.  I hope they are much more adaptable to this area, compared to apricots.  Toka has some of that too.

Final Seed Order. 12.12.14

 

 Today was the final seed order for next year.  This batch was via Rareseeds.com / Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Beautiful catalog, amazing selections of open pollinated, often heritage varieties of vegetables and flowers.  I ordered almost as much to support the company, as to buy the seeds.  Again, emphasis is on short season, or cool summer varieties, or ones that emphasize flavor and look possible in this cool maritime climate.

Jing Orange Okra - 60 days, very pretty looking plant.  Not many seeds for the price, but it only takes a couple.  I am trying several okra varieties again.

Melrose Pepper - Italian variety, sweet.  I have plenty of left over hot pepper seeds, but my stomach doesn't  handle them now.

Crookneck-Early Golden Summer Squash - love summer squash and it will be fun to have something other than Zucchinis to share.

Gelber Englischer Custard Squash - ditto.

Jumbo Pink Banana Squash - nostalgia variety.  My great aunt gave me seeds and they were so productive, made great pumpkin pies.  Listed as good for this region. 

Petite Mix Marigold - I've grown this one before.  Nice, maybe the marigold scent will repel animals.

Alaska Mix - Nasturtium - I've grown this one before.  I wonder if it will be pest resistant, with the peppery leaves.  I can't see buying annuals when a packet of seeds goes much much further for much less money.

Most of the vegetables will only be a couple of plants per packet.   This will be the rest of my "test garden" - see which ones do better for me.

Image source:  Vintageprintable.com

Hollywood Plum Cuttings. 12.9.14

Hollywood Plum Cuttings, Root Growth.  12.9.14

Hollywood Plum Saplings.  12.9.14

Today I dug up the remaining Hollywood Plum cuttings.  These were hardwood cuttings taken, I think, in April.  They were treated with rooting hormone then stuck into the soil in the tomato bed.  They did not receive any special treatment, other than what the tomatoes needed.

I did the same with Shiro plum.  None grew.  And with an ornamental quince - not sure if any grew, need to check again.

I potted them up.  I don't know what I will do with 6 new plum trees.  Two have bud grafts of Shiro.  It's a wait until Spring to see if those take.

The effect of compost. Kitchen garden winter prep. 12.7.14

Untreated soil vs. soil with 2 1/2 years of compost and TLC.

Garden gold.  Chick house cleanings for the kitchen garden.

 Today I did some cleanup and winter prep for next Spring.  I don't like seeing the raised beds full of dead tomato and pepper plants and weeds and bean stalks.

Several of the raised beds have settled significantly.  I topped the off with soil from this raised bed.  That used 2/3 of the bed's soil.  The other 1/3 is perennial - Chinese chive, which I consolidated from this raised bed and another.

The difference is soil appearance is dramatic.  The native soil, on the left, is what the enriched soil, on the right, looked like 2  1/2 years ago.  The difference is 2 /12 years of adding chicken house compost, leaves, kitchen scrap compost, worm compost, coffee grounds....

I filled partially full with yard soil, then mixed in a wheelbarrow full of chicken house cleanings.  That is a year old, but dry so not composted.  Too rich to use immediately.  This being December, there will be 5 or 6 months to mellow before use.  Plan for this area is bush beans.

I also added a cup of lime based on last year's soil test result showing low pH and low calcium.

Then I topped off with more yard soil, then more chicken house cleanings.  Let the earthworms and bacteria and fungi do their thing now. 

Several of the beds are cleaned up now.  When spring comes, prep for planting will need minimal effort.

The other thing that needs to be done for these beds is better animal fencing.  That is another project for this winter.

For the beds that I topped off, I removed the larger, tougher plant stems to go into the compost heap.  I covered the cardboard/grass clipping mulch with a layer of improved soil.  No major digging, the soil is already well aerated and rich.

Cleanup half done.  12.7.14

My kitchen garden in winter.  12.7.14

Seed Order. Seedsavers.com. 12.6.14

Seed packets.  Image source Commons.wikimedia.org

Seed packets.  Image source Commons.wikimedia.org

Today I placed a seed order with seedsavers.org.   They have the broadest and best selection.  The seeds are open-pollinated, saved varieties.  No GMOs, and not owned by GMO-godzilla corp. 

In a way, ordering seeds early shows optimism that there will be another year.

These are the varieties that I ordered.  Short season plants were a big priority.  Climate here is cool relatively sort summer, sandwiched between a cool long spring and a cool long fall.

