Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Food Growing Techniques’ Category

EDIBLE ORNAMENTALS: SHRUBS

Posted in Edible Landscaping, Food Growing Techniques, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

There’s no need to choose between a beautiful landscape and one that produces food for you and your family!  There are many options for fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, and even vegetables that are as ornamental as any traditionally grown for their appearance.  This year on phigblog I’m featuring a different all-star edible ornamental each month, starting with trees and working my way down to annuals.

Spectacular fall color of blueberry bushes in the landscape.

TOP FIVE ALL-STAR EDIBLE ORNAMENTAL BERRY BUSHES:

1. HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Blueberries are the poster child for a shrub that would be planted exclusively for its ornamental qualities if it weren’t already so well known for its fruit.  I imagine I needn’t say much about its edible qualities.  Some consider this nature’s perfect berry: delicious, easy to pick, no seeds, no spines.  Good fresh or in pies, preserves, or of course pancakes!  Along with apples and peaches, this is the fruit I get asked about planting most frequently.

Blueberries in bloom

But did you know that blueberries are also a stunningly beautiful plant in multiple seasons?  In spring, they’re covered with small urn-shaped flowers of white or pink that resemble the floral display of their landscape relative Japanese Pieris.  This is followed in summer by scores of attractive blue berries hanging among clean green or blue-green leaves.  Autumn is the most spectacular season for blueberries, with many varieties displaying bright crimson fall color rivaling that of Burning Bush.  Even winter holds interest, with new stems often transitioning to an attractive red hue.  It’s difficult to top this year-long combination of ornamental features even without considering the fruit.

Blueberries are native to the United States and relatively easy to grow.  They’re happy in sun or partial shade, although the more sun the more fruit.   Blueberries are partially self-fertile, but will produce more fruit if a second cultivar is planted for cross-pollination.  They’re largely pest and disease free, however netting is often necessary to protect the harvest from birds.  Some winter pruning of the oldest stems can help maximize fruit quality and quantity.  The primary limitation in growing blueberries is their requirement of very acidic soil, in the range of 4 to 5 pH.  Testing your soil in advance of planting is strongly recommended.  Soil pH can be lowered to the desired range by the addition of garden sulfur, peat moss, coffee grounds, pine needles, or other acidic materials.  Even after planting, it’s a good idea to keep adding these materials on an annual basis.  Blueberries are also well-adapted to container growing and this can be a good option where soils are very alkaline or to create a wonderful edible ornamental feature for a deck, patio, or rooftop garden.

Blueberries have something of interest in every season. . . including summer!

There are many varieties of Highbush Blueberries, generally ranging from 5 to 8 feet tall.  Cultivars differ somewhat in height, color of flowers, fall color, size of berries, and most significantly in time of harvest.  For the home gardener, it’s often nice to include blueberries of early, middle, and late seasons to extend the season from June through August.  Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) are the classic Maine blueberry, with smaller berries and a low spreading habit.  For those in warmer climes (zones 8 or 9), the southern Rabbiteye Blueberry (Vaccinium asheii) is the best choice.  Rabbiteyes reach 10 to 15 feet in height and often require cross-pollination for fruit set.

2. CLOVE CURRANT (Ribes odoratum)

Another multi-season charmer, the Clove or Buffalo Currant is a handsome berry bush native to the Midwestern states.  Tart like other currants, Clove Currants are also sweet enough for fresh eating and of course make great jams and jellies.  Although black in color, they lack most of the characteristic musty flavor of European black currant.  Although this may disappoint a few gourmands with this acquired taste, most palettes will greatly prefer the sweeter, tamer taste of the Clove Currant.

The wonderfully fragrant, bright yellow flowers of Clove Currant in spring!

Although the jewel-like fruit of red and white currants may outshine them during fruiting, Clove Currants are considerably more attractive plants the rest of the year.  The display starts in spring, when they are covered with sulfurous yellow, trumpet-like flowers with a remarkable clove-like fragrance (hence the name!).  The multi-lobed leaves stay a healthy bluish-green throughout summer and then transition to often beautiful shades of red wine in the fall.

Wine red fall color. . .

Clove currants are easy to grow, with few pest or disease problems.  They are fairly rugged in character and tolerate drought, heat, cold, and a range of soils.  The growth habit is also somewhat wild and irregular, growing generally 5 to 6 feet in size, making them an excellent shrub for a more informal, natural border.  Clove Currants have a tendency to sucker and tip layer, although this is easy to manage as they are not wildly aggressive.  The primary maintenance task is pruning to maximize production, which consists of either removing some of the oldest stems each winter or cutting the whole plant back every four or five years.  Clove currants aren’t as common as they should be in the landscape trade, but are available from specialist native and edible plant nurseries.

3. NANKING CHERRY (Prunus tomentosa)

Prolific bloom in early spring.

Cherry blossoms are certainly a reason to celebrate and the Nanking Cherry is no exception.  In spring, every stem and branch of this large multi-stemmed shrub is covered with pink buds that unfold to beautiful white flowers.  This stunning display is a true harbinger of spring, occurring before leaves have unfurled in early April.  The abundance of this floral showing is matched by an equal bounty of bright red fruit covering the entire plant in early summer.  The small cherry-like fruit is tasty and falls somewhere in between a sweet and tart cherry in flavor.  The great quantity of fruit not only makes a for a second season of beauty, but also ensures that they’ll be plenty for people as well as birds.  Although the downy matte-green leaves and fall color aren’t especially notable, Nanking Cherries do feature a third season of visual appeal.  Especially on older plants, winter interest is created by bronze-colored bark with prominent lenticels and a tendency to peel and curl like birch bark.

In addition to its tasty fruit and multiple seasons of interest, the Nanking Cherry features a rugged hardiness that makes it very easy to grow in many climates and conditions.  Native across much of Asia, it is very adaptable to both cold (zone 3) and drought and has few pest or disease problems compared to other stone fruits.  Nanking Cherry grows quickly as a multi-stemmed shrub, generally 6 to 10 feet in height and width.  Size, habit, fruit and flower color, and flavor can all vary from plant to plant.  Two seedlings are required for pollination and fruit set.  Occasional renewal pruning can increase fruiting, but otherwise Nanking Cherries require minimal care.

Heavy fruit set of the Nanking Cherry makes another spectacular display in early summer.

There are also other types of bush cherries to consider.  Similar in many ways to the Nanking is the Korean or Japanese Bush Cherry (Prunus japonica), which reaches 7 to 8 feet in height and is self-fertile.  For those with more limited space or extreme cold climates, the tart Mongolian Cherry (Prunus fruticosa) reaches only 3′ in height and is hardy to zone 2!  The great fruit breeder Elwyn Meader also developed the Dwarf Bush Cherry (Prunus japonica x jacquemontii), which has tasty sweet-tart fruit on a 3 to 4 foot shrub.  There are three cultivars of Dwarf Bush Cherry: ‘Jan’, ‘Joy’, and ‘Joel’ and two are required for pollination with ‘Joy’ being known as the best pollinator.  All bush cherries feature a fine floral display and prolific, attractive fruit set.

4. ELDERBERRY (Sambucus spp)

Even ignoring its edible qualities, I would rate certain varieties of eldeberry bushes as among the most ornamental of all plants!  In particular, I’m not sure there’s a more beautiful shrub of any kind than the ‘Black Lace’ European Elder (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’).  Like a cutleaf Japanese Maple, the Black Lace Elder features finely dissected, intensely purple leaves from spring through fall.  Add to that a showy display of star-like flower clusters in late summer, made more star-like by their contrast to the night-sky-colored leaves, and you have a truly stunning, sublime specimen plant!  There are other European Elder beauties to consider and planting two is recommended for best fruit production anyway.  ’Black Beauty’ has similarly purple leaves, although lacking the fine dissection, but with more intensely pink flowerheads.  ’Lacinata’ has the cutleaf quality but with green rather than purple leaves.  There are also multiple very attractive variegated forms, including ‘Pulverunlenta’, ‘Madonna’, ‘Marginata’, and ‘Aureomarginata’.  All European Elders are large shrubs, generally reaching up to 15 feet in height.

