Soil rejuvinator

My sister suggested the following formula for revitalizing soil (she claims it encourages the bugs that enriches the soil):

• 4 parts seed meal
• 1 part lime / dolomite / calcium carb (equivalent)
• 1/2 part bone meal
• 1/2 part kelp meal

Bushes

Gab returned triumphantly about a week ago with berry plants purchased from the local BJ's. I swallowed my irritation at the fact that we were about 2 months away from the "no frost threat" date, and thought the best approach was to build some protection.

So, some scrap wood and a housepaint dropcloth later, I had an improvised greenhouse. (Phase 1 of construction can be seen at the top. It ain't pretty.) The weather has been unseasonably gorgeous so far, so it hasn't been put to the test, but the temperatures will be returning to more March-like weather this week, so we'll see if it works.

Planted, east to west, south to north (right to left, top to bottom in the photo):

• Row: Latham raspberry, Logan raspberry (i.e. Loganberry), Arapaho thornless blackberry
• Row: old raspberries
• 2 Rows of: One Blue Crop blueberry, plus remaining "Early glow" strawberries 

All from "Living Home Garden" brand.

Some documentation:

The Latham Raspberry, from here:

The Latham Raspberry, 'Rubus 'Latham', is a popular red raspberry that produces large crops of big juicy berries. It makes a delicious jam or a dessert as well as for fresh eating. A sure cropper for home use, this variety starts ripening in July and continues to ripen over a long period of time. Latham is a hardy, older cultivar bearing somewhat crumbly fruits in fall and is suitable for intermountain regions. This raspberry has become a standard in early-bearing garden and pick-your-own operations.

The berries are versatile and can be used as fresh fruit, in preserves, or in pies and pastries. Raspberries may be grown successfully at an elevation as high as 7,000 feet. They do best in full sun on non-alkaline, fertile loam soil. However, they may be grown in partial shade or under other environmental constraints. Natural protection against strong winter winds are provided in some valleys, but in other areas it is necessary to provide artificial protection during winter months. Although a well-drained soil is essential for success, a sandy soil will need to have plenty of organic matter incorporated in preparation. Raspberries need a plentiful supply of moisture throughout the growing season. Raspberries take little space and live for years. Birds also love the fruit, so you may have to share the harvest.

The loganberry from here:

Growing

Loganberry plants are sturdy and more disease- and frost-resistant than many other berries. However, they are not very popular with commercial growers due to several problems which increase labour costs. The plants tend to be thorny and the berries are often hidden by the leaves. Additionally, berries of varying maturity may grow on a single plant, making it difficult to completely harvest one. They are therefore usually kept in domestic gardens.

The loganberry bush is usually about 10 canes large. The canes are not as upright as its raspberry parent and tend to vine more like its blackberry parent. It can be undisciplined in its growth and the cane (vine) can grow 5 or more feet in a year. Some gardeners train the canes fanwise along a wall or a wire frame. Old canes die after their second year and should be cut away as they can bring disease, and hinder harvesting. If it is not correctly pruned, it can produce blackberry 'sports'.

This photograph shows loganberries in blossom above others in fruit. The fruit starts green (as shown on the left), then red (as shown above) and finally a deep purple.

Harvest

The loganberry fruits earlier than its blackberry parent. As it has fruit in different stages, from blossom to mature fruit, it produces fruit for approximately 2 months. This is generally between July and September (November-January in the southern hemiphere) depending on which zone you are in. Plants continue to fruit for around 15 years. They can self-propagate. Each bush can produce 7 kg to 8 kg per bush, where each bush has about ten canes.

The berries are generally harvested when they are a deep purple color, rather than the red shown in the illustration above.

 The blueberry from here:

(MID SEASON) Blue Crop – The fruits are medium to large in size. Blue Crop is well known in the industry for its resistance to adverse weather conditions and consistent yields. Blue Crop adapts well to many kinds of soil types. It has been the main cultivar for commercial and u-pick growers. The flavor is mildly sweet with some acidity. Grown successfully in zones 4-8.

Also note from here:

Blue Crop Blueberry: A mid season bearer, consistent producer, disease resistant and high quality. Very large berries, good flavor, best when fresh, freezes well.

Grows to be 4-6' tall.

Also note that two or more plants are required for propere pollination and production of fruit. 

