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Tag Archives: orchard

  • The Rewards of the Garden

    May 23, 2012

    17 Comments

    This morning’s strawberries and blueberries.

    As we move into summer our roles in the garden shift. We still tend our crops but we become “hunters and gatherers” as well. We are hunting for berries, and with good results. But we also start to hunt for the blossoms that offer a glimpse of the future. Blossoms on the tomatoes, melons and squash are strong signals that our late-summer crops are growing and thriving. Tendrils on the peas and rapid growth of our arugula and greens means that we are just weeks away from tasty salads and peas from the shell. Our cucumbers blossom and climb, and we can almost taste the refrigerator pickles. We see the slightest dash of red and know that radishes are on the way. It’s a happy hunt through the garden.

    Blueberries from the “perfect” bush.

    As for our berries, they are at their peak. The strawberries are tasty and plentiful. The blueberries are big and sweet. The fruit from each blueberry bush tastes very different and we enjoy comparing them as we snack in the garden. We have one bush this year that has simply delightful blueberries. Sweet and with a slightly tart finish and soft skins, these berries are one of the best things we have ever tasted. We just stand there, eat the berries and smile. I could never mix a cocktail, or Carolyn craft a confection that compares to a perfect blueberry, just picked, from the garden. Nature stands unrivaled. And we are grateful.

    Strawberries are very sweet now, and plentiful.

    Melons and arugula in the front, moving to tomatoes.

    More nasturtiums, these go into salads.

    Melon blossom. These had us worried but they seem to be pulling through. Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard Tags: berries, community, flowers, garden, gardening, hunters and gatherers, lifestyle, orchard, photography
  • Orchard Update: Cherries And Raspberries!

    May 18, 2012

    7 Comments

    Early Van Cherries

    Nature always surprises us. This year we expected hoped to get a good crop from the orchard and berry patch, but did not expect much until June and beyond. But as we had our first warm snap, the raspberries and cherries (at least some of them) decided that now is the time- and we have fruit! Awesome. Just awesome. I won’t lie, we both started giggling like bad movie villains as we tasted the cherries, they were such a surprise we felt like we were getting away with something. And since we beat the birds to the cherries, I think we did!

    The cherries “hide” under the leaves, you need to look closely to find them

    The early cherries we have are Vans, a bright red, “sweet” cherry. The taste is sweet, but with a little tartness for balance. The flesh is dense and with a bit of pleasant crunch. Good stuff and perfect for simply eating out of hand (or in a Cherry Fling Cocktail). The Van is a great cherry to have in the orchard as it will pollinate with any cherry variety and is itself a good pollinator of other cherries. (If you really want to get into it, the Rainer cherry is a mix between the Bing and Van cherries, not sure what you can do with that, but there you go…). The tree in the photo is a hybrid tree with Van and Black Tartarian cherries grafted to the same trunk. It is somewhat odd to see one branch with ripe cherries and one with very green cherries, but this just means our cherry season lasts longer. We can live with that. Meanwhile our Bing cherry tree is covered with green fruit that is just starting to ripen, we can’t wait.

    Golden raspberries

    As for the berries, our golden raspberries also came in early. We always get a good, sustained yield from the bushes, but did not expect them so soon. The golden raspberries are simply an albino variety of  red raspberries. Neither of us can remember why we went with golden raspberries, but they are sweet and tasty, just like a red raspberry. And they certainly are pretty with their gold and rose colors. These berries rarely make it out of the orchard or garden. We simply pull a few and eat them as we work, a nice treat through the summer.

    Red raspberry blossom

    Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard Tags: bing cherry tree, cherry, garden, golden raspberries, golden raspberry, orchard, putney farm, raspberry, van cherry
  • Orchard Update: The Battle Begins!

    May 11, 2012

    5 Comments

    Loquats on one of our older trees. The squirrels love these. We will use them in chutney-like preparations.

    Spring is the season of hope. And just as the winter citrus crop is gone, we move to the orchard. And this year the orchard is looking very hopeful with cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, loquats, apples and pears all off to a good start. The big question is not if we will have a good crop, the question is who will get to enjoy it- us or the varmints? I hope we get to enjoy the fruit, but the rascally rodents of Putney Farm will certainly come calling, and we will have a fight on our hands. We hope we win.

    Orange Blossom and happy honeybee. Citrus season is pretty much over.

    While we have our share of pests to fight in the garden, the orchard is a totally different deal. The garden is partly caged with raised beds and wire mesh to fight the gophers, moles, etc. We fight the bugs organically, and it works pretty well. In the orchard, we are also (mostly) organic, but it’s a full-on battle. Birds, squirrels, wood rats, gophers and all sorts of blights go after our trees and fruit with gusto. And once the fruit is even close to ripe, the hordes will descend upon us. We get better every year at protecting the crop (and yes that means killing a bunch of gophers and wood rats), but we are far from victory.

    Early peaches showing some color.

    But for now, all is beautiful. When we first venture into the orchard, it is hard to see the fruit, but suddenly we see dozens, sometimes hundreds of small peaches, plums and cherries. The colors are just developing and the fruits are small, but we  just know how good the fruit can be. It makes us smile, every time. Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard, Musings Tags: berry patch, cherry, fruit orchard, orchard, peach, plum, putney farm
  • The Orchard Before the Rains

    March 13, 2012

    1 Comment

    Berries at left, fig at right and stone fruits down the middle.

    It has been a very pleasant winter in Norcal. By pleasant, I mean warm and almost no rain (no snow either, a bummer for skiers and boarders). We all enjoy this balmy weather, but we also know that we need some rain. California has been called the “Caddilac Desert” for a reason, there really isn’t enough water to go around, but we just use it anyway. We are always one or two bad years away from brown lawns, timed showers and “strategic” flushing. Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard, Musings Tags: berry patch, cherry, farming, fig, orchard, peach, stone fruits

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