Dehydrating Figs

I have 6 fig trees now here in the holler. Three are the variety Chicago Hardy and the other three are an unknown variety gifted from a friend. Some winters they freeze all the way to the ground and some years they don't but they always come back and every year they are bearing more and more figs. The picture above is of an ordinary size fig on the bottom and the huge size figs I get off the unknown variety on top. It does not turn dark purple like the Chicago Hardy nor do I think it tastes as sweet but the greenish unknown variety can get HUGE! They usually start getting ripe by August and bear until the frosts of October. There are always figs on the trees though that do not have a long enough season to ripen before frosts but I always get enough for my family so I am happy. 

 

I have 4 large gallon bags of figs frozen for fig jam or preserves that I will take out and do once things slow down but for now I am dehydrating figs daily. I simply slice them thin and dehydrate until rubbery which if I pick early in the morning they are done before I go to bed at night. They end up so sweet that way and are great as snacks or in trail mixes but our favorite way to use them is to add them to our refrigerator oats with some maple syrup or local honey and almond milk.   

Figs and blueberries have become my easiest and best producing fruits. No diseases or pests problems for me and fruit production grows every year. No spraying, easy to propagate and mine require very little pruning. I used to wrap them in winter when they were young but now that they are established I just let winter do what it will and I haven't lost one yet. And for some reason the birds don't even mess with them much maybe because there is so much other stuff to eat like elderberries. Boy they love them. 

I keep my dried figs in Rubbermaid containers until I get enough then I move them to Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. I have in the past also stored them in Mason jars with oxygen absorbers. 

I will warn you though that dehydrated figs are awfully addictive . 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

More Spring Garden 2022

 

Thursday morning cup of hot tea here as I listen to thunder rumble in the distance. Rain is forecasted for the next 2 days so I will put the garden away and concentrate on some housework and cooking. Thought I would share some more pictures of the gardens. The gooseberries above are swelling now and all the 8 bushes have berries on them now. 

Yesterday I got all my broccoli and cabbage plants in the boxes. They were the perfect size and ready for their permanent homes in the garden. Planting them right before rain will allow them to acclimate for the next two raiy days and not even wilt. Also got some romaine plants in the garden and bok choy. The red beans are breaking the soil.  Garden 2022 is well on it's way.

The black currants are now blooming and the black currant bushes I set out to root have all rooted also. I am sharing some on them with a young neighbor couple. 

And the green peas around the property planted on fences are now blooming. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Late Winter/Early Spring Chores

These days my time is consumed with garden cleanup when we get the occasional warmer day, quilting when the weather does not permit gardening and canning. We have so much wood and prunings to burn from all the fruit tree pruning and cleanup we have been doing. We struggle to get it all burned since we still have to get state burn permits until April and with winds they have not been issuing them. 

My sweet potatoes in water are sprouting all over the place and soon I will be starting to root them. Dug out seeds for green peas, spinach, carrots, mustard, spring onions, beets, cabbage and lettuce. Peas and spinach can be planted when soil reaches 40 degrees. March potato crops and bulb onions will go in. The beds are weeded from a few winter weeds that managed to sprout in my beds. The peaches, blueberries, plums, black currants, Nanking cherries and blueberries are all pruned while still dormant. I still need to dig and separate the rhubarb crowns as they are getting too thick. A good 2 inches of compost has been spread on both large asparagus beds. The compost piles that remain from last fall have been turned. I also stuck out a dozen black currants cuttings to root and planted a small patch of potatoes that had sprouted in the pantry. So with a week of rainy weather approaching and 5 inches of rain in the forecast I will wait till the impending storms go through and plant some peas and cool weather crops. About 8 weeks out from average last frost date. 

My time has also been used wisely canning bone broth and I also canned 2 cookings of dried cranberry beans. As I find produce on sale I continue to can in small batches as the opportunity arises. I have about a third of my quilt left to quilt and then bind it and I will be done. I am aiming for the end of the month. As soon as that one is done I have another top ready to go on the frame. Early spring here is usually very rainy and I am hoping to get a second quilt out before summer gardening and canning goes into full swing. 