Watermelon, Blacktail Mountain.  65-75 days.  Developed in northern Idaho.  Most watermelons are in the range of 85-100 days.

Watermelon, Petite Yellow.  65-80 days.

There were also 2 varieties of early, small-sized cantalopes.  Eden's Gem 65 - 80 days, Minnesota Midget - 60-75 days, and and Asian melon, Sakata's Sweet. that last one takes longer, 85-95 days.  I might try the melons south of the house, which may be warmer and is full sun.  I grew Minnesota Midget in the past with good result.

The timing for winter squashes doesn't matter as much.  They ripen late fall.

Squash Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck.  10-20#squashes.

Squash, Long Island Cheese.  6-12 pounds.

Summer Squash, Yellow Crookneck.  55-60 days.

Some dry beans.  I don't think the timing is as important for these, either.  I have not grown dry beans before.

Calypso.  A bush variety.  70-90 days.

Hidasa Shield Figure.  I assume this is a vining bean.  90 days.

Cucumber Suyo Long.  For Ning.  65 days.

Lettuce, Seed Savers Mixture.

Okra, Star of David.  60-75 days.  Which is pretty good for okra.   The only way I know to grow it here is in containers, and I'm still learning the best way to do that.  I also have a couple okra plants that I am overwintering.  That may not work at all.

Pepper "Kalman's Hungarian Tomato".  65-75 days.  Last year my peppers were too hot for my surgically modified stomach.  These are milder.

This week I also placed an order with Burpee's.  Those were more in the hybrid category. 

Peppers - Hot Sweet Thing, Golden California, Sweet Nikita, Sweet banana.
Tomatoes - Better Boy - I always grow that one,  Sunny Boy, Jersey Boy, Sungold - always grow that one, Supersweet 100 - always grow that one, and Roma.
Corn - Early Sunglow and Trinity - both early varieties.
Pea Oregon Sugar Pod
Bean, Gold Mine and Early Bush Italian.
Squash, Burpee Hyb rid Zucchini, Walthan Butternut, Golden Egg, Galeux D'Eysines, Pumpkin Rouge VIF D'Etampes
Okra Baby Bubba - good for containers, did well this year, and Clemson Spineless.

It seems ambitious, but not too bad.  I cleared the raised bed for tomatoes today.  The beds have settled, so I added enriched soil to the top.  That was this year's zucchini bed.

I did the same thing for the pepper bed, which will be in the same place as this year.  That bed also got a wheelbarrow of kitchen scrap composed, heavily populated with earthworns.  Lots of coffee grounds and teabags went into that too.

Zukes will go into this year's tomato bed - half ready.

Bush beans will go into this year's onion bed - half ready.  That will have a less enriched soil.  I'm counting on the beans to enrich it.

Other squashes / pumpkins  will be allowed to sprawl, like they did this year.

Corn - to go into the other tomato bed from last year.  Haven't cleared that one yet.  Or maybe outside the raised beds, if I can put up some deer fencing.

Okra - containers.

Others to be determined.

Apple scion, heritage varieties. 11.29.14

Apple Varieties.  Image Source:  Vintageprintable.com

Apple Varieties.  Image Source:  Vintageprintable.com

I discovered a company that sells apple scion wood, heritage varieties.  Fedco.com in Maine.  I didn't count, looks like more than 50 varieties.  They are sold as 8 inch scion, shipped in March, order deadline is Feb 20th. 

I went through the varieties, and read the evaluations in Apples of North America, by Tom Burford.  That book reviews 192 "Exceptional varieties" of historic apples.

I know I can graft apples.  Of the apple grafts I made last year, 6 of 6 apple.  All grew vigorously.

First priority is disease resistance.  Especially fireblight, endemic around here.  No use growing a variety that will give years of frustration.  For example, Golden Delicious.  On the other hand, Liberty has never been affected, and bears well every year.

Second, I went for descriptions of exceptional or unusual flavor., or other exceptional traits.

Top choices, for now.

Granite  Beauty.  approx 1815.  Early bearing, moderately resistant to the major diseases.  Spiciness compared to "coriander or cardamom."

Keepsake.  1978.  A cross of NM 447 and Northern Spy.  Resistant to fireblight and cedar apple rust. Flavor described as "sweet, spicy, and strongly aromatic."   Orangepippin.com states "Unattractive, irregularly shaped... Fine grained, hard, very crisp, juicy light yellow flesh. Strongly aromatic flavor. Very hardy...  Keeps in storage through April."