Black Lace elderberry. . . the most beautiful of all plants?!

But the fun doesn’t end there!  There is also the native American Elder (Sambucus canadensis), which flowers in early summer and is somewhat smaller in form (8-12 feet).  More breeding has been done for production rather than ornamentality, but there is a variegated variety ‘Aurea’ and a cutleaf variety ‘Lacinata’.  There is also the Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) from Eastern Europe, which is again somewhat smaller in stature but features attractive bright red clusters of fruit in late summer.  ’Sutherland Gold’ is a variety with handsome, deeply cut yellow foliage.  ’Golden Locks’ is a dwarf yellow variety and ‘Tenuifolia’ resembles a Japanese Maple in form.  Elderberries of all three species feature attractive flower clusters.

So why don’t Elderberries rate #1 on this list?  In general, they aren’t a fruit to eat fresh off the bush and according to some sources, can be poisonous if uncooked.  That said, they do have have considerable edible and medical qualities to recommend them.  The prolific berries do make fine jellies, pies, syrups and even wine!  Sometimes they are combined with other berries to dilute their strong flavor, but many do enjoy it on its own.  Elderberries are also well known as a medicinal, being very commonly used to treat cough, cold, and flu.  They function as an immune system booster and contain high levels of anti-oxidants.  What’s more, the fruit isn’t the only edible part of the Elderberry plant; the flowerheads are  even more tasty than the berries.  In Europe, elderflower-flavored beverages are quite common, but the flowers can also be eaten raw or even fried and consumed as delightful elderflower fritters!

The fruit of the Red Elder are especially attractive, but don't forget that the flowers can be eaten too!

The fruit of the Red Elder are especially attractive. . . but don’t forget that the flowers can be eaten too!

All varieties of elderberry are easy to grow and tolerant of partial shade and wet conditions.  Their habit is multi-stemmed and somewhat irregular, although a more uniform and upright habit can be encouraged via winter pruning.  American Elders tend to sucker and can form very wider thickets if unchecked.  Other than occasional maintenance pruning, very little is required in terms of care and elderberries suffer little from pests or disease.  Leaf burn can occasionally be a problem for some of the variegated and yellow-leaved forms.  Some of the ornamental varieties have become fairly commonly available in the landscape trade in recent years.  If you are more interested in fruit production than the specific ornamental qualities, many varieties selected for size and quantity of berries are available from specialist edible plant nurseries.

5. OREGON GRAPEHOLLY (Mahonia aquifolium)

Few beautiful landscapes are complete without some evergreen element. . . why should an edible landscape be any different?  Although there are relatively few options for food-producing evergreen plants, Grapeholly tops my list for the most ornamental.  While adding much needed green through winter, what makes Grapeholly so exceptional is its multiple seasons of interest.  The broad holly-like leaves emerge in spring with colors from bronze to almost chartreuse, followed by deep green in summer and maturing to purple tones in winter.  I’ve found that a few older leaves will also suddenly change to bright orange or red and that this can happen any time of year, creating a startling ornamental accent.  As if the leaves weren’t enough, Grapeholly also features a very early spring display of fragrant, sulfur-yellow flowers.  This is followed by bright blue, grape-looking fruit in summer.  Grapeholly berries are tart and not especially suited to fresh eating, but are commonly made into tasty jellies by folks in their native Northwest states.  The fruit is also much beloved by birds.

The bright blue berries of Grapeholly contrast multi-hued leaves in summer!

Oregon Grapeholly is very shade tolerant and quite cold hardy for a broadleaf evergreen (zones 5 to 8).  It does best with some protection from winter sun and wind and although fairly adaptable, does prefer well-drained and acidic soils.  Due to its somewhat irregular and often suckering growth habit, Grapeholly is probably better suited to naturalistic landscapes rather than formal ones.  It usually reaches 6 feet in height at maturity, but some forms are more compact and lower growing.  Closely related are Leatherleaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealei) and Japanese Mahonia (Mahonia japonica), which differ primarily in having larger, broader leaves that give them a striking and distinctly pre-historic appearance.  Their leaves retain their green hue rather than turning purple in winter and their flower display is even earlier (often February!).  All Mahonia berries are edible, although I haven’t seen a comparison of relative flavor.  At least on the East Coast, Leatherleaf and Japanese Mahonias are more common in the landscape trade, although Oregon Grapehollies can be found as well.

Unusual winter flowers, irregular habit, and wide green leaves give Mahonia a distinct pre-historic appearance. . .

There are a few other options for edible evergreen shrubs.  Did you know that the ubiquitously planted Barberries (Berberis) are edible and all the rage with certain high-end restaurants these days?  There are also many evergreen bamboo species that feature tasty edible young shoots, although as always be aware of their spreading nature when considering planting.  Folks in warmer climates have a much wider range of options to consider.  Here in zone 7 Philadelphia, we’re experimenting with Evergreen Huckleberries (Vaccinium ovatum), Tea (Camellia sinensis), Chilean Guavas (Myrtus ugni molinae), Pineapple Guavas (Feijoa sellowiana), and Olives (Olea europea), all of which are extremely attractive in addition to their food production.

What other shrubs almost made this list?  With a criteria of combined edibility and ornamentality, I  gave serious consideration to Saltspray Roses (Rosa rugosa), Flowering Quinces (Chaenomeles speciosa), and Chokeberries (Aronia spp).  I’ll be tackling edible ornamental perennials next and please also see my earlier blog article on edible ornamental trees. 

Read Full Post »

EDIBLE ORNAMENTALS: FRUIT TREES

Posted in Edible Landscaping, Food Growing Techniques, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

There’s no need to choose between a beautiful landscape and one that produces food for you and your family!  There are many options for fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, and even vegetables that are as ornamental as any traditionally grown for their appearance.  This year on phigblog I’m going to feature a different all-star edible ornamental each month, starting with trees and working my way down to annuals.

Fall foliage of juneberries range from yellow to orange to brick red.

TOP FIVE ALL-STAR EDIBLE ORNAMENTAL TREES:

Although all fruit trees are attractive in bloom and when loaded with ripe fruit, the following trees would stand out for their ornamental qualities even without regard for the delicious fruit they provide:

Juneberry in bloom.

1. JUNEBERRY (Amelanchier spp)

Also known as serviceberry, shadblow, and saskatoon, this native tree wins my top prize due to its multiple seasons of beauty.  In fact, juneberries are very common in the landscape trade (usually sold as serviceberries) because of their aesthetic qualities and general adaptability.  It is their excellent fruit that is more commonly overlooked.

There are multiple species with slight variations, but all share the same basic characteristics.   Juneberries start the spring off with a fine display of white flowers covering the tree in April before the leaves emerge.  This is followed by the berries, which mature from pink to dark purple in June (hence the preferred name).  The berries are generally fairly prolific and taste a lot like blueberries, with small seeds that add a hint of almond.  I find their flavor best when they’re transitioning from red to purple, before they’ve fully darkened.  They’re great for fresh eating and make excellent pies and preserves.  Birds also love them, so you may have some competition.  The fact that the fruit is small and also popular with birds (fruit rarely survives long enough to drop) makes Juneberries one of the few advisable fruits for street tree plantings.  June is a joyful time in my West Philly neighborhood for me and a few other Juneberry enthusiasts, as walking to the trolley stop always includes browsing on handfuls of delectable berries along the way.

Blueberry-like fruit!

