Clint & Barnacle
Gardening Gene Comes Alive
Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and remembered to set your clocks ahead this past weekend. I have but one clock to occasionally glance at out here, so in about ten seconds I was done.
Time is really of very little importance to me on the island. I basically get up when Mr. Rooster begins his morning song, and go to bed a few hours after sunset. Short of Barnacle’s periodical vet trips to Dr. Motl, time related appointments do not exist on island ground. I go in to the mainland when Mother Nature allows me to do so, and run back out when my necessary supply gathering chores are finished. Not a bad gig, being free from the shackles of the hands of the clock.
Well the fig trees are budding and leafing out, and the small orange tree is putting on a few new leaves, even though I don’t have a lot of confidence that it’s gonna make it. But you never know, I’ll leave it in the ground until the very end.
I’m having really good luck with the fig trees out here on the island. The oldest is four years old and the other two I planted last Spring. I just ordered another one, the Petite Negri, a dwarf tree or bush variety that can be grown in a large container, and produces sweet purple/black fruit. Fig trees do pretty well in the South, as they thrive in hot climates, planting zones 7-11, requiring only about 100 chill hours (when temps stay between 32-45 degrees F), per year.
The one fruit tree that I have never attempted to grow, primarily because they normally require an excessive number of chill hours, is the apple tree. However I just located and ordered one from a nursery catalog that claims 100-200 chill hours is sufficient. It is intended for the South and is actually three different varieties grafted onto one rootstock. The Anna, Einshemer, and Dorsett Golden all combine to make this one tree. I think that I can get it to live out here, but the $60 question, what that little tree costs, is will it produce edible apples? Stay tuned for THAT answer. If anyone has been successful growing a producing apple tree in this area, please contact me by email and tell me about it.
My little tomato plants are coming along nicely in the little greenhouse. I start my seeds later than most, because if I put them in the ground too early out here the strong late north winds will cripple or destroy them. I started out seeding for 54 plants, and just potted-up (small pot to larger for strong root development), 34 total. Typically, you want to begin with twice as many seeds as you end up with plants in the ground six weeks later, so I’m on track to end up with 25 healthy and strong wonders of nature. It’s a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to start with a tiny seed, and the end result being a delicious treat picked from the garden.
Well that’s it from the island for now; everyone take care and have a great day.
Clint Bennetsen lives full time on Matagorda Peninsula Island and authors a monthly column for this newspaper. To comment, ask questions or contact Clint, you can contact him at ccbennetsen@yahoo.com or dolphin1@tisd.net
