Citrus Trees and Farming Dreams
On our little farm we have several fruit trees, and among them are an naval orange tree and a meyer lemon tree. I thank the person who planted these because they are great! If I ever have a real farm or any land for that matter, here is my plan. I want to plant a small orchard with about 25 trees. Each would be a different fruit bearing tree. I would put them in seasonal order so that one end of the orchard would be trees that fruit in January. These do exist, persimmon and orange for example. Then the next tree over would be a February tree and so on until you got back to the pomegranate trees in the fall. Then I would have an endless supply of peaches, apricots, plums, figs, and anything else you can think of. Bees would love me. A girl can dream can't she?
Back to realty. Like I said, we have an orange tree and a lemon tree. Usually they produce large, sweet fruit. The lemon tree is in the front yard and produced three or four crops a year! When we moved in complete strangers would walk by and say,"I love your lemons, I always take one, I hope that's okay". I smiled and thought to myself "Those are out lemons, go get your own, shoo, shoo!" But I always said something like, "Oh, help yourself, we have plenty" and mumbled under my breath as they walked on.
Back to realty. Like I said, we have an orange tree and a lemon tree. Usually they produce large, sweet fruit. The lemon tree is in the front yard and produced three or four crops a year! When we moved in complete strangers would walk by and say,"I love your lemons, I always take one, I hope that's okay". I smiled and thought to myself "Those are out lemons, go get your own, shoo, shoo!" But I always said something like, "Oh, help yourself, we have plenty" and mumbled under my breath as they walked on.
.
Thankfully the orange tree is in the backyard. Every January through April it produces huge, refreshing, sweet oranges. Just as the fruit crop is finishing up, the tree graces us with fragrant blossoms that you can smell from the whole yard. You would be surprised how creative you get when you have an abundance of fruit that you don't want to waste!
Last summer to my surprise our lemon tree was a sad mess. The leaves were small and yellow. The fruit was either nonexistent, or dry and bitter. Our huge meyer lemons, were not living up to the neighbors expectations! We couldn't figure out what was going on. The orange tree seemed to be doing fine. The only difference between their care was that we run the chipper under the orange tree. Anything that is too big or corse for the compost gets chipped, and it happens below the orange tree. The chippings make a nice ground cover, but I guess they were also supplying the tree with nutrients.
After asking around at the local nursery and do some research we did three things. One: we trimmed the lemon tree way back. We had totally been neglecting to trim it. The lemon tree had fruit or blossoms on it all year, and I never had the heart to cut off branches with lemon. Much to my disappointment this was apparently killing the tree.
Last summer to my surprise our lemon tree was a sad mess. The leaves were small and yellow. The fruit was either nonexistent, or dry and bitter. Our huge meyer lemons, were not living up to the neighbors expectations! We couldn't figure out what was going on. The orange tree seemed to be doing fine. The only difference between their care was that we run the chipper under the orange tree. Anything that is too big or corse for the compost gets chipped, and it happens below the orange tree. The chippings make a nice ground cover, but I guess they were also supplying the tree with nutrients.
After asking around at the local nursery and do some research we did three things. One: we trimmed the lemon tree way back. We had totally been neglecting to trim it. The lemon tree had fruit or blossoms on it all year, and I never had the heart to cut off branches with lemon. Much to my disappointment this was apparently killing the tree.
.
Two: Citrus trees also get sucklers. They are parts of the tree that grow, but produce no benefits, or fruit. They simply suck nutrients, so get rid of them. Sucklers are usually bright green and grow straight up, not out like most branches. Ours usually grow from the base of the tree, or directly out of a main branch. So we got rid of these.
Three: I bought citrus nutrients sticks from Home Depot. I have been pounding two or three of them in every 4 months. Spread them out around the base of the tree, a few feet from the trunk.
I am happy to say that the lemon tree is making a complete come back. This summer's fruit should be big and delicious again. The oranges on our tree are getting larger and should be ripe in a few weeks! I can't wait for fresh squeezed OJ, it is the cure for winter blues.
Three: I bought citrus nutrients sticks from Home Depot. I have been pounding two or three of them in every 4 months. Spread them out around the base of the tree, a few feet from the trunk.
I am happy to say that the lemon tree is making a complete come back. This summer's fruit should be big and delicious again. The oranges on our tree are getting larger and should be ripe in a few weeks! I can't wait for fresh squeezed OJ, it is the cure for winter blues.
Carrots
Gardening tip: When planting carrot seeds, scatter them all in a row about and inch or two below the soil. You want to till your soil so it is nice and soft. The delicate tip of the carrot is the part that grows down so it needs soft soil.
Here is the hard part. When they come up, you have to thin them. This means you have to pull carrots that are too close together and toss them so the existing carrots have room to grow. I didn't do this. I don't have the heart to pull up something I grew unless it is to eat it. Thus, my carrots are twisty and all tangled together. Maybe next year I will learn...
Because the carrot grows underground it is sometimes hard to tell when they are ready. Often times the head of the carrot will pop above the soil and start to turn green. Like potatoes, any part of the plant that touches sun will turn bitter, green, and not delicious. When the head of the carrot pops out of the soil, harvest it!
Gardening tip: The first year of a carrot's life it grows a big root, which we eat. If you leave it in the ground the carrot will come back for a second year. On the second year it will grow, and flower. If you leave it even longer the flower will dry out and you get carrot seeds! Carrots only flower on their second year. Last year I left about three carrot plants in the ground for a second year. They flowered and as the flowers produced seeds and dried, I cut them and saved them. That is what you see in my mini bucket. I now have enough seeds for years of carrot crops! All you really have to do is neglect a few plants. Easy to do!
