Sorry, this is a bit off topic; if the moderators delete it I will not be offended. I would like to offer to share something with board members, even if it isn't a fruit.
I grow a perennial vegetable called tree collards. Not true collards, but it is a Brassica. The plants produce leaves all year. In the summer, they are best cooked, like you would cook any other leafy green, but they can still be eaten raw. In the cool months they are great raw as well, and can be used in salads or as wraps. They make better wraps than cabbage or lettuce - they "roll" better, and they are a good size. They are one of the tastiest greens, being sweeter and more tender than collards or kale. Also nice in the winter is that the leaves are clean. As harvesting is done at chest height and higher, they aren't getting splattered by mud from the rains. They are very productive.
The downside to them is that they do need to be staked, and staked fairly well. When they get to be seven feet tall, and it snows or the wind blows hard, the weight of them will prove too much for a flimsy stake. This is the voice of experience. Note that stakes shown in the pictures below were inadequate. They do not require full sun. Mine may get six hours per day but not consistently. The two plants shown were a little over a year old at the time of the pictures. They can be planted close together.
These do not flower or go to seed, but are propagated by cuttings. This year I have 20+ one gallon pots with live plants, some with multiple plants (need more pots soon!). Yes, they grow even in the winter here; some of these cuttings were started Thanksgiving through Dec 1.
If you would like to grow some and are in/near the Willamette Valley, I invite you to send me a PM or email. I specify that geographical limit because that is an area in which they grow well and you would be close enough for us to meet up some weekend. Sorry, I am not willing to ship any, but would be happy to meet up with board members over the next couple of months.
Dave
I did not get an email from you, nor can I see any way to send you an email. No email button for you.
The shrubbery is no problem, we just need to work out the communication issue.
If anybody else tried to send me an email and did not get a reply, it means I did not get your email.
There was no message in my spam. I don't believe the email function is broken, as I did get email from others in response.
But do note that in threads with multiple posters, some show an email button and some don't. There is no email button with your posts. I think you have to edit your profile for that.
Hope everybody's plants made it.
Propagation started early this year. I was hoping to trade them within a local group, but the pace of production has exceeded the rate of exodus. So my offer to this group is reiterated. Also this will be ongoing for the next few months; though I may not have young ones at some point (yeah sure) more will be imminent.
Dave
I was glad you gave me 4 Dave, because...
2 got killed by slugs. One was killed by lack of water, but one survives.
It's not so big, but I feel it will keep growing over time. I put the old fruit sox around the base of it and it saved it from slugs. See my article in the POme news recently. I am excited for it to grow up and start giving us fresh veggies. I even want to put some in my home made kimchi.
Thanks again,
John S
PDX OR
John:
Let's figure on you getting some replacements. I don't believe one plant is enough for your family.
By the way, for those that eat eggs, save all those shells. Grind them up coarsely, and sprinkle them thickly around young plants. Slugs do not like crossing sharp stuff, and this will give a slow release Ca to the soil. This is better than mixing them into compost in my opinion.
Dave
I sent out the following email recently, but did not have emails for everybody that got plants last time. Also if you did not get plants last time but would like to this year, you are not excluded from participating.
******
Hello:
The record colds last Dec and Feb killed my tree collards, and from reports yours too. Fortunately I had set aside a couple of young plants which were garaged before the storms, plus somebody requested cuttings around Thanksgiving and then never got them. Those cuttings got started in late February.
I currently have four very healthy tree collard plants. Every year I have had to start pruning in mid summer and it continues on through November. It has begun.
Right now I have six cuttings in the refrigerator (too lazy to pot them tonight). There will obviously be more over the next few months. If you wish to grow tree collards, please consider this an opportune time to at least start planning and even to start some cuttings. You can have cuttings for the asking; you just need to tell me how many you will want. No doubt I will start a lot of plants over the next few months; you can get those as well for the asking, but because of my sloth and the number of folks interested in these, it is too early to tell how many would be available. In my dream world I'd have a backlog of cuttings requests so that the sheer unadulterated joy and satisfaction of starting them could be broadly shared. Yes, I am awesome in my magnanimity.
For planning reference, should you choose the cuttings option - if I take cuttings in late fall, pot them, and leave them out in the cold wet back yard, about 70% turn into decent plants. Reports are with rooting compound, the success rate goes up. Reports are in a greenhouse, rates go up. On my front porch, a warmer spot (though still wet) rates went up. For eating purposes, one plant per person in the household is a good starting point. These things will generate cuttings so it is easy enough to expand over time.
Those of you distant from me should look at this as an opportunity to visit me; it's your turn for a road trip.
Dave
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
1 Guest(s)