Trialing a location for my trellis. It will host a trumpet honeysuckle.
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OK, so I’m obviously failing to overlook the vegetation, but those are wild violets in the front, right? I’ve ended up with a lot of those growing around my trees, and I’ve been mulling over whether it’s fine to leave them as a green mulch, or just periodically cut them back instead of trying to pull them out (which doesn’t seem to have that much effect, anyway).
My wife finds the violets very charming, and I find them charming and also tasty in the spring, so they’re going to stay in some form, it’s just a question of how I “control” (ha ha) the ones in the immediate vicinity of the trees. Curious if anyone has any thoughts.
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Tenacity does control them but I started that process without fruit trees. When I moved to my house the lawn was overrun.
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Yes, they are. I like them and my wife really likes them. I’ll probably move or remove those two, though. Lots of violets to be had in this yard!
The spiderwort is a whole different story. It’s starting to take over the place. The tall one on the left is what I think is a perennial sunflower. I’ll see what it looks like when it blooms.
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I tried transplanting some violets a couple of years ago at my wife’s request and they just wilted away, but the next year new clumps appeared, maybe from seed that came along for the ride.
I just saw the spiderwort. We have some that hitchhiked in with some daylilies, but fortunately it’s planted between the sidewalk and the street, so that keeps it confined. For now.
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Well, @mamuang the birds finally discovered my cherries yesterday, so I went out and picked the last few. They had gotten to probably stage 3 on the ripening chart and were very good, but not quite at the level of quality I remember from what you shared.
A good net is definitely in the budget for next year.
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Find the trellis’ rightful home. Now I just need to get those weeds at the edges under control and put some mulch down.
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I’m waaay behind on posting, but I just wanted to to share that my shiitake logs have finally started fruiting! These snuck up on me. I swear I checked them a few days ago, but I must not have looked closely enough. Hopefully there will be more over the next few weeks.
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First harvest of bayberry leaves. Just had to dig up some unwanted suckers and I have plenty to dry for the winter.
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Are those for making tea?
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I use them as a seasoning. Kind of like using bay leaves, but a different flavor.
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Great I might need to get me some of them! I don’t think I have ever try them. Thanks for posting about them!
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They’re a pretty nice plant. You live near the coast, right? They’re very common on dunes, so you can probably find some wild ones to sample before you commit to planting any. You can also harvest a nice scented wax from the fruits on female shrubs. It used to be used for candles. It’s pretty labor intensive between picking and extraction, so it’s not used much any more.
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Yes I live by the coast! And I just find out I have plenty of them but I didn’t know they ware called bayberry! I know them as wax myrtles! Lol anyway thanks for the info and how to used them.
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Haha, yes. Different regional names for the same thing. I think you might live in the overlap zone of the Northern and Southern species, but they’re all pretty similar in terms of candlemaking and culinary properties.
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I keep forgetting to post an update on my strawbales. I wouldn’t exactly call them a success, but they’ve worked out ok. They ended up mostly collapsing partway through July, either from excessive rain or jumping worms, so it’s kind of a mess. I’ve got a single tomato plant taking up about 30 square ft, so that’s pretty neat. I’ve also gotten some okra from the plants that survived the collapse. My watermelon vines grew pretty well, but a squirrel or chipmunk nibbled off the first set of fruits, so I don’t think they’ll ripen any this year.
I’ve also been meaning to post a picture of the mara de bois strawberries, but they seldom make it out of the garden, especially with the three year old doing most of the picking. Finally got a picture, though! They’re so good!
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Here is the date palm that came up in my garden. I stuck a few pits in the ground to see what would happen, and this little guy showed up a few months later.
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My tardiva radicchio is coming along nicely. Hopefully, they’ll double up in size by the time I need to dig the roots. Should be after a couple hard frosts, so maybe a month.
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Not familiar with this variety.
Is this for forcing the roots inside ?
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Yes, it is. And they’re absolutely gorgeous. Probably the tastiest radicchio that I’ve tried, but a little harder to get just right. They need to grow for a long time, then get hit by at least a couple hard frosts.
Here are some I grew a few years ago by accident (burpee’s buyers bought the wrong kind of Treviso radicchio). These pictures don’t do them justice, but you get the idea.
And here’s where I sourced my seed for this year. They send big packets and have a sale running through today.
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