A Peach of a Gift

Waaaay back at the end of July, I received an email from Gurney’s® Seed and Nursery.

They made some wonderful sounding promises about a peach tree.

"Gurney’s Flat Wonderful Peach Tree is the result of decades of breeding at Rutgers University. The peach’s flat, doughnut-like shape gives it a perfectly bite-sized height—great for fresh eating, and less messy than round peaches. The snackable shape also makes it easier to pit and slice.

Flat Wonderful was practically a secret until Gurney’s claimed it and started marketing—its hybrid parents had never been released by the University. A round ‘momma’ and a flat ‘daddy’ give this decadent peach its flat shape and truly wonderful flavor.

Obscenely Rich Flavor Like No Other Peach

Flat Wonderful’s flavor has been described by industry experts as richly complex, with hints of raspberry, blueberry, honey, and—believe it or not—expensive, carefully brewed beer. Slightly spiced and very sweet compared to the typical peach, which is often blandly sweet, Flat Wonderful offers hardcore peach-lovers a firm texture. Unique to this variety and unusual for peaches, experts describe its texture as gently chewy. With a Flat Wonderful Peach Tree in your yard, gone are the days of melting peach textures and messy snacking. Sink your teeth into this wonderful peach, and you’ll never grow another variety again.

The best peach you’ll ever eat grows on a beautiful semi-dwarf tree that matures to 15 feet with an 18-foot spread. Leaves start the season a brilliant red, then fade to green in mid summer. Large pink blooms in late spring—and the tree’s size and shape—make it a true garden specimen."

Sounded intriguing, to say the least. I'd been wanting to add a peach tree to my back yard, ever since I'd been forced (by the life cycle of the tree) to cut down my Ash trees. Their loss, while traumatic, did open a window of opportunity. And here was a chance to not only get a peach tree... this one would be free. Yes, a free peach tree. I likes free.

There was a catch, however. This tree was rated for cooler areas of the country. How would it do in Houston? Will it fruit? Will it survive the heat in the summer?

I decided to give it a try. I volunteered to test the tree, in Southern conditions.

This is what I got.

It came a little early.... in August. Now, if you're from anywhere but Houston, or areas farther south, you'll probably be thinking.. humm.... kinda late... will it get established before winter?

My problem was just the opposite. I had to keep it alive until it was cool enough to plant, probably towards the end of September. PLUS...we were in the midst of an epic drought. And, did I mention, it was HOT. Oh, and it had arrived unheralded, as I'd not heard back from the company that it was coming. That meant that it sat in its little cardboard box for about 12 hours or so, until we found it at the very end of the day. The day it arrived, the high temperature had been 103 F.

So, I stashed the little tree in the shade and made sure to water it often.. every day or so. I watched anxiously to see if it would wilt or show signs of stress. It seemed unfazed by its transition from the Midwest to the heat and humidity of Houston. That was all the more amazing to me because I knew that, where it had been grown, it had been cooler and wetter than normal for the summer.

I let the rest of the month pass, and by then, the rains had started to come. The heat had broken and the weatherman promised at least a week of cooler temperatures and some rain.. and most importantly... cloudy skies. I needed those clouds, not only to keep things cool, but to make sure the little tree didn't get sunburned before it could settle its roots.

This is where I chose to plant the little tree. Remember, I am at least one growing zone south of its southernmost rating, so I planted it where it would get shade in the hottest part of the day for the first couple of years it's going to be growing. After it gets tall enough that it will be in sun full time, it should either have established itself, strongly....or have died from the heat.



Humm... not root bound, by any means.

The graft was good, and the shoot from the graft was strong and vigorous, about as big around as my index finger. The root stock was about as big around as my thumb.


August 30.. yep... that's when it got planted. You'll note that it's got some nice branching going on and that the leaves are in very good shape.

It was even putting on new leaves!


Now, where I was planting the tree was once the site of a compost heap that became a raised bed. I knew the soil should be pretty good there, though I'd not dug in the bed for a while, as I'd planted it in shade perennials... who did not survive the felling of the tree, alas.


Yeah, I'd say the soil was pretty good. I didn't need to add anything. We'd dressed the whole area with leaves the previous three years and they, and the earthworms had done their magic.