In the near future as well I hope to spray with dormant oil spray the peaches and plums to help prevent pests. I will also spray under the tree with Neem. 

O Wise One and I remain healthy and Covid free at the moment. We concentrate on each other, the crops, gardens and animals. We continue to eat clean and exercise as often as possible as weather permits. O Wise One in his seventies now and me not far behind yet we remain active, productive and blessed. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

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I can also be found at

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

 

Black Currants

 Anyone out there have black currants. My bushes are bearing for the first time and am curious how people use them.

Notice the bushes at the front of the elderberries in the picture. 

Now about 4 foot high they are healthy and green. No thorns and thus far I have not had to prune in any way. The greatest plus is that I have never had to spray these berries in any way. They have continued to be reliably disease and pest free. The other plus is that the birds tend to leave them alone. I am contemplating buying some of the red ones next year but for now all of my currants are black. 

I read that they root easily as well. 

I like having different berries because if one crop of something fails I always have back up. If the birds take one crop I always have backup. Sometimes I have to get a little creative in how I use them because a person can only eat so much jelly and pie. But I like always having fresh fruit for my oatmeal and eating out of hand.  If all else fails I can always make wine! 

For me breaking away from the traditional apple/pear/cherry/peach hybrids was one of the better things I ever did. Going with nontraditional fruits such as gooseberries, currants, native plums, blueberry, blackberry, elderberry and strawberry has been much more reliable. 

The other plus is with a new apple tree costing $40 to $50 most of these fruits I can easily propagate myself. 

Not bearing yet are my juneberry(serviceberry), highbush cranberry, pawpaw, nanking cherry and  cornelian cherry. The mulberry tree also has it's first fruits this year although only a hand full. 

So for my new mountain home I will stick with mostly natives although I did add 2 heirloom pears this year that I have noticed grow well in this area and a supposedly hardy wild apricot.  Time will tell how successful these are. 

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago but the second best time to plant a tree is now.

Chines Proverb

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

A Plum of a Week

 

Yep that just about sums up my week. The plums are ripe and we are picking them up by the dishpan full. With 4 trees there are enough for me and the birds and the neighbors too! Right now I am washing and  pitting them then freezing. Once I get them all harvested I will decide what to do with what is in the freezer. I do not really need more jam so I am thinking liqueur or maybe wine. Plum brandy would make great Christmas gifts I think.  

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

Cabbage and Plums

 

Freezing up yellow plums as I pick them. They are so sweet and juicy this year and I am going to make liqueur with them. I already have plenty of plum jelly left from last year. 

Planting Pepper plants today out in the boxes.  

Freezing two more heads of cabbage that I picked yesterday. I also froze 2 heads yesterday. I have new seeds planted for fall cabbage as well. We ate some smothered with potatoes, onions and smoked sausage the other day and it was really great. I always plant the variety "Early Jersey Wakefield" and have always been successful with it as long as I have bt to spray to keep the worms off.  

Life is busy as always here and we work in the gardens everyday weeding, picking, watering and preserving it all. 

Ever thankful and ever vigilant from what mother nature can throw at our food supply. So far this year it has been squirrels and rabbits. Aah but the dreaded Japanese beetles are coming. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

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The Fruits of Our Labor

 

As the early summer temperatures heat up the robins had started to gravitate to the gooseberry bushes so I knew it was time to pick. So in temperatures in the mid 80's and 98% humidity O Wise One and I decided to get up early one morning and pick berries. What a hot and sweaty job even early in the morning. When we got finished we both looked like we had tangled with a herd of cats and lost badly. Oh but we had plenty of gooseberries.

I spent the rest of that afternoon sitting and topping and tailing the berries. It's kind of like shelling beans slow and tedious. Once that was done they were washed and dried and put on baking sheets to freeze.

