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
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