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PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:56 am 
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Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:11 am
Posts: 55
Location: Dennis, TX
My father has owned fifteen acres of river frontage on the Brazos just outside of Brock for about twenty years now. I just recently moved back here from Minnesota to look after him and the place; he has had numerous heart attacks and a pretty stout case of diabetes, and he'll be 77 next month. Since I got here in December, Dad's lost almost thirty pounds, and we get outside and work in the dirt almost every day.

Years ago we took a neighbor's advice and sprayed 2-4-D and fertilizers on our pasture to make a better hay crop. We were both uncomfortable about it, and discontinued after one or two seasons of it. That's been more than a decade ago. We have about thirty-five pecan trees that were grafted by Mr. Wolfe out of Stephenville back in 1927, so they're the same age as my father now. We've both noticed some issues with the ground level coming up around several of them, so we are interested in things like perhaps air-spading around some of them and re-exposing the root flares. We also have started a rather large garden that was almost wiped out earlier this week by the late frost we had (I think that was Sunday night, but I've lost track of days since moving down here). We think everything but the tomatoes and some of the peppers will make it, but the taters were really off their feed for the last few days. I had just finished dirting them when it hit.

There's a thread that Dad posted at my website about what we're growing in the garden. As of March 27 this was what we had going:

Quote:


What’s Growin’ In The Garden?

What’s growin’ in the garden---just a whole bunch of stuff. It has been a long time since I brought this thread up to dat so here is a plant by plant status.

Our garden this year is in two plots separated by a sort of road or path. The rows in the north plot are 77 feet long. The rows in the south plot are 100 feet long. So if I mention a row of stuff I will try to note whether I am talking about north or south rows.

Potatoes—Irish potatoes are our star performers at the moment despite the fact that we chose the sorriest ground in the garden to plant them. They don’t seem to mind and are growing away. They are multiple leafed and of good color and I would not be surprised if they were already sending out those seven inch side runners to set potatoes. We have three rows altogether in the north plot. One row is the LaSoda variety of red potato and the other two rows are the large Kennebec variety baking potato. They are doing great.

Pinto Beans—We have 1 and 1/3 rows of pinto beans in the north plot that are coming up even as I type this and that will definitely have to be thinned. Although these are normally grown for dry shell beans I am raising this batch to can as snap beans. The flat pods of the pinto make outstanding snap beans when young and I intend to can a few jars from this 1 and 1/3 rows.

Radishes---Radishes will be ready to eat in a week. We have variety Early Scarlet Globe for about 20 feet of row and White Icicle variety for about ten feet of row. These badly need thinning also. They are off and running.

Onions---We have two south plot rows of onions planted from slips up and growing well. These onions were out there when the snow came however and may feel that they are in their second year due to the cold spell and as a result they may, being biennial plants, bolt and go to seed instead of making onions. As insurance against this fact I hope to put one more south row in next week. Onions are important stuff. The two rows we have growing now are composed of about equal quantities of Texas 1015Y yellow Granex, White Bermuda (delicious onion but a poor keeper), and Red Burgundy onions. If we put in another row I am going to try to make it all 1015Y if I can find the plants because they keep so well.

Turnips---We have about 1/3 south plot row of purple top (Shogoin) turnips up and doing well. We planted these more for greens than for turnips since both of us love good turnip greens. They are so easy to grow that I probably won’t bother freezing or canning any because we can have them fresh from the garden for about ten months of the year.

Swiss Chard—About 1/3 south plot row in scarlet stem Swiss Chard now about three inches high and heading for higher. Chard is a lot of fun to grow because it seems eager to get on the table.

Fennel---We planted about twelve feet of a south row in Florence Fennel but not one single plant came up. We are atotal failure on the fennel market.

Cabbage---Currently we have ten cabbage plants nearing the heading stage in a south plot row. We did have twelve plants but one morning as I was eating breakfast I saw a squirrel come down from a pecan tree and expertly incise two of the infant plants to naught and sit there munching a leaf. I was flabbergasted. We should plant a bunch more cabbage I suppose and perhaps we can put in some more next week.

Watermelons—Yesterday we (we in this narrative actually means Frank) planted our watermelons. Varieties as follows:

Black Diamond---Average 40 to 45 pounds, red meat, dark green outer rind---- 5 hills
Carolina Cross---Huge melons, often over 200 lbs, red meat rattlesnake rind--- 5 hills
Crimson sweet---Avg. 25 pounds, red meat, rattlesnake rind, great taste--------- 4 hills
Jubilee---Oblong melon, avg. 30-35 pounds, heat tolerant, great taste, red meat—5 hills
Wilhite Tendergold—22 to 28 pounds, yellow meat, great taste, blunt oblong-------4 hills
Cobb Gem---Large melons to 130 pounds, red meat, grayish black rind--------------5 hills
Yellowfleshed Black Diamond---60 to 70 pounds, dark green rind, yellow meat-----5 hills
Tom Watson—long oblong, green rind, red meat, delicious 60-70 pounds-heirloom—8 hills
Total number of hills------------------------------ 41 hills
Anticipated vines----------------------------------- 123 vines
Anticipated melons---------------------------------- 492 melons

Frank says we must plant more that is not enough.

Bell pepper---Frank planted pepper plants today among other things. Including red, yellow, purple, and green bell sweet peppers as well as six plants of New Mexico red Chiles. I wanted to plant some ancho and poblano peppers but none were available at the market today. We may have to make our chile rellenos using Anaheim peppers. We have a total of 42 bell pepper plants growing.

