Love that picture TJ.-Brings all kinds of nonsense to my mind.. makes me happy for the squirrels (but that may be more todo with the mood I'm in tonight! )

Like the faces on your fence!

It also looks fleepin cold!

Helianthus anuus. You can't fail when you use the latin name. Plus, it's the state flower of Kansas (I think)



Trees = shade = not good for a vegetable garden. But look at an Acer grandidentatum, they're native to the western Rockies, and reasonably cool - basically a half-size sugar maple. (They don't seem to tolerate alkaline soils though. Maybe not.)

Darn cold.... 11 degrees and snowing ! poor TJ... out side scooping off the walk... freezin' his .... ummm.... large...ummmm..... gigantic... ummmm... noggen... off....

Karen... our canning machine is just a pressure cooker... and I'll pm you recipe's this summer when we start canning them again.... Perhaps if our yeild is good we can ship ya a couple jars of corn, beans, etc..... we still have jalapeno's left from two years ago.... and darn are they hot hot hot....

I only have one chutney recipe and that is with Rhubarb.....for pork roast. Chutney isn't as popular here in Iowa as it is oversea's....

And I want lil' dwarf apple trees... but you need a male and a female to get fruit..... and not sure we have enough room.... Our neighbor has a black walnut tree.... we are gonna have to confiscate some of the nuts this year....

TJ's got red red ears.... best get dinner on so he can warm up and eat something hot! ooops to late he just walked back in and said we have recieved about a foot!

Thanks to all for their feedback.....

Now aren't you kind!
Tell you what, I'll dfo you a swap - you send me over some of your home grown canned goods (including jalapeno's!) and I'll send a painting over for TJ to hang outside his window! - I'm not great artist, but I can splash a it of colour around quite happily, and call it art!

You don't need male and female (apples are not dioecious), you just need two different varieties. And, you can (at least in theory) graft them onto the same trunk. If your neighbors have apples, you shouldn't have a pollenation problem anyway.

Googled:

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/19...992/johnny.html

LOL... we would be more than happy... you could get some real Iowa sweetcorn....best in the world! and be carefull with the jalopeno's... they are hotter than hot!!! We gave a bunch to our hispanic friends who swore nothing was too hot for them... and... well.... ummm..... they were a bit too hot! But hopefully they have settled down a bit in the jar.. TJ will check to ensure we can send canned goods to you....or anyone out of Iowa.

We are in the throws of planning our garden... even looking at growing the infamous O'Reilley Louffa!!!! Did you know you can actually eat loufa!! Perhaps next year we will offer gift baskets featuring old american century canned goods and loufa's!




That's interesting... my parents always told me you had to have a male and female..... Here is the tree I'd like to plant...
http://gurneys.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_71542

and maybe we could do a cherry tree in the front! Did you know a darn can of cherries is a whopping $4.00.... no way... I'm gonna can mine!

anyone have suggestions on raising blueberries/raspberries?

Close, but a little off. Apples do have boy and girl part on the same tree (and same flower) however, many are unable to fertilize themselves, which is why another tree is needed. Many plants that are monoecious have either the pollen mature or the egg mature at one time, but not the same time. This prevents selfing. There are many other possible factors, but these are the reason for needing another tree.

Or you could always hope a bee pollinates some other apple tree and drops on yours! Its entirely possible!

I would also stay away from planting near the black walnut. Im not sure how close it is to your property, but they have a habit of not letting things grow around them.

Sorry, can't help with the berries!
Was hoping you'd do me a favour and pm me some tips on canning. I really am clueless, and far too lazy to google!

Sounds like it should do fine.



Pitting pie cherries can be a pain. I doubt you'd sell yours for less than $4.

Blueberries: Not too much work, but good crops will require regular watering. If the birds hit them hard, consider covering them with a net. I'd mulch them regularly with a lot of organic matter, and maybe check soil pH first.

Raspberries: More high-maintenance. Bad drainage kills them here. You'll have to keep grass out of them (maybe mulch will be enough to do that), and their new canes need to be tied up every year. They'll try to grow everywhere except where you want them, so expect to dig them up and move them back into their row. They'll also need more fertilizer than blueberries.

Too much shade will literally kill blueberries, and stunt raspberries (though they still produce).

Edit: The good news is, pie cherries seem to be more cold-hardy than sweet cherries. Who knew?