Figs

Paradisio Before

It is going to be hot again today. Yesterday reached 91F. It might today too. So there hasn't been a lot of gardening going on. Mostly hiding in the house in the afternoon. But this morning I finally got around to the fig trees.

Paradisio After

The Paradisio fig didn't die back too far this year except at the ends. Though it is a slower grower than my other one so it hadn't made it to the ends of the trellis yet. I keep the main trunk horizontal about a foot off the ground and have the branches going vertical. The branches get cut back before insulating them for the winter.

Brown Turkey Before

Most of the trunk of the Brown Turkey had died back. In addition some animal - probably a mouse - had chewed the bark off of a lot of the trunk. So it got cut way back. I might have to use something besides leaves to insulate them.

Brown Turkey After

I should have done this weeks ago, but just hadn't gotten around to it. The garden proper tends to be better looked after and I tend to ignore the front yard more. I need to keep after it though.

While I was out tending trees. I dealt with tying up my pear and apple espaliers too. They never seem to want to branch were I want them to. So I cut all of the tops off of them to try to get them to branch more. I would really love it if I could get the structure of the trees done this year but I'm guessing I'll need one more before it is all done.

Slips and Strawberries

I was checking the weather forecast. At this time of the year I do that a lot. Usually I plant my sweet potatoes on June 1st. But the reality is that it is a very fluid date. Starting next week the predictions are for warmer weather. So I decided Monday was a good day to plant them. But first I wanted to root the slips.

As you can see above I grow my slips in jars of water. I have three kinds of sweet potatoes - Purple, Beauregard, and Garnet. I'm slowly learning about growing them from slips. Garnet is a very very slow producer of slips. Last year I barely got any Garnets because they were a couple weeks behind the others. This year I started them very early. I can't remember when as I didn't write it down. I think at the beginning of February. The other two I started at the beginning of March. Well Purple is very precocious. I should have started them at the end of March.

As you can see by their root mass when I removed them from the jar, they were a little overly enthusiastic about growing. As I broke the slips off of the sweet potato I noticed that I got about twice as many of these as the other kinds. But that is fine. Purple is a wonderful sweet potato.

I like to root my slips in water for a week or a little less. Just until the roots get about half an inch long. I don't like them too long as those roots form the potatoes. I want them to find their own way in the soil. Sometimes when you plant and the roots are long they get squished together when planting. But that little extra time rooting indoors helps us here in our cool climate.

I did start one a bit early. I put it in the planter by my front door. I figured people grow ornamental sweet potatoes all the time to trail down the side of the pot. Garnets have very pretty foliage. So why not see if I get any extra sweet potatoes in my flowers.

When I was out in the yard I noticed that my strawberries are setting. I'm not going to get a lot this year, but I'd better get all the ones that the plants produce. I don't want the squirrels and the groundhogs eating them. So I found the netting in the basement and put it on. I just hope the strawberries do better than last year.

While I was there I noticed my figs. It looks like my winter insulation experiment was a success. Well at least the really heavy insulation. The lighter one didn't work nearly as well in the harsh winter we had. I don't see any growth on the old trunk, but there is still time yet. I'll give it a couple more weeks before I cut it all back. But the Paridisio that I insulated well has most of its trunk alive and a little bit of the branches. Most of the branches did die back a lot, but it might be enough to give it a good start this year. If it can produce before it gets too cold I'll be happy. If not I'm going to rip at least one of the figs out. I have visions of a persimmon tree. I suppose I ought to try a persimmon first to see if I even like it. Though it is hard to imagine a fruit I wouldn't love.

I looked at my plum tree too and sadly the aphids have already found it. That tree will be the death of me. Or at least I'll go bald from ripping my hair out in frustration. I'm going to have to spray with some insecticidal soap and fish emulsion soon. I just hate doing that. But I should put it on a two week spray schedule. I guess the good in that is that I can spray the favas easily too as I'll have the spray mixed up.

The Rock Wall Garden

My rock wall garden is a long thin garden. Just 2.5' wide and maybe 70' long. Mostly it contains espaliered trees along the fence with a row of strawberries in the front. Today I weeded it and then mulched it with salt marsh hay. I don't use mulch in my main vegetable garden as it attracts too many slugs and snails, but I neglect this part of the yard more, so it needs to be mulched to keep the weeds down and the moisture in. And I hope I don't lose too many strawberries to the slugs.