Then, knowing as I do, that I have a dog that likes to dig in dirt I'VE recently dug... I made some provisions to protect the little darling. I also started to lay out a DIY sprinkling system.

I've not finished that project yet. Sigh.

So far, the little tree is doing very well. I'll get 'Pup to take some pictures and send them to me to post. We've gotten a little rain lately (about 15 inches in the last couple of months), and it seems to like where I've planted it.

It will be, I think, a semi-dwarf tree... though.. in Houston, what that means is any one's guess. Things tend to grow somewhat larger here, because of the extended growing season. I'm not sure if I'll get fruit this first spring (I rather doubt it), but I can always hope. I am quite delighted in this FREE gift, and hope to see it be successful here.

For more information about this tree, and the company who sent it, go to Gurney's Seed and Nursery for online ordering and a free catalogue.

To make sure I've satisfied the law regarding disclosure, let me restate that I've received this tree for FREE, and that I will be test growing it under some conditions under which it is not guaranteed to thrive. My report of its progress will be (I'm gonna try) monthly or semi-monthly. Cross your fingers, folks...this might be interesting!

Journaling

A lot of the gardening blogs mention keeping a journal about your garden., what you plant in it and how it does. I know I should. The "Whys" are as easy to find and list as they are at this site. Am I going to do it? I've been telling myself, since 2005, when I started this blog, that my garden journal was "online". Well, I have to admit it.. that's kind of been a cop out.

Truth is: I'm lazy. I like journals and I like writing in them. I just forget to do it every day. I think I'm going to give it another try. One of the things I got at Spring Fling was an empty garden journal. NOW is as good a time as any to start, as I'll be planting things again this month. "Fall" is our second "Spring" here, and is actually a nicer time to garden as the pests that eat the plants have gone through their major life cycle for the year and so there are fewer things to munch upon the plants. It's a little dicey, and a gamble...which has its own allure. Are you going to beat the first frost? Is there going to BE a first frost? (Seriously...sometimes...we don't get a 'frost' until sometime around or after Christmas.)

So, in goes the beets, the radish, the carrots and more lettuce. I've had to resort to chemical warfare against the snails this year. This spring they were simply overwhelming. I'm hoping to get some sort of crop before they eat it all. The spring crop of lettuce was cut short. One morning, I went outside to get some and discovered there was not a LEAF to be found. It was if someone had "unplanted" it. You'd never have known there had been lettuce anywhere near the pot, except that I did have pictorial proof. They also ate my snap peas, bush beans and all of my squash and cucumber ---they even beat the squash borer to the squash!

So.. into the journal goes this year... bad for snails...little to no rain this summer...but great basil production. My overwintered tomatoes did well this spring and will be going back into the same bed they were in last year. That bed's been free of tomatoes all summer, so it should be good for another growing season.

Ahhhh... I do like fall.

The Heat

I was searching for some plants to put into the new extension of my herb bed.

Yes, I was gardening! 'Pup and I waited until I got home tonight to do some of the heavy digging, as it's just too frickin' hot to do anything during the day, even if I were off work to do it. We've both been taking it kinda easy this summer, as we've both been a little under the weather. More about that, later.

Anyway, as I was searching for herb plants that might do really well in dry, hot conditions ...like HOUSTON this summer... I found out that the herb they get ephedrine from loves hot, dry places. There are even a lot of the plant varieties that don't contain the alkaloids that got the herbal supplement into such trouble.

I've no idea how to get any of the varieties of the plants, but it's interesting what you find out on the internet...

We're going to be redoing the water system there too, having gotten some DIY drip irrigation kits. I'll be able to water the bed again, without having to use a sprinkler. I had to use one tonight and waited and waited until it was finally time to turn off the water...only to discover that a friendly neighbor had done it for me.

Tomato Update

The tomatoes I overwintered are doing remarkably well. I've never had such success with tomatoes I've started in the fall. Usually, they peter out fairly quickly. This year, I think the difference was where they were and how well I protected them.

There are two ripening in the bright sun. That may be another difference. After Ike, the ash trees were pruned fairly heavily, leaving the tomatoes in full sun all day long (that's an exception, not the rule in my back yard.)

I also have several green tomatoes promising some bounty later on.

Oops.. do you see what I see?