Through the summer, the leaves of the juneberry retain a rich, bluish green hue.  These mature to a dependable and sometimes spectacular fall color, ranging from yellow to orange to brick red depending on species and cultivar.  The smooth grey bark is even a plus for winter interest.   The growth habit tends to be multi-stemmed and sometimes suckering, but juneberries can also be trained to a single trunk with consistent pruning.  Most commonly sold species and cultivars grow in the 15 to 25 foot range, but a few smaller shrub types (A. alnifolia, etc) only get 6 to 8 feet in height.  All are fairly adaptable to soil types and tolerant of part shade.

2. CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus mas)

Not in fact a true cherry, this outstanding edible ornamental is actually a member of the dogwood family.  Cornelian Cherry stands out for its remarkable early bloom, often covered with stunning yellow flowers in March or even February.  Blooming weeks before Forsythia, this harbinger of spring fortells a season of fruit as well as beauty!

Cornelian Cherry is the first bloom of spring!

The summer or early fall fruit resembles a tart cherry in flavor, although it does have its own distinctive taste component as well.  There are both red and yellow fruited varieties and the fruit itself is quite attractive on the tree.  Flavor often improves if left on the tree longer or left to ripen for a couple days off the tree.  Cornelian Cherry has been culvitated for thousands of years in Europe and the Caucasus.  In addition to fresh consumption, they have been dried, juiced, pickled, and otherwise processed into jellies, liqueurs, serbets, pies, syrups, and more.

Fruit resembles a tart cherry.

Cornelian Cherry is very easy to grow, having none of the pest or disease problems that effect true cherries.  They are adaptable to a variety of soils and will grow happily and even produce fruit in partial shade.  Trees can reach twenty or more feet in height, but can be kept smaller with some pruning.  The natural habit is multi-stemmed and upright, although it can be trained to a single trunk and will move towards a more spreading form with age or shade.  In addition to its spectacular bloom and colorful fruit, Cornelian Cherry features attractive dogwood-like foliage that sometimes turns a decent red in fall.  Even in winter, the flaky bark provides some interest.

3. Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

I first experienced the beauty of this old European fruit tree on a stroll through a botanic garden in Florence, Italy before my brother’s wedding.  It was spring and the tree was in bloom, the white flowers resembling those of an old-fashioned single rose.  This made enough of an impression, along with the tree’s relative obscurity and intriguing descriptions of its fruit, that I have since planted a Medlar in both my yard and my brother’s yard.

The Medlar flower resembles an old-fashioned rose!

The rose-like flowers are further enhanced by their contrast to dark green leaves, but the Medlar also has other attractive features.  Fall color can range from yellow to various shades of orange, red, and purple, usually with multiple colors on the tree and even on individual leaves at the same time.  The fruit itself is not particularly handsome but does turn a fair bronze color and will hang on the tree even after the leaves have fallen, creating late fall and winter interest.  In fact, for this reason Medlars are one of the best candidates for fruiting street trees (along with cherries and juneberries) as they are unlikely to make any mess.

Fall color and fruit that tastes like spiced apple sauce. . .

I must concede here that I have yet to taste the Medlar fruit, although I expect to have some from my tree to sample this fall.  Catalogs describe the flavor as that of spiced apple sauce with the texture of a baked apple when fully ripened.  The 1 to 2 inch spherical fruit are often harvested while still hard in late fall and then bletted (stored until they soften) for a couple weeks.  It is also possible to leave the fruit on the tree until it softens, although this can result in a somewhat drier texture.  Regardless, it is the soft sweet interior flesh that is eaten, not the outer skin or seeds.  Medlars can also be processed into jams, fruit leathers, and pies.  The former popularity of this now obscure fruit can be witnessed in frequent appearances Medieval European art and writings.

The Medlar is a small tree, generally reaching no more than 10 to 12 feet in height, with often picturesque habit.  The tree is easy to grow and long-lived, with few pest or disease problems and minimal need for annual pruning.  Medlars are also quite adaptable to shade, although as with any fruit the quantity of production is greater in full sun.  There are a handful of named cultivars that vary primarily in the size of the fruit and somewhat in growth habit and flavor.  Medlar trees can be ordered from various specialty nurseries (like raintreenursery.com or onegreenworld.com) as bareroots in the spring.  You are highly unlikely to find this old-fashioned, under-appreciated edible ornamental in the local nursery trade!

4. Paw Paw (Asimina triloba)

This remarkable fruit tree instantly adds a tropical feeling to your yard!  Although native from Texas up to New York and Nebraska, the Paw Paw is closely related to such tropical cousins the Custard Apple, Cherimoya, and Sweetsop.  The fruit itself is unique for its northerly environs, up to 6″ long and mango-like in form.   It  matures from green to yellow-brown in late summer and the ripe fruit is usually split down the middle and eaten with a spoon.  The soft flesh of the Paw Paw is reminiscent of banana custard, a real treat for a northern orchardist!  Although the fruit doesn’t have a long shelf life (the primary reason why most Americans aren’t familiar with this wonderful American fruit), it can also be made into pies or other baked goods.  Wild pawpaws can be somewhat variable in flavor and texture quality, but a lot of breeding work has been done in recent years and many improved named varieties are now available from specialist nurseries.

Some call it the ‘Banana of the North’!

The primary ornamental feature of the Paw Paw is its large, lush, drooping leaves that are so unusual for a plant native to northern woods.  The lance-shaped leaves can be a foot long and remain deep-green all summer before shifting to an often spectacular golden yellow in the fall.  The tree tends towards conical in form and usually will reach 15 to 20 feet in height.  Its natural habit is also to send up suckers from its root system, eventually resulting in a wide thicket if left to its devices.  The Paw Paw also has fascinating if not especially ornamental flowers in late spring.  The flowers can be two inches across and transition from green to a deep reddish purple, but because they hang downwards are not particularly noticeable except up close.  Paw paw flowers are also somewhat malodorous, as they are intended to attract certain beetles and carrion flies rather than the bees that pollinate most fruit trees.  Because these unusual pollinators aren’t always common, hand-pollinating from one tree to another with a paintbrush can greatly boost fruit set.

Large tropical leaves transition to golden yellow fall color. . .

Paw paws are generally very easy to grow and have little or no pest or disease problems of note.  They also require little in the way of annual pruning other than cutting back suckers if a more tidy form is desired.  What’s more, they almost entirely deer proof!  In the wild, pawpaws are generally found as understory trees in woodland riverbottoms.  They do like some shade while young and will successfully fruit in shade, but as with most fruiting plants they are most productive in full sun.  They also prefer rich moist soils, but are actually much more adaptable to a wide range of conditions than many assume.  Pawpaws are also taprooted, so don’t transplant well and generally need to be planted as small container plants.  Two different varieties are required for pollination.

5.  ASIAN PEAR (Pyrus pyrifolia, ussuriensis, and x bretschneideri)

Asian Pear espalier in spring.

Asian Pears have a wide range of seasonal attributes that make them one of the most beautiful of fruit trees.  In spring they are covered with large clusters of attractive white flowers.  The leaves unfold to a deep glossy green, wider and larger than those of European Pears.  In summer, the large round fruit add additional interest, ranging from russet brown to yellow in coloration.  Asian Pears can be stunning in fall, with leaves maturing to a wide range of colors from yellow to orange to red to purple, sometimes all on the same tree.  Even winter can be a season of interest, with older trees displaying picturesque form.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the fruit of an Asian Pear is a delightful and surprising combination of crunchy and juicy.  Unlike European Pears, the fruit ripens on the tree.  Because they retain their firmness when ripe, the primary means of determining maturity are coloration and smell.  There are hundreds of named varieties of Asian Pears originating primarily from Japan and China, varying in size, color, and flavor.  Two varieties in close proximity are required for successful fruiting (consult a pollination chart for compatibility), although one variety ‘Shinseiki’ is partially self-fertile.  There are several possible rootstock types for Asian Pears ranging from standard (30′ tall) to semi-dwarf (15′) to dwarf (8′).   Asian Pears are very long lived (decades if not centuries) and can produce hundreds of pounds of fruit when mature.