Composting
Making garbage into gold!
http://www.robinsurbanfarmhouse.com/1/post/2011/11/making-garbage-into-gold-composting.html
Composting is one of the most efficient, green ways to run a household! First of all, you reduce your garbage by quite a bit. Secondly, you are providing yourself with environmentally friendly, free, safe fertilizer. WIthout replenishing the garden soil each year, you will not have healthy plump vegetables.
You do not have to be total gung-ho hippy to compost. I forget about it for weeks at a time, and then get all involved again. The good news, it everything keeps rotting whether you are paying attention or not! So here are a few hints to get your composting started. Ken Thompson wrote a cute little book called Compost if you are looking for more information. And as always, I would love questions!
1) Get a container
~If you live in Sacramento, you can buy a stackable compost bin from the city of Sacramento for about $65 which is roughly half of what they retail for.
~You can also easily build one from scrap material laying around your yard. The key thing is that, the compost needs some air, and some barriers to hold in moisture. I would recommend having four side walls and a roof. The bottom can be left open so the nutrients can seep into the soil underneath the bin. We tried the "pile" thing and we ended up with a lot of dried material that never composted.
2) Load it up with garbage!
~You want your compost bin to have a balance. You should put any plant materials that are left over from cooking in your compost. I have this little "garbage can" in our kitchen for the compostable materials. It has an odor barrier on top so your kitchen won't smell. Coffee grounds (even still in the paper) are great for adding some acidity. You should put in yard clippings like grass or leaves. If you are going to put in sticks, cut them into small pieces or they take forever to break down. If you have lovely adorable chickens, you should put their wood shavings and poop from the coop, and the egg shells in the compost bin.
~Strive for a balance of these things so the pH stays at a good level (I don't know anything more about the science of it than that).
~Do not put meats, oils, or fats in you compost. They will attract unpleasant hungry animals, and the bin will smell like rotting meat. The compost should be primarily plant derived with the exception of some of the chicken "products" I mentioned above.
3) Turn it
~About every two months the compost needs to be turned. If you have a stackable composting bin, then take the top layer and move it to a new, nearby location. Start moving the compost into this layer. This will make it so that they nutrients seeps into a different parcel of soil. If your bin then you may need to remove the top layer, mix things up , and put it back in.
~The goal in doing this is to move the composting materials to locations with different levels of air and moisture. It also keeps you from getting layers of material that are stuck together, or dried and they don't decompose. I leave this mini pitch fork by the bin and then it is always available when I get a whim to turn the compost. Lastly, turning your compost gives you access to the goods at the bottom!
4) Spread it
~Once you get to the bottom of your bin and you find the gold, the stuff that smells like forest floor and it almost the consistency of crumbly dirt, spread it! In the spring before planting I till it in, but during the rest of the year, I simply spread it on the surface of the soil. It brings nutrients and replenishes the soil. The compost can also act as a weed and moisture barrier. It does amazing things for your garden, it is free, and it reduces your trash! Why would you not!
http://www.robinsurbanfarmhouse.com/1/post/2011/11/making-garbage-into-gold-composting.html
Composting is one of the most efficient, green ways to run a household! First of all, you reduce your garbage by quite a bit. Secondly, you are providing yourself with environmentally friendly, free, safe fertilizer. WIthout replenishing the garden soil each year, you will not have healthy plump vegetables.
You do not have to be total gung-ho hippy to compost. I forget about it for weeks at a time, and then get all involved again. The good news, it everything keeps rotting whether you are paying attention or not! So here are a few hints to get your composting started. Ken Thompson wrote a cute little book called Compost if you are looking for more information. And as always, I would love questions!
1) Get a container
~If you live in Sacramento, you can buy a stackable compost bin from the city of Sacramento for about $65 which is roughly half of what they retail for.
~You can also easily build one from scrap material laying around your yard. The key thing is that, the compost needs some air, and some barriers to hold in moisture. I would recommend having four side walls and a roof. The bottom can be left open so the nutrients can seep into the soil underneath the bin. We tried the "pile" thing and we ended up with a lot of dried material that never composted.
2) Load it up with garbage!
~You want your compost bin to have a balance. You should put any plant materials that are left over from cooking in your compost. I have this little "garbage can" in our kitchen for the compostable materials. It has an odor barrier on top so your kitchen won't smell. Coffee grounds (even still in the paper) are great for adding some acidity. You should put in yard clippings like grass or leaves. If you are going to put in sticks, cut them into small pieces or they take forever to break down. If you have lovely adorable chickens, you should put their wood shavings and poop from the coop, and the egg shells in the compost bin.
~Strive for a balance of these things so the pH stays at a good level (I don't know anything more about the science of it than that).
~Do not put meats, oils, or fats in you compost. They will attract unpleasant hungry animals, and the bin will smell like rotting meat. The compost should be primarily plant derived with the exception of some of the chicken "products" I mentioned above.
3) Turn it
~About every two months the compost needs to be turned. If you have a stackable composting bin, then take the top layer and move it to a new, nearby location. Start moving the compost into this layer. This will make it so that they nutrients seeps into a different parcel of soil. If your bin then you may need to remove the top layer, mix things up , and put it back in.
~The goal in doing this is to move the composting materials to locations with different levels of air and moisture. It also keeps you from getting layers of material that are stuck together, or dried and they don't decompose. I leave this mini pitch fork by the bin and then it is always available when I get a whim to turn the compost. Lastly, turning your compost gives you access to the goods at the bottom!
4) Spread it
~Once you get to the bottom of your bin and you find the gold, the stuff that smells like forest floor and it almost the consistency of crumbly dirt, spread it! In the spring before planting I till it in, but during the rest of the year, I simply spread it on the surface of the soil. It brings nutrients and replenishes the soil. The compost can also act as a weed and moisture barrier. It does amazing things for your garden, it is free, and it reduces your trash! Why would you not!