Hot peppers---I did not do a good job of keeping the hot pepper plants sorted out so we have many pepper plants planted that we (meaning me) do not know what they are until they get some peppers on them to look at.I know that we have some of all the following varieties---serrano, aji, habenero, jalapeno, chili petin, Tabasco and maybe a few other varieties thast I have forgotten. I promise that next year I’ll label the plants better. We have a total of 41 hot pepper plants thriving.

Mustard---Two varieties of mustard are up making one north row. One variety is Florida Giant and the other is Southern Giant Curled. That is more greens for the table this summer. I like wilted mustard salad also.

Corn—Four north rows are occupied by corn planted in blocks.
We have Yellow Dent Field corn, Bodacious sweet corn (SE), and Golden Cross Bantam. I am beginning to worry about the corn. I see some slight evidence of germination but it is far from a stand at the moment. The next week should tell.

Carrots---The carrots are like the corn. Some are coming up but not enough to make a good stand. We planted a row of Scarlet Nantes and a row of Danvers Half-long in the noirth plot.
May have to replant.

Beets---Our only complete failure. We planted a whole row in the south plot with beet seed that had been carefully soaked overnight. In that hundred feet of row we got perhaps five beet plants.
It won’t do!

Tomatoes---We have gobs of tomato plants growing away. Varieties as follows
Mountain Pride---determinant, medium size--------------------------------------3 plants
Super Fantastic—Indeterminant, large, robust plant----------------------------25 plants
Brandywine----Indeterminant, large,--------------------------------------------------2 plants
Marglobe-----determinant, medium, ------------------------------------------------- 6 plants
Rutgers-------indeterminant, medium, disease resistant-------------------------9 plants
Better Boy----indeterminant, hardy, large, great taste----------------------------2 plants
Early Girl---indeterminant, very early to mature, good taste--------------------16 plants
Sunmaster---determinant, heat resistant, drought tolerant me4dium size----6 plants
Porter Improved---indeterminant, small, great taste, dependable producer—6 plants
Total of tomato plants--------------------------------------------75 plants

Herbs---Herbs are a mixed bag for us:
Dill---two plants growing well, need much more
Aloe vera----two plants growing well
Green santolina—one plant growing well
Coriander---seed did not germinate.
Lettuce leaf parsley---two plants—one doing well and something ate the other, probably deer.
Spearmint---two plants growing reluctantly
The herbs are not a very bright picture in our gardenj.

So that is where we stand at present. Big drive for next week is blackeyed peas, cantaloupe, honeydew and cucumbers---maybe pumpkins also. Pole Beans and green snap beans come right after that. Okra waits a month.

Tomorrow cucumbers.



We have since planted the cucumbers, but little else. Today is county clean-up day here in Parker County, and I have chores waitin outside as I type this over coffee (yes, I know the day is half over already; I'm indolent as the day is long and unrepentant about it). I have tilled under the frozen plants and re-raked the rows in preparation for re-planting in the next few days. It looks like perhaps the corn will make it after all, but it's spotty and I may just start fresh there as well.

This is my first vegetable garden, though not my father's. The first year he had a garden here he canned 635 jars of pickles and preserves of one variety or another.

Here were the taters before the frost. I haven't taken any pics since then, as it depressed me too much.

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Here's the cabbage and chard and whatnot. None of this suffered any damage at all.

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The corn before the frost.

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We mixed up the potting soil out of Dr. Garrett's book and planted most everything with a little of it.

I know I should weed more, but I have a lot of irons in the fire here.

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We've also planted about sixty or seventy trees since December, and we seem to have had 100% success with them, which was unexpected.

There's more pics here at the Ranch.

I listen to the show as often as I'm able, so I usually catch something worthwhile when we're driving into Weatherford with the radio on. We're both determined to be completely organic here, and we allow as how there are things that may just take time. I hope that Dad has a tremendous amount of that commodity left in order to really see this place come alive while he is yet master of his surroundings. I'll post more pics as I am able. I just wanted to show off for Dad a little here, as he is a big fan of Dr. Garrett.

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Silencio ranas, que va a cantar el sapo


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 9:10 am 
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Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:11 am
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Location: Dennis, TX
Here's Dad's post about the trees we planted:

Quote:


This Year’s Trees

Here are a few comments on the trees that we are planting this year.

Catalpa speciosa------Catalpa Tree, Fishbait Tree
I ordered this tree because of its unusual nature---purely as a curiosity. Many landscape people would consider this a trash tree. If we don’t like it after it has grown a bit we can always cut it down.The Catalpa is a relatively short lived tree and often develops invasive roots that crack foundations and invade sewer lines but where we are planting them they don’t have any of those to invade. It is a medium sized deciduous tree reaching a height of sixty feet under good growing conditions and it is tolerant of a wide variety of soils and drought conditions. The tree has multicolored purple, yellow and white flowers in the early spring amid lacey small leaves of a light green shade. In late spring and summer it develops bean pod-like fruit from six to twenty inches long which later in the year separate into winged seeds. Catalpa wood is yellow or light brown and is remarkably resistant to rot which leads the wood to be used as fence posts wherever the tree grows. It is not native to this area but has been well adapted to this type soil and climate. Fall color is not spectacular.