Fruit in contrast to dark green leaves.

In my experience with the Philadelphia Orchard Project, I’ve found Asian Pears to be the easiest to grow of the common fruit trees.    They seem to suffer little in terms of pest and disease problems, especially in comparison to apples and peaches.  Fireblight can be a serious problem for Asian Pears and needs to be pruned out at the first sign of infection.  There are also a few fireblight resistant cultivars, including ‘Shinko’, ‘Seuri’, and ‘Korean Giant’.  As with all the common fruit trees, annual winter pruning is necessary to create and maintain the healthiest and most productive trees.  Training branches to more horizontal forms from their natural vertical habit is also strongly recommended.

NOTE: Although these five fruit trees made my top edible ornamentals list, I would like to re-emphasize that most fruit trees have attractive qualities.  The stone fruits (peaches, plums, cherries, and apricots) are all stunning during spring bloom.  Pome fruits (apples, pears, and quinces) all have attractive flowers and handsome fruit.  Their obscure relative the Shipova also has wonderful downy grey-green leaves.  Hawthorns and crab apples are commonly planted as ornamentals and if their fruit quality was a little greater, they may have pushed into my top five with their multiple seasons of beauty.  Persimmons have lovely glossy green leaves, stunning orange fruit, and interesting bark in winter.  Anyone interested in reading about these and edible landscaping in general should read the works of Lee Reich (Landscaping with Fruit, Grow Fruit Naturally, Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden).

Spectacular fall colors of an Asian Pear highlighted by an early frost. 

 

Read Full Post »

MAKING MASON BEE HOMES

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, Philadelphia Food Growing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

It’s both fun and easy to make nesting blocks for mason bees, a highly useful pollinator for orchards and gardens.  Although they don’t produce honey, there are several advantages to keeping mason bees.  They are gentle, with stings no stronger than a mosquito bite.  They are very efficient pollinators; only a few hundred are needed per acre to pollinate an orchard.  Mason bees are remarkably easy to keep, having few pest or disease problems and minimal management needs.  Last, they are very industrious and fun to observe in action.

Mason bees are fuzzy and fun to watch. . .

DESCRIPTION

Mason bees are one of many types of small solitary bee species that aid greatly in pollination.  There are two primary species of mason bees used for pollination: the native blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) and the hornfaced bee (Osmia corniforns) from Japan.  Unlike honeybees, mason bees don’t live in hives with queens and workers.  Each female bee mates and makes her own nest of mud, stores pollen and nectar, and lays her eggs.  Although they don’t live in colonies, they do prefer to nest close to other mason bees.

A native blue orchard bee at work.

Mason bees are only active for four to six weeks in the spring, making them ideal pollinators for orchards.  Unlike honeybees, male mason bees also contribute to pollination.  In Japan, hornfaced bees have been used in commercial orchards for over sixty years and are rapidly replacing honey bees for this task.  After their busy spring season, mason bees spend the rest of the year in their nests, first as larvae and then as dormant adults through the winter.

BUILDING MASON BEE HOMES

In nature, mason bees mostly nest in hollow reeds, bamboo, and holes made by other insects in wood.  Making homes for them only requires mimicking these conditions.  Research has shown that holes 5/16″ wide and 4 to 10 inches deep are ideal, although some variance from this will work to a lesser degree.  Mason bee homes can be made in a number of different styles with varying degrees of involvement and management required.

Nesting blocks painted with yellow and blue help bees to find their way home.

ATTRACTING NATIVE BEES

Wild mason bees and other native pollinators are everywhere.  Bringing wild mason bees into your landscape can be as simple as drilling holes in existing stumps, logs, or posts.  In the case of urban areas not close to a sufficiently “natural” landscape, it might be necessary to put out drilled blocks in such an area and then bring the nested blocks back to your own landscape the following year.

CONSTRUCTING NESTING BLOCKS

Managing mason bees more actively and effectively is also quite easy.  There are many suppliers of pre-made nesting blocks and tubes, but making your own is cheap, simple, and fun for all ages.  Here’s a how-to video from a teenager and one from an elderly man.  You can basically use any piece of scrap wood of at least 4″ thickness, avoiding pressure treated or aromatic woods like cedar.  Lay out a series of holes approximately 1″ apart on a side that will allow for holes at least 4″ deep.  If you don’t intend to use liners (see below), drill the holes with a 5/16″ bit and avoid drilling all the way through the wood.  If the blocks are to be put in an exposed location, you will want to add a piece of shingle or other material as a roof to protect from rain.

Making a nesting block is as easy as drilling holes in a piece of scrap wood. . .

BLOCKS WITH PAPER LINERS

The use of paper liners in the holes allows the mason beekeeper to more effectively control pests and diseases.  Slight modifications are required for this style of nesting block.  To accommodate the liners, it’s necessary to drill the holes slightly wider, with a 3/8″ bit, and drill all the way through the wood.  Paper or cardboard liners are commercially available, but again it’s cheap and easy to make your own.  Cooking parchment works best, although wax paper may also work.  You’ll need a rolling rod at least a couple inches longer than the holes of your block.  A 1/4″ metal rod or dowel works fine.  The parchment should be cut in to sections 4 to 5 inches wide and about 3/4″ longer than the holes.  Tightly roll a section on to the rolling rod and then push it into one of the holes. When you release the parchment, it should unroll and expand to fill the hole.  Repeat with all the holes, lining up the ends of the liners flush with one edge of the bock and sticking out on the other side.  Bend these exposed ends down with a sharp crease (they’ll be used to remove the liners from the block at the end of the season).  Seal the block end with duct tape or plywood cut to size and nailed into place.

After the paper liners have been inserted and tabs folded up, the final step will be sealing the back with duct tape.

SETTING OUT YOUR NESTING BLOCKS

Early spring is the time to set out your bee blocks.  Mason bees begin to emerge at around the same time as crocuses and forsythias bloom.  Nesting blocks need to stay dry, so they are best placed under eaves, decks, or other protected spots.  Where there are no convenient structures, bee shelters can be created using garbage cans, dog houses, or any other item that will give some weather protection.  Bee blocks should always face south or east, receiving some morning or early afternoon sun, and be placed so that the holes are horizontal.  Mason bees also require a source of clay or mud to build their nests.  Dig a small pit around a foot deep and make sure it’s open and accessible throughout the active season.

South facing bee shelter.

STORING YOUR MASON BEES

In late spring the adult bees begin to slow down and die off.  Although you can leave the blocks out year round, you’ll have much better survival rate if you move them inside as soon as the active season is over.  They should be kept in a dry, protected space; a basement or unheated outbuilding work well.  Temperatures should ideally stay between 50 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit through November.  Some colder temperatures (but not much below freezing) are required over the winter in order to break dormancy in the Spring.  With paper liners, the bees can be removed and put in the fridge in a box with a moist sponge or towel to maintain humidity.

Removing dormant bees from their paper liners for inspection and storage.

PESTS & PROBLEM SOLVING

The primary pest that affects mason bees is a tiny parasitic wasp (Monodontomerus obscurus).  The wasps begin to attack mason bee nests just as the active season is ending, so it’s important to remove your nesting materials promptly in late May to minimize damage.  It’s also a good idea to change to new nesting blocks or tubes every couple years and either sanitize or destroy the old materials.  This is easy with paper liners: simply remove the dormant bees each winter, give them a 1% bleach bath, let them dry overnight, and then store them in a box in the fridge until spring.  In blocks where the bees can’t easily be removed, place them out in the spring in garbage bags with a small hole to fly out.  The bag will confuse the bees when they return and they’ll choose to nest in the new blocks you set out instead.

