Fig Tree Planted

I finally planted a fruit tree. My friend T gave me her fig tree from her container garden. The Manperson and I have been talking about how unsafe the sculpture I made in the backyard was for  our little one, so this morning I removed it. Looking at the spot it was in, I thought the fig tree belong there, so I planted it. T also gave me some paving stones which I put around it. I'm contemplating getting paving stone for all the pathways in the backyard now...

Too pretty to eat and other thoughts/plans

One thing that they don't warn new gardeners about in any of the books at least the ones I read is the internal struggle regarding the harvest because as the
 "Man" recently said about the salad greens is that they are almost too pretty to eat and at times I feel that it all looks too good to harvest. 



There are flowers on one of the pea plants which you can't really make out in these pictures. For some reason the camera didn't want to focus on the peas flowers. 

I think in my next garden planting after all these greens

are eaten and their season is over. I will be planting 3 times as many mustard greens, kale, collards, salad greens, swiss chard, and spinach. I see now were I went amiss in variety. We eat whole meals of greens especially those and so far the greens harvest has only been enough for a side dish or more like a seasoning even though the baskets seem full.

 I think I will also be applying this lesson to future fruit trees. I planted edible flowers, but now I wish I had less nasturtium, sweet alssyum, and other randoms and more things I actually eat a lot of which makes me

think I am cutting down my fruit tree list to only things I am sure the man and I will want to eat and are the easiest to grow like asian pear trees, plum trees, fig trees, and grape vines any other fruit will be done in severe moderation since he and I don't really seem to like to eat a lot of fruit. I'm still taken with the idea of planting pineapple kiwi, but it seems like a lot of work so that may be an even farther in the future endeavor. I would also eventually like to get into citrus or some really exotic fruit trees, but yet again that will also have to wait especially considering how much my mind has changed with new experiences and information and these trees and vines apparently take more work than at this moment I think I am capable up especially with all the moaning I do about watering my ollas and I only do that every other or every third day.

The Manperson made this taco salad eventually with his salad greens. He added soyrizo on top for a hearty vegetarian meal. I almost ate the salad greens for him since he was rationing out theones I saved for him.  Taking out the container everyday and munching on just a few of the salad greens.

Here is my less ornate salad, but still very tasty. Salad greens fresh from the garden do taste better. I also added some fresh mustard green to my salad to give it a bite.

The other issue that comes up is that when the crop is small it seems like too much trouble to bring it in and the temptation to eat it right there is overwhelming. I had three sugar snap peas today. I would have taken a picture but I ate them too quickly. Whoops, my bad. It was a small crop (all of three) and they were kind of small, but very round and not as tasty as I expected, thought the pride of eating something I've grown still makes up for any taste deficiencies. I'm regretting not getting the pea inoculant now. Next year I will go ahead and inoculate. Granted, there could also be something I didn't do. I think it is time to research peas because the plants are also kind of sad right now unlike my brassicas and salad greens.

Lately, my other concern has been the amount of money I have spent and want to spend on the garden. Sadly, money doesn't also grow on trees and I have no plans to sell future harvest. I want my garden to eventually be sustainable and self-sufficient, but bigs plans and ideas are great and all to help push one to do more, but one also has to be realistic and pragmatic about what one can truly handle and accomplish at any given moment in time/life (I'm hoping that is the dregs of the cold I still can't seem to shake or the rain talking, because I know that somewhere inside is the little devil that wants to dream big and accomplish much).

Book Report: Gardening Success with Difficult Soils

I just bought this book at Half-Price by Scott Ogden which is basically about my calcareous, alkaline soil. I feel lucky I was sitting in a chair and this was exactly eye level (a trick the grocery stores use to make you purchase things). I adore it when a book basically says what I am doing it right, but also adds new information. This book was in the general gardening section and though it says it is for various places it might as well say central Texas in the title, since it mentions Texas a lot. Even though this book does list the evil ligustrum as a possible plant, it also lists many of my other plants as well that I like and have already planted which are not invasive. 

Besides I'm starting to have a new view of invasives which is that if you prune them well they are not that much of a problem. Luckily, I like to prune stuff, it is one of my favorite gardening activities.

I've been contemplating fruit trees in the back of my mind lately. I've been in a quandary regarding ornamentals versus edibles in my landscaping. Edibles seem to take so much extra care and I know myself well enough to know I'm not sure I feel like it. Though, I am coming to understand that it depends on how much one cares about having a big harvest. I like variety and am just happy when something doesn't die. Well, in this new book there is a list of fruit trees that do well in my soil without a lot of extra amendment and work beyond pruning.  I also found this nursery online that talks about high density planting. I can plant up to 12 trees and 3 espaliered trees in the space I was considering for fruit trees using this method. I just need to plant them all at the same time and prune them a lot the first 3 years. I will also if I do this well be able to keep them below 12 feet in height for manageability.

My list from the book: 

Methley & Santa Rosa Plum  

Celeste, Alma, Brown Turkey, Texas Everbearing, White Everbearing Fig

Fuyu Persimmons

Jujube

Pomegranate

Guava

Ayers, Leconte, Shiseki, Hosui, Monterray, and if possible a Korean Pear variety

I also considering other fruit mentioned in the book now like

Rosborough, Navaho, Black Satin Blackberies

Austin Dewberries

Verdelet, Roucaneuf  Grapes

Triumph, Welder, Carlos, Magnolia Muscadines 

The book is from 1992. I need to check for a more recent edition. Maybe it would mention kiwi which I am considering, but can't figure out where to put nor how to build something strong enough for it to grow on. I want pineapple kiwi which is a hardy variety (means you can eat the skin 'cause it has no hair). There also seems to be every growing amount of new plants that have been adapted to central Texas or have cachet now that people are moving toward native plants in the last few years. Still this is a fabulous resource. Hopefully, I will eventually purchase all the books on my like list, but right now I'm mostly checking stuff out from my local library.