Cold Enough For Ya?

Bombarella and Dot, our two youngest hens, are molting.  They are doing so roughly six months later than the experts said they would, and we suspect it is because they are pampered and spoiled, and living the high-in-B-complex-heavy-bug-and-greens-diet sweet life.

The experts suggest if we put a lamp in the coop to simulate longer days (like the coming of Spring), the molt will be shorter.

We say poppycock.  Or should that be, we say "Poppycock!"

Either way, the birds are acting like it's Winter because, well, it's Winter!

The trees know it is wintertime, too.  We've had to choose which trees to plant here very carefully because of winter conditions, and there are some we'd like to plant that we just can't find sufficient information about.

(Please note:  none of the following pictures are from Myrtle's place.  It's WINTER for cryin' out loud!  Myrtle's place currently looks like the "after" picture from The Day After!)

We have planted Methley Plums, which do quite well in most of Texas.  You want to be careful if you live anywhere that gets below 20° fahrenheit because you'll be approaching survivability limits, let alone chilling requirements.

Speaking of chilling requirements, technically that refers to the number of hours of chilling (between 32° and 45°) required for a particular plant to fruit.  Ask your local nurseryperson for information about any particular plant -- there are a lot of different numbers that get thrown around for the same plants, and Myrtle is no expert. 

The best map we have seen shows our particular little slice of heaven being anywhere from 600 to 800 hours of chilling each November through April.  That isn't a lot compared to most of the United States, so there are certain plants we aren't brave enough to try -- apples, for example.  There are some varieties of apple which do well enough in Texas, but we don't think the subpar quality makes up for the ecological benefit of local production.

Pecans, on the other hand, are the quintessential Texas tree.  There are numerous varieties, none of which have excessive cooling requirements for any grower north of about San Antonio or so, and most of which will do well practically anywhere in the state.  Again, ask your local nurseryperson, because there are some area-specific soil, pest and water related questions for each variety.  Strangely, the zones in Texas are broken up by "East-West" considerations, due to alkilinity and moisture; the Hill Country and westward are more basic; our side of I-35 is more acidic.  We get more rain; they get more dust storms.  We have a Choctaw in our backyard, which is actually a variety that does well in both zones; we're toying with the idea of planting a Podsednik this year; it's a "novelty tree" according to Neal Sperry; it produces utterly gi-normous nuts.  And it does well in the East, so there.

As we may have mentioned before, we're planting pomegranates this year.  There are two varieties which do well in Texas -- Sweet, and Wonderful. 

We were especially excited to see pomegranates on sale at H.E.B. this last week -- at $3.59 per fruit.  This is definitely going to be one of our signature crops when we get them into production.

The great thing about the pomegranate tree, apart from its beauty and its delicious fruit, is the fact that it can grow vibrantly in any of the same conditions as the cursed yaupon we have spent so many hours clearing from our land.  Sun, partial shade, high pH, low pH, sandy, clay, whatever.

Clearly, this is the plant for us.

And it has low chilling requirements.  When you think about where it is really popular... from Italy and Greece, through Turkey all the way to the Iranian/Afghanistan border, where it starts to be too cold for the tree... this is a warmish, dryish climate plant.  And unlike other dryish climate plants, it will tolerate a little soaking from time-to-time, which description fits the Brazos Valley to a 'T'.

We also mentioned that we will be planting arbequina olive trees.  These hardy plants are basically tall bushes, growing to about 10-12' tall, and producing copious quantities of fruit.  They have very specific chilling requirements, and cannot get below 20°, but must occasionally get below 32°... there are several olive groves in Texas, and we suspect that Texas olive oil will become more popular than Texas wines in the near future. 

Actually, between what we've read about wines, olive oils, and pomegranates, we would not be surprised if Texas earns some weird new monicker as the "Neo-Mediterraneo" or some such nonsense.  Only, it's not nonsense. 

We're like Sicily, only with Aggies.  Granted, the Sicilians would not put up with the Aggies, but what are you gonna do?  Don Corleone is nowhere to be found.  And Duck only scares off roosters and raccoons.

Finally, the fig.  We've planted two fig trees, both Texas Everbearing. If the variety is thus named, you can safely assume it is a variety that does well in Texas.  And you'd be right, provided you live in the southern 2/3rds of the state.  From Dallas on up to the barbarian territory of Oklahoma, you're getting into the frozen wastelands as far as figs are concerned.  Our friends from the Middle East all prefer the "purple" variety, but, in reality, you get a lot of differentiation in fruit based on time of harvest.  Breva figs vs. late-season figs is really as big or bigger a difference as one variety of tree from another.

We recently visited the Sam Houston Museum in Huntsville, and while there was an awful lot of information available on that tour, the thing we keep talking about is how impressive the fig trees out on the homestead are.  Two little trees can produce a whole lotta Newtons.  Good stuff.

A lot of our information (particularly that referenced in this post) comes from notes -- copious quantities of notes -- taken from conversations with our friends at Producer's Co-op.  A lot of other information comes from the Texas gardeners' bible -- "Neal Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening". 

Our one big complaint with Neal -- and it is not unique to him, so please don't take it the wrong way -- is that he completely ignores the subject of avocados.  We are still doing a lot of research on this most wonderous of foods.  If we can find the perfect variety, we must, must, must plant avocados.  Man cannot live by chips and salsa alone.  Frequently, there must be guacamole.

Happy farming!