Dormant bees are set out to dry after their bath. . .

Birds can sometimes cause problems for mason bees.  You can protect the nesting boxes by covering with chicken wire  with holes at least 2″ wide.  Bird-scaring tape can also help.  If necessary, bees in storage can be protected from mice and other pests by storing in a garbage can, although some holes for ventilation are required.

MORE INFO

Here’s an online resource with very detailed information about keeping blue orchard bees, but I prefer this more concise description for hornfaced bees.  If my description was confusing, here’s some more details about homemade paper liners.  To purchase dormant bees and commercially made nesting materials, check out www.beediverse.com or www.pollinatorparadise.com.  In southeast Pennsylvania, the Back Yard Fruit Growers sell empty tubes and dormant bees at their events.  Thanks to Darren Gordon for sharing his time and knowledge about keeping mason bees.  Happy pollinating!

A bundle of commercial mason bee tubes.

Read Full Post »

FRESH FIGS FOR COLD CLIMATES

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, Philadelphia Food Growing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2009 | 4 Comments »

So I can’t very well have a blog called PHIG without writing about growing figs in Philly. . .

One of the wonder’s of Philadelphia’s fine fruit-growing climate is that we can grow certain subtropicals like the fig.  South Philly is full of decades old fig trees brought over by immigrants from Italy and other Mediterranean countries.  These trees were probably coddled in their youth, wrapped every winter as fig-growers still do in Brooklyn and other northly regions.  South Philly’s figs now grow unprotected, often untended, and fill entire back yards with little attention.  Our climate has actually become more suitable for figs in recent years as a result of the urban heat island effect and the onset of global warming.

Figs in a South Philly front yard.

Figs in a South Philly front yard.

Figs are a great crop for Philly for several reasons: taste, productivity, and ease of care.  Many of you have probably enjoyed dried figs, but few have had the pleasure of fresh, ripe fig.  Most of the folks I’ve planted figs with in my work the Philadelphia Orchard Project (www.phillyorchards.org) have come no closer than a Fig Newton.  A fresh fig of good variety is a truly sublime fruit, bursting with flavor and texture.  People always point to the difference between a garden tomato and a store-bought one as a reason to grow your own vegetables.  I would posit an equivalent contrast between the experience of a fresh fig and a dried one.

Fresh figs are juicy, flavorful, sublime.

Another reason to grow figs is their relative ease of care.  Apples, pears, cherries, peaches and all the common tree fruits suffer from a wide variety of pest and disease problems.  Figs are generally problem free and require relatively little in the way of pruning, watering, fertilizing, or other maintenance.  In a good year, a single mature fig tree can produce 40 lbs of fruit!  Figs are also beautiful plants: their large lobed leaves create a lush Mediterranean feel.

FIGS FOR PHILLY

There are over a thousand species of figs (many Ficus are quite common as houseplants), but only two are grown for their edible fruit: Ficus carica and Ficus sycamorus.  Three types of Ficus carica are grown in the United States.  Smyrna Figs are the most commonly available, grown commercially in California but not at all adapted to colder climes.  The San Pedro Fig can be grown in the north, but requires pollination and generally also necessitates container growing.  The Common Fig is both self-fertile and the best adapted to growing in Philly and other cold climes.  There are dozens if not hundreds of named varieties of Common Figs, varying greatly in taste, color, and growth habit.  The varieties that do best in the north are generally very vigorous growers that can survive some winter damage or pruning and still produce the next season.  Bassem Samaan (www.treesofjoy.com), a fig collector and grower from Bethlehem PA, recommends the following varieties for the Northeast: Hardy Chicago, Celeste, Dark Portuguese, LSU Gold and Brooklyn White.  Brown Turkey is the most commonly planted hardy fig, but in general its taste is considered somewhat inferior.

Figs come in many colors, shapes, and sizes- even striped!

Figs come in many colors, shapes, and sizes- even striped!

BASICS OF FIG CARE

Figs need full sun (6+ hours) for good fruit production.  Once established, they are pretty drought tolerant and require little additional watering except during prolonged droughts.  Figs also require minimal fertilizing, although a little compost in the spring can be helpful.  Figs produce their main crop in late summer and fall.  Brushing the fruit with olive oil apparently can hasten the ripening process.  If you successfully overwinter branches of the common fig (Ficus carica), they can also produce a smaller ‘breba’ crop in early summer.  Although birds, insects, and diseases are generally not a concern, squirrels can be sometimes be a competitor for the fruit.

Protection from winter cold is the primary issue in fig care for Philly and other northerly climes.  With proper attention, figs have been successfully grown outdoors in Chicago and Boston.  I’ve also seen them thriving in unheated greenhouses at 7200′ above sea level in Colorado.  There are four primary strategies for overwintering figs in our climate: microclimates, mulching, wrapping, and container growing.

MICROCLIMATES:

The easiest way to overwinter figs in cold climes is to take advantage of microclimates.  In brief, microclimates are small changes in temperature created by features of the local landscape.  These can occur on scales ranging from a city to a small corner of a yard.  Although Philadelphia is officially in climate zone 6b, the urban heat island effect (all the pavement and brick absorb heat and keep the city several degrees warmer than surrounding areas) results in much of the city being zone 7 in actual practice.  This large microclimate means that other measures may not be necessary to protect figs in the more central and southerly parts of the city.  That said, better safe than sorry, especially in the case of young figs!  In terms of smaller scale microclimates, the best strategy is to plant your fig next to a south-facing wall, which will absorb sunlight during the day and re-radiate the stored heat at night.  A site protected from wind can also make a difference (it’s often wind-chill factor that can take our climate from fig-friendly to one  resulting in winter dieback).  With the right combination of microclimate features, it should even be possible to grow pomegranates (zone 8) in Philly.

A south facing wall is the best spot for a fig.

A south facing wall is the best spot for a fig.

MULCHING

There are several techniques for protecting figs with mulching.  The simplest is just to put down a heavy layer of mulch (fallen leaves, salt hay, wood mulch) around the base of the fig tree to protect the roots.  Temperatures below 15 degrees will likely winterkill the branches, but the fig will happily regrow from its roots and often fruit in the same year.  The proprietors of Russell Gardens (www.russellwholesale.com) in Southampton PA, about an hour north of Philly, have been using this technique successfully for many years.  Mulching can also be used to protect branches.  On a young tree the branches can simply be bent to the ground, pinned, and then mulched.  On older trees, you can prune out the oldest, stiffest branches and bend the rest to the ground.  You can also sever the roots on one side of the tree with a shovel and then bend the whole tree over to the ground on the over side.  Mulching your figs does come with one caveat: rodent damage has sometimes been reported.

WRAPPING

What they do in Brooklyn, Queens, West Philadelphia, Chicago too. . . Many folks from Italian neighborhoods in South Philly and elsewhere will remember the sight of fig trees wrapped in the winter.  It’s no longer necessary in many of these neighborhoods (see microclimates above), but still can be a useful technique for less central, more exposed sites, especially with young trees.  There are many successful approaches to wrapping.  The easiest and best strategy is to trim the fig to somewhere under 6′, tie all the branches together, and then wrap with an old carpet and a tarp.  I’ve also seen folks use a large tomato cage wrapped with a tarp or burlap and then filled with fallen leaves.  Avoid plastic if possible as it can hold moisture that creates mold and potentially damage the tree.  Wrapping is generally done when cold arrives in November and removed when it warms in March.

Large fig cozily wrapped for winter.

Large fig cozily wrapped for winter.

