Plants I'm Growing: 2014 "Flavor King" Pluots

The day before yesterday I was standing on the deck behind the house and noticed a large bird in our fig tree. It flew a dozen feet and landed in the little "Flavor King" pluot tree in our back yard, picking at the fruit. That was annoying, but I was glad to see the bird because it was a Black-headed Grosbeak, a species I've never seen in the garden--although I've heard them singing nearby before.

So, birds were taking notice and fruit was beginning to fall: I decided to harvest. I took about 100 pluots off the tree. They're delicious fresh, but it may be time to make jam again.

Plants I'm Growing: Summer Bounty (July 26, 2013)

The summer of 2013 has been a good one in the garden. We had wonderful early figs and a second crop is forming. The "Santa Rosa" plum tree produced several hundred delicious fruits. There is fruit on the "Dapple Dandy" pluot tree for the first time in years, Apples and pears are on the way. The "Flavor Queen" pluot is heavily laden with fruit (above). The new vegetable garden where the lawn used to be is producing greens, and the first tomatoes are just ripening. Edamame and green beens will be ready soon. We've had summer squash and zucchini and more lemon cucumbers than we can consume. The grapes, which set a lot of fruit this year, are just beginning to show some color in the past couple of days; veraison, as the French call it, has just begun. I've finished clearing weeds and debris from under the vines. The electric fence around the grapes is working and turned on. Time to get the nets on--before the critters begin to show interest in the fruit.