Saturday, April 11, 2015

Blooming Fruit trees in the food forest

Not quite all of the fruit trees have bloomed. The Fig trees have yet to put off leaves at all. I took extra precaution overwintering the Fig trees (see here), so I suspect they have not put off leaves yet because it's not the right time. From what I have observed, the trees themselves have not died yet the tips of branches died because they ended up exposed to the elements. I have learned that I need to completely cover or drape a tarp over top of the trees during winter.

The Peach trees have not put off blossoms, but they are slowly putting off leaves. One of the Nectarine trees had four blooms on when we bought it, but we picked them off for several reasons.

I mentioned awhile back that two Cherry trees died, but one of the Cherry trees put off a side shoot. Fortunately, the side shoot is putting off leaves. The side shoot will become the main tree after pruning the dead.

Cherry tree
The first picture below is a Plum tree we added last week. I have been gardening by the Farmer's Almanac (moon phases) as well. So the Fruit trees and fruit bushes were transplanted last week when it was favorable days for planting root crops. See the monthly schedule of what to grow according to the moon phases:


Plum
 I am excited to see one of the Pear trees blooming. I have had the two Pear trees for three years now, and this is the first year they have put off flowers. I wonder if the other Pear tree will follow suit.

Pear tree blooming

Pear tree blooms (Kieffer variety)

Pear trees
One of the Plum trees have bloomed as well.




On a final note, it has rained for most of last week and this week, so there has been no need in watering the garden. In fact the garden is holding a lot of water within the trenches. Because there is logs and pieces of wood within the Hugelkultur mounds, I expect the wood to absorb all of the rain like a sponge. During times of drought, the water within the logs will release back into the soil and plants.
Last week we added 9 Radicchio plants on the large Hugel mound. Also, we directly sowed Arugula, Endive, and Radish in open spots amongst the other plants. Within a couple of days of humid and wet weather, the Arugula have already popped up.
Yesterday because it was another favorable day for growing root crops, James scattered seeds of Radish, Beets, and Turnips in the flat bed (between the Spring garden and Summer garden).


I suspect more growth in the following week, so stay tuned for garden updates.

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