Cluster of Figs

Figs like so many other fruits grow in stages.  Here you have a fig just about ready to eat next to four others in different stages of development.

At this point if you want the fig to continue to develop on the tree but speed up a little, you can nick it with a knife or other pointy object and it will ripen a lot faster. Typically you wouldn't want to do this with a lot of fruit, like apples, because they would not just ripen but also start to rot.

I went ahead and picked this one though so as not to attract too many birds to the tree.  I know they will eventually see this as a good source of food but I wanted to get first crack at it.  Some birds will nick the fruit themselves once they get used to the fig tree fruiting.  They know that this will ripen the fruit and give them a treat for their troubles.

Talking with Amber we thought of some other fruits that have to be picked individually because they don't ripen at the same times.  To name a few: Figs, Coffee, Cacao, Strawberries, Cherries, Apples, Oranges, Pears, and Grapes.  These last few might be a little surprising but they too ripen at different times.  Some of them are picked by machines though but this lets in less ripe fruit along with the ones that are ready to pick so you don't always get the best quality fruit in that case.

What is your favorite fruit to eat?

Lovely New Fig

My new fig tree is doing well.  It originally came with figs already on it.  A couple of them have fallen off but for the most part the figs have hung on.

To plant it I of course dug a hole.  I've done work with landscapers so I have a good idea of how big.  Typically you want a hole at least twice as big as the pot it came in.  I dug out a little more than that because our soil is clay.  If you don't know anything about clay, it doesn't do well with water and drainage.  It's also hard to dig in.  So, the dirt (mostly clay) I dug out, I mixed with a bag of potting soil.  In the end it was still a bit hard since clay will dominate a mixture down to around 20 percent.

Then I put it back in the hole until it was about deep enough for the plant with the soil ball to sit a little above the previous ground elevation.  Then I back filled the rest of the dirt mixture on top making a mound and watered it for nearly an hour, saturating the dirt so it would settle in.

I have since added even more dirt from an old pot to further give it nutrients and ability to absorb water and retain it.  I water it daily dissolving the bits of clay that I wasn't patient enough to mix in.  The resulting water slurry I'm sure it filling in the gaps that remained in the hole.

After visiting some friends a little south of us we got some mint that I planted on top of the dirt around the fig tree.  At first it was still wilting but now there are new leaves popping in on some of the stems.

Middle of Harvests

We went to visit family and found out that there is very little being picked at the moment. It's too late for figs and citrus, or too early depending on how you look at it, and it's too early for grapes, pears and peaches.
There are a few tomatoes and peppers out there and an occasional veggie that's ripening all alone but for the most part it's time to water and wait.
I still have the amazingly big beet root growing and a couple more beets growing nearby. I'm hoping they bolt soon or I'll have to eat them. They just look so tasty.

Fig Harvest

Our fig tree has produced at least five pounds of figs so far.  With this we've made preserves, fig spread, and a tart. If you looked at the fig tree today you wouldn't know that we'd even picked any off. The birds help with keeping the tree from being overloaded and make sure I know they've been helping  by whistling away while I pick some myself.
I could probably pick a cup or two each day if I wanted to but instead I go out every 3 or 4 days and  pick more at a time. I can see some of the fallen figs that I otherwise would have had if I did pick daily but that's more work for less yield and the birds will get to those in due time.
The weather hasn't been bad either for ripening them up. We usually get a cold snap or a strong wind storm that knocks most of the figs off and sometimes the heat just makes all of the figs shrivel up to nothing and makes the harvest inedible. So far this year it's been the best producing plant in the bunch.

Cantaloupe

Out of the entire garden I'm most looking forward to the cantaloupe again.  We've only one vine but it has a good size melon on it right now, larger than a softball. The last one I grew didn't get any bigger than a softball but it was big enough to eat for one person.

The tomato plants haven't put a tomato out since we bought them.  I don't know what it is about me an tomatoes, I don't think they like me much.  maybe they know I want to eat them...

We have had good success with the fig tree out back. Nearly five pounds of figs which we've eaten and mostly preserved into fig spread.  I'll probably go back out today to get some more. The birds are putting up a fight though. Last time there were over a dozen birds squawking as I picked.

Tripple Digits

It seems the temperature isn't going to be letting up any time soon which means it's time to really start icing things down. This isn't going to help the tomatoes produce better but it will keep them alive through the heat. Fall tomatoes are better anyway, or so I keep hearing. Personally I can't tell the difference.
The rain barrels in the back will really help too. I can soak some areas and not have the water bill feel it as much. The fig tree has decided that it's been getting enough water and has some ripe figs on it for once in the summer. Usually all it has around this time are little dry knobs where a fig should be.