Yep, looks like another tomato is mooning me.

I also have a volunteer that grew over the winter. It is in the pot that I have my dwarf Cavendish banana, and from the look of the tiny blooms, it may be a Mexican miniature from a couple of years ago. I hope it is, as the tomatoes are tiny, but intensely flavored. I've not found anyone selling seeds or sets of that variety, so I'll be saving seeds from this one.

There's more going on in the backyard, but I'm going to be sitting down (gingerly) for a while, as I fell down as I was working (alone). I had re potted a clivia, Orange Bush Lily, and planted a Bird of Paradise (both of them were bought end of the year and overwintered in my surround shelter. I was also able to re pot some begonias (also over wintered). More news later. I need to go find a pillow...

Spring Harvests

No, can't harvest cross vines, though they are kinda pretty...

they're not something that will feed anything but your soul.

Lemon grass, on the other hand,

tastes just fine. I could harvest this much about 10 times and I'd still have a respectable stand of lemon grass. Anyone need some lemon grass? I've been sharing it with some Vietnamese neighbors and my hairdresser, and a parent of one of the students I tutor.

Another tasty harvest.. some tomatoes. They aren't pretty, but they're not as ugly as some! And they tasted juuuuust fine, thank you.

Finally, I also did some more radish thinning. I'm developing a fondness for these sprouts. Nom, nom, nom.

The beets are up, as are the carrots, peas, beans and lettuce. I've not transplanted the tomatoes yet, but that's something I think I'll save for Friday when it's supposed to be a lot cooler (50's) and..and.. and...

IT'S GONNA RAIN!!

Ugly Fruit

At least, some people call it a fruit, others are rather vehemently of the opinion that it is a vegetable. Me? I kinda fall somewhere in the middle of that debate. On the one hand, I use it like a vegetable, adding it to soups, sauces and as a healthy side dish. Then again, I'm just about as liable to eat one out of hand, rather like an apple. Which everyone seems to agree is a fruit.

At any rate...

When I went outside today to water (we got some rain, but not nearly enough, last night) everything my eye was caught by a flash of red deeeeeep in the midst of my tomatoes.

It was a ripe tomato, at last!

However. It is not your average, everyday, beautiful baseball shaped image of loveliness pictured in the gardening magazines. Instead, I got this:

Yah, I know... looks kinda.. well... almost... obscene! And what's with the one green part? The ripe part was almost too ripe....

But uhmm.... it was quite delicious, right off the vine and still warm from the sun. I can't wait for the others to ripen. The covers worked very well this winter. We're due for some nice weather, highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's t0 60's. This is the part of the year we live for in Houston. Not too hot, not too cold, just right.

But DANG! That was an ugly tomato!

RAIN and Random Ups and Downs

Sigh, so much for planting today.

On the upside, when it stops raining, the soil will be easier to dig in!

On the downside, it's not going to stop until Friday!

On the upside, I'm OFF on Fridays....

Downside: I've got more doctor appointments!

Note to self, I want to get more calendulas, as the ones I got Sunday are so pretty, but there needs to be more of them.

Good news, I discovered yesterday, that my lemon balm, which I thought I'd lost, has started to rebound and is now just beginning to grow again. If I can keep it mulched this year, it should be there this spring. I have trouble with lemon balm, as it gets black spot. Much like the roses, it prefers dry air.

My knees are feeling pretty good today. (crossing fingers)

I used my wheelchair today at the Houston Garden Center. They're having a 70% off on most plants sale, and I wanted to see if there was anything that needed to come home with me. The upside to it being a drippy day, and the middle of the day, is that I got a helper to pull my wagon as I loaded it up.

I like the wheelchair. I get around, using my own muscles, but it doesn't hurt the knees or back or legs. I do need a pair of leather gloves though, as I don't want a blister on my left thumb. Why the left thumb and no where else? Ya got me... I'm not sure.

Bullfrog Bucks at Nelson's Watergardens

It's been a busy day.