Priscilla.  1961.  Developed by the Purdue, Rutgers, Illinois consortium which specialized in disease resistant apples.  A seedling of 601-2 and Starking Delicious.  Described as "crisp and aromatic."  Orangepippin.com states, "very resistant to fireblight."

Redfield 1938.  Wolf River X Niedzwetzskayana Red Crab,  NY program in Geneva.   Resistant to the major apple diseases.  Described as "red flesh, dry, very tart."  Leaves are red/bronze color, and flowers are large, deep pink.  Orangepippin.com states "Medium to large...Dark red with dark red flesh. Juice is red. Not for fresh eating".

I may choose one or two more:

Porter.  around 1800.  Moderate resistance to the major apple diseases.  Taste "fine grain, crisp, tender juicy, subacid".  Orangepippin.com states developed in 1840, "Pure yellow skin with crimson blush, tender, sweet... juicy..."

McIntosh seems passe, but is a standard.  1796, white flesh sometimes with red tinge.  "Fine grain, crisp, tender, subacid to sweet".  Moderate resistance to the major apple diseases.  The idea of growing an apple that has been around since 1796 is amazing.

Six seems like a lot.  They would be grafted onto one or two trees.

This is all speculation at the moment. 

Overwintering a chili pepper. 11.29.14

Red Portugal Chili Pepper.  11.29.14

This is a chili pepper plant I started from seed late December 2013.  I kept it on the front deck.  Others of the same variety, at the same time, went into a raised bed.  They bore well, but the container plant bore better.

As an experiment, I moved it into the sunroom for the winter.  It's been there for about one month.  Most of the chilis are ripe and can be used now, fresh chilis in November.

It looks a bit puny.  Some hobbyists grow their peppers into big shrubs, and keep them year round.  They may get peppers earlier, and later, than in-ground plants.

Peppers are normally grown as annuals, but I think they are tropical shrubs, that happen to bear in their first season.  So if they can be kept alive through the winter, they will be larger and more productive.

The negatives, this one at least looks kind of sad, except for the bright colorful fruits.  They are also aphid magnets.  No aphids on this one yet, possibly due to the fact it never went into the ground.

Schlumbergera. 11.27.14

Schlumbergera.  11.27.14

This is my oldest Shlumbergera.  Started from cuttings, about 2003 I'm guessing.  Nice salmon color.  Just beginning to bloom.

No special care.  Outside East side of house in shade for the summer.  Water when I think of it  Bring back inside in October.

Progress Report and Review. Linden Trees. 11.26.14

Image source:  floridata.com

When we bought the 2 acres in Battleground, there were few trees.  One of the first things I wanted to do was get some started.  We took possession Summer 2013, July.  Not a good time to plant trees.  I did anyway.  During fall and winter, 2013, I planted 4 Tilia cordata "Greenspire", and 1 Tilia america "Redmond."  The Greenspire trees were close-out end of summer at Home Depot.  Redmond was mail order from an Oregon nursery, bought and planted in Dec 2012.

I had some reasons to choose lindens.    There is some nostalgia.  There were lindens on my street, in my boyhood neighborhood.  My street was named for them.  Linden flowers are used in herbal teas (tisanes), and are fragrant.  Linden flowers are considered prime nectar sources for honeybees.  Given the trees are 3-dimensional, and can grow to very large size, they have potential for far more nectar than 2-dimensional use of land for perennials or annuals.  Lindens grow in a wide range of climates, so they have a chance for a long future, even with climate change.   Planting any tree is an act of defiance against the selfish destruction of environment in modern times.  But I also want the trees to have a chance to contribute in other ways, and be adaptable to potential evolution of local climate.

Ancient linden from commons.wikipedia.org

 From University of Florida Extension, '`Greenspire' ...grows 50-75 ft tall, spread 40-50 ft, ...normally seen 40-50 feet tall with a 35-40-foot-spread...faster growth rate than the species...dense pyramidal to oval crown which casts deep shade...prolific blooms...small fragrant flowers appearing in late June and into July. Many bees are attracted to the flowers..."

Redmond American linden has similar growth characteristics, but with wider spread and much larger leaves.  Redmond is also considered an excellent nectar and pollen source for honeybees.  For American lindens, " When flowering, the trees are full of bees, hence the name Bee-tree; this species is favored by bees over others and produces a strongly flavored honey."

