WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD MARCH 25, 2016

march 25, 2016 | ApplegaeRanch for Greeneyes

[tob2]

This past week, we have had at least three seasons; some areas had four. Taking some time off from the garden pots because of sore back. Happy Easter to all!

[ApplegateRanch]

Same here. 50’s & high winds; 70s; 40-ish & gentle rain; then 4+ inches of snow last night; warming again today & tomorrow.

Even got a snow day, as there wasn’t enough business to justify paying me to slog through 4 miles of unplowed roads to get there.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

mumblypeg :" Hey, Irish, I’ve been wondering: how come your kilt is tilted? LOL "
I just got some orange and grapefruit seeds from great-grandma’s trees in FLorida. Will try to germinate them, then see if they’ll sprout in pots.
I do have 2 citrus trees in the yard that keep getting killed off by annual frosts (I never cover them—bad!)and they come back every year but won’t produce."

A): " how come your kilt is tilted? LOL "
Tilted Kilt comes from my leaning 'right' - and have already been advised by my Governor that there is no room for me here in my own State (NY) ...
and from arthritis in the knee from collegiate sports.
Also , have learned to control my 'tilted' state by switching from Guinness to the Harp, .. and avoiding "Progressives" .
B) Consider saving the fruiting blooms by covering the plant with a garbage bag , or several bags glued together, to ground level
B2) with a lightbulb (25 - 40 Watts) at the base as a heat source.
Last year in forum , I spoke of a coworker who had a fig tree right from Italy who kept the tree alive and fruiting every year by cutting 1/3 of the roots,
bent the tree over to ground ,then covered the with a comforter and leaves , and put a 20 watt lightbulb under the comforter as a heat source.
Every year he picked a different 1/3 of the tree roots to sever, in order to keep the plant alive , while retaining 2/3 of the established roots.
Every year he had generational fruits that reminded him of his genealogy and family, even though he was in "Snowland New York" called Syracuse, NY .
I think my suggestion is easier , but it depends on how long you are exposed to frost,
the size of the tree, and how committed you are to retaining family history.

[Augie]

Cool and rainy outside in Central Missouri today, but it was nice yesterday and I managed to get a few things accomplished in spite of spending 3 1/2 hours in town running errands. I was planning to hit the woods and look for morels today, but I'm not really in the mood to get drenched so I canned that idea.

I hauled off the pile of sticks that I'd been ignoring since my last round of tree pruning. Tossed a couple inches of compost on top of the asparagus bed and noticed the first tiny sprigs starting to peek out of the ground. Hauled a couple loader buckets full of dirt into some low spots in the yard. I didn't bother to till and grade, figured I'd let the chickens dig in it for a few days first. I bought a winesap apple tree while I was in town yesterday and set it out in a spot where there had previously been a sweet cherry. That one croaked and the spot needed a tree. I've not had any luck at all getting cherry trees to survive out here, so I went with the apple tree instead.

Finished up unloading the last trailer full of horse poo onto the compost heap, then jacked up the trailer and removed a tire that was starting to separate. I noticed it wobbling when I was on my way home with the last load. I was quite pleased that it held together long enough to get back home. Changing a flat on a fully loaded trailer is not my idea of a good time.

Dad has been after me for awhile to come over to his place and dig up some of what he calls 'winter onions'. He said they were one of the first things that he and Mom planted after they bought their land in 1962. They dug em from the yard of an old abandoned farmhouse up the road not far from here. I remember eating these things when I was a kid. Mom used them a lot for seasoning soups and stews, and they're good as a salad onion too. They don't get very big, but they are tasty. So I went over to Dad's yesterday and dug up two shovels worth. Brought them home, separated them, and stuck em in the dirt along my garden fence. I'm not sure if I'll leave them there permanently, but it'll do for now.

