Tag Archives: fruit

Pruning and Propagating and Hoping…

Last year was a good year for grape propagation, and so I spent the day pruning the grapes, which have gone dormant, and potting up cuttings thus: I’ve been gang potting cuttings lately, as it saves time and materials, and … Continue reading

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Like a Broken Record…

Garlic scapes!  This handful is the second harvest.  I could go on and on about garlic scapes, but I’ve already done so here and here. Today I planted a bunch of things out in the food forest, including grapes, an … Continue reading

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Rapini and Other Flowers

A few days of warm weather, and most everything that can bloom is blooming.  Pictured here is rapini, and the rest of the October-planted fall/winter vegetables – broccoli, mustards, collards, cabbage – are throwing flowers like crazy as well.  They’re … Continue reading

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Ever the Optimist, I Planted a Mandarin…

…by which I don’t mean a bureaucrat of Imperial China, but Citrus reticulata. The climate here is pretty far outside the range of most citrus, and my dream – long ago shattered – has always been to have a lime … Continue reading

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Spring is Springing: Asian Pears and Asparagus

Despite recent snows and heavy rains, signs of spring continue to appear in the garden.  The 4-in-1 Asian pear I planted a few weeks back is leafing out and breaking bud.  It’s an interesting one, as each of the four … Continue reading

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Layering Blackcurrants

Spent the day propagating plants.  Back in fall, I tried my hand at ground layering, a technique that involves burying part of a plant stem to encourage the plant to root in place.  Specifically, I bent a long blackcurrant stem … Continue reading

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Bees to the Rescue

In a prior post, I speculated that the plum blossoms would be ruined, resulting in (yet another) bad fruit year.  As I wandered the garden this morning, I was delighted by the familiar buzz of hundreds (sounding like thousands) of … Continue reading

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March Miracle?

Woke up to snow for the first time in months.  Not sure if this is the March miracle I’ve been hoping for – it’s been an unusual weather year, overly warm and overly dry – but I’ll take it.  Of … Continue reading

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Time for Spring or Planting as an Act of Optimism

Rhubarb is always one of the harbingers of spring, but I can’t recall a season when it’s been this early.  Likewise the asparagus, which in a typical year emerges some time between April 9th at the earliest to Apring 19th … Continue reading

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Signs of Spring

Plants seem uninterested in dates, instead using temperature and daylight hours and plant hormones to define “spring,” and many plants in my garden have decided that now’s the time.  Though there doesn’t seem to be consensus – the asparagus seems … Continue reading

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