'Pup and I started things off well, deciding to go to Sandy's Produce for brunch. I had an unbeatable omelet, fresh fruit, Japanese yam, oatmeal, coffee, and tea. By then, they'd started changing out to the lunch part of brunch.... (we got there at just the right time to take full advantage of the food!).. and I had some roast chicken (free range, locally raised), some locally grown turnip greens, mashed potatoes and yes, more tea. I took small portions, and we were there for a while, enjoying, not only the food, but the cheerful atmosphere. Since we've been there last, they've expanded the number of tables they have scattered throughout the store. Each of these tables is for sale, by the way... and many are some very nice pieces of antique furniture. It has a home cooked and homey feel... because no table is butted up right against another, but it gives some real people watching opportunities.

What I like about the food is that it is freshly made with the same produce and meats that they carry in the shop. There are no mystery ingredients, and nothing comes pre-made and frozen.

From there, we went to Nelson's Water Gardens to spend some of my Nelson's Bullfrog Bucks. I had a rather lot of them built up over the last couple of years and we pretty much were able to get everything we bought for 1/2 the price, even the things that were already on sale. I still have some left.... and I've another 3 weeks to see what I can find...yipeeee!

I've not been able to do much gardening lately, because of the knees, but I managed to get everything we bought today into the ground. I still need to finish cleaning up afterwards, some pulled weeds and some plastic pots to clean.. (they're good for starting plants from seed). So, I just planted a dozen violas, two calendula, a peach sage (new for me!) and a pineapple sage ( to replace the two I lost), a Barbados cherry, six nasturtium, a thyme, an oregano and...humm.. I'm forgetting something...

Even with the improvement I've had with the knees, I still had to be oh, so very, very careful. Uneven surfaces are not my friends, and I'm going to have to come up with even more adaptive behaviors and alternative ways to do things. 'Pup and I have a new raised bed garden planned, and with any luck, it'll be done before next Sunday. I think I'm going to have to raise the level from the 18 inches we'd originally planned to closer to 24 inches. The extra six inches will make a big difference as to my ability to work it, but it's going to cost more for the soil, as we'll have to buy some.

Tomorrow, after I get back from the podiatrist, with my new shoes, I'll plant the garlic and onion sets. I think I'll plant some radish and carrots and even venture on some beets, though I may be a little late for them to do much. But, baby beets would be good to eat. I'm even going to plant some turnips, mostly for my mom... she loves turnip greens. With the fences fixed up, I can get to the raised beds without being concerned about having things trampled.

I still need to find some inexpensive trellis, for the side fence. I've some money left on one of the gift cards we'd loaded for Mr. West to use to buy materials. 'Pup and I wanted him to keep it and use it to buy more materials for his back fence, but he's insisted on giving it back. I'll use it to help finish off the rehabilitation on the back yard. It has a LOT to fix up. 'Pup and I have a lot of work to do.

All in all, I think I can claim to have worked off a lot of the calories I had for brunch.

Now, if don't eat more than some chevre, crackers and an apple for dinner, I'll count it as a good girl day... did I mention that I was told to eat more calcium? It might as well be tasty!

By the way, have y'all tasted an apple called Honeycrisp yet? Oh. My. Goodness. The dang things are addictive. I've found them at both HEB markets and the Krogers I go to. I had been looking for them in the markets for a month before they got here, about a month later than they had last year. They are definitely a seasonal apple, I've noticed that they disappear sometime in the winter. I understand that they're a new enough variety that they're still in limited amounts as the trees that grow them gain age and numbers.

This has been a rambling post. Thanks for reading so far down the page!

A Perfect 6.0

I've been having some really bad trouble with my knees lately, especially my heretofore GOOD knee.

Yesterday, I was home, and it started raining. Remembering that we'd left a new piece of gardening equipment out that should have been put in, I scrambled out. Well, not so much scrambled, as limped...

I got the equipment (a subject of a future post, thank you!) under cover and considered....."hmmmm....self," thinks I,"you left out your brand new shiny hammer out there and a couple of extension cords and wouldn't it be a good idea for them to come in too?"

"Good thought," thought I.

I picked up the first extension chord, and a work light I'd almost forgotten about, and started to roll up the second cord.

"Oh, Shoot!*" thought I. "It's caught under a 'misplaced minion of the devil'* rock by the pond!"

So, I put down the other things and limped over to the rock and cord and untangled the cord.

Somehow, in doing the above task, I did something my left knee (the heretofore GOOD knee--hereafter to be named: HGK) buckled on me and I would have fallen flat on my face, save for a (Oh thank you, munificent Deity) fortuitously placed bench.