Three of the trees were put in last year. And the above apple tree didn't put out any branches that I could tie to the wire on the left side. So last winter I chopped the top off of the tree a few inches above where I needed the branch and prayed it would put out one in the right spot. It was annoying to have to cut off so much growth, including two nicely placed branches higher up, but I didn't want to be missing a branch in perpetuity. At least now the missing branch is growing if small. And I have two choices for the main stem to go up. I'll have to choose one soon.

The other two trees are growing well. They both have four branches. Maybe this year they will reach the top of the trellis. It would be nice to have the foliage to cover the fence. I keep thinking I should have made one wire even lower to the ground, but too late now.

It looks like at least one branch on my fig trees made it through winter. I haven't seen any growth on the other fig yet. I've got my fingers crossed for them. And the plum tree that has had so many troubles over the year is looking good this year. But then it usual does in the spring. I'll have to watch it before the aphids take over and keep spraying the fish emulsion and insecticidal soap. I just hate spraying, but the dang tree (a Green Gage Plum) attracts so many aphids. At some point I may just rip the plant out and plant something else that doesn't have the troubles it has.

The strawberries in front seem to be doing OK this year. Last year they barely lived through the summer Some disease got into the bed and spread. Right now I'm not seeing any signs of it though. It has been dry recently. Starting tomorrow though we are in for a week of rain and unsettled weather. Hopefully it won't hurt the strawberries.

I did a few more chores before coming in this morning. I weeded a bit around the yard. Raked up some pine needles to mulch two of the blueberries. And planted six creeping phlox where the now defunct cranberries used to be. It turns out that section of the yard is in the house's rain shadow. So they just weren't getting enough water. We decided to just put in some low growing easy to care for plants. We wanted something higher for the area, but the vent for the water heaters comes out here and we can't block the vent.

Unwrapping the Figs

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I wasn't really quite physically up to doing gardening chores, but I really wanted to go out and unwrap the figs. So I went out anyway and then came back in and collapsed when I was done.

Figs are not hardy here. They would die back to their roots every year if they weren't protected. So I protect them. I cover them in leaves. Add insulation and then for one fig tree I added more leaves and a tarp. I'm experimenting with the more well wrapped one. I'm hoping I can keep enough of the branches alive to get a first crop. Last year all the breba crop dropped off last year. It might not be possible to keep the branches well enough protected to get one. But it never hurts to try.

The main crop grows off of new growth. So I keep the main trunk of the tree growing horizontal along a supporting pipe. It is very low to the ground which makes it easy for me to insulate. And the new branches will go up the wires. The fig certainly puts on fruit well this way. But in our short and coolish summer it is really iffy if I get a crop. Last year I got a handful of figs. They weren't as sweet as figs grown in a climate made for them, but it was something. Some year I may give up on them but not yet.

I won't really know how much of the trees survived our bad winter until they start to leaf out. I can see some winter damage, but I really can't tell the extent of it yet. My main hope is that the trunk survives. With that, the branches will shoot up quickly.

Leaves and Protecting the Figs

Today we had our first snow. It didn't last and it didn't stick, but it is getting colder. One weatherman is predicting very cold temperatures tonight and tomorrow night. I was slightly scared of the ground freezing before I had everything out of the garden and things put to bed. Preparations started over the weekend. I had my annual leaf gathering trip. I borrow a minivan from a friend and I go out to collect leaves from my neighbors with some help from my husband. In our state you have to put your yard waste into large paper bags so it can be composted. It makes it easy to find leaves. Though occasionally you find other things in the bottom of the bags like branches. I usually have to go through them to get out the unwanted additions.

I fill half of the bins in my pallet compost area. I use the leaves over the year to make my compost. Also any that I don't use turns into leaf mold, and while it isn't as good as compost, it is still good organic matter to add to the garden. This year the leaves were bone dry. They don't break down well when dry, so in the last bin I made sure they were well watered as I added them.

Another thing I do with the leaves is insulate the figs trees for the winter. Figs are not truly hardy here. They will always die back to the ground. But at least they are hardy enough not to die totally. However if I protect them well enough their branches will mostly live. To help my plight out you can see I've trellised the plants into a candelabra. That way the main trunk of the tree is low to the ground and easier to keep warm.