CONTAINER GROWING

Figs are a great container plant.   As is generally the case, growing in containers requires a little more watering and other care than growing in ground.  Figs are best grown in large 15 to 20 gallon containers, although it is certainly possible to have success in smaller ones.  Once they have grown out to fill their container, you will need to repot and root prune every third year or so.  This is best accomplished in late winter or early spring before growth has begun.  Winter protection is as easy as moving the containers into a cellar or unheated garage after their leaves have dropped in fall.  Temperatures in the storage area should not go below 25 degrees Fahrenheit.  While they are dormant, the figs will need minimal watering, only every 3 weeks or so.  Bring the figs back outdoors in the spring after the threat of frigid weather has passed.  Container growing allows folks to grow figs on patios, decks, rooftops, and safely in places with contaminated soil!

Container grown fig on our porch in West Philly.

Container grown fig on our porch in West Philly.

For more info about South Philly figs, check out this awesome article about Giovanni, “The Man Behind the Figs“.

Read Full Post »

BREAKING OUT IN HIVES: Urban Beekeeping in Philly

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, GRID articles, Philadelphia Food Growing, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2009 | 4 Comments »

This article was co-written by Micah Woodcock and appeared in the August 2009 issue of GRID, Philadelphia’s new urban sustainability magazine.

Backyard beekeeping in Germantown.

Backyard beekeeping in Germantown.

“Bee, bee, bee. . . bee!” 18 month old Isaac recently learned the word and seemed to have forgotten all others.   With his jungle gym located next to his father’s hives in a large Germantown backyard, Isaac showed a fanatic fascination and no fear as we opened the hives for a look.  Philly is in fact full of young bee-obsessed beekeepers.  Our recent urban beekeeping survey and tour revealed that the majority of Philly’s two dozen or so beekeepers started within the last five years.   Their attitudes, knowledge and beekeeping set ups are as diverse as the city itself.

In many ways, honey bees are the perfect urban livestock.  They can be kept in small spaces- even on rooftops.  They are quiet and unaggressive (most “bee” stings are actually perpetrated by bumblebees and hornets).  They require relatively minimal time and financial investment: an average of four hours a month and a few hundred dollars to get started.  Above all, they produce wonderful, abundant honey, which is a much healthier sweetener than the highly refined sugar products now ubiquitous in processed food and on grocery store shelves.  Eating unfiltered, raw honey from your immediate locale is also widely thought to help with seasonal allergies.  Furthermore, when stored in air-tight containers, honey has a shelf life of a few thousand years.  Because of the preponderance of male trees and other common city plantings, urban honey is generally considered to be of high quality.  Beekeepers at Mill Creek and Greensgrow Farms will tell you that their home grown honey often sells out within weeks of harvesting.  With the adaptability of beekeeping, Philadelphia could easily fulfill all of its own demand for honey.

Rooftop beekeeping in Center City.

Rooftop beekeeping in Center City.

Honey bees provide other useful products as well.  The wax used for comb construction can be harvested along with the honey and has countless uses ranging from candlemaking and cosmetics to batik and moustache wax.  After the honey is harvested from the comb it can be placed in a nylon stocking or fine mesh bag, and boiled very briefly to remove impurities, such as dirt and larval casings. The impurities remain in the stocking, which can then be removed, and the wax solidifies on top of the water as it cools. The wax can be melted again and poured into molds to make candles, or combined with other ingredients to make soap.  Having a surplus of honey around can also provide an easy avenue into the art of home-brewing; honey wine (a.k.a. mead) is a very simple and delicious alcoholic beverage easily tackled by folks new to the craft.  Propolis, an anti-microbial substance the bees use to seal and sterilize their hives, has a long history of being used medicinally in the treatment of colds, flu, sore throats, and aching teeth.

Bookcase observation hive inside an apartment.

Observation hive inside an apartment.

Many beekeepers also profess its therapeutic value as a hobby.  This seems to result from the calm both required and induced by working with a living hive.  Honey bees are a social insect whose complicated collective behavior belies the relatively simple biology of a single bee.  Because the queen bee is in most cases singularly responsible for reproduction, one may almost regard a bee colony as a single organism whose many distinct bodies perform highly specialized tasks for the good of the whole.  Worker bees perform a wide variety of roles at different phases of their 8 week lifespan: cell cleaning, larvae nursing, drone and queen feeding, wax production, honeycomb building, pollen packing, propilizing, mortuary service, temperature regulation, water carrying, guarding, soldiering, and foraging.  This division of labor is unlike any other outside of Homo sapiens and results in the peculiar fascination they hold for us.  Who can resist a glimpse into this society in miniature that a glassed-walled observation hive provides?

Bees are also essential pollinators for gardens, farms, and orchards.  Other than wind-pollinated corn, the vast majority of our vegetable, fruit, and nut crops are highly dependent on bees for pollination.  The commercial beekeeping industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that actually makes the vast majority of its money from pollination services rather than honey.  Commercial beekeepers truck their hives across the country following crop pollination seasons, often traveling from New York to Texas to California in a single year.  In recent years, these “rental” hives have been devastated by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon in which a hive’s worker bees suddenly disappear en masse.  While there is still no clear consensus as to the ultimate cause of CCD, most of the suspected factors relate to the stresses of migratory commercial beekeeping: exposure to pesticides, transmission of insect diseases and varroa mites,  and malnutrition resulting from monocultural food sources.  Whatever the cause, home scale beekeepers have been almost entirely unaffected and there have been no reports of CCD within the Philadelphia beekeeping community.   Considering the vital role bees play in pollination, relocalization of beekeeping may be vital to the future of our food production.

HOW TO JOIN PHILLY’S BEEKEEPING REVOLUTION:

Colorful signage at Mill Creek Farm in West Philly.

Bees at West Philly's Mill Creek Farm.

1.  Find a location.  Philadelphians are currently beekeeping in backyards; on rooftops; and at community gardens, urban farms, public gardens, and schools.   In the case of a backyard or roof, there are a couple strategies to employ if you’re worried about what your neighbors will think.  It’s not too difficult to hide a hive; bees are quiet and often do their foraging up to two miles from their home.  Folks in NYC have even disguised their rooftop hives by painting them to look like chimneys!  The other option is to get your neighbors on board by sharing the honey harvest and allaying their fears about stinging.

2. Find a mentor.  Although a lot can be learned from books, beekeeping is a skill that’s best developed with guidance from an experienced teacher.  If you don’t happen to know any beekeepers, you can connect by taking classes or attending meetings of Beekeeping Associations.  Last year, the Philadelphia Beekeeper’s Guild (www.phillybeekeepers.org) was founded and now boasts dozens of members and well-attended monthly meetings featuring prominent guest speakers expounding on a wide variety of beekeeping subjects.  Neighboring Montgomery County (www.montgomerycountybeekeepers.com) and Chester County (www.chescobees.org) both have long-established groups.

3.  Acquire equipment, supplies, and bees.  To build the most common Langstroth style hive, you will need:
●6-8 hive bodies or supers (stacked boxes that contain the hive)
●9-10 frames per hive body (rectangles of wood that hold the honeycomb)
●Wax foundations (pre-made hexagonal framework to get the bees started)
●Bottom board and outer cover (to protect the hive from the elements)

Micah's rustic top bar hive.

Micah's rustic top bar hive.

All this can be mail ordered from vendors like the Walter T. Kelley Company (www.kelleybees.com) or acquired from local beekeeping groups for around $250.  Assembling your hive will take several days of work.  Alternatively, a more rustic top bar hive (an older form still commonly used in the tropics) can be built for as little as $7.

To get into your hives, you will want to spend another $50 or so on the following supplies:
●Smoker (burns leaves or pine needles to mask alarm pheromones and suppress stinging)
●Hive tool (a useful implement for opening hive bodies and moving frames)
●Bee veil (a mosquito net works just fine to protect the face)

A starter colony of bees including a queen will cost around $100.

