Plums Galore!

Wow. Big Absence -but that's what happens when a writer/homesteader/self-employed person moves! So much to do and absolutely not enough time to do half of what needs to be done.

I'm writing this from my new home office in Bailey, CO with a view of the mountains from my desktop. I still have a million and one things to do but feared my followers might think I'd disappeared on them like many bloggers do.

And curiously enough today's post is about what I left behind in Texas! Look what my husband posted the other day on Facebook:

This is the plum tree I planted 3 years ago -it's absolutely loaded with plums! The year after I planted the tree it had quite a few plums early on, but then the Texas spring storms came and storm by storm my plums were blown off. Finally I was left with two plums on the tree, just about ripe. We went on a trip to CO looking for property and returned a few days later to one sole plum hanging on, the other was on the ground ravaged by ants. Ughh. We ceremoniously picked the remaining plum (well truthfully it may have not been so ceremoniously, more like hastily plucked it off the tree!). My daughter and I shared it and to this day I swear it was the tastiest plum I've ever had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into.

The following year there were many blossoms but no plums survived the winds that the Spring of 2011 brought to Texas.

And this year 2012, what a bounty. I'm praying that I get to sample a few when hubby comes up from Texas in a couple of weeks time. He says each storm we lose a few and that they aren't quite ripe yet...Hang on plums you're almost there. If I don't get to sample a fresh plum, hopefully Jessica will let us sample some of the jam she made from plums she picked from the tree.

Way too Early For this

It's the first week of March and the trees are bursting into bloom, Spring flowers are blooming,the grass is greening up and the war starts again.

This winter has been very mild. We haven't had a few days of freeze at all, just a couple of nights that dipped below freezing. I swear, I probably could have grown tomatoes outside this winter. This lack of a good freeze is not good. This is what happens:

Can you see it? Maybe I need to get a little closer...

Now I can see them clearly.

Arggh! It's way too early for pest wars!

These are in my Sultan plum tree. I've already removed and sprayed one nest. Today I found another. I'm using my organic bug soap from last year on these. It seems to stop them but I'm not sure if it's actually killing them (I need to go back and check). This plum tree produces the most tasty plums though I've only got to sample one lone plum split between me and my daughter. Last year we had no plums due to the storms blowing off all the blossoms and the fruit from the few that did set, also got blown off. The tree is covered with blooms this year and I'd really like to harvest a few plums.

I don't know if this cocoon is related to the caterpillars above or not. I thought I'd try to look up and see if it is before I removed it. The last thing I want to do is perpetuate more of these pests.

And so it starts another Texas gardening year!

The wait is so hard....

Ahh February...Spring is in the air (even if Punxsutawney Phil does say we have six weeks to wait). And in the Spring I get the itch to start planting and growing things. The only problem is this year we're moving so I'm not going to be planting a garden here in Texas. OK, I have to admit that yesterday I did plant three or four tiny onion bulbs that had started sprouting in their basket, and one shriveled up fingerling potato with several shoots-what else was a girl to do, throw them in the compost? I've learned in Texas, if something wants to try to grow, grow it!

I'm so tempted to start some plants but I so know it really is not sensible to be moving seedlings across the country. In an effort to squelch these urges I've opted to tend to some plants that need some extra TLC.

Remember that poor Meyer Lemon of the Lemon Aid post? Well, it did survive but it still doesn't look like much. I can't leave it out all winter because citrus trees don't like freezing weather. We don't have many freezes but I hate relying on the weather man ( and my memory) each night to determine if a plant needs to come inside. Our house doesn't have any sizable south facing windows so it's in our entry hall which has large east facing windows -not nearly enough light for a citrus tree. I've been fertilizing it very little thinking wintertime was a period of dormancy.

The few leaves on the tree are new growth since it was stripped in July

A little research has led me to question that theory. It seems that whereas outside plants have a period of dormancy when temperatures fall below 54 degrees at night, they thrive in temperatures of 55-70 degrees. So henceforth I will start a regime of carting this plant outside on days where temperatures are over 55 and back inside for the night. Apparently this will be better for the plant than trying to eke out an existence in the mudroom.

Also moving the plant outside during the day will afford me the chance to mist the plant with water -something that the meyer's love. I have also read that meyer lemons enjoy a soil PH of between 5.5-6.5. My tap water comes out of the tap at about 8.5! A little vinegar added to the water should bring PH down (I'll test with my PH meter and come up with a formula).

I'll also start fertilizing the plant again as hopefully it'll be enjoying more sunlight. The fish emulsion I use is a great fertilizer if there is available biota in the soil to break it down into its raw elements. Since the plant was repotted and harbored inside since July there probably isn't much biota at work in the soil. It has been recommended to use a 5-1-3 NPK ratio fertilizer. I really want to stick to organic growing so I'm currently researching how to make a good organic citrus fertilizer.

Ahh a project in the making. I knew I could find a beneficial way to satisfy the Spring gardening itch.