Linden flowers from commons.wikipedia.org

I had bought the Greenspire trees on deep discount, end of season.   This is almost a worst-case scenario.  At end of season, the roots are wound around the pot, increasing risk for self-girdled, self-killed trees.  Cutting off the winding roots, which I did, leaves the top out of proportion to the roots but is necessary for good future root spread and to prevent girdling.    In summer and fall, it's hot and dry, risking killing the trees shortly after planting them.  I did water frequently, and mulched generously.

All 5 trees settled in without a hitch.  Last year growth was so-so, enough to know they were establishing, but not super-fast.  None bloomed the first year.  The second year, they all grew much faster, putting on about 2 to 3 feet of growth.  I did give them organic nitrogen boosts in winter and spring, which may be why.  I watered frequently the first summer, but only a few times in summer 2014.  That is important - I read Greenspire and Redmond do not tolerate drought well.  They did fine.  The second year, none of the Greenspire trees had flowers.  The Redomond linden had several flowers.  Not dramatic, but I got to see some bloom on my own tree.
On the issue of nitrogen supplementation, there's this:  "Basswood is classified as a nitrogen-demanding species because it grows poorly on sites deficient in nitrogen. With increasing nitrogen supplies, basswood growth increases markedly, approaching a maximum radial increment when 560 to 670 kg/ha (500 to 600 lb/acre) of nitrogen are added. Basswood leaves have high contents of nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and potassium at the time of leaf fall and they contribute most of these nutrients to the forest floor."  In my case, the added nitrogen was "pee cycling", with 2 liters, diluted to 2 gallons, and watered into the soil once in late fall and again in the spring.  From the same site, it is noted that basswood trees (Tilia americana) rate of growth is faster than other northern hardwood tree species.  That is important for me.  I want to see my trees grow.

Based on the first 2 years' experience with Greenspire and Redmond lindens, they settled in very well, had no summer or winter damage, and have made great starts.  Last winter, they tolerated the coldest winter conditions in local memory, without any damage at all.  If they continue to grow as well, I hope they will provide a little honeybee forage next year, and in the long run, will be my heritage as majestic trees for a future generation.


I haven't tried them yet, but basswood / linden leaves are edible for humans and animals, and reported as "tasty".  "Edible raw or cooked you can make a salad using the leaves as the main ingredient like lettuce. Cooked they lose flavor and shrink in size considerably....  the flowers are edible raw or cooked a tea can be made from them. Two tablespoons per cup."  The author notes that the leaves have a mild flavor, slightly sweet, and tender.  He eats them at a small size.  The author also notes that the cambium is tasty as well, with a cucmber flavor.  Which reminds me, I need to check on the trunks to make sure they all have protective hardware cloth sleeves.  I wonder why deer didn't eat the leaves. 

Apple Propagation. Some Experiments. 11.24.15

Apple graft removed from trunk of rootstock. 11.25.14

Apple sucker removed from trunk of rootstock.  11.25.14

 In March, I grafted a NOID apple from my yard, onto sprouts that had emanated from a culled Golden Delicious apple tree.  I don't know the rootstock - the tree was in the semidwarf range.  In 7 years, it gave no apples, and it had recurrent blight problems.  So I cut it down. 

This Spring, I saw sprouts that had grown up from the old rootstock.  I chose 2, and grafted a NOID columnar apple onto them.  The were 6 inches apart.  I thought, if only one grew, that was OK.  If both grew, I could cut off the smaller one.

Today, I dug out the smaller one.  These sprouts turned out to be attacked to the trunk, not more distant roots.  It was difficult to remove the grafted sprout with any intact roots.

It will be interesting to see if, in removing this one, I killed the other one.  It was more distal, so the taller one may have lost its main roots.  I did not dig further to find out.  It seems fairly attached to something in the soil.

There was also a small sprout.  I was not gentle, did not mean to keep it.  It looks viable, so I'll give it a try.

I have seen apples and peaches with this few roots survive and grow.  They are almost like a big cutting, but with a few roots already growing.  The most difficult part with cuttings is getting through the stage of initiating roots.  Once the first roots grow, they serve as the start for many roots.

Apple experiments, potted up.  11.25.14

These are now potted up.  I'll try not to expose them to too severe of a freeze.  They may take a while to grow.  If the rootstock heals and grows, I can use it for future grafting.