Dallas Fruit and Vegetable Grower

Eastern Screech Owl Baby

For about three weeks, we had not seen any trace of the owl that had taken up residence in our owl house.  I suspected that its eggs had hatched but had no evidence of it.

In the past when there were owlets in the house, they would often poke their heads out during the day or I could lure them out with my closest approximation to the call of an eastern screech owl.  However, this year, we had not seen a thing . . . until just this week.

This little guy popped out during the day, and we were able to take this shot.  Surprisingly, he is pretty mature.  He looks to be about three or four weeks old to me.  I cannot believe that we completely missed seeing him when he was younger with baby fuzz feathers.

I know this must be the baby, because the mother had reddish brown feathers as you can see from this older photograph from earlier in the year:

In the two previous years, we had twins in each year.  This year, it appears that only one owlet hatched and survived.  To see a photograph of last year's owlets taken at a much younger age, proceed to this link.

 

 

Putting Away the Hoop Houses

On March 20th, the last average freeze date in my part of Dallas, I decided it was time to put away our winter hoop houses.  Given how this spring has played out after the freezing weather in January, I was pretty confident that we would be avoiding any late spring frosts.

So far, so good.

I was pleased by how tightly all of the material could be packaged up.  We had 11 hoop houses, and I was able to group all of the material into 2 groups of pvc and one bundle of frost cloth for use next year.

 

Here is what the hoop houses had looked like when they were in service:

 

 

 

Bloom Report for March 27th

Things have been blooming like crazy during the last two weeks.   The photograph above is of a few of our blueberry blooms.  We have about sixty very immature blueberry bushes that are loaded with blooms.  It has been a very dry spring, so I have made sure that they are getting enough moisture through the driplines.  Assuming the birds don't get to them first, I am hoping that we get a good crop of blueberries this year. 

I planted three Goumi bushes this winter, and they also started to bloom last week.  I planted 2 Sweet Scarlet and 1 Red Gem from One Green World.  All three are blooming.  They have such small, unusual blossoms.

We have a lot of everbearing and june bearing strawberries in our front flowerbeds.  As I previously posted, the Eversweet were the first to bloom and form little green berries.  All of the other everbearing varieties seem to have started blooming this week as well: Seascape, Ozark Beauty, Quinault, Tristar, Ogallala.  Last year, we planted some june bearers, and they also are blooming:  Lateglow, Jewel, and Allstar.  This spring, we also plan on planting some Earliglow june bearers.

However, the first strawberry plants to start blooming for us were the musk strawberries - the Profumata di Tortona.  The photograph below is of a musk strawberry plant.

Our honeyberries also started blooming a few weeks ago.  We have several types of honeyberry - Kamchatka, Blue Velvet, and Blue Pacific - but I cannot tell one from the other.   These plants are two years old, but they have been slow growers for us.

We also have several hardy and fuzzy kiwi plants of several different varieties.  These plants have been in the ground for three years and have not produced blooms or fruit yet.  Kiwi have a reputation for taking approximately 7 years before they come into production.  The plants that I purchased looked like they might be 2 to 3 years old, so I am hoping that this may be my lucky year.  The female plants require a male polinator, and I think our male fuzzy kiwi is about to produce some blooms.  The following photographs are (1) of what I think is the male bloom bud on a fuzzy kiwi; (2) a bud on a hardy kiwi; and (3) of two fuzzy kiwi plants.

 

Finally, our grape vines have leafed out and are starting to form their little flower buds.  It is fascinating to think that these unusual looking flowers can actually turn into a cluster of grapes.

 

First Fruit of 2011

In this photograph, you can see some of our Seascape strawberries bordering a bed of our blueberries.  If you look very carefully, you can see them blooming.

Even better, this weekend, I noticed that our Eversweet strawberries were doing much more than just blooming, as can be seen in the following photograph.

 

Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to find our first ripe Eversweet strawberries of the year.  In fact, our first fruit of the year.

Also, our 4 in 1 pluot is covered with small, immature fruit; however, these will take another two months mature.

Our peach trees have also been filled with blooms this year as you can see from the following photograph.  If I can only protect them from the bugs, squirrels, and possums, we should hopefully have a banner harvest later this summer.  The second photograph is interesting in that you can see how the spent flower bud forms into an immature fruit.