And at the end of the day 12 more bags of gooseberries in the freezer ( 24 cups) . Packaged in vacuum bags to help prevent freezer burn. Just one more day of putting up food not in huge portions but a picking at a time. A few hours here and there. 

We got rains yesterday and it was enough to pop up the okra and purple hull peas that I planted last week. Now if I can just keep the rabbits out. 

The plums are starting to ripen and I spotted my first Japanese beetle of the season. As summer is upon us now don't forget the sunscreen and plenty of water to drink.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

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I can also be found at 

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

Homemade Limb Spacers for Fruit Trees

 I wanted to show you the homemade limb spacers my husband made for my fruit trees. I planted some young pear trees this spring. Apples here struggle with late frosts and fire blight BUT pears seem to grow well if you select the right variety. So I purchased 2 young pear trees of varieties that are heirloom and supposedly more fire blight resistant. 

Once planted I wanted to shape the soft branches on these pear trees while they are young and open the tree up more so that I won't have to take branches off later. This improves air circulation to reduce disease and helps the limbs not to break later from a load of fruit. Especially pears which want to grow straight up. 

They sell limb spacers online but my husband took 9 wire and bent me some by just doing "S" shaped bends on each end. So far it is really working well. I have also seen people doing this by putting light weights on the limbs to pull them down. 

Below are some pictures of the limbs with spacers on them. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at

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Gooseberries

 

The gooseberries should be ready in the next week or so. 

 The advice that I give people about fruits is to be brave enough to get away from the traditional fruits and develop recipes for those that grow the easiest and best in your area. 

Asparagus, rhubarb and gooseberries are pretty well guaranteed perennial crops for me  with very little work on my part. They are all disease and pest resistant on this particular property if planted well. Rhubarb can be seen here growing with abandon happily around old barns and farmhouses long ago uninhabited. 

Gooseberries grow like weeds here and other than the occasional soil input for fertilization and annual pruning they are carefree. Yet I see them in very few gardens because I think no one knows what to do with them. Because of their ease of growth they are a perfect candidate for my gardens.  I have NEVER sprayed my gooseberries for anything in 6 years. 

They are super easy to propagate from just letting a limb touch the ground and root then digging and relocating. I am up to 8 bushes and have stopped myself. I pick them just as they start to ripen as we like them a bit sour for a pie similar to lemon pie with a sour bite. By picking them a bit sour I also beat the birds to them because they like them dead ripe. They do prefer a little afternoon shade here but one thing I have is shade. Now traditionally gooseberries can have problems with mildew but I plant mine with plenty space apart and prune them religiously to open for air circulation and thus far in 6 years have not had a problem. Knock on wood. 

There are a ton of recipes out there for gooseberries from jam to wine but I tend to stick with pie filling with mine and it is now one of my kids and grandkids favorites. 

Grow what you eat and eat what you can grow easily!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

Over The Back Fence Forum

Fruit 2021

Looks like my summer will be busy. The spring was cool and wet then we had about 2 weeks of hot weather in the 80's and dry and now it is back in the upper 70's and mid 80's but the rain is coming pretty regular. The fruit trees are loving the rain though.  The gooseberry bushes are loaded with some of the largest gooseberries I have ever seen. The black currant are loaded as well. 

The blueberries had not one but 2 killer frosts and a light dusting of snow while in bloom. We just knew that it would knock off the blooms without maturing. But you know they are absolutely loaded.

Same with the plum trees as they are sporting a bumper crop. 

The peaches were not so fortunate. They still have peaches on the tree but they lost the bulk of the peaches to frost. 

The elderberries are loaded with blooms also. We did lose all the Nanking cherries to frost. The fig trees are finally taking off with new growth as the weather warms up more. The blackberries and grapes are blooming and setting fruit. I even have mulberries for the first time here on my 3 year old tree.  Add to that a bumper crop of rhubarb and asparagus.