"OH, UN COMPOSTED MANURE! OH, MISBEGOTTEN MALE OFFSPRING OF A FEMALE CANINE!"*I thought.

"AAAAAAAWWWAWWWWWWCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!" said I.

Yah, it hurt. Hades consigned HGK.*

All day yesterday, I couldn't walk well, sit well, or lay down. I had to call into work and tell my Good Boss that I wasn't going to be able to make it to work. I'd have had to use a wheelchair. Not cool, and painful to boot.

I ended up taking rather more of the pain pills the good Arthritis Doctor prescribed than was actually prescribed. (I took 2 instead of 1 at a time) They helped a little. Not a whole lot, but a little.

Luckily, I already had an appointment with the good doctor this morning and he stuck a needle in HGK. I should feel better tomorrow. He also confirmed that I did, indeed, have osteoarthritis, and I would probably do well to lose some weight... sigh. Also, I do have some bone loss, and I'd better step up my calcium intake. He'll be monitoring how it goes.

He did share a bit of GOOD news though. My A1c came back as a perfect 6.0. That won't mean a lot to most of you, but in a nutshell, it means that my diabetes is under good control. The really good part of this is that the test came about 1/2 way through a round of steroids.

So, the lesson to this convoluted attempt to explain why I've not been gardening much, while still maintaining my blog's "G" rating is: Make your husband put the gardening tools away for you. :(*= my attempts to stay G rated)

I'm just sayin'!

OH... and I'm not going to be able to put more gardening off, as I've FINALLY got my garlic and onion sets in and they need planting.

More about that, another time.

I'd like to be a perfect 10 someday, but until then, I'll settle for a 6.0.

Garden Adornment

'Pup and I have discussed, for the past few years, trying to find some things or ways to make the back end of the garden look....bigger, or at least, farther away. Honestly, I'm not sure I can fathom how some of the families in the newer, bigger homes near us can deal with a back yard only a third as deep as ours. We've driven through the new developments as they've been built and have seen (with some measure of disbelief) fence lines that seem to come within about 6 feet of the back door. Our side yard is deeper than that.

We've thought about mounting some strips of mirror behind some trellis, or mounting a mirror on/in some trellis, to look like windows. It might also increase some of the light available back there for some vegetable growing. Now, if we could just find someone to cut the two old bathroom vanity mirrors (the big kind) into smaller, and more manageable pieces. I mean, if we could do that, it'd be DONE.

Another option would be similar to one I saw at Nelson's. They've different sections of wooden fence around the back part of the nursery. Each section is either painted, in different colors, or is decorated with various hangable pieces of garden art. One section is even plastered, another tiled. In front of each panel, different kinds of pots are arranged. The effect is...interesting.

So, it gets me thinking.

Oh, hush. I think sometimes.

Just enough to keep in practice, you know.

So, the idea I had was to see if I could find a weatherproof landscape-type picture and mount IT inside a windowpane. But, where to get such a thing?

So, on an Internet search I went. I mean, I'm not an expert searcher. That title would belong to my friend, Val. That woman is a Google demon. She can find information on things faster than most of us could think of a search term to type in the box.

I found a couple of options. One was hiring a person to paint the picture right on the fence. Uhm. If I could afford that, I'd probably have a backyard so large I wouldn't need to make it seem bigger.

The search eventually took me to a site that sells hot tub covers. Yah, I know, most of them are grey and not exactly scenic. These, are a little different. They fit on the tub and when they're rolled back, and the cover is folded back, the cover shows a landscape scene. It's supposed to make the area around the tub seem scenic and colorful. Sort of the same effect I was looking for in my project.

They promise the hot tub cover is trim-to-fit, needing no special tools or experience to install. They also promise a high durability of product, waterproof, and high chemical resistance. It's the second quality that makes me think it could be something I could use.

But, to tell the truth, I think I'd rather have the hot tub to install it on. A hot tub is one of those "someday" things on the list most people have in the backs of their minds. The dream is held close, and safe, not spoken of often, except with the most wistful of tones.

It would be so nice to be able to soak sore muscles and ease sore joints in hot water. Sigh. I suspect the cover would be the closest thing I could get.