 

In the past, our mulberry tree has been the first fruit to ripen.  The mulberry tree was here when we moved into our current house, so I am not entirely sure what kind of mulberry it is.  However, I am fairly certain that it is a morus rubra.  From the following two photographs, you can see the size of the tree along with a close-up of the immature fruit.  I would expect the fruit to begin ripening in about two weeks.  Then, the tree will be inundated with cedar waxwings who will remain until all of the fruit is devoured.  Our children enjoy the fruit, but I find it to be rather plain, albeit sweet.  I may try to make some preserves out of them and see how they turn out.  The fruit of morus rubra have a reputation for being "insipid"; a description which I would generally agree with, although it is somewhat unfairly harsh.  In contrast, morus nigra is reputed to have outstanding taste.  To test that reputation, I planted four bush type morus nigra - Black Persian Mulberries.

Bloom report for the week of March 21, 2011

Almost a week and a half has passed since my last bloom report, and a lot has happened in a short period of time.  As you can see from the photograph above, our Compact Stella Cherry has started to bloom.  There are not as many blossoms on the tree this year for some reason.  I am hoping that more blooms are going to open over the next several days; otherwise, I am going to need to investigate what changes could have resulted in fewer blooms.   This winter, we planted four Royal Lee and Minnie Royal trees from Bay Laurel Nursery.  Thsese tress went straight to leafing out without any blooms.  A photograph of the Compact Stella and one of the Royal Lees are set out below:

  Compact Stella beginning to bloom

 

Royal Lee transplant in 1st year

As with my cherries, my pear trees and asian pear trees did not produce very many blossoms this spring.  Rather, they primarily went straight into leafing out with only a few blossoms.  I do not think this was the result of overpruning, but I will do some research and speculating, and then I'll report back why I think this happened.  Nevertheless, my Magness pear has produced beautiful blooms.  Similarly, the few blooms on my asian pears, Hosui and Shinko, are also lovely.

 

Magness pear

 

Shinko asian pear

 

 Some of my apple trees started to bloom this past week.  Particularly, my Anna, Granny Smith, and Fuji have started to bloom.  The photograph below is from the Anna.

 

 

Here are some early buds on the Granny Smith:

My other apple varieties have not started to flower yet, including the: Gala, Braeburn, William's Pride, Wynooche Early, Spigold, Cox Orange Pippen, and Goldrush.  I do not expect the six new apple trees that I planted this winter to flower: Mutsu/Crispin, Esopus Spitzenberg, Newtown Pippin, Calville Blanc d'Hiver, Rubinette, and Ashmead's Kernel.

Orchard photographs from Edmonton, Canada

Take a moment to go to the following post to see some great photographs from an orchard in Edmonton, Canada - Orchard photos.

There are about 20 to 30 beautiful photos of this apple orchard in various seasons of the year.  There are also some very nice photographs of cedar waxwings, deer, and coyotes in the orchard.  Make sure you scroll all the way through the posting so you don't miss any of them.

Spring 2011 Issue of Edible Dallas & Fort Worth

The latest issue of Edible Dallas is available online here - Spring 2011.

Or you can view it from Edible Dallas & Fort Worth's website.

Farming for Good Paul Quinn College 8 Surviving Snowmageddon Rahr & Sons Brewing Company 16 Planting the Seed 30 Photos: Top to bottom: Danny Fulgencio, Richard Adams, Matthew Rainwater, Melissa Boon

CONTENTS 4 EDITOR’S LETTER 6 NOTABLE EDIBLES 8 FROM GRIDIRON TO GARDEN A Growing Interest in Farming at Paul Quinn College BY NANCY KRABILL 13 GARDENING BY THE SQUARE BY TERRI TAYLOR 16 RAHR & SONS: A BREWERY REVIVED BY STEVEN DOYLE 20 AT THE TABLE WITH JEFF & NICOLE WHITTINGTON BY JOSLYN TAYLOR 24 CONFESSIONS OF A FARM GIRL “Green Acres” Revisited BY PENNY RUEKBERG 29 EAT DRINK LOCAL GUIDE 30 FIRST YOU PLANT THE SEED BY ROBIN PLOTKIN 32 SEASONAL RECIPE COLLECTION 38 SOURCE GUIDE 40 CLOSING TIME   Cover Photo: Danny Fulgencio

Bloom Report for March 9, 2011

 

As of March 9, 2011, the majority  of our existing plums are in bloom.  This includes our: Santa Rosa, Bruce, Allred, and Morris (shown above).  Our AU Rosa and Toka are also starting to bloom.  However, the plums that I planted this Spring have not yet started to bloom:  Reine Claude Doree, Cambridge Gage, and Pearl. 

 

As I previously reported, our 4-in-1 pluot (Splash, Emerald Drop, Flavor Grenade, Geo Pride) was the first fruit tree to start blooming - around March 1st.  Our other hybrids are now starting to come in bloom, with my Cot-N-Candy aprium starting on March 4th .  Tri-lite peach plum, Cot-N-Candy aprium, Flavor Supreme pluot, Flavor Delight pluot are all now just starting to bloom.  The photograph above is of the Cot-N-Candy aprium.

