Dwarf fruit trees

The ideal grafted tree. Source: bianoti.com (FR)

In May gardeners' thoughts are not necessarily limited just to growing vegetables. Some gardeners, as well as new home owners, might also be ruminating about fruit trees; and more than likely, they are thinking about selecting some kind  dwarf tree(s) for either their yards or patios.

Quite simply, the best  and most succinct guide that I've found about choosing  dwarf trees is from Spruce Crafts. Their article covers the kinds of fruit trees that are readily available and the importance of being aware of the root stocks used for grafted varieties. Note, also,  that although  there are many images from nurseries  of dwarf trees growing in containers bearing perfect fruit, this area's climate is not particularly suitable for potted trees unless either you 1) can move the tree into your greenhouse or living room for the winter, or 2) use a very, very large pot that might protect the roots from freezing - a container  so large that you'll never be able to move it again.  You might just as well plant the tree directly in the ground and gamble on using a lot of mulch!

This reminds me of when I first moved to our house (and long before I knew much about fruit trees), I planted dwarf pear and cherry trees - with very mixed results.  Although the pear trees were the least work, the neighborhood squirrels got almost all the fruit.  The cherries were a somewhat different story... I didn't mind sharing that fruit with the birds, but the dwarfs did not stay particularly dwarf.  A sour cherry that awarded us with many pies, grew to about 16 feet and then suddenly died after 8 or 9 years. A multi-variety grafted sweet cherry  I planted in the backyard actually lasted about 15 years but grew to about 25+ feet!  I've never been tempted to try apples, not because of my cherry experience, but because squirrels and too many insect pests like them.  Trying to grow apples organically, I've been told by arborists,  is an oxymoron. [Although there are natural pesticides such as sulphur and neet derived compounds, these can be pretty unfriendly to beneficial insects too and timing of their application is essential.]

That said, a 10 - 12 ft dwarf apple, pear or peach tree will eventually (think years) produce between 1 - 3 bushels if properly cared for and assuming you successfully guard it from everything in your neighborhood that also likes fruit.  A dwarf cherry tree of the same size can  produce 15 - 20 quarts a lot of pies. Dwarf trees will also need pruning best done in January or February.  If you have other shrubs and trees in your yard, look at them and ask yourself two questions: "do I prune these regularly now?" and "do I really want to spray fruit trees?"  If the answer to either is "no" or "not enough," maybe you should stick to potted tomatoes...

Veggie History - Basil (Ocimum basilicum) 

Thai basil ("Siam Queen")

A wide variety of basil is now regularly available from nurseries and seed suppliers.  In temporate climates, basil is usually grown as an annual herb and is  frequently promoted as a potted or windowsill herb. Historically, however,  basil has been incorporated   into healing and spiritual practices s much as much as serving culinary purposes by many cultures.

Originally basil grew in tropical areas from Sub-Saharan Africa through Southeast Asia, and many of these locales actually grows as a perennial shrub.  Ancient Egyptians utilized basil as one of their ingredients in their embalming concoctions, and they probably domesticated it for other purposes as well. Alexander the Great is credited with introducing the herb to Greece and that, of course, set basil up for being added to early Roman cuisines - but it was apparently associated more with the daily menus of poor and desperate than with those of  elite.  Basil spread slowly in Europe and was not widely grown in Britain until the 16th century. The earliest Pilgrims may not have migrated  with basil seeds in their pockets to North America, but by the early 18th century basil was available from  colonial seed purveyor, and the herb was included in both Thomas Jefferson's and those of other Virginia planters' kitchen gardens by the end of that century.  

Holy basil (Tulsi).