Lemon Aid

I've been wanting a Meyer Lemon tree for a while now. I saw some earlier this year at the big home improvement stores and passed them by thinking I could

1. get better looking specimens and;
2. get a better deal ( Iremembered the year before seeing large trees lined up at 1/2 price at Lowes)

They then sold out and much to my dismay I couldn't find any others. I sure was kicking myself.

Then I decided to get proactive and started calling the many small nurseries around here and much to my delight the closest nursery had one Meyer Lemon tree and it was 50% off because they were closing for the summer that weekend. I scooted over there and acquired my Lemon Tree - a great specimen. It's about 5 feet tall with one branch that towers about 7 feet high (I'll probably prune that branch). I was so happy to get such a nice tree and it was only $30.00!

That's where the happy story ends and despair sets in.

I got it home and then had to decide where to put it. I put it on the South side of our house figuring it would get lots of sunlight -which it did but the winds were knocking it all about and I feared all the fruit would get blown off so I moved it to the North side in a sheltered corner.

I've been blogging about my war with pests this summer. I had always thought that citrus was a bit of a natural repellent . How wrong I was. After a few days I found some leaves curled up and some kind of bug hiding within, so I drenched the tree in insecticide soap. I was vigilant in spraying it every couple of days with the soap.

Despite vigilant spraying, I found mealy bugs and aphids and grasshoppers on the tree. And to make matters worse it began dropping leaves and the remaining leaves were turning yellow. I fear I over watered it. I felt horrible -the tree was gorgeous when I got it and after it came home it was subjected to about every torture imaginable.

I decided to move my tree to the other side of the house where it would get more sunlight. I also started using a moisture meter to gauge soil moisture. I watered much less frequently which I found disturbing considering every day the temperatures are over 100. Still the tree declined. Then the grasshoppers attacked in full force. One day it was just a poor tree that had been over watered, the next it was stripped of most of its leaves and even some bark. I couldn't believe the damage.

Grasshopper damage to bark

Major intervention was in order. I decided I didn't care about organic care at this point, the grasshoppers had to go. I went to Home Depot and browsed their shelves. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything other then Sevin which even listed grasshoppers as a victim. I have Tempo in the storage shed -that will kill everything but I'm not using that in my garden. I came home empty handed and disappointed that I was still without grasshopper killer. I then stewed on it some more and opted to not succumb to non-organics. Since the Lemon tree is in a pot, I chose to bring it inside where I know I can at least keep the grasshoppers off of it.

I purchased some Alaska Fish fertilizer in hopes that some good natural fertilizer my help my struggling tree. I mixed it up as per directions and oh my. This stuff stinks. The label says it is "deodorized with wintergreen oil". Who are they trying to fool? It reaks. You know it smells disgusting when no sooner had I watered my plant with it then my dogs were fervently trying to get in the pot and dig and eat up the dirt. Great now I have to contend with them digging up the plant. I shooed the dogs off and told them they were gross.

Poor Bedraggled Tree Prior Prior to Repotting

I was still concerned about the pot size so I chose to repot the tree this week. It was in a 3 gallon container so I thought an up size to a 5 gallon would suffice, along with a well draining media. After a lot of reading I figured a gritty mix would be good for the lemon tree. Here is the "recipe" for the gritty mix I made:

Gritty Mix

3 parts pine or fir bark fines
3 parts Turface MVP (or equal)
3 parts crushed granite (turkey or chicken grit - not crushed shellfish)
1 part vermiculite
1 part coarse silica sand
1 tbsp gypsum/gardening lime gallon of soil (1/2 cup per cu ft)
if you use gypsum instead of lime, add 1/8 tsp Epsom salts/gallon of water each time you fertilize

I wasn't able to purchase any pine bark fines so pine mulch and some pine nuggets I had on hand had to suffice -I just pulled the large pieces out of the mix. I was able to buy chicken grit at the local feed store by the pound so wasn't stuck with a 25# bag to use up. And turface isn't carried in most of my local stores so I opted for "Oil-Dri" which is very similar.

Materials for Gritty Mix

I mixed up my planting media and then dumped out my lemon tree. The roots do not look healthy -they were in a tight ball and there certainly aren't many healthy looking white roots spreading out from the ball. I broke up the ball somewhat and put the tree in the 5 gallon pot -it barely had any extra room around the edges. This size pot wasn't going to work. I went to our shed and of course I didn't have anything bigger. Now what. I looked around and decided that my container blueberries which have been struggling didn't need a pot as big as they have and they were very unceremoniously dumped out and the lemon put in their pot in place. It is a perfect size. The roots have room to spread but the container is still quite movable.

Close Up of Gritty Mix

So the lemon tree is now replanted. I still have it in my "mud-room" which has a sunny east facing window. Each day I check the plant for new growth. I haven't seen any yet but it was just Thursday that I re-potted. I should sacrifice the lemons that are still clinging to the tree and allow the tree to nourish it's trunk and leaves rather than the fruit but it seems such a shame to lose them now. I will watch a little more and if I don't see new growth shortly, they will be picked off.