Three New Raised Beds Created 3/2019

With the help from a den of Cub Scouts, we set up 3 new raised beds.  They are 4′ x 4′ and made out of treated 2×12 lumber.  I filled them with planting mix from Texas Pure, which contains 50% compost, 25% sand and 25% top soil/loam.

Everything Survived the 17 Degree Low Temperature

All of the vegetable plants made it through the recent low temperatures. This morning just before sunup, it got down to 17.6 degrees F. I didn’t cover anything up, and the plants look like they are all OK this morning. I was most worried about the sugar snap peas that just started popping up from the ground, but they look completely unharmed. Strawberries look completely unharmed. Onions look OK. Brussels and broccoli did get some damage, but they should survive.

Carrot Harvest

The rabbits left us a few carrots. Five to be precise. Adjusted for size, it amounted to one and a half. They were very tender and delicious though. I hope I have more room next fall for a lot more. And I need a fence!

Plum Trees, Blackberries, Strawberries Planted 1/31/2019

The order I placed in October from Pense Berry Farm arrived yesterday, so I planted it all today. The blackberries are a special variety bred by the University of Arkansas that grow fruit on the primocane, so they grow fruit the first year. The strawberries Chandler variety and are supposed to withstand southern climates. One of the plum trees is a special variety from Auburn University that is very disease resistant.

Tree Placement at The Gallistead Home

18) Santa Rosa Plum
22) AU Roadside Plum
near 1,2,3) Prime-Ark Freedom Blackberries (quantity 6)

Compost Pile

I dumped out the three big wire fence containers where I’ve been storing leaves and kitchen scraps, then mixed it all together along with more ‘greens’ and water into a large pile about 5 feet high.

Pear, Pawpaw, Cherry, Persimmon, Pluerry, Pomegranate Trees Planted

Over the past 2 days, I’ve planted 8 more fruit trees.

13) Asian Pear w/ grafts of:  Hosui (12), 20th Century (3), Chojuro (6), Shenseiki (9)
14) Fuyu Japanese Persimmon
15) Sweet Treat Pluerry
16) Wonderful Pomegranate
17) Cherry w/ grafts of: Stella (2), Black Tartarian (4), Bing (7), Rainier (10) *
18) empty space
19) Pennsylvania Golden PawPaw (Grafted)
20) Sunflower Pawpaw (Grafted)
21) Mango Pawpaw (Grafted)
(graft positions given w/ North = 12 o’clock)
* = yes, I realize cherry trees won’t set fruit here because of our lack of cooling hours, but I wanted to try it anyway   Continue reading