Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

18 Apr

Refined Technique of “Doing Nothing” Proves Ineffectual

Posted by rakhi in Experiments, Fruit. Tagged: , , , .

Before. Notice the full blossom coverage.

After. Notice the 4-5 blossoms left. Blossoms that may not have made it through Sunday and Monday nights.

After some more espalier-ing

After a crazy March, where the high was 80°F and soil temperature got to 56°F, my impulse pear tree hit the ground running a good month or two early. So when news hit last week that a hard frost was going to hit St. Paul, I had to make a decision. And my decision, dear friends, was to do nothing.

I was tired, and lied to myself about how my yard will somehow stay a pleasant temperature for my lovely pear tree, even though many of my gardening-savvy West Seventh Neighbors had covered their own fruit trees to protect them. Conspicuously covered their own fruit trees as if they were sending me a signal. That I should do something. But at the time the signal seemed a bit too cryptic for me, and my love for homegrown, delectable pears was overshadowed by my unending laziness.

And so this year I will suffer dreaded store-bought pears because I have only a few blooms left, that were most likely eaten by the cold weather on Sunday and Monday nights.

In other news, as you can probably tell from the pictures, last year I started to espalier the pear tree, and I am a big fan. The tree fits perfectly in the corner of my tiny backyard with branches running along the fence and the garage. Yesterday I finished espaliering the crap out of it. Now if it would just bear some damn fruit we’d be going places.

28 Jun

Bad News Bears

Posted by rakhi in a gardening problem, Gardening. Tagged: , , , , .

So the paint on the back of the garage gets a lot of sunlight, and is now chipping and decomposing before our very eyes.  We decided to scrape the paint as best we could, and put new coats over the top.

It recently occurred to me that, since our house was built in the late 1800′s, we might have a lead paint issue on our hands.  I finally got around to getting the lead test kit, perhaps knowing deep in my soul that the news could not possibly be good.  Behold:

The kit indicates that if the liquid is darker than the window, then you have an environmental catastrophe on your hands.  This clean-up should be fun.

So I have two edibles right in front of the shed: my sunchokes and my impulse pear tree.  UMN Extension gives some advice for leaded soil, and so I’m hopeful that it won’t be too much of a problem, although I will be researching this more.  The rest of the plants are perennials including echinacea, american spikenard, red milkweed, and some other beaut’s.  From what I can tell the major issue will be washing the sunchoke rhizome well enough before eating it.  Done and done.

I found that Ramsey County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site will accept the paint chips with mixed in debris for FREE, which is awesome.  Hopefully the sand that’s mixed in won’t be too much.  The website says that the collection sites are open to people residing in Washington, Hennepin, Anoka, Dakota and Carver Counties, too.  Good deal.

In related news, my niece and nephew are visiting this weekend.  It will kill me to have to tell them, “no, kiddos, you cannot put the dirt in their mouth.”  sigh.

16 Jun

Progress Report…Besides for the Boulevard, I Mean

Posted by rakhi in Gardening, Where do I put all this [delicious] crap?!. Tagged: , , , .

I added a trellis and a potted lime tree to the left side of the yard.  The trellis is just a three-legged bamboo trellis, where I just used lashing to bind the poles together.  Not that I know how to, but I gave it the ol’ college try.  This eHow How to Make a Bamboo Trellis article is basically the same thing.  I also wrapped string around the three poles from the bottom to the top, so the cucumbers and climbing beans have something smaller to latch on to. 

As you can probably tell, I’m in the process of painting the lime tree pot…but I hate painting, so I’m guessing it will take a while.  That’s the same color of the cold frame I made…which is also not totally painted yet, either.

My Jesus Blueberry Bushes that I moved to the front yard did okay…with the sad, sad exception of the middle one, which passed away last week.  It was totally my fault, I kept being reckless while watering the other plants and knocked off the few tiny leaves that were there. I deeply regret this.

However, I was lucky enough to get five amazing organic heirloom tomato plants (and I am too obsessed with unique tomatoes to turn them down) and am trying to find places for them, so I guess my new black plum paste tomato is taking over the blueberry bush spot. C’est la vie.

