Today I unwrapped most of my chip bud grafts I did about 3 weeks ago. This is the very first time I ever tried chip budding…and to my great thrill, I had several takes. Some look sketchy because they didn’t heal in all the way around…there were spots on the edge of some chips that didn’t grow into the cambium of the root stock and had curled away. But enough had healed in that it was clear the buds were alive. In the long run I hope these are ok.
But I hope you all can explain something to me. Why does everything I read say chip budding and t-budding should be done in the fall. I don’t understand that. It seems like as long as the trees are growing, this process would work almost any time. Why is it considered a fall thing? Thanks
driving thru a nearby town today and i remembered earlier this summer seeing a abandoned house w/ grape vines everywhere. well i stopped there today and hit the motherlode! the vines were burned by frost but there were hundreds of pounds of ripe concord grapes hanging everywhere! they completely covered a 20ft. apple tree! i picked about 30lbs of them and made jam and juice. they were jet black w/ a nice bloom on them. perfectly ripe from the frosts and hanging for so long. going back tom. to get some more and make another batch. they’re soo good! not big but perfect for jam and juice. going to take some cuttings to start them in the yard next spring. the vines are even climbing the side of the house! surprised the bears and birds wertent all over them but was pretty close to the road.
Here’s a tale of 2 figs, the tale is that they have the same mother. Tatnall Red, the big one is planted in the ground and the little dark one is in a container, the other ones in containers look “normal” though… Anyway, it is a reminder that figs can vary quite a bit. Taste is about the same.
Finally got my trellis up for my 5 Triple Crown blackberry plants. They had been sprawled out all over the ground, some had even started to tip root. Some of the canes have got about 6ft long!
I drove three 5ft T-posts into the ground about 15-17ft apart, and ran two lines of plastic covered 16 gauge clothesline between the posts. One line at about 2.5ft and the other about 4.5ft. There are quite a few canes, so it looks kind of cluttered with some of them intertwined with each other, so I may have to prune some of them off. But, at least they’re off the ground.
Very nice! Could part of the difference be in the water each received? Was there a difference? The one in ground could have received a lot more and thus the washed out color. Glad the taste was the same which rather puts a strike against my idea…
Got to do it first week of August here, or the trees start to prepare for winter and callusing is poor. I tried in September last year: zero takes.
Also, don’t be in a hurry to uncover your chip buds; safer to wait until March (here, anyway. Growth begins April usually.)
I probably should have said that the flavor was about the same, the big one was a little watery. I think it is more complicated than water though, I’ve only had to water the containers once or twice in the past month and like I said the others still have a pink center, a little darker than the inground tree but not nearly that dark. The biggest thing that is different is this tree did not have as much cold damage so it has more branching and grew less than the others, but that can’t be the whole story either. It is probably a result of the condition of the tree, the potting mix (just some recycled old stuff), the weather, and other things I don’t even know about.
Late season fruits from the orchard, clockwise from top, Fuyu Persimmon, Giant Fuyu Persimmon, Hachiya Persimmon, box of Fejoa, and one fig in the middle. For some reason all of my figs are ripening very late this year.
Yesterday the sun was out and the humidity was below 60. That has been a rare occurrence in the past 4 months. Today it is raining again. This has been a terrible year for growing edibles. Even my ripening figs are moldy inside a small greenhouse. If I leave the potted figs outside they blow apart from the rain so the best I can do is eating them before fully ripe. Very bland at that stage.
Will be heading out to celebrate my BFF’s birthday with her and her family. I brought fruit of my labor to her. Fruit I grow and baked goods hubby made from our own peaches. Watermelon is ours, too. Nothing store bought except for the basket.
It was 29 F this morning so my pepper plants are toast. I decided not to extend the season. I have too many projects going on. Putting a roof on my cottage. My son had major surgery Friday. He just got home and the wife and I are going to make dinner for him and his wife. He will be out of commission for a couple months. Well I have a lot of green peppers I picked this morning so it looks like stuffed peppers will be the main course! I have my own recipe I developed for “Southwestern Stuffed peppers”.
I never wrote a recipe down it is basically Mexican chorizo sausage, cream cheese, Mexican cheese, Mexican oregano, and a little Worcestershire. Once sausage is browned with garlic and oregano, I mixed the other ingredients in. I add one egg yolk to help keep it from falling apart and stuff the peppers. One of my favorite dishes.
Anyway after today’s harvest here is what is on the table. Last harvest of the year.