Pistacia chinensis-------Chinese Pistacio
A rounded medium sized tree reaching forty to fifty feet in height. It is adapted to soil and climate throughout Texas and has been much planted in landscapes in recent years. Fall color is a brilliant red with some yellow. The tree is dioecious and female trees only have small clusters of red berries in the fall (not edible by humans). Catalpas are resistant to most common tree diseases and insect invasions. The tree is very long lived and well worth planting for its fall color and its pleasing summer growth habit. We only have one in the ground as I write this but I would like to order another this year to increase our chance of having one of each ***.A check reveals that another is on order.

Quercus shumardii------Shumard’s Red Oak
This tree is native to this area and I am pretty sure that we have a native example up near the county road. We have only planted one so far but I would like to get another one or two locally of a slightly bigger size than the one we planted. This tree grows very slowly but under good conditions will attain a height of 90 to 125 with trunk diameter of four to five feet so you can see that it is a big tree. Despite its large size the roots are relatively shallow and shumards are frequently killed in their early years by high winds. Acorns are oblong and large reaching up to 11/4 inches in length. The shumard is closely related to the common post oak (Quercus stellata)
And will readily hybridize with it if there are any in the vicinity. The wood of this oak is beautifully grained and colored and is much used for fine furniture and flooring and cabinetry.

Quercus stellata----Post Oak
This oak is a small or medium sized tree reaching heights under usual conditions of about forty to fifty feet and being slightly columnar in growth habit. Like all of the oaks it is a relative slow grower but very long lived. The tree is very drought and soil tolerant and is native to this area. Several post oaks are growing up by the county road now. We have planted only one by the house so far. Flowers are pendant spikes similar to pecan flowers and unfortunately exude a sticky liquid that is messy. Acorns are short-stalked, frequently in pairs and are normally only about ¾ inches long. The acorn bowl covers about a third of the nut. The bark is a gray thick covering and in older trees is frequently deeply fissured. The wood is typical of the oaks and as the name implies this tree has been used as fence posts. It burns well and hot. Fall color is disappointing on this tree. Its leaves usually turn a mud-brown and hang on the tree all winter in many cases. Not a prize oak but nevertheless not without interest.

Quercus macrocarpa----BurrOak, Mossycup Oak
This tree is native to this area. It is a huge tree normally growing to 70 feet high and with a three to four foot trunk diameter and in a few rare cases reaching 170 feet in height and with a 7 foot diameter trunk. It is a big tree—but a very slow grower. Contrasting to this size in an area with poor conditions or soil it is often only a shrub. So far we have planted one only in front of the house and I think we should put in one or two more. Flowers are four to six inch catkins similar to pecans and other oaks and do exude a sticky juice like pecans. Under an oak is not a good place to park the car in early spring. Burr oaks are in the white oak family and the wood is used for cabinetry and construction and is excellent firewood and was once much used in ship construction. So far as I know there are no other Burr oaks growing on the farm at the moment other than what we plant this year. Burr oak acorns are huge. They are up to two inches long and the acorn cup covers about two thirds of the acorn and has a mossy fringe. Fall color is yellow-brown and not particularly striking. We need more burr oaks.

Quercus falcata---Southern Red Oak
We have only planted one of these and it is a gamble. The southern red oak is not native to this area and despite the similarity to a shumard oak might not survive here due to the fact that the soil here is neutral and the water is alkaline. That combination may preclude growing this oak, but it is worth a try at least. Fall color is gorgeous red with a hint of yellow---very similar to shumard color. Under good conditions the tree will reach 70 to 80 feet and have a trunk diameter of three feet. The red oak normally retains its leaves for a longer time in winter than most oaks and in some locations will retain its leaves all year even though they are red and brown. The tree has an open spreading growth habit that is different from other oak trees. It is slow growing and long lived. Acorns are rather small usually running about ½ inch in length and are really more globular than ovoid. I hope that we can make this tree thrive.

That is all of the oaks that we have planted so far this year but I would like to plant the following:

More Quercus shumardii---Shumard’s Red Oak
More Quercus macrocarpa---Burr Oak
Quercus texana---Texas Red Oak, Spanish Oak, Spotted Oak
Quercus virginiana----Live Oak (We only have one on the place at present)
Quercus marilandica---Blackjack Oak (preferably the xeric phase if we can find it)
Quercus glaucoides---Lacey Oak (not native here but I think it might grow here)

As you can see I like Oaks.

Peach Trees---
Ranger Peach---We have planted one Ranger Peach tree so far this year and I would happily add two or three more. The Ranger peach is a freestone type of high quality, has a wonderful flavor and ripens here about July 15. It is perhaps the most common Parker County peach.. It requires 900 chilling hours. I would like to plant two or three more trees.

Loring Peach—One planted already. Slightly larger than Ranger it is also a freestone, is highly disease resistant and is has a wonderful flavor. It requires 750 chilling hours. I have successfully raised Loring peaches here before.

Elberta Peach---Planted mainly from sentimentality. It was my granddad Hamilton’s favorite peach and he used to say to me when I was five or six “When you are planting peach trees never forget the Elberta.” The chilling requirement is pretty low on Elberta peaches so we may not make a crop every year.It is 650 hours.

In addition to those three peach trees I would like to plant this year two more Ranger peaches, one Harvester peach, and about two Sentinel peaches and one Indian cling peach.

Plum Trees

Methley Plum--- A medium sized Japanese red plum with red flesh and the tree is a very prolific bearer. I have raised plum trees here for years and Methley has always been my favorite. During the last few years the plum trees have succumbed to borers and we need to start over. So far this year we have planted two Methley plum trees. Methley is a significant pollinator for all other Japanese plums. They make delightful jelly and jam. Must plant one or two more Methley plums this year.