Even though I am no longer on a huge 70 acre farm anymore I am impressed with the amount of fruit I can produce in a year on much smaller acreage. 

We will take the blessings though and be ever thankful.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/forum

 

Garden Walk June 1, 2021

 Took a stroll through the garden this morning to start my day. The Iris are just going out of bloom and I hope to deadhead this week. Have a couple clumps that need to be thinned as well. 

The peonies were absolutely loaded and beautiful last week. They lasted a little longer than usual this year because we had about 2 weeks of hot dry weather. As soon as last weekends rain came it beat them down so I will deadhead and compost the tops. I wanted to start some new hot compost piles so that will give me plenty of new additions.

The  Stella D' Orro day lilies are just opening up and the daffodils are finishing. 

Gooseberries are absolutely loaded as well as the black currants.  I now have 8 gooseberry bushes. They grow so good here on the place with little to no care thus far other than the yearly pruning. 

The elderberry are just starting to set blooms but there are plenty of blooms on my 4 plants. They now reach about 8 foot tall and about 4 foot wide. Two are purchased varieties and the other two are native. 

My two little pawpaw trees made it through another winter as did my 3 highbush cranberry and 3 service berry trees. All of these were additions last year and are still very young yet. 

The Nanking cherry were loaded for being so young but the late freeze got the berries. 

The older blueberry bushes are absolutely loaded. We were afraid we would not get any due to the late frosts/freeze but they rallied through. We dug up 7 sprouts and transplanted in a new blueberry row. 

I think all 6 of my fig trees made it through the winter. It is a toss up as to if they have enough time to ripen fruit this year. Last year they did but this year the frosts were much later. 

All 4 Cornelian Cherry made it through the winter and look beautiful. Slow growing and too young to produce yet but they are thriving. 

We continue to harvest both asparagus and rhubarb for the freezer. 

The 4 native plums are absolutely loaded with young fruit. 

The grapes are just blooming as are the blackberry. 

The young mulberry tree is now about 12 feet tall and has it's first mulberry fruit on it. 

We added 2 new Dunbar native plums as well as 2 native Apricots to the garden this year along with a Kieffer pear and an Ayers dessert or sugar pear. Both pears are heirloom varieties that seem to grow well in this area. 

Hoping your gardens are faring as well.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Around The Holler

My Gosh the Hosta are beautiful this year! These were a gift from an elderly neighbor that used to live next door. She broke a hip and went into a home.  I think of her every time I  see the hosta. They are hge because O Wise One has been emptying the ducks swimming water over them when he dumps it. It is full of duck poo. The flowers like it. 

The blue color of the blossoms are just beautiful.

We are still picking gooseberries every other day. I freeze them in vacuum bags. I want to do a post on gooseberry pie as soon as I get some time. O Wise One's Mom had a wonderful one. 

I broke off part of a tomato plant the other day by accident and have parts of it in water rooting. If you look closely yo can see the little white hairs coming on them. I wanted to make sure you knew that. You can also remove the suckers on your plants and do that. These are just sitting on the deck. 

Another neighbor brought me over a start of her trumpet vine. Remember the big one I had at the old farm. The hummingbirds love them and I love the hummingbirds.

It sat right at the end of my old clothes line. The new one will sit right at the end of my NEW clothes line. 

Baby figs! My fig trees really took a beating last winter and I was surprised I have any at all. I had them covered all winter but it got really cold. 

Check out the size of these elderberry heads. They are huge!

