Friday, August 23, 2019
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Ripe Springfels Mango
Ate my first Springfels mango from my tree today. It was very good. It is described as a pineapple flavored mango. Pineapple Pleasure is one of my favorite mangos and is very pineapple-y. Springfels is not pineapple-y in the same way. It is more like a very rich classic mango (similar richness to Edward in my opinion) but has a pineapple background complement flavor that makes it a little more refreshing than eating a classic mango.
This is a big mango, like > 1 lb. I have another on the tree still ripening that is at least 2 lb. This one is reported to have a lot of growing and ripening issues in FL, but looks like it makes very good mangos in AZ.
This is a big mango, like > 1 lb. I have another on the tree still ripening that is at least 2 lb. This one is reported to have a lot of growing and ripening issues in FL, but looks like it makes very good mangos in AZ.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Temporary Canopy Trees (Permaculture Approach)
A cornerstone permaculture design approach is to use fast growing trees as temporary canopy until productive trees grow into to take that space in the canopy layer. In the Phoenix desert this becomes almost a requirement (I say almost because you can throw extra water and build temporary shade structures to keep trees alive when there is no natural canopy around, but that is the hard way to go about it). When you use other trees as temporary shade, you get many more benefits than just building shade structures:
However this does require you to think ahead and get your temporary trees established first before you start planting your orchard. This really does pay off in the long run.
I have been putting this approach to good use for years in my yard. I use Moringa and Castor (Giant Zanibariensis) as fast growing canopy trees. And after 1-3 years I take them out once something becomes big enough to occupy that space. I have removed several trees this way. Today I removed two more.
Castor and Morninga were planted side by side to provide shade in my deciduous area. Castor was about 15 ft tall and Moringa was 25+ ft tall and provided significant shade. A Sweet Lavender Mulberry was planted in this area to be a productive tree that eventually provided the canopy in this area. Now that the Mulberry is big enough the Castor and Moringa have been stumped.
Sweet Lavender Mulberry providing really beautiful shade
- Will make shade, without needing to stake any structure or worrying about it blowing away in a wind storm
- Will create a microclimate in that section of the yard far more effectively than a shade structure will
- Will add fertility to the soil by making bacterial and fungal associations and multiplying that content in the soil via increased root mass (especially true if the trees are nitrogen-fixing)
- Will create free mulch via natural leaf dropping or intentional pruning
- Will create a nurse environment for a productive tree
- Nursed productive trees will establish faster due to the increased microbial activity in the soil
However this does require you to think ahead and get your temporary trees established first before you start planting your orchard. This really does pay off in the long run.
I have been putting this approach to good use for years in my yard. I use Moringa and Castor (Giant Zanibariensis) as fast growing canopy trees. And after 1-3 years I take them out once something becomes big enough to occupy that space. I have removed several trees this way. Today I removed two more.
Castor and Morninga were planted side by side to provide shade in my deciduous area. Castor was about 15 ft tall and Moringa was 25+ ft tall and provided significant shade. A Sweet Lavender Mulberry was planted in this area to be a productive tree that eventually provided the canopy in this area. Now that the Mulberry is big enough the Castor and Moringa have been stumped.
Sweet Lavender Mulberry providing really beautiful shade
Monday, May 13, 2019
Mid-May Update
Lots of fun stuff in the yard right now:
Coffee Flowers!
Beautifully ripe Black Star Surinam Cherry next to an unripe one
Gorgeous red growth flush on Marcus Pumpkin avocado
Tahitian pummelo! Second year of fruiting for me. Right now they are tennis ball size but when ripe will be the size of a women's basketball
Apricots ripening up
Tons of figs all over the yard. In this pic: Genovese Nero (AF) in the front and Ronde de Bordeaux in the back
Black Maderia graft is pushing and looking good! Grafted onto Black Jack.
Finish out with a pic of a pretty poppy.
Coffee Flowers!
Beautifully ripe Black Star Surinam Cherry next to an unripe one
Gorgeous red growth flush on Marcus Pumpkin avocado
Tahitian pummelo! Second year of fruiting for me. Right now they are tennis ball size but when ripe will be the size of a women's basketball
Apricots ripening up
Tons of figs all over the yard. In this pic: Genovese Nero (AF) in the front and Ronde de Bordeaux in the back
Black Maderia graft is pushing and looking good! Grafted onto Black Jack.
Finish out with a pic of a pretty poppy.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Moringa Airlayering Experiment, part 2
This is follow up to Moringa Airlayering Experiment, part 1
It has been a month so it is time to check the air layer experiment. Here is what the branch looks like on the tree. Look how much the moringa has leafed / branched out in just a month.
Airlayer May 2019
I cut the branch off the tree and put it on the ground so I could get a look at it.
Branch is about 15 feet tall
Opened up the airlayer ball .... nada. No roots and nothing that looks like root initials.
No roots. Air layer not successful
As a point of comparison, I did a Fig air layer about a week after I started this moringa air layer and the fig air layer is already full of roots. The temperature has been perfect over the last month for air layering. So if it was ever going to work, it should have worked in the last month.
So even though the air layering experiment was not successful, I cut the branch to 6 ft tall and stuck it in a pot. It will likely root (morningas root fairly easily). But this is why we experiment :)
It has been a month so it is time to check the air layer experiment. Here is what the branch looks like on the tree. Look how much the moringa has leafed / branched out in just a month.
Airlayer May 2019
I cut the branch off the tree and put it on the ground so I could get a look at it.
Branch is about 15 feet tall
Opened up the airlayer ball .... nada. No roots and nothing that looks like root initials.
No roots. Air layer not successful
As a point of comparison, I did a Fig air layer about a week after I started this moringa air layer and the fig air layer is already full of roots. The temperature has been perfect over the last month for air layering. So if it was ever going to work, it should have worked in the last month.
So even though the air layering experiment was not successful, I cut the branch to 6 ft tall and stuck it in a pot. It will likely root (morningas root fairly easily). But this is why we experiment :)
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