Morris Plum--- Similar to Methley but with a flesh tending toward yellow. Good for eating out of hand and they ripen at the same time as Methley so can be mixed in with the Methley for outstanding jams and jellies. I would also like to try drying a few. We planted two Morris plums this year but I ran over one of them with the tractor—adios Morris.

Other plum trees I want to plant this year:
Shiro Plum---Shiro is a yellow Japanese plum with both a yellow skin and flesh. It is very sweet and a reliable producer. I think that we could make a good cordial from it as well as using it with Methley and Morris for jams and jellies.

Carya illinoisensis-----Pecan
So far we have planted five pecan trees this year (one expired RIP):
Var. Cheyenne---A fairly small pecan (60 nuts per pound) with a yield of 57% to 61% kernel. Cheyenne is protandrous and an excellent pollinator. It is a prolific bearer and vigorous grower.

Var. Hopi---A cross between Schley and McCulley varieties Hopi is a proven producer. It runs 55 nuts to the pound and about 58% to 60% kernel. It stores well.

Var. Choctaw---A cross between Success and Mahan varieties It has a more upright growth habit than most pecans. It is protogynous.

Var. Pawnee---Two Pawnee pecans were planted but only one survives today. I broke the other off pulling the hose by it before FPT arrived. The Pawnee is protandrous. It is a very heavy producer and produces earlier than most pecans.

Actually keeping up with the pollen producing nature of the pecan trees is unnecessary because pecans are air-pollinated and we have such a profuse variety of pecan trees here on the farm there is always pollen available to a pecan tree whether it is protandrous or protogynous. I would also like to plant the following this year:

Var. Oconee--- A new release from USDA the Oconee is a cross between Barton and Schley varieties. Oconee runs about 50 to the pound and is a 55% kernel pecan. It is protandous.

Var. Podsednik---The largest pecan currently commercially available, the Posednik runs about 20 to the pound is strongly structured, has large leaves and is scab resistant. It is currently only recommended for trial planning but I would like to try one or two.

Apple Trees:

The following apple trees have been planted this year:
Smokehouse Apple---This is an heirloom variety apple from New York state. It is a cider apple with red streaks over a green base. Quite tart. Also good for cooking.

American Golden Russet---Another heirloom. It was Jefferson’s favorite apple tree. Primarily a cider and cooking apple. Reliable producer.

Yellow Delicious---The yellow delicious is almost a universal pollinator for all of the apples and that is why it is on the list here. It is also good for eating out of hand.

Roxbury Russet—Primarily a cider and cooking apple. It is a very old heirloom variety.

Grimes Golden---It is both an eating and a cooking variety and for use in making cider.

Arkansas Black ---Eating and cider variety. Small firm apples. Very disease resistrant.

Blacktwig-----Blacktwig is an old heirloom variety. Excellent for cider or cooking

I would also like to plant two or three more varieties this year.

Apricot Trees:

Var. Moorpark---We have planted two Moorpark Apricots so far this winter and both appear to be doing well.

That is about it for what we have in the ground new this year but we are expecting 16 trees to be delivered Monday or Tuesday and another order just sent off for eleven trees and an order for four fig trees and an apricot tree sent just yesterday. Plus we can always buy a few trees locally while we are waiting for them to arrive. I will revise and repost this as we get more trees in the ground

Addendum To This Year’s Trees

Platanus occidentalis----American Plane Tree, Sycamore, Buttonwood
This is a large tree growing in this area to heights as much as 90 feet and is easily identified by its light gray flaking bark and large plate-like leaves. The first branching on this tree often occurs as high as 60 to seventy feet from the ground. Flowers are minute and not noticeable. Wood of this tree is primarily used for boxing, crates, butcher blocks, and baskets. We received two of them today.

Prunus augustifolia var Guthrie-----Chickasaw Plum
The nursery catalog states that this variety of the Chickasaw plum does not colonize but I don’t feel real safe about it. Nevertheless we are going to give it a try. It is native to Texas and Oklahoma and I have seen plum thickets of this plum so thick that you could not walk through them. It is a small tree up to 25 feet high. The fruit is eagerly sought by raccoons, opossums, squirrels and people. Jelly and jam made from the Chikasaw plum is unbelievably tart and very flavorful. This plum has showy white blossoms in early spring. We received two of them today.

Quercus macrocarpa----Burr Oak
We received three of these today and will plant them tomorrow to accompany the one we already have in the ground. These are slow growing long lived oaks and I doubt that I or my children will see them to maturity bit maybe some of your kids or your kid’s kids will see them when they are 90 feet tall .

Morus rubra----Red Mulberry
I ate a ton of these things when I was a kid with my parents and grandparents scolding me with “You’ll get worms”---to the best of my knowledge I did not get worms. The tree has a bad rap for city dwellers because of the sidewalk and driveway stains from the fallen fruit, the bird droppings from the birds attracted by the berries and because of the invasive nature of the roots that break foundations and clog sewers. Well we are going to plant this one where there are no foundations, sidewalks or sewers and just let the birds, squirrels and kids eat the mulberries. Normally this tree grows to 40 to 50 feet high and has a trunk diameter of twelve to eighteen inches. It has a light gray-brown smooth bark. The wood is occasionally used for cooperage, fence posts and light construction.