4.  Inspect your hive regularly.  After lightly smoking the entrance, open the hive and closely examine each frame for the following:
● Adequate room for the rearing of brood and the storage of food (nectar, pollen, honey) as the season progresses and the hive increases in size.  Add frames and hive bodies as necessary.
● Enough nectar and pollen coming into the hive throughout the season and going into winter.   It is sometimes necessary to supplement their food supply with sugar.
● Health of the laying queen and signs of hive diseases or pests that may require intervention on the part of the beekeeper.
● Signs that the hive may be preparing to swarm.  Bees instinctively like to swarm- it’s how they perpetuate the species.  If not pre-empted by the keeper, a large number of bees will leave with the queen to start a new hive.
A hive inspection typically takes 15-30 minutes and should be conducted weekly during the spring when risk of swarming is highest.  This is of particular importance in the city.  As much as everyone loves bees (even if they don’t know it yet), having a swarm of thousands hanging from a telephone pole in front of your house might make some people a bit nervous.  As the season progresses inspections need not happen as frequently.

Examining a healthy bee frame.

Examining a healthy bee frame.

5.  Extract your honey and beeswax.   The simplest method of harvesting honey from the hive is to cut out sections of comb and eat it!  If you want liquid honey, you can cut out the comb, crush it, and strain it to separate the wax from the honey.  The most common means of harvesting honey, both commercially and by hobbyist beekeepers, is an electric or hand crank extractor.  A thin layer of beeswax cappings is cut from the surface of a full frame and then multiple frames are placed in the extractor, which is spun rapidly to remove the honey. This method allows the beekeeper to harvest honey without crushing the comb, which can be made into other products  or returned to the hive for re-use by the bees.  Extraction is often done twice a year and usually involves a full day’s work.  An extractor typically costs from $350 to $800, but can often be shared or borrowed from beekeeping groups.

RECOMMENDED READING: The Backyard Beekeeper, Kim Flottum and Natural Beekeeping, Ross Conrad.

MORE INFO: www.beesource.com, www.bushfarms.com, www.biobees.com, www.anarchyapiaries.org

Read Full Post »

BUZZ ON: Attracting Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, GRID articles, tagged , , , , , , , on June 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »

This article appeared in the June/July 2009 issue of GRID, Philadelphia’s new magazine about urban sustainability.

When most people think of insects, they think of mosquitoes that bite, bees that sting, and a host of annoying bugs that munch leaves and plants.  Truth is, there are vastly more beneficial insects than pests in the garden.  In fact, we’d all quickly starve without the pollination they provide for nearly all of our food crops.  Insects are indeed essential to a healthy garden ecology.

Ladybug larvae with its aphid dinner!

Ladybug larvae with its aphid dinner!

Problems with pest insects generally result from a lack of ecological balance.  A healthy garden may have some aphids and other pests, but it will also have a wide variety of predatory and parasitic insects to keep their populations under control.  Attracting these beneficial insects to your garden is the easiest and safest way to keep pest damage to a minimum.

So who are some of these garden allies?
LACEWINGS: One of the best predatory insects, these little guys flutter around the garden on delicate green wings at dusk.  Their larvae are known as ‘aphid lions’, but lacewings also attack thrips, caterpillars, mites, and more!  COMPANION PLANTS: Dill, goldenrod, dandelions.

LADYBUGS: There’s a reason these spotted beetles are considered lucky, as their presence helps protect your garden from bothersome pests.  Their larvae look like tiny alligators and voraciously consume aphids, mealy bugs, scales, and spider mites.  COMPANION PLANTS: Yarrow, sunflowers, mint.

BRACONID WASPS: These tiny wasps don’t sting, but gruesomely parasitize everything from gypsy moths to cabbageworms to cornborers.  After laying eggs inside their prey, their young eat their victims alive from the inside out.  How’s that for revenge against your enemies?  COMPANION PLANTS: Fennel, coriander, queen anne’s lace.

Mason bees provide essential pollination services.

Mason bees provide essential pollination services.

MASON BEES: Just one of many types of native bees that are essential for pollination of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.  Unlike honey bees, they are solitary and don’t form hives- they also don’t sting!  Making a mason bee home is a fun project for kids and is great for the garden.  COMPANION PLANTS: Clover, hyssop, beebalm.

DADDY LONG LEGS: Eight legs good!  Like the spiders they are closely related to, these useful fellows feed almost exclusively on all kinds of insects.  COMPANION PLANTS: Comfrey, yarrow, nettle.

How do I attract and keep them in my garden?
1.  Avoid spraying chemicals.  Insecticides are generally indiscriminate, killing good and bad bugs alike.  In the long run this will only make your problems worse.  The pests will quickly return and, in the absence of predators, their populations will explode and devastate your garden.  By the time your natural insect allies return, the damage will be done.

Beneficials will stick around for a garden with something blooming in all seasons.

Beneficials will stick around for a garden with something blooming in all seasons.

2. Feed your insect friends with beautiful flowers.  Besides eating pest insects, many beneficials also feed on pollen at different stages of their life cycle.  Attract them by planting a wide variety of annual and perennial flowers.  Keep them in the garden by making sure you have something blooming in all seasons.  Plants with clusters of tiny flowers (the umbel and aster families in particular) are often the best for bringing in beneficials.
3. Provide a home for your new garden allies.  Ideally you want them to stay in your garden year round as a permanent garrison of pest protection.  Dense vegetation, fallen leaves, mulch, and rock piles all provide good shelter for beneficials to live and reproduce.  If possible, leave your end-of-season garden clean up until Spring to allow your insect friends to overwinter.  Pre-industrial farms always had hedgerows, wild spaces in between fields that provided habitat for a balanced ecology.  You can apply the same principle in any sized yard or garden.  Consider leaving one corner of a larger property to grow wild at nature’s whim.  In smaller gardens, the approach can be as simple as interplanting some flowers with your veggies.

Comfrey foliage provides excellent habitat for many beneficials.

The large leaves of comfrey provide excellent habitat for many beneficials.

4. Create a watering hole.  Although many beneficials meet their moisture needs from drinking nectar, others need a water source to stay hydrated or to reproduce.  This can be accomplished with something as simple as a birdbath or as ambitious as a greywater processing pond.

Learn more: The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control, Ellis & Bradley; Gaia’s Garden, Toby Hemenway.

Read Full Post »

URBAN TRANSPLANTS: How to Start Heirloom Veggies from Seed

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, GRID articles, tagged , , , , , on April 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »

This article appeared in the April 2009 issue of GRID, Philadelphia’s new magazine about urban sustainability.

So you’ve been enjoying those orange, yellow, purple, green, striped, two-toned, cherry, plum, pear-shaped and downright unusual tomatoes from the farmer’s market.  Then you get your hands on a seed catalog and the names call to you: Black from Tula, Golden Sunray, Aunt Ruby’s German Green.  So how hard is it to grow these heirloom vegetables yourself?

Heirloom tomatoes of many stripes and colors. . .

Heirloom tomatoes of many stripes and colors. . .

First you need a place to grow that has abundant sunlight, rich soil, and easy access to water.  Backyard, front yard, community garden, containers on the patio, deck, rooftop, or window box.  Then you need a good seed catalog with a wide selection to get your heirloom juices flowing.  Try Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org), Seeds of Change (seedsofchange.com), or Johnny’s Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds.com).  Many of the seeds you get can be directly sown in the soil.  Others, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, and most cabbage family crops, are best given a head start before transplanting into the garden.  For those of us without access to a greenhouse or coldframe, this can be accomplished cheaply and easily with a homemade egg carton seed tray.

Egg carton seed tray ready for assembly.

Egg carton seed tray ready for assembly.

