What's Growing in the Garden

You can grow paw paw in Virginia? I thought that was a tropical tree/fruit? Paw paw = papaya, right?
 
Keep posting all the flower pics you want! Your better half has a definite skill in growing and displaying these beauties.
 
Yes. Have a friend that has several at his house. Pawpaw has a taste similar to Papaya with the texture of a banana
 
Nature Man said:
Impressive list! As I surveyed the categories, saw that Box Elder was under the Maple heading. I did not realize there was a connection. Chuck
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Sorry Chuck, you made me smile. Box-elder, also called 'ash leaf maple'. There are a few that have been found with palmate "maple" looking leaves and compound leaves. Little information has been released about these trees. There are a few Box elder in Colorado that have bark similar to chestnut oak. Some species are vary variable....
 
Eric Rorabaugh said:
Yes. Have a friend that has several at his house. Pawpaw has a taste similar to Papaya with the texture of a banana
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But with lots of seeds. If you wait until real ripe and keep in frig for a few more days - they get sweeter and custardlier. I've only got a couple set on my trees this year. Really haven't seen any set on my walking route. Must be an off year or something. They bloomed early - maybe too early for the flies that pollinate them.
 
trc65 said:
...... What I would do on the strawberries is treat them like you are renovating a bed.

After fruiting is done, clip off all the leaves leaving an inch or two of stem, dig them up and transplant. Fertilize with around 50-60#/acre actual N and keep them well watered. They will start growing, sending out tillers and give you a good crop next spring.

When I renovate my bed, I cut off all the tops, then run the tiller down each side of the bed, leaving about 12" wide in the center, fertilize and give it plenty of water. Tilling thins it out a little, and loosens up the dirt so runners can root easily.
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I'm getting ready to move these plants.
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There are too many to transplant in my tote raised beds so I'm going to till up a separate patch. Wouldn't you know, my rear tine tiller stopped working last time I used it. I'll have to use my front tine tiller but it will take more passes. Next couple of days are dry so I should get them in.

I'm thinking a 5'?? wide patch to accommodate three rows. Plant the main plants in the center and then the runners in rows on each side of the center row. Would you cut all the leaves off the runners too?

And in the quote above, I'm guessing you have or are talking about a single row? You would till up any runners that fall outside that 12" row? Seems like the center would get overcrowded.
 
Remove leaves from everything during renovation. The leaf removal triggers new growth and also stimulates the growth of runners. My bed is 5-6'+ wide, and I till everything except the center foot or so. When I till, the main goal is to reduce the population, so I'll make one or two quick passes to tear it all up good. I'm not trying to till like you would a seed bed, just want to throw a lot of dirt around and thin pretty extensively. You'd think you wouldn't have any plants left, but will be amazed what survives and thrives.

I leave 12" untilled in the center, and runners from that will fill and spread for two ft on either side of that. Density on tmy center row is probably too high, but I'm too lazy to go through and thin. There are lots of bed configurations, the key is not getting too high a density of plants.

If you Google " renovating strawberry beds" there are several University pubs that explain it better and talk about densities and bed configuration.
 
Still picking strawberries, and will be picking sour cherries by the end of the week. Haven't taken a brix reading yet, but the early ones are close.

Went out and got the net on tonight so birds don't eat any more of them.

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