Ilex vomitoria----Yaupon Holly
Yaupon is native to Texas and this area. It is only barely a tree but can be trained in that direction and will frequently grow to 20 feet height with good care. The tree is evergreen. The leaves are both emetic and purgative if ingested by humans (hence the scientific name above). The bark is dark brown and scaly. Yaupon is dioecious and female plants have an abundance of bright red berries in small clusters in the late summer and early fall. I like Yaupons. I think that they look tranquil and peaceful and sedate. We received two from UPS today.

Ginko biloba---Ginko Tree
Covered above but we received two, more today making three for this year that we will plant out front.

Castanea pumila--- Allegheny Chinkapin
This is a small tree growing ten to thirty feet high with about a six to eighteen inch main trunk.This tree has good lemon yellow fall color. The chinkapin has a small brown acorn-like edible nut with a pleasant unique flavor. The bark is noteworthy. It is about an inch thick and is reddish brown and is broken into loose scales. Squirrels raccoons, possums and other animals relish the chinkapin nuts. People like ‘em too.

Carya glabra----Pignut Hickory
The pignut is a medium sized tree to about 70 feet high and a trunk diameter of one to four feet. It produces abundant fruit in the form of small 1 ¼ inch long edible nuts encased in a thin husk. These nuts are usually very sweet and are eagerly sought by all sorts of wildlife especially wild or feral hogs---hence the name. The wood of this and other hickories is strong and hard and is used for tool handles, furniture, wheel spokes and hubs. It is also the preferred wood to impart smoke flavor to cured meat. The hickory is a noble tree. It is not native here but should do quite well----I hope. It is a member of the pecan family—or vice versa—so we have lots of those.

Quercus muehlenbergerii----Chinkapin Oak
This is a medium sized tree reaching heights of 60 to 80 feet under good conditions with a two foot to three foot diameter trunk (the record for this tree is 160 feet tall with a 4 foot diameter trunk). This oak has a fairly shallow root system. The acorns are eagerly sought by squirrels, raccoons and opossums as well as deer and wild hogs. The wood of this oak is of limited commercial value

Quercus shumardii---Shumard’s Red Oak
Described above. We received another today making two.

Which leads to a recap of the trees that we do NOT have in hand yet that we want to plant this year.

Green Ash
Lombardy Poplar
Tulip Poplar
Keiffer Pear
Moonglow Pear
Western Soapberry
Sugar Maple
Texas Everbearing Fig
Celeste Fig
Live Oak
Cherrybark Oak
Blackjack Oak
Arizona Madrone
Pommegranate
Black Locust
Honey Locust
Black Oak
Osage Orange (Bois d’Arc)
Black Mulberry
Magnolia

There are probably a few more that I will remember later.
Plus a half dozen conifers that I must do more research on to determine alkalinity tolerance.



This Years Trees Number 2

Frank and I returned from Conroe/Houston to find 22 trees from a mail order nursery on our front porch so we spent a good part of yesterday putting them into the ground. They were:

Ginkgo biloba-----Ginkgo tree
This makes the fourth Ginkgo tree we have planted out front. I don’t know what my fascination with the Ginkgo is but something pulls me to it. Maybe it is because I never saw one before. Anyway, we have four of them.

Fraxinus pennsylvannica var. lanceolata---Green Ash
This is the first of this tree that we have planted. It is a tree that will grow to a 50-foot height or so,
although it is not a particularly fast growing tree. The tree is deciduous. The flowers and the fruit on this tree are not particularly noticeable but the foliage is dense and is a beautiful shade of green. The leaves are small and the fall color is a beautiful gold uniform about the whole tree.
The wood of the ash is very hard and workable and was much used in pioneer America to make tool handles and things like that.

Liriodendron tulipifera---Tulip Poplar
We planted two of these. They are a fast growing vertically column (although not so severely vertical as the Lombardy poplar) that many of the arborists warn against because it has an invasive root system and because they are fast growing but short lived. But where we planted them we could care less if their roots are invasive. We are waiting for the beautiful yellow flowers with a purple throat that these trees are supposed to support when they are mature.

______________ ____________----Lombardy poplar
We planted five of them in a row between us and our nearest neighbor as a privacy screen. Like the tulip poplar they are considered by the nursery trade as a trash tree. They grow right straight up like a telephone pole. We just planted them more or less as a curiosity.

Acer saccarhum---Sugar Maple
We only planted one tree just for the fall color. Maples don’t do too well around here because of the summer heat. We have planted some other maples before but this is the first true sugar maple that we have put into the ground. The tree will reputedly grow to 70 or 80 feet and is a relatively fast grower. They have beautiful red fall color.

Malus spp. ---Apple
We planted one yellow delicious apple and one Red Rome apple for no other reason than that I am hooked on apple trees this year. Besides they look nice in the spring when they bloom and the bees go berserk about apple trees. If memory serves we have planted 9 apple trees so far this year. I have grown these apples here before and they did well.

________ _______---Pear
We planted two pear trees---an Ayres pear and a Keiffer pear. Both trees have done well here in the past and are still alive and productive here. The Ayres is an excellent pollinator and both are borer resistant and resistant to fire blight. So we will be making pear preserves from them one of these years.

Acer saccahinum---Silver Maple
The nursery had stuck in five seeding silver maples so we planted them also. They are a medium tree growing to sixty or seventy feet high and having a characteristic silver or gray leaf but turning beautiful red in the fall. They were gratis.

Cornus Florida----Flowering Dogwood
We planted one white flowering dogwood out front just for the flowering. We had previously planted several (some white flowering some pink flowering) specimens out back. We have no real assurance that they will thrive here but we have faith.

