What have you done today in the Garden?

I took down a huge purple clematis called ‘The President’. It’s been in the same spot for years and a bit overgrown. Growing up on the 15’ entry trellis with the wisteria over the front door. Lost the front door among the massive growth of wisteria and clematis leaves.

Tomorrow will get up on the roof and thin out the wisteria…AGAIN… I plan on cutting down a huge 8” - 10” wisteria branch woven between several others. Recip saw usually makes quick work of the minor surgery next to other branches. It’s been slowly attacking the trees around it .. you know how that goes. But since the cooler days the wisteria is reacting to the summer coming to a close and leaves will be falling soon.

 

That's a delicious looking harvest, Odif. Especially the tomatoes and basil. You have a productive garden.

@Pacnorwest those vines can really get ahead of us. At my old house, a wisteria tunneled under the cedar siding and pushed the siding away from the house. It was a lot of work, fixing that. Clematis seems a bit less invasive although the wild clematis can be a problem here. I cut out a big twisty wild clematis vine this summer.

 

I cut the German irises back. I remember my neighbor, when I was a kid. That was when they had to put up extra strong fences to keep the Mastodons out. She had her husband mow her irises each fall, using the lawn mower. I used kitchen shears for mine.



While I was trimming iris leaves, the neighbor's dog snuck in to play with Rufus. I call him "Sparky". I don't know his actual name.



After Sparky left, Rufus was very happy.



It's chestnut time now.



Some are large and firm.



The apple grafts from March are fully healed.



I cut off the old branches and tied these down, to replace the old variety. I didn't like the previous variety.



They'll need another growth season for the grafts to completely blend in to their understocks. They should also grow fruit spurs next year.

I also removed a patch of raspberry brambles. The berries are good, but there wasn't enough space and they were too much work. I let a lot go to waste because they were so crowded. Now there's more room for a path by a raised bed.

One of the little persimmon trees has a bunch of ripening fruit.



The variety is called "Coffee Cake", also called "Nishimura wase." I haven't tasted them before, so I'm interested in what it will be like.

Productive day.

 

Daniel wow a very productive harvest . Very nice and beautiful pictures. And hugs to Rufus .

Sorry the wisteria vine tunneled under the exterior house siding. Wisteria vines are very aggressive. A few years ago a vine had tunneled up across and under the tile roof. I was totally unaware until I walked in the room and saw the vine was actually growing out and down the cathedral ceiling . Tomorrow I have a decision to make about that vine.

 

I used my new mini-chain saw to start removal of a tree that fell last summer. 6-inch blade. Wow, it makes the job so much easier and faster.

I will still have to use the 16-inch chain saw for the trunk.

Also removed five non-productive fruit trees. Less to take care of this winter and beyond. There are still too many, so more decisions to make.

Marie Kondo says you should focus on keeping what gives you joy. That concept is helping with my garden and orchard tidying. A long term process but improving each season.

 

Those chestnuts look like what we call horse chestnuts... The ones they sell in stores are different. We used to eat horse chestnuts when we were kids.

I have not done anything in my garden this week because our church fundraiser was this week, and I worked at that.

I did pick the rest of my green tomatoes this evening and put them in the colander by the window. When they ripen I will can them up, and add the frozen ones. I will make my elderberry jam next week also.

I have been trying to catch up on housework this evening.

I have a lot of parsley out there, and other herbs, and my scarlet runner beans. I will let them dry on the vine. I have a few butternut squash and sweet potatoes to harvest this week also..

 

@AAnightowl What we call horse chestnuts here in Europe are an unrelated toxic species. Those are sweet chestnuts. The commercial varieties often have one seed per spiky seed pod. These are what we call sweet chestnuts. We have 5 hectares of chestnut trees on our land. We coppice them. Great wood for building. The best way to eat chestnuts is cut a slit into them with a knife and roast them on a fire with a frying pan that has holes in the bottom. Shaking the pan often to stir them up. After a few minutes. They are ready and delicious. If you don’t cut the slit, they explode.

We have 5 hectares of chestnut trees. The first ones are ripe now. The wild boar loves them too. Brand new chestnut frying pan. I can’t wait to try it out.

 

Odif, these are similar to yours. They are hybrids between French and Japanese varieties, supposedly resistant to Chestnut blight.

