Re: Totally OT: stone fruit

Amy Blankenship wrote:
Will blueberries grow in your area? We've had fantastic luck with blueberries and figs. We get tons of wild blackberries, the occasional wild grape (muscadine), and elderberries. We also have pecan trees, which showered us with our first real harvest last fall. The chickens got fat on the pecans that were stepped on or run over!

-Amy



Unfortunately blueberries just shrivel up in the heat. Figs do well and I have just planted one with some more cuttings on the way. Blackberries are considered a noxious weed and not allowed to grow for fruit although I have tried (and failed) many times to grow the thornless variety along with boysan and raspberries. Have never seen elderberries for sale here. I planted 2 pecans at the other farm house about 2km away and they have fruited (nutted? LOL) for the last 4 years but they are still not overly big trees as it has been very dry all that time - trunk about 4-6" in diameter. My grape vines had 8 bunches of grapes this season, only 2yrs old, but most shrivelled on the vines from the heat which was a major problem through most of the vineyards this year so I'm hoping next year will be better. The chooks enjoyed those along with the mulberries where they seem to spend most of their time on hot days. I have set up a wading pool under the mulberries and the chooks and ducks love it there. Lots of dust baths and a few greens from the splashover although the lawn is getting a hammering from all of them plus the guinea fowl who give it the once over in the morning and another in the afternoon so it is struggling to get long enough for a mow.

--
Ginny - in West Australia
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Totally OT: stone fruit
    ... We also have pecan trees, which showered us with our first real harvest last fall. ... I planted 2 pecans at the other farm house about 2km away and they have fruited (nutted? ... My grape vines had 8 bunches of grapes this season, only 2yrs old, but most shrivelled on the vines from the heat which was a major problem through most of the vineyards this year so I'm hoping next year will be better. ... The clover has sprouted cause we had some rain a week or so ago. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: Heartwarming Behind the Scenes Reactions
    ... We had a bountiful pecan crop last year, several pounds of the meat of which are safely preserved in airtight, temperature controlled. ... And we're grateful -- the winds of a nice mild TS or Cat 1 hurricane serve to trim the pecan trees a bit, making it that much less likely they will fall if a more serious blow arrives later in hurricane season. ... The first year, we moved in right after the pecans were ready, but they were already falling and the previous owners just let them lie on the ground and rot. ... We do water, but this tree is HUGE and there's no way we could water it ENOUGH. ...
    (alt.support.stop-smoking)
  • Re: Heartwarming Behind the Scenes Reactions
    ... Pecans like to be fertilized with zinc sulphate, ... I have about six pecan trees (I built my house ... Last year's crop was really too big. ... this tree is HUGE and there's no way we could water it ENOUGH. ...
    (alt.support.stop-smoking)
  • Re: pecans
    ... six pecan trees in the yard. ... this year ended a nearly two-year drought. ... There are so many pecans in the yard that we've ...
    (rec.food.cooking)