Washingtonians

[cheryl98117]

Does anyone know when to transplant blueberry bushes?.. The two I have are small, about a foot tall and maby 8 wide at the fullest point... But iver realised that I planted them in a bad spot! They are right in the way of the extended chicken run! So iether I move them, or the chooks get them... Any tips for me? can they be moved or, should I just leave them alone?

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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As far as I know there are no current poultry quarantines at the Columbia.

Speaking of biohazards, the stupid coyotes are messing with our attempt to get rid of apple maggot and other diseases of old orchards. Free ranging under the apple trees last year put us a little ahead, but unfortunately it's not going to happen this year.

I noticed my apples looked less scabby this year. Has the summer been too cool for scab, or have the chickens made a difference?

Usually cool weather=more scab, but there was also low pollination, so the apples aren't as crowded. But chickens eating all the scabby windfalls also cuts down the pathogen level. Cattle aren't very thorough, and they tromp a lot of fruit into the muck. They also don't like really scabby fruit. Chickens eat everything, including the sprouted seeds (which at that point have spent their cyanide) and scratching breaks down the leaves faster so the spores don't have time to form.

 

[hallerlake]

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You can move them if you keep them watered afterward.

 

[Ogress]

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I transplanted some of mine about 3 weeks ago, and they are doing great, even setting fruit!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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General rule of transplanting anything in active growth:

1. Dig the hole first be tidy about saving the clean dirt, meticulous about getting rid of weed roots, especially quackgrass and creeping buttercup.

2. Wait for a cool day, or at least one with no wind.

3. Water the plant you're digging up heavily the night before.

4. Cut a line around the plant at the drip line.

5. Have a wheelbarrow, wagon, or burden cloth ready to carry the plant, and right next to where it's growing.

Do the next steps all at once and as quickly as possible

6. Using a spading fork, loosen the dirt at the cut line and angle in under the plant.

7. drive a round-nosed shovel down and then in all the way around the plant.

8. Using both hands, grasp the base of the plant right above soil level and tug gently. If it moves easily (and Blueberries especially, and most plants that have only been in the ground for a year or two, will be out at this point) put the shovel back into the ground and lift and lever it out of the hole into your carrying utensile.

9. Put the plant in the new hole, and then water the dirt from the hole in under the plant, using a shovel or spading fork to wiggle things around until the plant is firmly in the fround and there are no bubbles showing.

You can dig two holes at once but after that you need to do the whole transplant for each plant before you go on to the next. The whole point is that plants need to be out of the ground for as short a time possible.

If you can wait until they're dormant, it's a lot easier, you don't need to dump water on them, and can work with more plants at once.

 

[hallerlake]

My turn to vent. After I set up my coops and enclosures in the perfect place (level ground, conifers on the north side, deciduous trees on the south side, out of the flood zone), I realized the big branch over them was rotting. Yesterday, we pulled the enclosures out of the way, and I set to work with my little pruning saw. The branch was six inches in diameter at the base. It took hours to take off the side branches, cut it down and to pieces, and bundled for yard waste. I was tired as you might imagine, and suggested pizza for dinner. NO, pizza is not dinner. I had to make dinner. It's like anything I do outside in the yard doesn't count as work just because I don't hate it. If he had to do it, it sure as heck would be considered work! He and I have this kind of disagreement before. Our yard looks pretty darn good, and it is work. I feel unappreciated. End of vent.

 

[broodytood]

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Nope I had nothing to do with it. Not that I wouldn't have if I coulda.

???? - but you know who is (Broody?) ... and that's your secret.

Sorry to say it wasn't me. But I'm glad for whoever or whatever brought T-Hi back! She's a quack up!!

 

[Illia]

Replying to the two comments on Ground Cherries -


Ground Cherries are a nightshade, related to Tomatoes, Eggplants, Tomatillos. They're much like Tomatillos, in which the berries grow in little lantern-like husks. Their difference is that they're very sweet and tasty, dessert-worthy, really. Also, they're often smaller and certainly not something you find at your local market.

If you have glowing green lanterns but don't see fruit, don't worry. The fruit are quite small and just need to grow. If you could never get them to grow any bigger, simply pull the plant up, hang it, and let them ripen on the (dead) plant. Remember, unless you're in a warm area you need a greenhouse or some sort of cover to grow Ground Cherries successfully.

When the rest ripen, I'm thinking of crushing them and spreading them over a cheesecake.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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If I was more of a masochist, I'd suggest bringing him here to see what happens when the gardener isn't up to the stooping over part of maintenance. I have sufficient caustic disapproval inside my skin right now, though, so this is not an invitation for dinner.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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They ripen here (and I do mean right here- I think they'd take at least a cloche with clay soil) four years out of five, but do take full sun, a nice loose soil , and less water than anything else- but my they are tasty!