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Ooooh! I love it! I am growing some of the plants you have. Sadly, I can grow "tea oil" camellia, but not camellia sinensis. It is too cold up here.
Do you actually eat the fiddleheads? And what do you do w/ the witch hazel? Is it the native witch hazel?
It makes me feel really happy to see so many people planting things in their yards.
I have about 10-acres that produces fiddleheads. I pick about 52 pounds for our use. We eat 1 pound of fiddleheads each week all year-round. The rest I market.
The witch hazel I got from a nursery, two plants, I have not harvested from them yet. they are very slow growers.
We planted a garden last year, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. No luck at all. The eggplant plants just totally disappeared. The peppers and the tomatoes were stolen by squirrels. Every last fruit. All of our neighbors told us that they had the same problem with the squirrels this year. Thank goodness for farmers markets.
Growed tomatos,bell peppers and string beans.I gru and canned jalapenos,habeneros,and okra.Had alot of yellow squash.I planted 2 apple trees and 2 pear trees.I grow grapes and blue berries too.Im fixing to build more gardens for next year.
I live in a subdivision so any food I grow are just for fun and can not seriously replace my grocery shopping. But we have a lot of fun doing it. In addition to the regular greens in the spring, cukes, tomatoes, egg plants, peppers in the summer, I also plant herbs in containers. When my wife needs some herbs, she can just pick them fresh from the plants.
I also planted a few fruit trees but since I do not have a big back yard, I'll have to be selective as I am getting close to my "limit" dictated by my CFO. I like exotic fruits that are not easily available in local stores, several are Asian variety fruits like the Fuyu persimmon, Asian pears, and Asian date called "jujube". I also have the plum tree that's specifically bred to resist diseases for the SE high humidity.
I keep a lime tree in container and bring it in the house during winter because the citrus tree will freeze here in the winter. The little lime tree produces 30-40 limes a year if you "help" it to get pregnant in the winter. I am thinking of getting a green house this winter so I don't have to bring the tree in and I can "sneak" in a few more plants (my wife won't go out to the green house in winter).
We moved to town and have a much smaller lot than we did before, but I think we have more food production here than we did before. The previous owner had planted citrus, peach and plum, although he chose sour varieties of the peach and plum which he no doubt pickled. The tangerine never seems to stop giving and the grapefruit goes through stages of lots or none. The avocado tree seems to be on a strange schedule of every other year. We've added a lot more fruit trees and plants (technically a banana tree is a plant and I think papayas are, too).
We've also put in raised bed gardens and I've been amazed at how easy they are to plant and maintain. They produce a lot of vegetables for us and we've put them in the front yard and try to keep them nice and tidy so they are somewhat decorative. The watermelons did escape their raised garden planter, though, and ran across the front yard. The watermelon leaves sort of blended in with the grass and we had melons sort of sitting out in the front lawn area. Part of putting the food garden in the front yard is a statement that gardens are more important than lawn and to get more folks interested in gardening. I also see more folks in the neighborhood since I'm out in the front more often. It's been working well, there are several other folks in the neighborhood who are starting their own gardens.
Planting a fruit tree is a good thing to do. Some of them have pretty flowers followed by fruit, so they can be decorative as well as productive. Choose one which will grow well in your area and choose one which produces fruit that you like.
If you want fruit trees (usually, but not always, you have to plant two varieties to cross-pollinate) what will grow the best really depends on where you live. Contacting your local agricultural extension can give you a good idea of what is hardy in your area. Some local universities with agricultural programs have information like this online as well. Google is a great resource for this kind of thing.
Also consider what you want to do with the fruit. Do you want to dehydrate and can? Make jams? You might also consider berries and vines as well as fruit trees.
I have about 10-acres that produces fiddleheads. I pick about 52 pounds for our use. We eat 1 pound of fiddleheads each week all year-round. The rest I market.
The witch hazel I got from a nursery, two plants, I have not harvested from them yet. they are very slow growers.
I love fiddleheads and they're prolific here. I would use them more if it weren't such a pain to clean them of the bitter brown flake covering. Do you have a quick & easy way to clean such a big crop?
I love fiddleheads and they're prolific here. I would use them more if it weren't such a pain to clean them of the bitter brown flake covering. Do you have a quick & easy way to clean such a big crop?
If they are tight-rolled you can try winnowing; otherwise washing them [a swirl in a bucket of water should loosen and lift most of the husks away].
We planted a garden last year, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. No luck at all. The eggplant plants just totally disappeared. The peppers and the tomatoes were stolen by squirrels. Every last fruit. All of our neighbors told us that they had the same problem with the squirrels this year. Thank goodness for farmers markets.
Get a hava-hart trap and a barrel of water, you need to cull down the local squirrel population, if you don't have the heart to drown them then relocate them at least 5 miles away and over at least 1 river or large stream. I relocated 13 one summer after they started getting destructive.
Squirrels are very prolific, without natural predators to keep the population down they can really become a problem, there also good eating
I grow my own herbs , basil , chives , parsley . i also have a plant called toothache plant and it has numbing effects if it is chewed on . also for those of you that have trouble with squirrels get some chicken wire and cover those areas with chicken wire and hardware cloth . the plants will still grow and they will be protected . Good luck .
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