Going Nuts

I finally got my nut trees back into the ground two weeks ago. I had to dig them up in the spring and temporarily house them in buckets while the excavator did its work. I have two each of walnuts, chestnuts and hazelnuts. I also have one almond and one pecan. You should always plant at least two of each, but the second almond I ordered did not live. The pecan is actually a tiny sapling from a pair I ordered two years ago. Both seemed dead, and never sprouted leaves, and when I got the replacements this spring, the same thing happened. Surprisingly, one of the original ones from two years ago actually sprouted a green leaf this year, so assuming it survives the winter, all I will need is one pecan and one almond. Normally, almonds would not survive a New England winter, but these were advertised as engineered to survive anywhere peaches can. For five dollars, I figured why not try it.


In order, these are a walnut, hazelnut, chestnut and almond. All but the chestnuts are in their final locations. I need to extend another 80-100 feet into the wood line to get the proper spacing. Hopefully I'll be able to get the excavator back in the spring. I actually planted them about six inches above grade. There's a good chance the area will get marshy in the spring, and this should give them a better chance at survival. I used the rocks to make beds to prevent erosion.

I also have an additional walnut that I planted in 2005. My father taught me how to prune it grow taller, faster. I estimate it is at least 12 feet tall now. Pruning it this way makes it a bet leggy so you need to support them with a stake for a year or two until the trunk width catches up. With a little luck, this one will produce some nuts in the fall of 2011.

I dug up my potato "harvest" last weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a harvest. A five pound investment of red potatoes gave me a seventeen pound return. Five pounds each of eastern and russet potatoes gave me virtually noting. Part of the problems was that I had not prepared the soil correctly deep enough. Most of the potatoes that did develop were stunted in size. I think the real killer though was the insane rain early in the season, as the eastern and russets were much more water-logged than the reds. In fact, most of the russet plants died without producing at all. That one big eastern you see on the right was actually from a volunteer plant that sprung up on its own. Many of these are too small for anything except pan roasting, so I'm going to try to use them as seed potatoes for next year.


The delicata squash continue to do well. I had to eat my first one over the weekend as well. While inspecting for squash bugs (which I think I have under control), two came loose and a third had suffered slug damage, so I baked and ate it that night. It wasn't bad, but as it had not had time to fully develop and cure, it was not as not as flavorful as I hope the others will be. The butternuts are also surprising me. Seven definitely formed and groping fruits, with seven more that look promising. However, all of them are much smaller than the past two years' crops.

We might even get a couple of pumpkins for the kids to carve. I have one growing on a volunteer plant (first photo) that looks normal, and a couple growing on stunted plants (second photo) which look like they suffered some cross-pollination hanky-panky last year. Based on the color, I'd guess it was from yellow summer squash. It will be interesting to see how they mature.


The eggplants continue to do well, This photo from this morning shows the growth since my last post. I picked the one on first plant on the left, and the small globes on the rest have grown nicely. That big one on the right will become eggplant parmigiana today or tomorrow.


I also raided five different Ocean State Job Lots in the area to get hold of as many heirloom seeds (Burpee) remaining from this year's inventory. At 70% off, I ended up getting Over $40.00 worth of seeds for around $12.00. Not bad.