On the Many Frustrations of Gardening: Pierce’s Disease

...pectively, and eventually leaf margins dry or die in concentric zones; (2) fruit clusters shrivel or raisin; (3) dried leaves fall leaving the petiole (leaf stem) attached to the cane; and (4) wood on new canes matures irregularly, producing patches of green, surrounded by mature brown bark.” “Fruit clusters shrivel or raisin.” Turney described the life cycle of the sparpshooter, one of the main carriers of Pierce’s, who spread the diesase by feed...

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I picked a peck of pickled peaches

...to his pickled green almond recipe (p. 103) West notes that immature stone fruit such as peaches and nectarines can be pickled in the same way as green almonds (almonds are a stone fruit too). If you don’t thin this branch it will break off. I’d share Kevin’s recipe with you but he’s a fellow author and you really should own his book, Saving the Season. It’s the classiest food preservation book out there. Plus Kevin could have me killed and pickle...

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The Fine Art of Determining Peach Ripeness

...ess to a few tools that can make ripeness determination easier such as this expensive gadget that measures firmness or a brix meter for determining sugar content. These tools could only be justified if you were planning on growing, shipping and selling fruit. More useful for us backyard growers is this gallery of peach fruit color stages. I’ve been picking them a little on the green side and letting them ripen inside in order to stay ahead of the...

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Should I Try Tomato Grafting?

...graft tomatoes onto potato plants (two crops in one!) as well as graft tomatoes onto eggplants for plants that are more hardy in soggy soils. In the bad idea department, you can graft tomatoes onto tobacco (for nicotine laden fruit) and jimsonweed (for poisonous fruit–note this strange incindent). The Illinois Extension service has detailed tomato grafting instructions and notes on root stock selection here. So what do you think? Intrigued? Comme...

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Saturday Linkages: Bitters, Dogs and Native Plants

...ant-based-meals-handout-now-available/ …. Eagle Rock backyard yields fresh fruit and food for the hungry http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2013/12/eagle-rock-backyard-yields-fresh-fruit-and-food-for-the-hungry/ … Native plants: restoring an idea–http://www.patternliteracy.com/116-native-plants-restoring-to-an-idea … In the U.S., recycling is often pigeonholed as… – Unconsumption http://disq.us/8gf2so For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twi...

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