 The blackberry from here:

The Arapaho Blackberry Plant is a self-supporting blackberry plant that ripens earlier than any other thorn-less variety, in the last of May. The large berry of the Arapaho Blackberry Plant is a colorful berry with reds and blacks. The berry of the Arapaho Blackberry is tasty and firm.

The strong canes of the thornless Arapaho Blackberry plants are vigorous and the rhizomes spread rapidly underground to increase the yields for commercial blackberry production.

Tour of our furnace

Our furnace guy came by to fix what turned out to be a trivial problem ... since he was here, I got him to give the tour that he gave us a year ago. This time, I had a camera in hand to make up for my, um, iron-clad memory.

Strong enough for landfill, pH-balanced for raspberries

Much of our tabula rasa of a back yard is landfill; our oil tank was buried until a couple of years ago, when it was dug up and replaced with a basement version. The hole it left behind was filled with gravel + soil from who-knows-where.

Still, I'm going to try raspberries. I read one raspberry enthusiast's page that made growing them sound akin to raising orchids (or particularly sensitive children), but I figured that I would just dig holes, water, and cross my fingers.

The one concession I made (mostly out of curiosity) was to do a pH test of the soil. So, I bought the kit (four multi-coloured vials, a bunch of pills), dug up the dirt, picked out the rocks, debris, and indignant bugs, let it dry overnight, mixed the dirt with water and a pill, and compared the resulting colour to the chart:

 

My best guess is that it mostly closely resembles the yellow at the bottom left, which is pH 6 -- my bleary recollections of 8:30 am lectures in Chem 102 with Dr. Farmer (as close to waking coma as I've come in this life) tell me that that is just about neutral. The raspberries should be ok.

Grass clippings on veggie beds

Having finally bought a lawn mower (grumble, grumble - don't get me started) we now at least have a source of mulch before the fall deluge. I've seen people 'round town using various forms of coverings (including grass clippings, straw, what appears to be tar paper, etc.) over their vegetable patches and so I did a little internet research on the topic.

According to this page, peat can do the trick nicely, along with grass clippings. Bark and sawdust (!) are less desirable. The justification for using mulch boils down to:

• Pest control
• Water conservation
• Control of "soil crusting" in hot weather
• Control of soil erosion

... and so, we're giving it a try. Here is the partially-mulched rows of artichoke and pepper:

The above link suggests an interesting approach: newspaper (which is ugly) covered by grass clippings:

Moistened sections of newspapers sometimes are used as mulch between the rows of vegetable garden plants. Never use color print sections of newspaper as the color ink is detrimental. Although they are a means of controlling weeds and grasses, they tend to be rather unsightly. A friend uses the newspaper under his grass clippings, that way the clippings do not take root. It works great and the newspaper does not show!

Nasty little critters

I'll never be able to read "The hungry little caterpillar" without grinding my teeth again. We have an inchworm infestation on one of the front trees and they took out two columbines within a day. They've also gone after one of our new lilacs.

What to do? Jury seems to be out - - sticky band around the trunk, metal band around the trunk, forget the metal band and just go straight to pesticides.

Here are some websites:

• Those awful inchworms are back!
• Q: How do I get rid of inchworms? A: A metal band
• Spring and Fall Cankerworms

Plant profile: Angelica

At the Mansfield garden sale, I picked up a shade plant that promised to grow to 4 - 6 FEET (!). Who could resist? It may be the beginning of my woodlands paradise.

Here's the description on the label:

Angelica
Biennial - reseeds
4-6 ft tall
partial to full shade

During its first year it only grows leaves, but during its second year its fluted stem can reach a height of two meters (or six feet). Its leaves are composed of numerous small leaflets, divided into three principal groups, each of which is again subdivided into three lesser groups. The edges of the leaflets are finely toothed or serrated. The flowers, which blossom in July, are small and numerous, yellowish or greenish in colour, are grouped into large, globular umbels, which bear pale yellow, oblong fruits. Angelica only grows in damp soil, preferably near rivers or deposits of water.

Last weekend on the cape I ran across a garden with a group of angelicas, and they were amazing; huge with fascinating bulb-growths that unfurled into leaves and flowers:






Well, a couple of weeks since I planted it, our angelica is hardly towering, but it is alive and well: