Thursday, May 5, 2011

Harvest Updates

First Zucchinis and Cucumbers of the season! And lots of celery
LOTS of Loquats, a few strawberries, some carrots and our first green beans
Strawberries, cleaned and ready for jam making
Broad beans/fava beans! The ones on the plate are going to be dried for next year's plants, the ones one the side will be eaten. We have much more, too!
Loquats, Yu Mai Tsai (chinese lettuce), Yomogi for mochi and Strawberry Saxifraga leaves for tea
Strawberries, Komatsuna, Carrots, smaller Broad beans and a couple of loquats

3 comments:

Wendy said...

Hi Janice,

I've been reading your site for a few months. It has really inspired me to grow more vegetables, but somehow half of the seedlings are not making it after transplantation.

Anyways, I wanted to ask what variety of loquat tree you have. Is it a Big Jim? Is it sweet? I'm thinking of adding a loquat tree, but don't know what variety is best. I want something sweet. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

AJK said...

Hi Wendy, thanks for stopping by! I guess there are a lot of variable that can cause the seedlings to die after transplant. One of the main reasons would be a change in sunlight. If it's raised in a cool shady area, and then brought out to full sun, it can burn up. Another could be when you transplant, the roots may be severely damaged. I stopped using clay pots because of this. The roots seem to like the pores in the clay pots and dig their way in so by the time you get around to transplanting, over half of them are burrowed deeply into the pot itself. Also I've read (and it works) that it helps to start them off in not so fertile soil, then when you transplant, give them rich compost soil from your own compost. (the store bought compost just isn't the same! Though we still buy some) Then the seedlings won't be so shocked when they get moved because they've come to a buffet.

The loquat tree is mystery tree. My mom planted it from seed. It's a smaller fruiting variety that does get really sweet if you allow it to ripen. The largest fruits are only 2". If you want, I have TONS of seeds. We thin our flowers after they set fruit to help each fruit reach it's potential. Just post me your email, and I won't publish that comment and we can discuss it if you're interested.

Wendy said...

Thank you for your quick reply and insights on transplanting. I appreciate your offer for the loquat seeds but don't think I can wait the 5-7 years for a seed to fruit so I might have to get a grafted tree for earlier fruit. I'm trying to get my family to eat healthier fresh fruit and vegetables and am slowly expanding our yard to edibles only.

I saw you commented on my blog about putting my son on the gfcf diet, which I've totally neglected beyond the initial entry. My son has moderate-severe autism and we've tried strict diet restrictions, but in school, he always gets diet infractions. It's almost impossible to keep him from all offending foods...

Thank you again for your blog. I really enjoy reading it as it not only gives me inspiration but it's wonderful to see how dedicated you are to protecting your son from his severe food allergies. And he is a cutie!