 

Our Nanking Cherries started to bloom on March 5th.  These are young bushes, and you can see their blooms in the photograph above.  When these mature, they should put on quite a show, filled with blooms.

Our peaches are just starting to bud out.   Springold, Ranger, and Redhaven were the first to blossom starting around March 4th.  They still have not fully blossomed.  Ranger, Sentinel, and Jefferson are now starting to also bloom.   Seckle, Magness, Reliance, and Saturn look like they have a few more days before they start to bloom.

  

Our Redbuds also started blooming around March 4th, and our Star Magnolias were the first to bloom at the end of February.

March Gardening To Do List

This gardening to-do list is focused on zone 8, but it should also be somewhat germane for zones 7 and 9.  (The photo above is of a peach blossom)

Plant fruit trees and shrubs - bare-rooted plants should be planted by the end of  the first half of the month.  Potted plants can be planted the entire month.

Plant trees and shrubs that are potted.

Fruit trees can be pruned before the buds begin to bloom (wait until after fruiting for the fruit bushes)

You are running out of time to prune shade and ornamental trees.  Ideally, pruning should be completed before the trees and bushes start to leaf out.

Clear out dead foliage of last year's perennials such as turk's cap.  I do not cut back the bare stems of hydrangeas.

Spring flowering plants can be pruned after they finish blooming, e.g. carolina jessamine, wisteria, lady banksia roses, spirea, forsythia, flowering quince.

Continue vegetable seeds and transplant per the following schedule - Planting Schedule.  Finish cool season vegetable plantings.  You can begin planting warm season vegetables after the last frost date, which is approximately March 20th in Dallas.  Visit the following site for last frost dates - Interactive Map.  You will want to wait until the soil warms up further for some vegetables like sweet corn and peppers.

If you did not fertilize in February, fertilize lawn and beds with organic fertilizer. 

If you did not do so in February, add compost and topdress mulch.

After the last frost date, begin spraying fruit and vegetables with compost tea or Garrett Juice mixture.  I try to spray every other week with a backpack sprayer, but it is not necessary to spray this frequently.  (This year, I am going to experiment with a mixture including Garrett Juice, Seaweed extract, Bt additive (for caterpillers and pests), garlic juice (insects), and actinovate (prevent fireblight and other fungus) -- I'll report back as to how it does).

In the first part of March, spread diatomaceous earth around your strawberry plants to deter slugs and pill bugs.

You can continue to plant cold weather annuals - e.g. petunias, pansies, pinks, alyssum, etc.  After the last frost date, you can begin planting warm weather annuals.

Even after the average last frost date, keep an eye on the forecast for any unexpected late freezes.  Be prepared to water your tender, warm weather transplants before the frost hits.  Be prepared to cover those tender transplants with frost cloth or some other type of covering.

After the last frost date, begin sowing beneficial insects if you do not have an existing, abundant population.  Ladybugs, green lacewings, praying mantids, trichogramma wasps, beneficial nematodes, etc.

Prepare for the birds.  Get your Eastern Screech Owl and Barn Owl houses up.  Put out the goldfinch feeders with thistle.  At the end of March, get your hummingbird feeders out in case there are any early visitors.  Get your purple martin house up and ready for the scouts.

Cut back and trim groundcover in the first part of the month, if necessary.

Late March is a good time to put down sod.

Water as needed.  March is the rainy season, so only infrequent watering should be necessary.

** The Organic Manual, Howard Garrett (Tapestry Press 2002).

Average Last Freeze Dates in Texas and Dallas

Here is a link to a useful Interactive Map showing first and last frost dates for Texas.  If you "click" on "Plant Maps" at the top left, you can also find similar maps for other states as well.  These maps are great because you can drill down to great detail -- even to your street.

In addition to first and last frost dates, there are also maps for:

Interactive Drought Monitor Map
Interactive Map of Drought Conditions
Interactive Map of Heat Zones
Interactive Map of Ecoregions
Interactive Maps of Native Trees and Plants
Interactive Plantmaps Hardiness Zone Map

According to this map, for Dallas, the average last frost date varies even within the city with some neighborhoods having a last frost date from March 1st through March 10th; whereas, my neighborhood in North Dallas has a last frost date of March 10th to March 20th.

Remember that these are averages!!!  If you look at historical data for my zip code on Weather.com, you can see that my area has had a freeze as late as April 13th.