Most of the "sweet" basils, i.e. those  familiar to cooks, are all cultivars of the Mediterranean area's species that we now think of as the Italian favorites of "Genovese," "Large Leaf," and  "Dark Opal," but  "Thai basil"  also owes its derivation to this area.  Over generations O. basilica  has  been bred for somewhat different flavors in different societies - lemon (Indonesia), pepper and anise (Thai).   African basil (Ocimum gratissimum), a different species and popular in much of West Africa and parts of the Carribean, is also called "Clove basil."  Finally, there is  another species, "Holy basil" or "Tulsi" (Ocimum tenuiflorum),  - grown also by Thomas Jefferson - that is still used in Hindu worship rituals as well as in Indian and Thai cooking.  "Tulsi" is also espoused  by homeremedity believers as an herbal panacea for many ills - just check the Internet!

And remember...

"A man taking basil from a woman will love her always." - Sir Thomas More

Here Comes The Basil Blues

The gods must be angry with us.  Or, more likely, the increase in world travel and shipment of goods is transporting pests around the globe like never before.  From the many examples I could grouse about, today I’ll alert you to downy mildew of basil.  If you don’t grow basil, or if you don’t love pesto, Margherita pizzas or tomato, cheese and basil sandwiches, then you can skip this trauma and just fret over world events.  But if you’re a basil aficionado like me, then please read on.

Basil downy mildew up close.  Photo by Meg McGrath

Basil downy mildew, a fungus-like disease, had its first U.S. finding in Florida in 2007 and made it here to New York the following year.  We don’t know how much or just when it will show up each season, since it can’t take our cold winters and must be transported here anew.  Like the anticipated return of a rare bird, this seasonal comeback makes folks in the know keep their eyes peeled for its return.  So far this year, first-responder Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, reported finding basil downy mildew at a big chain garden center on June 14.  She’s also getting reports of it from home gardeners, and notes in her blog that fellow pathologists have discovered it in several states already.  The growing season is still young, but it appears that 2018 will be tough for the basil business.

Basil downy mildew can be tricky to detect if you aren’t in the know.  The initial symptoms are a yellowing of the foliage from the bottom of the plant upward, a malaise resembling nutritional deficiency.  However, this is a blight a little fertilizer won’t fix.  Lurking on the lower leaf surfaces will be a fuzzy gray growth of mycelia.  As the disease progresses, the leaves will eventually blacken and die.  All of the myriad types of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) are susceptible, although some folks have noticed that purple-leaved and lemon types seem a little more resistant.  Only varieties of O. americanum, a species primarily grown for medicinal purposes, have shown no symptoms or sporulation when inoculated with basil downy mildew. Perhaps some creative plant breeder can transfer this resistance to sweet basil and make a small fortune.  As the disease doesn’t harm people per se, it is not dangerous to ingest a few infected leaves, but I can’t imagine it would be an appetizing experience, either.

Lower leaves  first turn yellow then brown.
Photo by Meg McGrath

It is difficult to outsmart basil downy mildew.  If your plants bought from the garden center look fine, the problem may blow in on the wind.  If you start your plants from seed, you aren’t home-free either necessarily, because this pathogen (unlike many others) can be carried by seeds.  If your basil eventually becomes blighted, bag it and trash it immediately.  Keeping plants well-spaced and watering early in the day so the foliage is kept as dry as possible are preventative measures.  Fungicides can be used, but who wants to eat basil sprayed with fungicide?  That doesn’t taste like summer.    

For more information, check out the very detailed website provided by Cornell Plant Pathologist Margaret Tuttle McGrath's  website.

Text by David Chinery, Horticulture Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County

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Previously published in Root Concerns - July, 2014 

Root Concerns is a gardening newsletter produced by the Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Rensselaer, Albany, and Schenectady Counties. Because its contents have not been previously indexed by Internet search engines, relevant articles from past issues will be occasionally reprinted.

 

VEGETABLE VARIETIES FOR GARDENERS (VVfG)

  
VVfG is a citizen science project developed  by Cornell University's Cooperative Extension 
to collect and share data about growing vegetables in New York State.
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Last Year's Experience: Lettuce, Tomatoes & Basil

Last year my Master Gardener companions, Mimsy Pye, Marge Davey and I, experimented with Bed Number 1.  The Spring Plantings consisted of 3 varieties of leaf lettuces: Buttercrunch, Black Seeded Simpson, and Blade.  Because it was mid–May before we were able to plant the rows, we decided to put them along the outer edges of the 4ft by 4ft bed leaving room for the summer crop of tomatoes and basil in the bed's center.  

