Planting Today

 Although it has been cold, I have been able to do some planting here in SW Florida. Today, I put in a Coffee bush and a fig tree in for my mom at her house. These plants can both be found all over the country, and can be planted even in cold areas, although how you do it, will depend on where you live. 

Coffee, although a fun plant to think about having, is a tricky one. Of course, anywhere it is cold and actually has a winter, you can't plant it outdoors in the ground. However they can be in a container. I have found, however, that when potted, they are a super fussy plant, and don't like to be moved from spot to spot. So if using it as a house plant, I would suggest to find a spot that it likes and leave it there. I found out the hard way. 

The fig also can be found all over the country, but you will need to do some research as to the best one for your area. I have seen many figs successfully grown in the north in containers. They go outside in the late spring, summer till early fall, then brought indoors for the winter. My Dad said that when he was a kid in NYC, one of his uncles planted a fig tree outdoors, but wrapped it every winter in burlap to protect it against the elements, and was quite successful with it. 

A really nice thing about the fig, is that it easily starts from cuttings. So if you know anyone who has a fig tree, see if you can get a cutting, at least 8". I had success in starting cuttings by just sticking them in a pot full of soil, putting a soda bottle (with the bottom cut off) over the top of it, using it like a small greenhouse, and letting it do its thing. It was a pretty much "never fail" technique for me. Once established and rooting, you can then put into a larger pot as it grows or plant the fig in the garden or yard. (As soon as I find my photos, I will add to the page!)

                                                     Coffee

                          

                                                        Fig

Drying Blueberries

I had a pound and a half of blueberries given to me the other day that were just begining to go bad. After removing a few bad ones, I still had almost the entire pound and a half. So now, what to do with them? I won't eat them fast enough right now to have them gone before they all go bad, I have enough things in the freezer and I don't have time right now to bake.

After a few minutes of thought, problem solved. I got one of my dehydrators out and dried them. They are so good this way, like candy. But I think that I may use them for baking later.

BTW.....this is what a pound and a half of blueberries condenses down to when dried.... sort of looks like a jar of allspice, doesn't it?

A Papaya Forest

In the Florida garden, we decided that we wanted a papaya tree, and as they are pretty fast growing, decided to begun from seed.

Now, knowing what the seed success ratio can be, we decided to just throw all of the seed that we pulled out of the fruit, into a small raised bed. We figured we'd get a handful to successfully start. What we got, was a forest of baby papaya.

So, now we are selecting, thining and giving away. It is amazing as to how many of those seeds took. I stopped counting!

A Simple Dessert

I had a picnic to go to today, and wanted to take something simple. I still had wild berries in the freezer from last year's harvest that needed to be used, a friend had a package of instant pudding mix, so I decided to make mini tarts.

The filling was a cheesecake instant pudding (I needed something quick) and I made the crust using an old fashioned lard pie crust recipe that I have. Making the small crust shells was easy......I used my Babycakes mini cupcake maker. Works great and gave me nice, lightly browned little shells.

The nice thing was, I had no leftovers to take back. They were all gone by the end of the day. (I had made about 30 or so....)

I will definitly whip some of these up again!

Berries Are on the Way

The wild berries are coming in. There are a lot of these bushes around the 1840's Farm, the family farm in the Finger Lakes region. My favorites are the whites, as they seem so much sweeter than the red/black berries. My favorite way to eat these is to just stand at the bushes and chow down. But I do throw some in the freezer and leave some for the birds and whoever else.

I also have a few cultivated raspberries growing as well, compliments of some little critter who was spreading some seeds!  However, they are much smaller at this point.

Heirlooms?

Garden Post Update

I just wanted to present an update on one of our advertiser's products: My Garden Post.

About a week ago, we ended up with tornado warnings one night and very high winds. Because the warnings came later at night, we were able to grab some smaller pots (that could possibly blow away) and pull them in, as well as a few of the younger, more delecate plants that could face severe damage, but we did not have time to tie the Garden Post to the large jasmine bush by the time the heavy rains began.

Next morning we went out, expecting the worst, however, the My Garden Post came through with flying colors! Yes, it did tip over as we expected and the pots did come off of the post. However, that said, neither the post nor the pots were in any way damaged. We just stood the post up, put the pots back on, returned the bit of dirt that came out of the pots, to the pots and all was right with the world! Even the plants survived pretty much unscathed despite their traumatic experience.

So, not only is the My Garden Post great for small spaces and fun to use, it is a well made product that can take a beating in unexpected, damaging weather conditions, then go right back to work.

Two Newest Books

Below are the two newest books of the Backyard Farming series. They may be purchased at any bookstore.

Pineapple Update

Well, we have the final piece for the pineapple that we have been watching.

It was harvested (and I forgot to take a picture....) and was so sweet. Now, the pineapple has finished one chapter and started a new one. The top is now going on to become a plant on it's own.

They're Coming

The wild grapes are begining to turn. They seem to be good sized this year. However I think the birds are beating me to them as alot of them disappeared while still green!