10 May

Jesus Blueberries!

Posted by rakhi in a gardening problem, A Happy Accident, Fruit, Gardening, Where do I put all this [delicious] crap?!. Tagged: , , , .

I thought all was lost...

Two of my blueberry bushes rose from the dead!

Last year I planted three blueberry bushes.  I read their tags, talked to the salespeople, did no research, and planted them.  When the snow finally melted a few weeks ago, I was saddened to see that two of the little fellas did not make it.  I found out that over the winter, as the ground is accumulating snow and vegetation slowly disappears, the damn rabbits will munch whatever they can get.  What they munched was, to my dismay, my blueberry bushes.

I was thisclose to pulling the two bushes, thinking that they were gone, gone, gone…I even perused other blueberry bushes at gardening centers and plant sales.  A little part of me needed to wait just a little bit longer to see what would happen.  And I am SO happy that I did.  They are “pruned” to the bone, no doubt, but they are definitely budding!

3 May

Uneventful Weekend: Impulse Purchase Ensues

Posted by rakhi in Fruit, Gardening, The Conversion, Where do I put all this [delicious] crap?!. Tagged: , , , , .

Future Pear

This weekend was cold and dreary, so no gardening got accomplished.  My poor boulevard watermelon passed away, and my Okra seedling did not survive in it’s pop-bottle because of the almost-freezing temperatures.

I did pick up my city-subsidized composter, but was too cold to get it up and running.

Such uneventfulness makes me anxious for things to keep moving forward.  As such, in the-heat-of-the-moment (or lack of heat, rather) I bought a 7-foot, flowering dwarf kieffer pear tree.  And a navajo blackberry bush.  I hope the weather has learned it’s lesson.

I have no idea where I will put these plants, but I know for the pear tree I’ll need to use some of the techniques I am learning from Dave Wilson Nursery via NW Edible Life, because the 12-15′ feet tall and 8-10′ wide full-grown size is just. not. possible.

15 Apr

Vote for a Community Orchard in the Twin Cities!

Posted by rakhi in Gardening, Local Food. Tagged: , , .

The Summit-University Planning Council is in the running to win a community orchard for the empty lot/burgeoning community garden at Victoria & Concordia Avenues.

The proposed orchard site is a previously vacant lot that is being developed into a community green space. A community orchard will serve as a community asset and gathering place, helping neighbors and other community members build stronger relationships with one another, grow healthy food and beautify the community. It will enhance the green space currently being developed, providing a strong focal point for the neighborhood. It will also help to foster interest in community gardening, as well as education on nutrition and local food production.

Voting starts Friday, April 15th at www.communitiestakeroot.com. Anyone and everyone can vote once per day –so “vote early and often!” Please pass the word along to your networks!

Communities Take Root: Program Overview/Facts

• Communities Take Root is a program created by Edy’s Fruit Bars that helps

the brand give back by providing fruit orchards in deserving communities

across the U.S. Our hope is to not only beautify these neighborhoods, but to

encourage healthy eating and build strong community relationships.

• Edy’s Fruit Bars has partnered with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, an

international nonprofit organization dedicated to planting fruitful trees and

plants in places that best benefit communities across the world. Their hope is

to help alleviate world hunger and global warming, while strengthening

communities and improving surrounding air, water and soil. The Fruit Tree

Planting Foundation will be responsible for sourcing the plants and trees, and

helping to plant the winning orchards.


• People of all ages are invited to cast one vote per day from April 15 through

August 31st by visiting www.CommunitiesTakeRoot.com.


• The 20 locations with the most votes will win a fruit orchard provided by

Edy’s Fruit Bars and planted by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. From June

through September, we will announce 5 winners every 1st of the month.

• 120 organizations are participating in Communities Take Root this year,

including city parks, community gardens, educational centers, YMCA’s, local

food banks, and other deserving establishments.


• 2011 is the second year of the Communities Take Root program. Edy’s Fruit

Bars has already planted 25 orchards in communities across the US, and will

award 20 more as part of this year’s campaign.

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