Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Fieldhaven Flowers and Fruit 6-2-09

We're supposed to get a couple days of rain, followed by several sunny days. This should be a good balance between mowing and fruit.

Near end of bloom: black raspberries, honeysuckle, wild strawberries, chives, white peonies, multiflora rose

Full bloom: rugosa roses (dark pink and white), red clover, comfrey, petunias, marigolds, blue lobelia, pansies, torenia, moss rose, snapdragons, zinnias, blackberries, white clover, sage

Beginning bloom: million bells, privet, Yellow Pear tomatoes, Red Roma tomatoes, Black Prince tomato

Green fruit: wild strawberries, saskatoon serviceberry, Criterion apple, mulberry, black raspberry, gold currant, rugosa roses

The wild strawberries have set a fair amount of fruit. There are lots of tiny apples and rose hips, too. The mulberry fruits are starting to turn pink.

Fruit starting to ripen: pie cherries, wild strawberries

The pie cherries are yellow and pink, some almost red. Another several days to a week and I can start picking, if I beat the birds to them. A few of the wild strawberries are ripe enough to eat, though still tart; I picked a few today.
Tags: food, gardening, illinois, personal
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  • 8 comments
asakiyume

asakiyume

June 3 2009, 12:06:34 UTC 12 years ago

Here maple-leafed viburnum is in bloom, and the blackberries are still in full bloom, though the black raspberries are already making their green fruit.
ysabetwordsmith

Pretty!

ysabetwordsmith

June 3 2009, 17:12:24 UTC 12 years ago

We have several types of viburnum here. I think there's a highbush cranberry, and there are several nannyberries.
datalore

datalore

June 22 2009, 03:42:50 UTC 12 years ago

Wow, I live in Saskatoon and I learned something I didn't know... that the Saskatoon berry is also called the Saskatoon serviceberry! Hmm! Do you have a large enough bush to make anything from those berries? Do you know which type of Saskatoon you have? Serviceberry, hmm! I've lived in this area all my life and never heard it called that!

And in other news, I'm incredibly jealous of the variety of berries and fruit you have. :)
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

June 22 2009, 06:10:18 UTC 12 years ago

The "bush" is really more of a small tree, about 10-12 feet high, but has just started bearing so it doesn't give much fruit yet. Eventually these things put out a LOT of berries! I don't know the exact type -- this one came from a company that sells small, cheap seedlings for wildlife plantings. Judging from last year's sample, though, the flavor is excellent.

I have multiple berry types because I like edible landscaping. The mulberries were already here, along with the older fruit trees and some black raspberries. I added other fruit trees, more black raspberries, yellow raspberries, blackberries, gold currants and assorted other things. I think there's a gooseberry still buried in the jungle of the streetside yard too. There are shoulder-high persimmon trees and a rowan and some others that will eventually bear fruit, and purple-leaf sand cherries (aka bush plums) in the hedge.

It's mainly just a matter of deciding that you want fruit in your yard, and planting a few things at a time. If I had more money, I'd landscape it in dense permaculture swaths. Since I'm usually broke, I plant more slowly, but the first things I've planted since I moved back here are now bearing nicely. One nice thing about plants is they make more of themselves.
datalore

Re: Hmm...

datalore

June 22 2009, 20:09:14 UTC 12 years ago

We just moved to a new house last year, and now we actually have a yard and places where we could plant berries and fruit trees. We're doing research into which apple trees might produce the fruit we like, and my partner is planning to espalier them. If that can be used as a verb. :P

We have strawberries planned, and tomatoes. Next year the plan is for raised garden beds in the backyard, this year we're taming the existing flowerbeds and making plans.

I hear you about the planting slowly as you can afford it. :)
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

June 22 2009, 20:47:41 UTC 12 years ago

Congratulations on your new house and yard!

Yes, "espalier" can be a verb. Some types of apple seem better suited to it than others, and there are dwarfing rootstocks that are favored for espaliers too.

My favorite apple is Ginger Gold. Doug's favorite is Criterion. We have a Criterion tree; I've never seen a Ginger Gold tree for sale.

Raised beds are prudent. It's also a good idea to study your yard and figure out where the light and shade fall, where dry and wet spots are, etc. so you can plant things accordingly. I've been greatly enjoying review copies from Chelsea Green lately -- they have a lot of awesome gardening books. I recommend Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (Second Edition).
datalore

Re: Hmm...

datalore

June 22 2009, 21:06:17 UTC 12 years ago

Thank you for the book recommendation!

Have you seen the "Easybloom" from thinkgeek.com? It's a device you stick in the soil for 24 hours then hook it up to your computer and it reports light conditions and soil conditions, then recommends appropriate plants for that location. Only problem is that it only has US area codes and locations... so we bought one that we now have to return. Doh.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

June 22 2009, 22:17:19 UTC 12 years ago

If you watch my Gaiatribe blog, you'll see reviews for more Chelsea Green books on gardening and current issues. I'll be reviewing Gaia's Garden too.

I haven't seen the Easybloom but it sounds clever.