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:
Heirloom seeds
Egg carton
Scissors
Potting soil
Pennies or pebbles
Pen or sewing needle
Plastic wrap
Watering can or spray bottle

1. Consult your seedpack, catalog, or garden book to calculate when you need to get your seeds started.  For warm season crops like tomatoes, this is 6-8 weeks prior to planting out.  In Philly, this means seeding in late March to plant out in mid May.  Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Philadelphia planting calendar is a useful guide.
2. Separate the top and bottom half of your egg carton with scissors.  Put a few pennies or small pebbles in the top half of the carton to create space for drainage.  If you’re using a paper egg carton, you’ll want to lay down some plastic wrap as a liner first.
3. Use a needle or pen tip to poke several drainage holes into each cell of the egg carton bottom.  Then place the egg carton bottom into the top and fill each cell with potting soil up to the dividers.
4. Wet the potting soil prior to planting.  The soil should be damp, not saturated.
5. Plant two or three seeds per cell.  Check your seed pack for proper depth- a general rule of thumb is twice the diameter of the seed.
6. Cover your seed tray with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in.  Place the seed tray somewhere out of direct sunlight and near a heat source.  A soil temperature of at least 75 degrees is ideal for germination.
7. Remove the plastic wrap after the seedlings emerge, usually within a week.  Now you need to move the tray to your brightest window.  If you don’t have a sunny window, you’re going to need grow lights.
8. Water whenever your soil begins to dry, being careful not to over-saturate.  A misting spray bottle works especially well.  After a few days of growth, use scissors to snip out all but the largest seedling in each cell.
9. Using a spoon and great care, transplant your seedlings to a larger container after two or three weeks.  If you don’t have any 4” pots on hand, soda bottles can be cut off as a good substitute (remember the drainage holes!).  Water the seedlings immediately after transplanting and keep them out of the sunlight for a couple days until they readjust.
10. Harden off your transplants starting about a week before your target planting date.  Bring them outside for a couple hours a day to get them acclimated and then increase this time over the course of the week.  For warm season crops, avoid temperatures under 50 degrees.

Egg carton seed tray after seeding.

Egg carton seed tray after seeding.

Now you’re ready to heirloom your garden and your kitchen!   If you missed your seed start date this year, you can still get a pretty good selection of heirloom transplants from Greensgrow Farm (greensgrow.org) in Kensington.  But remember, the only way to wow your neighbors with your own unique collection of Green Zebra tomatoes, Tequila Sunrise peppers, and Striped Toga eggplants is to start them yourself!

Read Full Post »

PAINTING FRUIT TREES

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, Philadelphia Food Growing, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Put away your easel and palette. . . this is a technique for preserving the health of your fruit trees with a multifunctional biodynamic “paint”.  Last Thursday I spent an hour or so assisting a small crew at Camphill Soltane in applying this paint to trees in their apple orchard.  Mason Vollmer, Camphill Soltane’s Agricultural Director and chief orchard artist, was kind enough to share the recipe:

Beauty of painted trees in the winter orchard.

Beauty of painted trees in the winter orchard.

FRUIT TREE PAINT

4 parts finely sifted compost

3 parts kaolin clay (dry like ‘surround’)

2 parts diatomaceous earth (horticultural kind, not the pool filter kind)

1 part dried blood meal (1/4 part may be adequate)

Combine the dry mix with water (or biodynamic preparation if you have it) and a little interior latex or natural milk paint for improved adhesion.  Mr. Vollmer describes the ideal consistency as that of a “melted milkshake”.   Using a brush or coarse 3/4″ roller, apply to the main trunk and branches from the bottom up.  A long handle is recommended to reduce the amount of paint that ends up on you instead of the tree.  For better coverage and efficiency, some orchards apply the paint with a sprayer.  It is a good idea to scrub older trees prior to painting, especially if the bark has accumulated moss or lichen.   Use a tough nylon bristle brush for this task, which is better accomplished after a rain as scrubbing a dry tree makes for hard labor.

Mason Vollmer in the Camphill Soltane orchard.

Mason Vollmer in the Camphill Soltane orchard.

The tree paint is multifunctional topical forming a biodegradable skin that persists for a season.  Each component of the paint benefits the fruit tree in a different way.  The compost provides a rich micro-ecology of beneficial organisms that aid in healthy growth and production.  The clay protects the tree from winter sunscald and helps smother pest eggs.  Diatomaceous earth is toxic to pest larvae (but not to people).   Bloodmeal is both a fertilizer and mammal repellent that can help prevent damage from deer, voles, rabbits, and more.  Paint your trees annually for best results.

Read Full Post »

GROWING KIWIBERRIES

Posted in Food Growing Techniques, Philadelphia Food Growing, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2009 | 5 Comments »

Kiwiberries are the fruit of the hardy kiwi vine (Actinidia aruguta) and super hardy kiwi vine (Actinidia kolomikta), smaller cousins of the familiar fuzzy kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa).  Kiwiberries are generally the size of large grapes and can be popped in the mouth whole.  I can only describe them as a tropical explosion- both sweeter and more flavorful than their fuzzy cousins.  The kiwiberry also has high levels of anti-oxidents, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Potassium.  This delightful fruit is still relatively unknown, although PA’s own Kiwi Korners farm is now supplying Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Philadelphia’s Fair Food Stand in season.

Kiwiberries vary greatly in size, shape, and color.

Hardy kiwi vines are relatively easy to grow and well adapted to Philadelphia’s climate.  In fact, they will take cold up to zone 4 (or 3 in the case of the super-hardy: hello Siberia!).  Hardy kiwis are very vigorous vines once they get going, so make sure to plant them where you have an adequately large structure for them to grow on.  They can be a little finicky when young, so either start with larger plants or pay them particular attention in the first couple years, including some protection from late winter sun.  Hardy kiwi vines grow well in partial shade but produce best in full sun.  They tolerate a good range of soils as long as there is good drainage.  For best growth and production, the vines do appreciate regular and thorough watering and benefit from the annual application of a nitrogen source like compost or soybean meal.  Because of their vigorous nature, pruning to keep them in bounds may be labor intensive.

Commercially, hardy kiwis are usually grown on a 6′ high T-bar trellis system with a single trunk and two permanent cordons (branches).  Apparently some farms in New Zealand grow them on pergolas and this can be a beautiful and productive choice for the edible landscape.  I have also seen them growing happily and productively on chainlink fences with little apparent care.  In their natural habitat, the vines climb large trees (up to 60 feet) in the forests of China.  A tree you don’t particularly care for can be used as a living trellis, although a large ‘kiwiberry tree’ of this kind can be difficult to harvest.

Hardy kiwi vines do require a male pollinator, at least one for every eight females.  As wind is the primary pollinator, plant the male to the west or the direction of the prevailing wind.  Different cultivars bloom at different times, so it is also necessary to make sure the male and female bloom times overlap.  According to David Jackson of Kiwi Korners, this can be difficult as catalogs and suppliers are not always reliable in their delivery of specific genders and varieties.  They also report that the supposedly self-fertile ‘Issai’ variety has been less than impressive in their trials.

Hardy kiwis are harvested in the fall when they begin to soften and sweeten.  It may take up to eight years before hardy kiwis begin production, although with proper siting and pruning it can take as little as three.  Once started, hardy kiwis can be quite prolific, producing up to 100 pounds of fruit from a single plant.

Variegated foliage of the Kolomitka kiwi vine.

Although the larger size and more consistent production of the hardy kiwi makes it superior for commercial production, the super hardy kiwi may be a better choice for the backyard grower.  The vine is less vigorous, thus easier to maintain in smaller spaces; more shade tolerant (always a bonus in the city); and more ornamental, featuring striking pink and white variegated foliage.  The super hardy kiwi is also known as the ‘Arctic Beauty’ or ‘Kolomikta’ kiwi.

For more information on growing kiwiberries, I’d recommend Lee Reich’s Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden.  Plants can be sourced from Rain Tree Nursery, Useful Plants Nursery, Edible Landscaping Nursery, or Tripplebrook Farm.  I’ve even seen them at Lowe’s in recent years although I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend that as a source.

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.