anyone heard of Mike McGroarty's Backyard Nursery
englishivy
18 years ago
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diggerdan
18 years agoedwoodtick
18 years agoRelated Discussions
My Backyard planting experience (so far) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Cana
Comments (62)Hi everyone! Regardeng BLACKBERRIES, we, on the opposie side of the pool, have the same problems of OVERWINTERING the canes and the flower buds. Admittedly I yet have no own experience as I got interested in blackberries only this fall when discovered the existance of the new thornles and prolific varieties. So I read all that was worth reading in the Russian and US internet, especially the rather high-profile specialised forums of our blackberry enthusiasts.. I discovered that throughout Russia and Kazakhstan which both have areas with very serious frosts blackberry growing in those is nevertheless quite successful. Maybe someone here would benefit from their experience same as e.g. you grow plums of Russian origin such as ptitsin and fofanoff. Apparently Blackberries can bring huge yealds in climates with very low winter temps, even downing to -40C for rather ptolonged periods. The TECHNIQUE below allows overwintering without much problem. Plus some easy principles to follow. 1. All blackberries need to be laid down and covered for the winter, preferably after the first frost when the land is frozen. To ensure that this task is easy and hassle free: 2. Choose thornless varieties only. Those with thorns are said to be hell to lay and cover. 3. In early summer watch for the new canes (primocanes) to emerge. As soon as a shoot reaches 15-20cm carefully bend it 90 degrees and secure with a metal peg. When the cane grows another 40-60cm, secure it parallel to the ground with yet another peg. After it reaches 1 m let it grow as it will but better tie to the lowest string of the trellis Which gets them out of the way. Do not tip the ends as this would increase the leaf mass. Do the bending for all the emerging primocanes. 4. In autumn at the time of first frosts when all the fruiting canes have long been cut down lay the primocanes in lines stretched along one side of the trellis. Peg them to the ground, cover with two layers of 60g/m2 thick white non-woven fabric and secure all sides to the ground with no holes. This is said to help greatly even if serious frosts come before the snow. In milder and wetter climates they also put a plastic film layer on top of the fabric, leaving however the end bits open so there is always air circulation. The advice here is to experiment as all natural circumstaces differ. 5. Take off the cover layers gradually, and completely only after all danger of frost is over. By then the canes are likely to bear some yourg leaves and side shoots, but this is ok. Raise them carefully as the canes of come varieties are brittle, and tie to the trellis. 5. Winer frosts may not be a problem for blackberries, but summers need to be warm or hot. The shorter and milder/cooler the summers, the earlier fruiting varieties should be chosen. 6. Floricane varieties like PA Freedom in cooler and shorter summer climates may very sucessfully fruit if treated in the same way as other primocanes, i.e. as above, in a two-year culture. They would be one of the earliest to perform. If you have any questions do feel free to write me, I will try to help with more information. cathpetro at gmail dot com....See MoreStarted my Backyard orchard
Comments (14)Hi Mike - we've messaged back and forth before from the Citrus Forum. I'm in zone 7b, Raleigh NC, which often acts more like zone 8. I'm originally from Norman OK. My property also has Eastern Red Cedars around it and all of them show signs of Cedar Apple Rust. I bought disease resistant apples and all but one of them show signs of the disease but it doesn't overwhelm the trees and some years it barely shows up. Same thing for my Quince trees - they show signs of Cedar Quince Rust. So I would plant whatever variety does well in that area and plan on doing a bit of disease management part of the year. It's all worth it when you can pick fresh, ripe apples. The newer cultivars William's Pride and Goldrush have done well for me. Arkansas Black is the one that requires no spraying and shows virtually no disease at all. The first couple of harvests will have wimpy flavor but after a few years they get really tasty. Nothing beats Goldrush for flavor as far as I'm concerned. Keep in mind that a lot of apples bear alternate years so you won't get a huge harvest every year. In my yard, wildlife eventually figured out what I was growing so now I have to bag and spray and build wire barriers AND trap. Good luck. Plant what you can find and just know that you will be replacing a few of them in a few years. Peach trees grow like weeds and can suddenly die for no reason so don't worry about them too much, just keep planting new ones every couple of years....See MoreVERY steep hill in backyard...need suggestions pls
