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PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:41 pm 
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Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:18 pm
Posts: 1093
Location: McKinney,TEXAS
I have mentioned before that my wife and I have a 10 acre organic farm so we get to grow a lot of things successfully and experiment with many others. Our latest experiment is hardy kiwi. We don't have fruit yet but the plants are growing vigorously (for north Texas) and we expect a crop any season. Whenever I'm outside I am usually not far from a snack.
Our winter greenhouse is nothing more that a couple of cattle panels with plastic stretched over them and a tarp for the door. We are able to grow 10 different types of vegetables even tho the temp drops to 15 degrees at times.
One of the first things we plant is kohlrabi. A delicious vegetable in the brassica family that is a cultivar of the cabbage, resembles a turnip, but grows above the ground. There are many different varieties including a purple color, very different from the light green color that we grow. We eat them raw, roasted, in salads and as a puree for soups.
Throughout the year, various fruits and vegetables are ripening. As the winter garden slows down the early peaches and strawberries and plums become available. Next comes blackberries and raspberries. Yes, you can grow raspberries in an organic program in north Texas but don't expect to grow enough to make it profitable. We have about 20 feet of red berries that provide close to a couple of pints a day for 2-3 weeks. That may not sound like much but if you got to taste them...
The second round of peaches and the figs are the next to ripen followed by the start of all the vegetables in the garden. Then comes one of my favorites, the fruit of the mulberry tree. It's a big mess in the city but no problem when tucked into a corner of my pasture.
My mount Morrissey cherry had blooms last year but no fruit. Around August the kiefer pears get ripe followed by 5 different types of apples. My favorite is pink lady. We have two different varieties of jujube but I'm not a big fan of either.
Howard and I visited a listener's garden a while back and he gave each of us pomegranate plant. Mine died so Howard got a jump on me. I planted two bushes a while back but have yet to get fruit. They are planted right next to the kiwis which haven’t fruited, I wonder if something is in the air?
About the last things I get to munch on are grapes and pecans. The pecans last for months since we don't have a big population of squirrels.
By now I have re-built the greenhouse and the first of the winter plants are ready to pick. You guessed it, kohlrabi starts it all over again.
Tony M


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