Sadly there were still a lot of figs on the trees. They didn't have time to ripen. The trees are still only three years old. I'm hoping next year the trees will be more vigorous and get their branches grown quickly. But for now I picked off all the figs and old leaves and put them in the compost.

Once I had them off, I cut off every other branch and trimmed that branch down a bit. Figs have their main crop on new wood every year. It is the best tasting of the crops, but also the latest. I'm hoping to have a breba crop, which is a crop on one year old wood. It is much earlier. I don't know if it is possible here or not. But it can't hurt to try. If it doesn't work in future years I can cut the branches down to stumps to grow new wood every year.

To insulate my tree I have some 3/4" insulation. I stake the bottom so it can't move out then I fill the middle with dry leaves. Then I tape up the top so water can't get in. To one I added another layer of a tarp and the leaves went higher. I'm still experimenting with what works. I have seen a couple of other fig trees out in the neighborhood, but they tend to just use plain clear plastic to wrap up their trees. I've found that not good enough to guarantee the trunk won't die so I'm being more aggressive than that. If the trunks live then the branches have a better chance of growing quickly and putting out fruit before the cold hits.

And it took a while for the horizontal trunks to reach the ends of their 8' long trellis. In fact the Paradisio hasn't quite gotten there yet on one side. The Brown Turkey seems more vigorous and got there by the middle of the summer. I got most of the ripe figs this year from that tree and only one from the Paradisio. If the Paradisio ends up not performing next year I'll probably replace it with some other fruit.

Getting Behind in the Garden

Last week I didn't get too much work done in the garden. I did get a few things, but the garden needed (and still needs) attention. Above is my spring spinach that still hasn't been picked. I need to pick about half of it and freeze it. Or at least give it away. What you see is just the end of an 8.5' long bed.

At least I got to the winter spinach on Monday. Don't you just love how large Winter Giant grows? I think next year it will be my only winter spinach as it is so easy to pick and clean up in the spring. And there was a bit more cleaning needed than normal. Usually I would have done this a week ago, but with company I put it off. The leaf miners show up in mid May. I don't cover my overwintered spinach because by the time the miners show up my protected spring spinach is ready. But the final picking for the winter spinach was a week late so I had to scrape off a few eggs on the back of the leaves. Luckily they are very very easy to spot. The bright white on the back of the dark green leaves are so easy to find.

My SIL who was visiting asked if I washed the spinach before I freeze it. Yes I do. It gets well washed before blanching. Then I vacuum seal it. They do keep a lot better if I vacuum seal them. These have to keep for almost a year. I harvest in May, but I eat them mostly from December until April. There is no way they would keep in your normal freezer that long, but my chest freezer downstairs is very cold and doesn't have an automatic defrost. I now have 16 little packets. All I have to do is heat and serve. All the work has already been done. By the end of summer I will have about 40 1/2 cup packets of spinach and chard (about 10 pounds). I use them in the same way so almost consider them the same.

Next up Monday afternoon was putting in the trellis for the espaliered apple and pear trees. I put in four horizontal wires down the 24' length of the fence. I kept debating on how high they should be and how far apart they should be. In the end I think I put them just a touch too high. Now it will be hard to trip the top wire.

This morning I went out to pick some more harvests. But the biggest harvests are still salad greens. Above is a tuna pasta salad made with cooked kale, raw mizuna, and pickle relish from last year. Then there is the nice mixed green salad. Which finally has something not green from the garden. Radishes! The first of them. This year I covered them since the root maggots got in them last year and destroyed most of them. And I couldn't tell if it was good or not until I cut into it. But so far this year they seem to be all good. My love hate relationship with my row covers continues.

This afternoon it was on to using string. Above is my mache going to seed that was shading out the parsley and getting into the peas. I tied it all up with some bamboo sticks and string. Now hopefully it will stay in its spot.

Then it was onto the peas. I put metal stakes in when I plant the peas, but the strings don't go up until they need them. And I was a bit late. They could have used that first string to grab onto. But at least it is done. I also strung up the cilantro that is going to seed. I have two different ages of cilantro in the garden. What overwintered and is going to seed right now. And what germinated this spring. Currently that is what I'm picking and eating. But the ones in bloom fall over easily and shade out the new ones. So they had to be controlled.