I finished up mulching the orchard trees, and mulched all of Mrs. Augie's ornamentals while I was at it. Not one of my favorite chores, but it's a lot easier now that Nanner is here to help. The peach and plum trees are all now in full bloom. We've had a few cold nights since they started, but not quite cold enough to kill the blossoms. I noticed some slight damage on one plum tree out by the pond, but that's it so far. The pears tree blossoms started to open up yesterday. It won't be long before they're in full swing. The apple trees are just now starting to make leaves. It will be awhile yet before they bloom. Mrs. Augie's crabapple trees have just started to bloom, and I noticed this morning that the buds are starting to pop on the redbud trees

[Augie]

Fruit Trees Counter Transplant Shock Prevent Leaf Curling- for Darth Tree Stump Removal - for Augie

Thanks for that. A couple of my orchard trees get the leaf curl thing. I'll use the google machine and figure out how to use the mag sulfate on them and see if it helps.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Augie :" A couple of my orchard trees get the leaf curl thing." ..using Google"

I would limit to sources from experienced orchardists , horticulturists, or Cooperative Extension .

[Augie]

General consensus seems to be one tablespoon of mag sulfate per gallon of water for foliar feeding regardless of plant type.

I think I’ll give it a try and see if it helps.

[Arkansas Tider]

Those winter onions look like garlic to me. Plant a few and see if they bulb out. Regardless they would be great in soups and salads.

[Augie]

Some kind of old-fashioned bunching onion is what I’m thinking they are. They don’t make heads with multiple cloves and the aroma/flavor is pure onion.

[mumblypeg]

Thank you, FRiend!

[Arkansas Tider]

Then you have a true heirloom on your hands, I want some!

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Augie :" They don’t make heads with multiple cloves and the aroma/flavor is pure onion."

Do they get top heavy, and form 6-8 cloves on top of the plant ?,
and then get 'top heavy' , and bend over and touch the ground ?
If so , they might be "Egyptian walking onions" - which are premium , since the top bulbs will root when they touch ground ,and expand the area they inhabit .
I ran across some while traipsing in woodland clearing of the Finger Lakes area of NY, returned , but I never could find that spot again.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Augie :" I remember eating these things when I was a kid. Mom used them a lot for seasoning soups and stews, and they're good as a salad onion too.
They don't get very big, but they are tasty "

I just saw the photo of the onions (after my earlier commentary), and they look like something known around the Appalachian Mountains area ,
and are called "ramps" , sorta like a spring onion , which are even more premium , but prefer semi-shaded areas of the forest.
Run that name by your father especially if family hails from the Appalachian area.
(PS - "Ramps" are not known to respond well to cultivation,
and woodland locations of fields of "ramps" is a Appalachian family secret- not to be shared!
think Hatfields vs. McCoys)

[Augie]

I’m fairly certain these aren’t ramps. The leaves are thin, and they don’t have the purplish stem that is typical of ramps.

I never really paid much attention to them growing, so I can’t say if they make bulbs on top. I’ll ask Pops about that, and get a picture of the patch where they’re growing in his yard.

It’s impossible to know how they got to the farmyard where my folks dug them up 50-odd years ago. The house was long-abandoned when my folks moved out there. The only thing I can say with certainty is that at least one of the ladies who lived there loved flowers. The place is over-run with several different types of daffodils, old-fashioned bearded iris and grape hyacinth. I’ve dug probably 20 gallons of bulbs there for Mrs. Augie to plant around our place since we moved out there in 2008.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Augie :" I’ll ask Pops about that, and get a picture of the patch where they’re growing in his yard."

Try to duplicate the conditions in pop's yard (ie.: partial shade 11AM to 1PM , or full shade in the PM with full sun all morning, etc.)
While the top leafs of the plants look longer and skinnier than wild 'ramps', they may have adapted to their current location.
You might take a sample of 3 plants to Cooperative Extension for identification, or better yet,
ask some ole timer farmer in the area as they have 'field experience' with older varieties , given that you know the variety is older than 50 years.

[Augie]

Sadly, my Dad (he’s 73) is one of the few old time farmers left in the area. The farmers that I thought of as the old timers are all dead and gone now.

I’ll try the extension office. I need to go there anyway to drop off a soil sample for testing.

[SLB]

My grandson (5 years old) and Mrs SLB helped me get the beets, onion sets, peas, turnips and radishes in two weeks ago. Came back last week and planted potatoes. Have the berry canes all trimmed and tied. Feel pretty decent about the start for this year.