Five things to focus on in the garden this week:
Fruit. White sapote (Casimiroa edulis) will grow wherever orange trees feel at home. Its flavor is a combination of vanilla, peach, and banana. The tree, which is in the same botanical family as citrus (Rutaceae), is a prolific bearer, as a single specimen yields up to a ton of crop per year when it is fully mature. White capote has the potential to reach 50 feet in height and tolerate wetter soil than most fruit trees and will yield a good crop in less than full sun exposures. Although indigenous to the tropics, white sapote is native to high elevations and can withstand a light frost. Much experimentation has been done with this tree but its custard-like pulp is so soft as to limit its commercial application due to fruit damage sustained during shipping and handling. Papaya tree nursery (papayatreenursery.com) grows three white sapote — which it calls “ice cream fruit” — varieties.
Vegetables. Consider planting the three sisters – corn, pole beans, and squash – in a portion of your vegetable garden. Build a mound three feet wide and one foot tall, flattened on the top. Plant four to seven corn seeds six inches apart in a circle on the top of the mound. After the corn is six inches to a foot tall, plant bean seeds six inches to the outside of each corn plant; the developing bean plants will use the corn stalks for vertical support. Once the bean plants are six inches tall, plant two winter squash seeds at opposite ends of the mound. It is desirable to plant a winter squash such as spaghetti squash since its prickly leaves deter pests. The beans provide nitrogen for all three plants while the squash covers the earth. In so doing, the squash foliage serves as a living mulch, preserving soil moisture and squelching weed growth.
Herbs. Vietnamese cilantro or Vietnamese mint (Persicaria odorata) is unrelated to either common cilantro or common mint but evokes their fragrances. This is a fast-growing perennial ground cover with red stems and bell-shaped white flowers. It will grow well as long as winters are warm and is suitable for the 10-12 USDA climate zones, which encompass most of the area where readers of this newspaper reside. Vietnamese cilantro will need soil that is steadily moist and is best planted in partial shade in our part of the world. It can be eaten fresh as a spicy salad green and is used to liven up soups, stews, and fish dishes. Find it through Internet vendors.
Rose moss double Portulaca grandiflora. (Photo by Joshua Siskin)Flowers. Rose moss (Portulaca grandiflora) is an annual that graces the summer garden, persisting until winter comes. Portulaca means “little door” and refers to the lid that opens the plant’s seed capsules. Rose moss is a name that accentuates the moss-like carpet of its foliage and its rose-resembling flowers, albeit on a miniature scale. As is the case with common garden roses, you have rose moss varieties with a single tier of petals and billowy, ruffled two-tiered varieties, or doubles, as well. Pastel flowers include yellow, peach, orange, red, pink, magenta, lavender, purple, and fuchsia. Rose moss grows superbly in half-day sun but can also handle full sun exposures.
Now that the heat is thoroughly upon us, you may want to consider the drip irrigation option. Drip irrigation gets the job done for as little as 30% of the amount of water required when it is applied through conventional sprinklers, where much water is lost through wind and run-off. Conventional sprinklers also water unevenly and do not soak the root system with the efficiency of drip irrigation. Keep in mind that you can also recycle water from showers and baths, bathroom sinks, and washing machines in the irrigation of your plants by installing what is known as a gray water system. You can find contractors through the Internet who install such systems or, if you have some plumbing skills, install a gray water system yourself.
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