I am off to Knoxville today. But I will see you again on Friday,

Blessings from the  Holler

The Canned Quilter

Gooseberry Time

I have 8 gooseberry bushes right now on the property. Only four of those bushes are of bearing age. Gooseberries for us have been a great choice in berry bushes. Super easy to grow and pretty well disease resistant so far. The other plus for us is that they will grow in some shade. Since our property has lots of shade trees this fruit bush  will grow under the canopy of those large hickories and oaks on the property. Four we have planted on the east side of two small sheds. There they get morning sun and are somewhat shaded from the late evening intense sunlight. Those grow the best. My one suggestion is to give them plenty of room. My oldest bushes are close to 5 feet tall and wide. If you plant them too close they are prone to mildew. Thus far we have had no problems with that. Two of my smaller bushes are planted right at the east edge of the canopy of a large hickory again where they get the morning sun and are shaded from the harsh evening sun. Again they love the location and are growing great. The last two bushes I just planted this year. They are supposedly thornless and one is pink and the other is red. They are planted in an open location with little shade. I am watching them closely and if necessary will move them to a shadier location if the sun becomes a problem. 

Our first picking was yesterday and as you can see they are just starting to get a little rosy tint to them. If you leave them on the bush they will turn darker but we do not because the robins will get them all. So as soon as we see a little flush we pick them. We also like them at that stage because they have just a little tartness left to them at that stage which is the flavor we prefer. Once picked you can take your fingernails or a small knife and remove the tips and tails. See the stem on one end (tail) and a small tip where the bloom was on the other (tips) .  Then I wash them and let them drain and place them on a baking sheet and freeze.

Once frozen they are then transferred to quart cups and left in the freezer. I will add to the cups till the end of the season then make some into a jam and leave some whole and put in vacuum bags for pies. I need to post my gooseberry pie recipe. It came from my late mother-in-law and is award winning. She used to enter them in the goose festival bake off in the town she lived in and won most years. 

You find lots of english recipes for gooseberries as it is a fruit that they really like and grow lots of. 

That's it for now. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

New In The Garden Part 2

Continuing along with the theme for new things on the property we continue to try to get away from traditional fruit production. Things like peaches, apples and such struggle on this property because of late spring frosts. While the trees themselves grow fine they rarely produce due to late frosts. They also struggle with pest loads. Therefore we have changed our direction somewhat to production of things that we don't have to baby all year. And for us many of those things are native shrubs and small trees. 

New for us this year is the Nanking Cherry above. A small and hardy bush cherry. We planted a row of 5. Thus far they are growing wonderfully and are supposed to be very hardy and disease resistant.  

Last year we planted a native plum called a sand plum which I have fallen in love with.This plum seems really hardy and fast growing. It blooms really late so would not be hit by late frosts. It has no spurs or thorns like the Choctaw Plum or wild plum that I also have on the property. Problem is I could only get one. So I am going to hope it puts up some sprouts from the roots so that I can start a couple more so that it has something to pollinate with. The other two types of plums on the place will not pollinate it because they bloom at different times. So this is a work in progress. FYI the original tree here came from Stark Bros of Missouri last year. They are no longer carrying it. 

This is the Wild plum or Choctaw plum. These were a present from a friend. We have 4 in the southwest corner of the property along the fence. These make fruit every year but many times get hit very hard by late frosts so the harvest is very small. On the flip side it makes a small tree that is hardy and easy to maintain. We prune once a year to keep them under 10 foot. Dislikes for me is that they have horrible spurs or thorns that make them very difficult to pick or to prune. Also a downside is that they continuously put up suckers from the roots trying to form colonies like they grow in the wild. So we are constantly having to cut out sprouts around the tree.  If I can make the sand plum above work I will take these trees out and plant the much more docile sand plum. 

Another native new to us is the Cornelian Cherry. This is actually a type of dogwood with a red fruit very similar to a cherry. Like most dogwoods this tree is very shade tolerant as you can see this one planted last year grows happily under the edge of the oak canopy among the hostas and azaleas. We have 3 of these now. Two came from Stark Bros Nursery and one came from a small local nursery. These should make an interesting addition as they bloom yellow. 

So as you can see there are plenty of native alternatives to the traditional fruits and berries that require so much spraying and coddling to produce. It should be interesting in the years to come to see how these alternatives grow and produce for us. As we age as gardeners low maintenance, small size, less or no spraying and pruning and easy picking become crucial to us being able to continue to garden.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter