Backyard Farming the Natural Way

Archive for the ‘Growing Fruits and Berries’ Category

After having tasted pomegranate for the first time and reading all the wonderful health claims, I decided to buy a plant and give it a try. I have heard that many varieties are not particularly fruitful in the humid south, but I bought this “Russian” variety which the nursery swore was a good producer here in Florida.
Anyhow, I bought this little one gallon ‘whip’ for about $7, fertilized it well, and within a few weeks had much growth and these flowers pictured here. It has been a couple of weeks later since I took this pic now, and though the flowers look like they are going to set fruit, they have all fallen off.  Pomegranate are supposed to be self fertile (though a companion plant is supposed to help with pollination).

These are lovely flowers produced by this bush, and it is probably dropping fruit because the plant is not mature enough yet. Can’t wait till next year, and I will probably get a ‘wonderful’ or other variety to help with pollination. Let me know if any of you guys are having success with growing pomegranates (and getting fruit)  in the humid, hot southeast.

For anyone who has eaten pomegranate, the fruit is kind of messy and heard and a bit of trouble to get to ‘goodies’, but I find the taste grows on me (and they are great in salads).

Here is a good basic introduction on pruning and training fruit trees. This is an important subject for getting maximum production of your trees and cutting down on disease and pests (also for general maintenance).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1VVCSvwNqg&feature=related

I have two persimmon trees in my yard but neither is native American species (Diospyros virginiana), They are both oriental varieties with one being astringent and the other the non astringent.  Referring to the picture, the one I am indicating is the non astringent type of “Fuyu.” Read the rest of this entry »

In an earlier article, I discussed the many health benefits of elderberry - especially as it relates to treatment of the flu.  In the past couple of years, I have purchased the expensive elderberry syrups (Sambucol) and these seemed to work well when I felt like I was coming down with a cold or flu.  This time I decided to try and save a little money and make my own.   Read the rest of this entry »

As a follow up to my attempts to repel birds on my fig trees using a garlic and coffee spray, I would say that it was a limited success. In the clusters that I directly saturated, the spray seemed to keep the birds off for about a day. However, on the following day if I did not respray these areas, the effect seemed to have worn off and the figs were once again consumed. In conclusion, it might be worth the effort if you have fruit that is almost ripe and you don’t mind spraying every morning. 

As can be seen in this photo of my figs, the birds have found them and are eating more than about half of the rippening figs. In the last few years, I tried hanging CDs from the limbs and only had limited success. Read the rest of this entry »