It was interesting to compare the 3 varieties --  all planted at the same time and all growing under the same conditions.  The ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ by far out-performed the other 2 as far as yields.  However, it really did not have much flavor.  If you prefer the taste of your salad dressing, then this was the one for you.  ‘Buttercrunch’ had a mild buttery taste, with the best texture, forming more of a rosette type loose head. Dark red ‘Blade’ had a poorer germination rate, but was the most flavorful.  Red colored lettuces have more antioxidants and micronutrients than just plain green ones.   As it matured it did have a little more of a bitter flavor, but not as much as an escarole or radicchio.

I think that it is worth noting that caring for these lettuces would have been different if they were in my home garden.  At home, one can easily check their garden every day or two, even with a busy schedule. The Demonstration Garden was not as convenient.   Thinning should be done on a regular basis, so that you have the benefits of nice tender baby lettuces, making room for the other plants to spread.  Too many plants together get leggy, with some leaves getting slimy.   

Jasper on left responded to warming weather faster than the Brandywine on right.

With the lettuces still growing, we planted a ‘Jasper’ cherry tomato and a ‘Brandywine’ heirloom tomato, as well as ‘Genovese’ and ‘Thai Sweet’ basil at the end of May. Last year’s spring in our neck of the woods was wet and cool.  This was good for the lettuces, but not the tomatoes and basil.  As the weather finally warmed, the tomatoes responded.  

The contrast between the two plants was quickly evident.  The heirloom ‘Brandywine’ struggled to overcome the wet, cool spring.  It quickly developed early blight and remained somewhat stunted.  It produced very few fruits, with the earlier ones having little flavor.  The last one picked in a gloriously warm October was large and fabulous. It was so sweet and juicy with a deep rich tomato flavor.

  ‘Jasper’, an indeterminate new hybrid variety, outpaced the heirloom.  ‘Jasper’s’ disease resistance includes Early Blight, Septoria leaf spot, Fusarium wilt and Late Blight.  The plant quickly outgrew its 5 ft stakes by a good 2 ft.  It was covered with clusters of ¾ inch round, red fruits.  The taste was flavorful and sweet, but not quite as sweet as ‘Sungold’.  Harvesting at first was a little tricky.  Trying to pick the individual fruits caused them to split, making it easy to pop into your mouth, but hard to donate.  Snipping off the whole cluster kept them beautifully intact, and they kept quite well for a few days.  Like most cherry tomatoes, one plant is all you really need.

The two basils struggled with the cool, wet conditions as well.  A few days of high temperatures in late spring caused them to go to seed.  Even with pruning, the ‘Thai Sweet’ never really recovered and had poor yields.  The “Genovese” did better, but it later became shaded by the ‘Jasper’, which also impacted its yields.  Frequent pruning can extend a basil plant’s life, but at some point it will get leggy and just keep producing flowers.  Again, a home gardener would constantly be doing this, adding the trimmings to some delicious dish. Once cut delicate herbs like basil don’t travel well, making them difficult to donate.  

Pskem River garlic, early spring 2018.

Cornell also called for a fall planting of  ‘Pskem River’ garlic but which they did not provide.  ‘Pskem River’ is a hard necked variety from Uzbekistan.  It has large purplish cloves, maybe 3-5 cloves per bulb.  It is supposed to have a strong flavor and grow well in our area.  I waited too long to buy it on line and it was sold out. However, I was delighted to find it at my local food co-op. 

After cleaning up the tomatoes and basil in mid-October, the soil was prepped and along with a dusting of bone meal, the large bulbs were pressed into the soft earth.  I am happy to report that they made it beautifully through the winter, even though they were not mulched. 

(More on garlic in a later post.) 

 So, that was last year’s experiment.  I can’t wait to see what this growing season will bring.

Text and photos submitted by Nancy Scott, Rensselaer County Master Gardener