Thriving in the Yard

The hops are growing like weeds, actually better than the weeds. I wasn't so sure these things would break the ground around here. It's hot and unrelenting at times. It's sure to need plenty of water when the heat arrives. Currently it's only in the high eighties at worst. Next week or two may hit the nineties. Next month the hundreds are possible but fortunately not likely.

In the mean time we get to pamper them and hope that we can get them to have strong roots and something to climb. They haven't minded the wind so far even though it blew off part of the greenhouse roof again. The fig tree isn't doing half bad itslef in that regard.

There are currently only three that are growing well. The fourth has broken ground but isn't going anywhere for some reason. The fifth is currently a no show.

Someone we haven't had a problem with is the cone flowers. They have sprung back up and are threatening to amaze us with their flowers again. There are about twice as many as last year and I keep seeing new clumps rising out of the ground. The spring cleaning WEEKS have paid off. If I knew it was this hard to keep a garden growing I might have just gotten rich and hired a gardener. That getting rich part I think might have been a problem though.

Yet another fast grower is this little fern that my wife bought to replace some of the plants that didn't make it so well last year in the shade. They grew this much in under a week. If I could only get my tomato plants to grow that fast and healthy then I wouldn't have to go to the store for a while.

Spring Seedlings

Planting has been pretty successful this season. My wife has planted a lot of seeds for various veggies and flowers. Some of them have already broken through the ground and shown us their little leaves while others are still germinating. The transplants have been very successful. I have an entire new bed of peppers and tomato plants. One of the tomato plants didn't like the watering too much today but I believe it will pop back upright, didn't check after I went in. Should rain again soon so I'll just let it be for a while. On the fig front the figs are getting big. I just have to hope and water. As long as the figs are strong the wind shouldn't knock them off.

Rain, rain, rain, rain ...

After watering my gardens twice a day, for I don't know how long now, the rain has finally come to give me a break. All of the plants seem to love it too as they are springing to full attention and plumping as only a rain can make them do.
I can only hope my fig tree is taking in enough to make the second wave of figs ripen and get fat and juicy. So far the figs that are ripening, if you can call it that, are dry and shriveled looking.
The cucumbers were already forming fruit and should keep going well.
Unfortunately my wife can't pick flowers in this weather since it makes picked flowers mold which is not the scent you want in a sachet or bowl of potpourri.
I need to get my citrus plants out while it's raining so they can get used to the outside before too long. The kaffir lime is already sitting out front and has done well and the lemon tree out back has a ton of new branches growing. Still no sign of fruit though. Maybe next year.
There is a decent chance all week for rain. I guess I'll just wait and see what ripens.

Arlington Farmer's

The farmer's market was a great success (at least for what we went out there for)
There were around ten vendors and many of them did even better than we did. Kay Lymon of Top Shelf Confections made the best cupcakes I have had in a while. If you live in the Arlington, Texas area you should give her a holler and see for yourself.
There was also an actual farmer with produce from his farm and his son's land. I don't know if his son has a farm or just grows cantaloupe (possibly musk melon).
My wife's book sales doubled today. Of course she hasn't been selling them for very long but double is still good.
The figs from my tree sold in a couple hours and when I got home after work there were just as many waiting to be picked. I love figs.
Later we went to get some trays to start still more plants. They were dirt cheap. I never get tire of that one. Unfortunately dirt isn't cheap anymore but around here clay is. Problem there is you can't plant very much in clay.
Anyway market good, figs good, life good.

Figs of a Feather... Oh Nevermind

The point being that the figs this year have not fallen off of the tree despite the hard rains and wind. Some of the first figs are even changing color and ripening. If all goes well we will be making fig preserves and eating figs on toast and scones.
If you have never had scones, and I mean real home made scones, then you really should find someone who knows how to make them and give them a shot. Fresh scones right from the oven... are too hot and fall apart. Scones that have had a few minutes to cool after coming out of the oven are perfect. Add a cup of your favorite tea (you do have a favorite right, if not then there is something else we need to talk about) and voila!

In short, fresh figs good, birds eating the figs, bad.

Spring Clean

Spring cleaning is a yearly task that can really make your home a pleasant place to return to. Especially when you have just picked up that last leaf and brushed away the last piece of dirt, the look of a clean manicured yard is wonderful.
The major problems we came across this year were the ants and having to clean up the oak tree since there were a number of branches that broke in the snowfalls.
A good bit of the color came back on it's own either from seed or from plants that lived through the winter.
We planted seeds last week and the beans, sunflowers, and carrots have already sprouted.
I still haven't gotten a strawberry yet and the fig tree is taunting me with figs that will probably fall off in the next heavy rain.