___________ ________---Russian Olive
There was one Russian olive in the package. This is a tree that hardly exceeds fifteen feet that was much planted in the Panhandle during the “Dust Bowl” days to control soil erosion. They have s dull green ashy looking leaf and are very drought tolerant. We planted it more or less to have a sample.



When I refer above to “we planted” this refers to FPT digging the hole and planting the tree while I stood by to do the technical chore of unwrapping the root system and selecting the right tree for that hole, which you can easily see is highly technical work.
More trees are on order so there will be future installments of “This Year’s Trees.”


More Trees

We received fourteen more trees yesterday and got them in the ground today. We are now so far away from the house with new trees that we had to dig up all of the hose that is on the place to reach those more distant from the house. Here is what we planted:

Quercus phellos---Willow Oak
The willow oak is not native to this area and normally grows in a little wetter place than we have to plant it. We are going to try one however and see because it is such a pretty tree and has such fine fall color. Come August however we will really have to water these when they are young.

Quercus macrocarpa---Burr Oak
This one is native to the area. This will make about six of these that we have planted and they are a big, big tree. They frequently reach 70 feet in height if grown under good conditions and are the most adaptable of all of the oaks according to the literature I have been reading. And they have a rounded crown that often reaches about 75 feet in diameter.

Quercus virginianus----Live Oak
If I could have only one tree on the form and no others then this would be it. I love the evergreen
Oaks. We planted two today and I really think that we should get two more before we stop this year of tree planting. Before planting these two we only had one live oak on the place and it is in an out-of-the-way corner. Frank trimmed it up the other day and it is ready to grow now.

Quercus marilandica---Blackjack Oak
The Blackjack Oak is native to this area. It is a somewhat smaller oak than the others we have planted and rarely exceeds 30 to 35 feet. It is highly drought tolerant and will adapt to a variety of soils. It has bell shaped leaves that turn a muddy brown in the fall and the tree sometimes develops the trait of retaining its dull brown leaves all winter. Nevertheless we are out for variety and want to see all sorts of trees---sort of a herbarium here—or a Kew Gardens Junior.

Taxodium ascendens---Pond Cypress
I am familiar with cypress trees growing in swamps or lakes with their trunks actually coming up out of the water. Well we had no pond to place this cypress in and planted it in good rich river bottom sediment but in dry land. The catalog of Mail Order Natives says that this cypress will do well in either wet or dry sites---we will see. This cypress grows to 70 to 80 feet tall, is evergreen in most climates and we appear to have gotten a good specimen.

Pinus palustris---Longleaf pine
This is a magnificent pine and often reaches heights of 100 feet under good conditions. We have a neutral soil here on the farm but our water is alkaline and varies from a pH 7.8 to about 8.2. Pine trees need an acid soil to absorb iron and if they do not have it they develop drooping yellow needles and die. If we get enough rain I believe that the longleaf will grow here. There are several around that I have noted that do not appear to suffer from an iron deficiency and have reached a good size. I like to have a few conifers around so I hope that they do well. We planted four.

Pinus taeda---Loblolly pine
Somewhat shorter than the long leaf, this pine grows to a 60 to 90 foot maximum height and since we are sort of forcing it to adapt to alkaline water will probably be on the lower side of that range.. The loblolly has shorter needles than the longleaf but is otherwise similar. We planted four of them this morning. Actually Frank planted them while I advised and supervised. .

In addition to planting them we caged all of them in 4 x 6 reinforcement mesh primarily to make them more visible when old blind tree farmers are mowing with the riding mower. We have additional trees on order such as fig trees, more pecan trees, more pine trees (bristlecone and ponderosa and slash pine) and perhaps a few junipers. They should be here in another week or so.


More Trees Again

We received eight more trees yesterday afternoon and got them planted this morning just a few minutes before a forecast ice and snow storm was supposed to hit the area. So far though there has been no precipitation. So we can add the following to the burgeoning forest in front of the house:

Juniperus virginiana var silicicola-----Eastern Red Cedar
Actually this tree grows all over the place and I do not know exactly why we wanted to plant another in our “specimen forest” but we did. We could have dug one up somewhere else around the place but the seedling only cost three dollars and it is doubtful that I would have dug one up for that. Cedars grow tall around here---up to sixty feet high in a few cases and are easy to grow. The stockmen more or less consider them to be a pest because they have a tendency to kill the grass in the shade of the cedar. They have a natural conical habit like a Christmas tree unless you trim them to bare trunk status, and I think that we will do just that with this one after it gets up twenty or so feet tall---although by that time the decision might be someone else’s to make. I like the way cedars smell and I am thankfully not allergic to cedar pollen. They grow fast and live long----and that is an unusual combination in trees. They are very drought tolerant.

Quercus schumardii----Schumard’s Red Oak
This is about the sixth Schumard’s Red Oak that we have planted this year. It is the beautiful fall color of scarlet leaves and shaggy bark that make this tree so appealing. It grows to gigantic size here but is slow to reach that huge size. It is not unusual for these trees to live to the age of 100 years and rise to 125 feet in height. They are truly a magnificent tree.

Aralia spinosa---Devil’s Walking Stick
This is an unusual tree that has a twisted and contorted branching habit. The stems are covered with sharp thorns and I am sure that most people will consider a 25 foot high thorn bush to be a detriment rather than prize—but I have a different feeling about it. This tree won’t hurt you if you leave it alone and I can understand it’s prickly temperament. Anyway it is unusual and we are going to try to grow one and give it a chance to be pugnacious.

