Berries

too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I have a Comice pear I planted three years ago. Haven't gotten a single pear yet. A few start to form and then fall off. It's supposed to be self pollinating. I think the problem is that it blooms early before most bees are out. And it's usually raining. I'm going to get some Mason bee's and build a house for them since they're the earliest bee's out around here and I like the idea of providing habitat for these beneficial pollinators.
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Hope they help out. We had Potter bees here at work. There is exposed clay in the back yard, and they had built the little pots right on the ground.

Frost is the usual culprit around here when there are no pears. There is an old tree on my cousins land that is 75-100 years old. It looks like hell, but most years it is loaded. Not a single pear this year.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
too larry said:
Hope they help out. We had Potter bees here at work. There is exposed clay in the back yard, and they had built the little pots right on the ground.

Frost is the usual culprit around here when there are no pears. There is an old tree on my cousins land that is 75-100 years old. It looks like hell, but most years it is loaded. Not a single pear this year.
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I don't know for sure what the problem is but it has tons of flowers just no pears. After doing some research I found out that my variety of pear is only considered self pollinating in the western United States. Other information said they don't self pollinate in the northwest where I'm at. I don't know what to think. And to top it off my Peach tree was loaded until it got wiped out by peach leaf curl. Second time in a row It's gotten it and I sprayed. I'm going to use the Bordeaux mixture this fall, mid winter, and early spring. If it comes back next year I'm removing the peach tree and planting something else in it's spot that's not susceptible to peach leaf curl. It was terrible watching all my baby peaches wither away and fall off. I gave the tree a heavy dose of high nitrogen rich fertilizer and it's now lush and green with new leaves.
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I don't know for sure what the problem is but it has tons of flowers just no pears. After doing some research I found out that my variety of pear is only considered self pollinating in the western United States. Other information said they don't self pollinate in the northwest where I'm at. I don't know what to think. And to top it off my Peach tree was loaded until it got wiped out by peach leaf curl. Second time in a row It's gotten it and I sprayed. I'm going to use the Bordeaux mixture this fall, mid winter, and early spring. If it comes back next year I'm removing the peach tree and planting something else in it's spot that's not susceptible to peach leaf curl. It was terrible watching all my baby peaches wither away and fall off. I gave the tree a heavy dose of high nitrogen rich fertilizer and it's now lush and green with new leaves.
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Get an electric toothbrush and do your own pollinating on some and see if it makes fruit. At least you'll know what's going on. I use an electric toothbrush on most blooms in my garden and swear it increases yield.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
Get an electric toothbrush and do your own pollinating on some and see if it makes fruit. At least you'll know what's going on. I use an electric toothbrush on most blooms in my garden and swear it increases yield.
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I've done something similar and still get nothing. I have a spot a little bit away in the corner of the yard I'm thinking of planting a dwarf Bartlett for cross pollination.

Picked these this morning. Bottle cap for reference.

 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I've done something similar and still get nothing. I have a spot a little bit away in the corner of the yard I'm thinking of planting a dwarf Bartlett for cross pollination.

Picked these this morning. Bottle cap for reference.

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Damn, those are big.
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I've done something similar and still get nothing. I have a spot a little bit away in the corner of the yard I'm thinking of planting a dwarf Bartlett for cross pollination.

Picked these this morning. Bottle cap for reference.

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Ive never seen such a small bottle cap ;)

ime the larger blues are usually a little more mushy/grainy.. I gotta hear about how these monsters taste :clap:
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
blowincherrypie said:
Ive never seen such a small bottle cap ;)

ime the larger blues are usually a little more mushy/grainy.. I gotta hear about how these monsters taste :clap:
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These are not grainy but are a little tart and not as sweet as last year. I think that's because I've been watering them so much this year. Last year I under watered and didn't realize it until the berries started to shrivel up. I then discovered that the soil around them was bone dry an inch down. This year I've been soaking them almost daily. They're growing great but the flavor is blander and tarter than what I've gotten in the past. I think I've been giving them too much water. Some research shows that berries will be sweeter during drier years due to concentration of the sugars and the berries will be smaller. More water equals larger berries but with less flavor. Next year I hope to find the right balance to get large berries that are sweet.

A little honey drizzled over them on some vanilla ice cream makes a delicious treat. I've been using them in pancakes as well.
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
I went up in the mountains yesterday and it is definitely a good berry year. Most aren't quite ready as you can see the majority of these are a little light colored. I'll be going back over the next few weeks so I can catch them at they're prime. I gave these to my grandma, I gotta say it made an 89 year old woman pretty damn happy.
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too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
I went up in the mountains yesterday and it is definitely a good berry year. Most aren't quite ready as you can see the majority of these are a little light colored. I'll be going back over the next few weeks so I can catch them at they're prime. I gave these to my grandma, I gotta say it made an 89 year old woman pretty damn happy.
View attachment 4179832
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Those look nice.

The grapes over at Mamma's old place are getting ripe, and I've been eating a few everyday on my way to work. {I need to remember to take pictures}
 
GreenHighlander

GreenHighlander

Well-Known Member
Some high bush blueberries I planted last year. Having grown up on wild blueberries I am surprised by the tastiness of them.
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And the last of my red currants for this year. I didn't prune the red or black currant bushes this year and my yield of both was way down. I will be hacking the shit out of both this year to further my experiment.
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Cheers :)
 
GreenHighlander

GreenHighlander

Well-Known Member
Oh and I found yet another bird nest this morning while picking some black currants.
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This is nest number 5 I have come across this summer. 2 robin nests, one chickadee nest in one of the birdhouses, and I now believe this to be the second Junco nest. I shared the first Junco nest I found In my lettuce in the How does your garden grow thread.

Cheers :)
 
too larry

too larry

Well-Known Member
I found a few early bushes of Sparkleberries. Not as sweet or as juicy as huckleberries, but we have lots of them. You can eat them, but they are better in pies, cobblers and jellies. {all stuff you can add sugar to}

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xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I'm still getting a handful of strawberries here and there from the everbearing varieties. I have a few quinalt and tristar plants. It isn't much but better than nothing. They were just small .89 cent plants in 2 x 2 containers I got at Fred Meyers. They're much bigger now so next year will see better production. I don't think these are anywhere near as tasty as the Hoods but they fruit all summer where the Hoods fruit in the spring and then are done. Nice to have something since the blueberries are done also. I should have raspberries and tayberries next year from plants I planted this year as well.

 
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