Friday, April 18, 2014

Weeping Plum

Yesterday a package showed up at my door. It was my Weeping Santa Rosa Plum tree that I ordered last winter. I'm a bit under the weather right now as I have the flu, but that didn't stop me from going out to plant it. I don't have a lot of space in the yard for more trees. But this one is a small plum it only gets 8'-10' tall. It doesn't produce quite as well as a Santa Rosa but most people think the plums are tastier. It isn't supposed to require a pollinator which is good as I don't have another Japanese plum.

The space I'm growing it in is just three feet wide and the first half foot doesn't really have any soil as it is by the brick path. But it has a nice long area it can spread out into. So I put the roots going along the long part. This section used to contain my self seeding sunflowers. But I've grown a little bored by them especially since I don't really eat sunflower seeds all that much. I was really just feeding the annoying squirrels. I probably will have one sunflower growing though near the corner of the house. At least if the transplant takes.

I'm not going to prune it like a normal tree. It really has to grow linearly so it doesn't block the path. I'm going to try to prune it to two side branches that stay over the bed and not in the path. So it will be interesting to see if I can do it. Trees always reach for the sun which would be the direction of the path. I've put in some T-posts that I'll use to train the main branches and keep the tree growing upright. But I'm not putting in a full trellis. Hopefully it will work.

I figured that I wouldn't want to be outside long as I was coughing and the weather was cool. But my lungs seemed to like it so I did another chore that I hadn't gotten around to.

I wrap up my bamboo in the fall to keep it dry and put it on one of the beds for storage. I had to take it apart and put the poles by the shed so I can use them when I need them. This small chore left my muscles aching and me very tired. I really shouldn't be working outside with the flu. So I spend a few minutes exploring the garden before going in.

The good weather earlier really warmed up the soil and my peas are starting to come up. I'll have to take the netting off soon so they don't get tangled.

The radishes came up a few days ago. I'll have to thin them out soon. Though I didn't sow them too thickly so it shouldn't be too much of a chore.

My romaine lettuce has really grown well. If it would warm up again (and it is supposed to), it won't be long before I can steal a little.

And I was ecstatic to see how well this sage was doing. Sage doesn't like to grow here for some reason. So I think I put five plants in the garden last year. I was hoping to find a place that it would be happy. I seem to have found two places where the sage is growing well. Which is good. I ran out of sage the other day and really need to be able to pick more. This seems really healthy and pickable. I was afraid I'd have to go buy it.

8 comments:

  1. Sometimes fresh air and sunshine are good for what ails you. I hope you feel better after a bit of garden work.
    Mama used to grow her own sage, so tasty.

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  2. Daphne, I hope you feel better soon. Having the flu in spring is cruel. At least your garden is progressing. That must help your spirits a bit.

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  3. The roots on your tree look very nice! Where did you order it from. I love the fact that it's a weeping tree. It will look so pretty in your garden.

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    1. I ordered it from Raintree. I was a bit leery of ordering from them as they don't have the best reputation for customer service. And if the tree never leafs out, they won't even pay for shipping for the replacement like most places will. But there are very few places you can get a weeping plum from. The only other place I found was twice the price. So I figured either way it was cheaper. They packed it well. The tree seems nice. So far so good.

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  4. Get well soon! Interesting about your weeping plum tree. In what whys will you use the fruit besides eating? Nancy

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    1. I'm sure they will all be eaten. Unless the squirrels get to them first.

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  5. Just came across this link for pizza and I thought of you: http://therealfoodguide.com/aip-pizza/

    Depending on your elimination diet, this may be one to keep just in case. It looked really yummy to me.

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