The front yard also needed attention. First on the list was pruning and putting the 16' long trellis for the two figs. These are done in a candelabra or vertical cordon shape. I have two main branchs that follows a pipe a foot off the ground. Each branch going in a different direction. I didn't have the wires up from the pipe to the top of the fence. So I added some small eye screws to the fence cross bar and put them up a foot apart.

Yesterday I was at the nursery and bought a few pots of flowers and 6 packs. I planted the flowers in front of the apple and pear trees to be espaliered. I need to get some more as I want to put a few more flowers in front of the peach trees and maybe at the end of the driveway. I wish the nursery that was close enough to walk to had a larger selection of plants. I suppose I'll just have to experiment with what they have.

The rain chased me in. I'm not sure I needed to go inside yet. The rain didn't last. It keeps threatening but nothing is really falling. I'm going to have to water the garden again this coming week. I'm not happy about that. But I really shouldn't complain about such beautiful weather. We have just had so much beautiful weather. And I have been enjoying it.

Fruit Trees

I ordered three more fruit trees to put in my old asparagus bed that died. Thursday the first of the packages showed up. It as from Miller and it was Liberty and Macfree apples. Both are disease resistant apples. I planted them up on Friday. I'm going to espalier them against the fence. I'm hoping it works.

I have three other trees along that fence that I'm doing as espaliers. The first is a plum tree. It has been struggling with aphids every year, but it seems to be doing a bit better this year. I'll have to cut the neighbor's lilac bush back to the fence line though as it is coming over and starting to shade the tree. The other two are figs. Figs aren't really hardy here. They will die back to the soil if you don't insulate them. So last year I dumped leaves on them and as you can see I got some of the branches to survive and those early figs are already starting to form. I'll have to get more serious about insulation next year now that I know it can work. The shape I want to do is a vertial cordon shape for these. I want to cut each vertical branch off every other year. Figs can produce fruit on new and year old branches. And the new branch fruit will probably never really ripen in our climate. But the ones from the year old branches can. So if I cut out every other branch I'll have year old branches every year to get fruit from. It still remains to be seen if it will work or not, but I have high hopes.

The other tree on order, a pear tree, came on Friday, so it got planted up this morning. If you notice the plum was in a fan, the figs were in a vertical cordon shape, but the apples produce best in a horizontal cordon shape. They like when their branches are parallel to the ground. So the apples and pear will be done that way.

I do have other trees in my yard that I put in a couple years ago. I have two more dwarf apples (Ginger Gold and Honey Crisp), and two dwarf peaches (Reliance and New Red Haven). I'm hoping to get fruit from two of those trees and maybe three. The Honey Crisp has hardly grown though so if it does produce then I'll take all the fruit off. But I think since the trees are in their third year now, I can let them produce. I hope. I really want some home grown peaches and apples.

I really know very little about fruit trees. I've certainly read about them, but have no real experience. So everything I do is taken on faith. A lot of how I garden is to try things out and see for myself. But with trees they just take so long so you have to do what others tell you to.

Planting Peas

That frozen soil that I turned over two days ago was all unfrozen yesterday late morning. So I finally got the peas in. I plant them pretty close. I sow them in two rows down the support six inches apart. I couldn't do the whole 16' length. The last 8' were still frozen. I'll plant those last 8' in mid April sometime. I like to put up the supports before I sow. Pea roots dislike being disturbed so putting them in before there are pea roots in the bed is much better. I'll put up the twine as they get bigger.

I also went out and got lime for the rest of the beds. Once those were done, I figured the rock wall garden ought to be done. To do that I had to unearth the fig trees that were wrapped up all winter long (figs roots are hardy here, but not the branches). I've never done it before and I really wasn't sure when I should take the protection off. I also don't know which stems survived or if I can get them to grow straight up again if they did. I guess time will tell. I know some of the branches are dead as one snapped off when I was trying to unearth it. But I did get it uncovered and all the leaves were brought over to the compost pile. Then I could lime.

As I was going by my front walk I noticed the first crocuses flowering there. We had had the main spot by the foundation come up, but I don't see those much. I do see my walk way ones all the time when they are in bloom.

Sadly not everything is happy. The rosemary in the circle garden survived quite well. I think that one is Arp, which is a cold hardy rosemary.

But the other two by the warm foundation died over the winter. One was Hill Hardy which is also a cold hardy rosemary. The other was Tuscan Blue which is only hardy to zone 8. Last winter it survived which was shocking, but not this winter.