Comments (9)The shrubs growing on the slope look that they have been there quite a while and seem to be growing straight up. (Sometimes, if there is a bend like an old-fashioned walking stick handle in the stem near to the ground, that bend can indicate that the land is slumping.) About the tree roots showing: there's not a great deal of topsoil from what I could see so the roots have probably spread out to forage for food and water. A number of tree species have suface roots - some quite gnarled and obvious. Think swamp cypress for a start. Unless the trees are very tall and your local prevailing winds are fierce or unpredictable you aren't likely to get windthrow. On a slope such as yours I'd be looking for grooves cut by runoff from the top as the precursor to shallow gullying - and that didn't seem to be happening. Personally, I wouldn't spend on 'posh plants' for such a slope. I'd ask for 'pioneer-type' shrubs - preferably native to your area. If you have a native plants nursery near you - pick their brains. Grasses, creepers, low-nutrient environment shrubs and sub-shrubs. That soil is obviously not rich - it hasn't been colonised by much at all. If you need clues and there are cuttings at the sides of your roads check there for what will establish and thrive and stay seemly. (No one needs a slope covered in fire risk weeds!) When you visit with the plant place/s ask for SPECIFIC guidance on how to plant up a steep slope. If it has a high clay content - let them know because it will change what they will advise. If there is any better soil available on your lot, and you can spare some - mix it in with the slope soil when planting but don't bother putting in fine compost. All that happens is the plants grow out to the limits of the top grade environment and then either sulk or die. Think about buying your reveg plants in 'root trainer' tubes rather than big cans or baggies. They'll be younger and better equipped to strike out, rootwise. Hear you when you say you're budget-constrained. See if you can legally collect native seedlings of suitable plants, grow them on, then plant out. Sometimes a neighbour can be a good source. Under the bird feeder, in a garden, can be another - but expect a lot of berry-producing plants ;-) And, as the slope is a bit of a challenge - could you devise a ladder to get you upslope for planting? Or a scaffoldiong arrangement. Something with wide enough treads so you don't end up with anguished feet!...See MoreBackyard Gardening is " trendy " ?
Comments (28)I do have to say that every time I see a news story about the latest known case of commercial produce being contaminated with E. coli, salmonella or whatever, I think to myself how lucky we are that we can grow a lot of our own produce and not have to worry about buying contaminated food. For me, the big wake-up moment that I should raise food crops as organically as possible was when I read how many times some kinds of conventionally-grown produce are sprayed. That was probably about 20 years ago. I never used many chemical pesticides, miticides or herbicides prior to that, but since reading that information I use almost none. You couldn't pay me to use a broad-spectrum pesticide of any kind, organic or synethetic in nature, on food we are going to eat. I count on all the beneficial insects taking care of the pest insects, and if I spray a broad-spectrum pesticide, it will kill some, if not all, of the beneficials. When you grow your own--whether it is food, herbs, or even flowers that you are going to cut and bring inside to use in flower arrangements--you get to control how much your plants are sprayed with anything, if they are sprayed at all. Lisa, You're my kind of person. I can find 1,001 reasons, all related to gardening, to ignore housework and to, instead, spend hours in the garden. Housework is not my favorite thing to do. I do it, but I don't particularly enjoy doing it and I procrastinate and put it off as long as I can. Debra, My dad and his family lived in Montague County, TX, which is sort of catty-corner to the western end of Love County, OK. He was born in 1919 and was, I think, 3rd youngest in a very large family of at least 10 or 11 children, some of whom died decades before I was born. I look at how hot and dry the western end of Love County gets, and I marvel that my dad and his family even were able to raise enough food in similar soil and a similar climate to survive. My dad and all my aunts and uncles from his side of the family are gone now, but I feel remarkably close to them when I am gardening or canning. My love of gardening and canning came from them, so when I am doing it, I feel like they are still with me. I garden for the birds and butterflies as well, mixing in plants for them in all my fenced garden plots (fenced to exclude deer and bunnies) and in other places too. It is funny how one person can get so many other interested in gardening. I think that lots of people think that it is hard and that they cannot do it, so they don't even try. When you encourage them and help them understand how to do it, they become gardeners themselves, and then they pass on their love of gardening to someone else. The veggie gardeners I know here mostly all garden for the butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects too, and largely avoid the use of all pesticides. I feel like we are making lots of progress in that area. Kim, I agree. This likely is the first time in my life I've been trendy. And, when this trend has largely passed, I'll still be gardening and won't care that I'm no longer trendy. : ) Dawn...See MoreRoberta_z5
18 years agochicomom23
13 years agoLuvn2Garden
12 years agodlchasta35
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