This morning I planted Romanesco, beets, lettuce, carrots, kale and brussels sprouts.
Veggies Planted
I’m not sure I can produce Romanesco here. I don’t have much luck with the cooler weather plants like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage .. probably the same with brussels sprouts. I’m going to try them all this year and if I don’t get anything from them, I’ll start them all as seeds in December in the greenhouse and then have good sized plants to transplant in mid-March.
Tonight it’s going to get down to 31° so I’m going to move the ginger lilies back in the greenhouse and hope for the best. According to my trusty chart, it would have to get to 28° to damage any of the blossoms and it isn’t going to be that cold. The peach, plum and apple trees are in full bloom. The pear tree buds haven’t started opening yet and the apricot trees . . they’re about to become wood for the smoker! They haven’t done anything ever and this is their fourth year here. The cherry trees have buds but I don’t ever expect to get cherries .. not enough chill hours here. The jujubes are always late showing life in the spring. The figs have lots of baby leaves. The pomegranates are starting to get leaves. The persimmon trees are right up there with the apricot trees. It’s time to produce or go . . but I’ll give them all a few more years.
Carol says
Apricots have to be at least 4 years old to bear fruit. They spend the first 3-4 yours growing… and they may not bear for their entire lives! We had apricots in California (left overs from an old orchard our neighborhood was build in) where summers could get quite hot and dry while winters were relatively mild with the odd freeze. They were very sporadic in how they fruited, and this was country where almond, walnut and apricot trees were routinely dry-cultivated before the area got built up. SO I would THINK you should get at least a few apricots this year…
As for cherries, they need acid soil and don’t like heat…
As for Persimmons, I don’t know which kind you have but … I found this on the Google:
Oriental persimmons bloom after five years but do not bear fruit until after seven years. Grafted trees bloom within two to three years. American persimmon may take several years to blossom and still not fruit for up to 10 years. Both American and Oriental persimmons have alternate year blooming and fruiting.
I don’t know which kind you have … and it isn’t clear how the years are counted — from seedling? From grafting? Is a bare root tree already a year or two old? That I don’t know.
I envy you your orchard!
JudyL says
The type apricot tree we have is supposed to produce on year 2 after being planted in permanent location. Cherries will produce here but we need more chill hours than we typically get. We have both Oriental and American persimmon, as well as a native Texas variety that produces much smaller fruit. Our trees have bloomed and produced but the fruit has fallen off before it ripens. I think last year, it was the hail storm that ruined our persimmons so I’m anxious to see what this year brings. pH for cherries . . 5.5 to 8 is acceptable. We’re doing good to keep our soil at 7 and that’s with using acidifiers.
Paula says
Still waiting for the ground to dry out so I can haul in dirt!
Sue B says
Suppose to freeze tonight, no garden planting yet.
JudyL says
We had a freeze last night too but the cold weather crops are fine for a night or two below 32.
Wendy says
Have you to looked into what that variety needs for pollination? We found out that MacIntosh apples need a different type of apple tree within a certain distance to aid with pollination. Our MacIntosh finally produced apples last year after us planting a different variety near by.