Asimina triloba---Paw Paw Tree, Custard Apple
This is a very unusual tree. The tree will grow to a maximum of about 40 feet but in this area will probably not exceed 25 feet or so. It is not native to Parker County but is very common as near as Greenville, Rockwall and those towns east of Dallas. The fruit looks like a plump but short banana and when the leathery skin is peeled back there is a custard consistency pulp that tastes remotely like a ripe banana. I have only eaten one in my life and I was about twelve when that happened. We are going to see how they taste again if we can beat the coons and possums to them.

Carpinus caroliniana----American Hornbeam
The American Hornbeam grows to a maximum of about 40 feet in height and probably a little less this far west. It has a nutlike fruit but it is not considered edible. The leaf is similar to an elm leaf and fall color is not spectacular. It is deciduous. We are going to see if we can grow them here with a little tender loving care.

Ostrya virginiana---American Hophornbeam
I have no idea why this is called a hophornbeam but I am keeping my mind open to learning. It is a deciduous tree that grows to a max of 60 feet and once again will probably be a bit less in this more arid environment. It has a fruit composed of a series of small bladders that resemble the fruit of the hop plant----I think that I just found out why it is called the hophornbeam.

Malus augustifolia---American Wild Crabapple
This is a small tree that rarely exceeds 20 feet in height. It has small apples in profusion that range from 2 ½ to 3 inches in diameter and make delicious jelly. The fruit is also enjoyed by deer, possums, coons, squirrels, cattle and probably several other forms of wildlife. The trees are also very pretty in the spring when they bloom and are visited by huge numbers of bees.

So that is eight more trees added to the Benpensa Forest today thanks to Frank who graciously did all of the work while I added the technical knowledge and my usual savoir faire.


And from February:

Roses---Roses---Roses

Frank planted four roses this morning that arrived late yesterday from Chamblee’s Rose Nursery in Tyler. They were in pots in good condition and I intend to order some more shortly. What we got in the ground today along the fence separating the front and backyard were as follows reading from north to south:

Climbing Red Fountain---A scarlet red rose on a vigorous climber. It normally grows to 12 to 14 feet high and spreads to 8 feet wide. It is very fragrant. Developed in 1975.

Westerland---An apricot orange 10 to 12 foot climber. First grown 1969.

Climbing Iceberg--- A climbing pure white floribunda to 12 to 15 feet high first patented in 1968.

Mutablis---A bush China Rose developed in 1894. It is fragrant. It has disease tolerance to fusarium wilt and is shade tolerant. The rose is yellow/orange/red.

I want to order several more roses before the end of the month. February is the time to plant them here.

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 Post subject: Welcome
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 5:16 pm 
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Mugtoe,
Now that is quite an introduction from a new member. :D
Well done I must say.
I, for one, will be watching for many more posts from you in Parker Co.

For your area, it might be a good idea to post the time of planting and the temps at the time. Even other little secrets you'd like to share.

I have not checked yet, but you might like re-post this at the Gardener's Exchange Forum or I can move it over there for you.

Again welcome.

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We have a tremendous number of birds here at the Ranch. I put out a songbird mix that is heavy on the sunflower seed. I see a fair number of owls and red-tail hawks as well as what I think are Swainson hawks - those follow me when I'm mowing the pasture and swoop down to grab mice alongside me. They are almost like a couple of big dogs that follow me around at times.

Weird thing, as an aside, was this view out my bedroom window yesterday around lunchtime. I came in from hauling trash to county clean-up day, and I saw these half-dozen or so buzzards just outside perched in a tree in the backyard. I'd rather not know what sort of weird omen that may be.

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That's poison ivy growin up the trunk of that pecan, by the way.

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Incidentally, when Dad mentioned me "trimming" up our pre-existing live oak, he was referring to me cutting down a bunch of volunteers that were springing up around it. It sits right along the fenceline to our neighbor's place, and it probably about fifteen or twenty feet tall if I'm thinking correctly.

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Here's the taters about a week after that frost we had. I was just sick when I saw everything blackened and lying over. They seem to be bouncing back now, but they're pretty ugly yet. I planted them all with a little of the potting soil in the row, and they seem to have been doing really well up until last week. I've already tilled under most of the peppers and tomatoes that died. This is my first real garden, and I was pretty disappointed in myself for jumping the gun like that without having any backup plan for cold weather. In the future I will seek more patient counsel than my own.

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The radishes, carrots, collards, turnips and mustard all fared very well throughout.

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That blank spot twixt tater and carrot is the deathbed of one tomato and pepper row.

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Pumpkins and melons of every kind were largely unaffected, with only some losses among the watermelons that had already broken the surface - and not even the majority of those.

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The corn looks awful, aside from all the weeds and mess. I'm giving it a few more days before I just till it under and start over completely. It may be better than I think.

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One of the things I've learned is that I may have created too large a garden for me to adequately take care of. I still have yet to lay out rows all the way around it, and there's already grass growing back in places that I need to till again and rake clean. I'm a bit scattered, and very indolent to boot, and this sort of endeavor seems to require a fair amount of discipline. However, once I'm out in the garden and feeling and smelling the dirt all around me and watching things respond, all of that sloth seems to vanish and I get caught up in the flow of what I'm doing.