A century or two ago, the Eastern US had millions of American chestnut trees. Those nuts were smaller but highly flavored. Majestic trees, they were called the redwoods of the East. The wood was used in building and furniture. The chestnut blight epidemic killed almost all of them. Supposedly, that disease isn't present in the US Pacific NW.

I wanted chestnut tres that would bear nuts in my lifetime. These trees are now ten years old, and started bearing chestnuts about five years ago. They are becoming more productive each year.

Thanks for your instructions. I'm still learning. Last year, I use an air fryer. Quite tasty.

 

Today...

I used the old 16-inch chain saw to cut off the trunks of the various trees that I removed earlier this week from my orchard. Those are flush with the ground, now. Three apple varieties, an alpine Eucalyptus, a quince, and a seed-grown apricot. None of them gave me joy. They were really rather annoying. Maintenance will be easier, without them. Less hassle plus none of them produce good fruit. In most cases, none at all.

There remains:
Liberty Apple
Jonagold Apple
North Pole Apple - mainly to pollenize the others.
A sad looking multigraft, with heirloom apples.
Two pear trees.
Two persimmon trees
and some non-fruit trees.

The front orchard needs similar editing.

I collected another batch of Chestnuts. There are still a lot on the tree



I shelled quite a few. I hold them with a pliers and pull out the nut using a wiener tong. Delicate work LOL. The husks are very thorny.



I started removing thistles from another section of the border. It will have the same treatment as the other areas - easy access, weed barrier, arborist chips, xeric-friendly plants and a fig tree, already planted.

I moved more container plants to a protected location that wont be rained on, so they will dry out before being stored in the garage for the winter.



I collected more marigold seeds. These are descended from a plant that was a volunteer in my garden fifteen years ago.

 

Okay much as I threaten to take out a huge wisteria vine for good …mmm, let the wisteria continue for another season. Clipped it down to its skivies today.




Smokey sunset.

 

Thank you! Do they need a freeze? Should I plant them now, or wait for spring?

Yes, my living room does the same thing. In the summer I keep the curtains closed. If I open them, the whole house gets too hot. It feels like a dungeon, but it keeps it a little cooler.

 

For what it's worth, Willow, I always start four o'clocks in the Spring. I've been growing them for 24 years. They also re-seed where to old plants drop seeds, so the seeds can survive overwintering too. They do not require a freeze, however.

None of mine this year were pink. There were red, white, yellow. Also a different shade of red. I was reading about them, apparently the pink ones are hybrids between red and white. I found some old seeds from pink plants, so can try next Spring.

I do soak them overnight before sowing.

 

Beautiful scene, Pac. That wisteria was a big project, too.

Today I removed a trellis that is no longer wanted, to get moving cleaning up the end of the border.

Set the squashes out to dry. Meager crop. Deer kept eating off the plants, and I kept adding fencing. Finally, I couldn't get in to water them because of all of the deer exclusion fencing, but the deer got in again anyway.



I like squashes. Next year I'll try something different.

I picked more beans, then cut / blanched / froze.

Hooked up LED lights on lower plant stand shelf. Plan for tomorrow is to make a wider shelf.

 

Love the squash . My fav are the acorn and spaghetti squash. They are a great achievement in the PNW zone I have managed a few in the past. Very nice Daniel.

Last two days of no rain predicted in my area. So today and tomorrow is roof cleaning the flat sections only combined areas 3000 sq ft. And blowing debris off the roof scooping out yuck stuck in the scuppers and downspouts. Mostly needles and debris that blocks the down flow of water when it rains. Trimmed back the crazy limbs that I can reach from the roof off the magnolia trees, which is another constant irritant . Some trees I wish I never planted just for that burst of magnolia flowers in April-May. Need to get to them with the chain saw later.
Got one side of the roof done today. Tomorrow the largest side is set for cleaning and a patch or two looks like a few cracks around the roof vents. Then the barn and She Shed needs power washing already spray with moss off.





And a pic of a garden section from the roof since I was up there

 

Thanks for the information about four o'clocks, Daniel. I also like squash. Next year I'm going to try delicata. We went apple picking yesterday. I'm getting ready to make applesauce and can it today. We usually go earlier but came up and my son couldn't go until now, his wife couldn't make it. So this year we got Pippin, Crimson Crisp, Ida red and a few golden delicious. I never buy golden delicious in the store, they seem to think golden means they should be yellow. They're mealy by that point.