by George Collins » Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:15 am
Today the streak was almost broken.
For the 21 previous days I have planted at least one tree. However, every time one goes in the ground, there is one fewer that can be put in the ground. When I came home from work today, there were only a few walnuts that had germinated so, deciding to hold off, I thought the streak would come to an end. Then I remembered the neighbor whom I helped with his forest garden. He told me one day let week that our Warren pears were due to arrive today. He wasn't home but told me over the phone that I was welcome to go to his house and check for any Fed Ex packages that might have arrived.
I went.
It did.
Streak extended.
He already had the spot for his Warren flagged so I planted both his and my own.
Also, while digging around in the fridge, another zip loc of paw paw seeds turned up so now there is about 60 more of those outside in a pot awaiting germination.
Matt, those little plums and figs that I transplanted recently were looking a bit haggard as of late yesterday. I pruned them hard and today, they all looked much better. The figs especially looked downright grateful. For the figs, I left a leaf or two at the very top to "carry the sap" as Harry Dodson described it and clipped everything else back to a form a single stem. The plums lost all of their lateral branches and today, there was no visible signs of wilt even during the heat of the day (South Mississippi is currently experiencing some record daily highs).
Also, over the weekend, I constructed some shade cages for the paw paws. Lowes sells something called "shade cloth" that people use for outdoor sitting areas. Using concrete reinforcement wire cages for frames, the shade cloth was affixed in a few different configurations to reduce the amount of sunlight the sun-sensitive little plants receive. The method that seemed most user friendly was to only partially wrap the cage, leaving the northernmost 60 degrees or so open to allow access for watering. I've tried a few different methods for providing shade but this method seems to be the most promising method yet. Time will tell.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"
"If you can't beat them, bite them."