The cabbage and swiss chard (do people really eat swiss chard?) are doing really well. I'm amazed that nothing is chewing on the cabbage, but it remains largely unscathed *knock wood*. The beets came up really sparse, and we were wondering if perhaps the corn meal in the potting soil I put down with the seed may have acted as a bit of a pre-emergent and kept it from coming up in greater number. I'm still hazy on the details of how this works, but I'm catching on.

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I'm afraid I never post in a very dial-up friendly manner. Mea culpa.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 7:27 pm 
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What a story and what great pictures.
Have you thought about mulching the garden to deter weed growth and to maintain moisture in the ground?
I used straw because it is cheap and does not contain the residual herbicides like hay does. Keep the pics coming, especially if you get some good shots of migrant songbirds.
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I keep a couple of field guides for birds here by my desk in the bedroom.

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I have two feeders just outside the window there, and I have an old plastic planter turned over to hold extra feed as well as a plant stand with an old roasting pan on it to hold water for the birds. It's a tough gig sometimes, but I don't complain.

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 Post subject: What a garden!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:05 pm 
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Awesome post Mugtoe! I especially enjoyed your dad's posts - good reading... From looking at the pictures, you will be pretty busy tending your garden in the coming months, just don't forget to cool your feet in the Brazos and watch the turkey vultures slowly ride the wind now and then!

(Great website - too!)

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Well, we started replanting tomatoes and peppers today. Lemme see if I can remember what I put in the ground.

Habanero - 4 ea

Red Bell Peppers (I forget the variety) - 4 ea

Jalapenos - 4 ea

Cubanelle peppers (sp?) - 4 ea

Super Fantastic tomatoes - 12 ea

Brandywine tomatoes - 4 ea

Rutgers tomatoes - 4 ea

Early Girl tomatoes - 4 or 6 ea (I can't rightly remember)

There may have been another pepper, but I'm bumfuzzled from workin all day in the dirt. I also tilled and raked - I hate raking, but love tilling - and mowed and overall put in a fine yeoman effort today.

Munner would be proud.

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Dad has also placed an order for ninety bucks and some change to a place in Chaska, MN for more tomatoes and peppers. When I asked him why he ordered from them rather than one of the nurseries over here in Brock, he said he liked their selection. I reckon we'll be gettin that order in about a week, and then I can do battle once more with my indolent nature.

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I saw the next door neighbor out on his 250 acres today with a tank behind his tractor and a fertilizer trailer in front of his house. I'll almost bet he's sprayin 2-4-d or some new chemical he's discovered. He's a retired Navy commander with a degree in agronomy, and he swears by his chemicals. He's been reluctant to bale hay for dad for a few years now, because we refuse to use chemicals on the pastures. I'd rather just mow it anyway. It's kind of a zen thing for me, I guess. I'm not far up the evolutionary ladder from a filthy hippie myself, and my dad's a little to the right of Brother John Birch, albeit with an organic bent.


I feel like I'm blogging here.

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We picked up some Muenster puppy chow today at the feed store, and Dad did some impulse tomato shopping and got six Porter, and I think three Roma tomatoes which I planted promptly upon our return. I added a touch of the potting soil mix that we got from HG's recipe with each one and then Dad watered em in real good.

We were wondering if the previous potting soil we'd mixed earlier this year with the corn meal in it may have been the reason some of our seed didn't come up. I'm thinkin in particular our beets and sweet fennel. I think I read or heard somewhere here or on the radio show that it's a pre-emergent of sorts and may have kept the seed from germinating. In any case, I've left it out of the potting soil mix the last few times I made a tub of it, and I've been just sprinkling it about the stuff I plant afterwards.

Things sure do dry out quickly this last week, what with all the wind and so little rain. I gripe about the rain when it comes, because it keeps me indoors and gives me the blues, but I'd like a good soaker bout now, thank you. It takes a good long while to water that garden of ours.

Having said that, if the weather holds another day or so, I'll do great and wonderous things in the garden and take lots of pics and brag a bit. I'm diggin this dirt bit, and I'll be eatin homegrown greens tomorrow with hamhocks from a wild pig a buddy of mine shot last year. The only thing I've eaten out of the garden so far this year has been radishes, which, while count in every respect, are hardly the kinda thing that sticks to my ribs or give me that comfortable rumbling in my voluminous gut.

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Incidentally, one row of those peppers we got the other day were lookin a bit off their feed this afternoon when we got back. I think I just didn't soak em in well enough when I planted em. Dad thinks maybe I hit em too hard with the water. They looked a bit too parched for that to be the case, but I hesitate to argue with my aged father when he's got the hoe. He watered em good today, and we'll see if they come back in the mornin.

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Tony M wrote:
What a story and what great pictures.
Have you thought about mulching the garden to deter weed growth and to maintain moisture in the ground?
I used straw because it is cheap and does not contain the residual herbicides like hay does. Keep the pics coming, especially if you get some good shots of migrant songbirds.
Tony M


This raises an interesting question for me. I read the mulching ideas in the information center where HG suggests using alfalfa hay as a mulch. I assume he means organic hay, of course. And straw would seem cheaper by far. However, I also have two HUGE burn piles here at the Ranch that I'm waiting on still, wet weather to light up. My thought was that perhaps I could use a good bit of that wood and brush as a mulch if I get my little chipper-shredder fixed in town any time soon. I also considered just renting a commercial-sized chipper and gettin it all done in a day or so. Some of the brush is the remains of plum trees that had been killed by borers in their old age. I wonder if that would present a problem, though I think it would not. A good deal of this is academic, of course, as both of those solutions are capital/labor-intensive, and I am both slothful and abiding in abject penury.

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