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Pickin’ up pawpaws, put ‘em in my pocket!

One of the two trees at Home Farm is starting to ripen. The other ripens substantially later, which is a good thing. Yesterday evening my daughter and I found a couple of ripe ones and brought them home.

You just . . cut them in half, then scoop the pulp out with a spoon. These are very good (they do vary from tree to tree in the wild, not all are tasty).

   Pawpaws are hard to germinate, because the seeds require a certain period of cold weather, plus they’re finicky about humidity. People keep them in slightly damp potting soil in their fridge in order to get the to germinate. Not a good solution for the adhd gardener with a poor memory!

but you can cheat! yes! (if you live in an area that meets their requirements)

   Here’s how. Eat the fruit. Throw the seeds in a spot with good soil, near a creek, partial shade. Sitting outside all winter takes care of the requirement for cold and moist. Not all the seeds will germinate - but some will. Earlier this year I had to cut down over a dozen hopeful little pawpaw seedlings that were coming up directly under the parent trees. I hated to do it, but it did prove that they can germinate naturally, without sitting in a refrigerator.

[ID: twitter thread by Edgar McGregor dated June 28-29, 2022.]

[First tweet: This is as simply as I can put it: Despite repeated warnings, the public remains perilously unresponsive to the catastrophically escalating situation along the Colorado River.]

[Second tweet: John Oliver did a great piece on this the other day: Essentially, there is no golden key to solving this crisis. An array of changes must be made by homeowners, farmers, city officials, and state officials. Oh, and we need to stop warming the planet.]

[Final Tweet: The United States Bureau Of Recreation has  many contracts that expire in Dec 2026. They are taking comments from the public on how we think the USBR should handle Colorado River water post 2026. Deadline to submit is 9/1/22. Submit to: [email protected]]

Link to John Oliver video: 

Link to USBR request for formal comment:

Tree identification. Vacation camping for girls. 1913.

In fact, most of the ideas I have on any given day are probably about soil remediation! So these two links are to university extension websites that talk a little bit about how heavy metals work in garden soils and how you can reduce your risks.

The short version is, plants mainly seem to absorb and hold heavy metals in stem, leaf, and root tissues. Fruiting/flowering tissues tend to have almost none, for some complex biochemical reasons. This is why tomatoes (for example) are usually safe to grow even in contaminated soils, so long as they’re washed well prior to consumption. Most fruit and nut trees should be safe to eat well-cleaned produce from, even if they’re growing in contaminated soils. Please do have any produce grown in contaminated soils tested prior to consuming them!

There are some other things you can do to ameliorate your soils. Please do remember that certain toxic compounds and heavy metals can be spread by inhaling dust from contaminated soils, so please limit tillage and consider wearing dust masks and gloves when digging or planting.

Biochar

According to the article “Conocarpus biochar as a soil amendment for reducing heavy metals availability and uptake by maize plants” by Mohammad I. Al-Wabel et al., biochar can act to immobilize heavy metals in the soil as well as improving plant health and yield, and decreasing plant uptake of those heavy metals. They added up to 5% of the soil weight in biochar across a whole field, but you could probably concentrate it around your plants.

Mulching and increasing SOM

In “Effects of rapeseed residue on lead and cadmium availability and uptake by rice plants in heavy metal contaminated paddy soil” Yong Sik Ok et al. Found that the application of rapeseed (aka canola) residues as a green manure/mulch decreased the availability of lead and cadmium in the soil by significant margins.

It seems that generally, the same techniques that improve soil structure and increase the microbial communities living in it are effective at immobilizing heavy metals and converting them into forms that are less dangerous to animal life. Please do continue to have your soils and produce grown in them tested, however—this is not a magic bullet, but a long road to healthier soil.

I hate to say it, but depending on where you are in the world, you might have some other issues. Chestnuts aren’t doing...great, right now. Chestnut blight remains a very serious issue in europe and the united states. If you’re writing from east/southeast asia, you should probably be fine though (chestnut blight is native to that area and most trees have resistances to it afaik)

Chestnut blight is a fungal pathogen. It causes lesions under the bark and grows along the cambium layer of a tree, where the majority of a tree’s circulatory system is found. Over time, it can gradually ‘girdle’ a tree, and prevent the transport of water, dissolved nutrients, and sugars. As you might expect, this kills the tree.

In europe there are some ‘hypovirulent’ strains of fungus that you can use—they kind of mix in with the more virulent/dangerous strain of chestnut blight fungus and ‘water it down’, making it less likely to kill a tree. Lesions may still form, but usually they’re smaller and the tree can callous over them. Because of some truly bizarre genetics (good job, fungi) this trick doesn’t work in the united states.

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Borage is an easy to grow and drought-tolerant herb with beautiful star-shaped flowers. The flowers start out blue, then turn purple and finally fade to pink as they age. Borage is an annual, but if you plant it directly in the garden it will self-sow on its own every year.

1. Borage flowers and young leaves are edible. They have a mild cucumber flavor and look so lovely sprinkled in a salad, dessert, or glass of lemonade. The young green leaves are packed with nutrients like vitamins A and C, iron, and niacin and can be used like spinach.

2. Borage feeds pollinators and shelters beneficial insects. Borage is rich in nectar and attracts bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators to its blooms. The plants are dense and shade the soil below, keeping the ground cool. Beneficial insects like lacewings and parasitoid wasps (which help control pests) like to hide in the cool soil and leaves.

3. Borage makes great chop & drop mulch. Borage produces lots of plant matter which can be chopped back regularly for chop & drop mulch. Mulching this way suppresses weeds and feeds the soil as it breaks down. You can cut back borage right before it flowers for maximum soil enrichment and weed suppressant, or cut it back after the flowers finish blooming for maximum pollinator action. A mixture of both will make the most out of your borage plants!

4. Borage is a nutrient accumulator that helps the soil. Borage's roots tap the subsoil for nutrients which concentrate in their leaves. When the leaves decay they enrich the topsoil with potassium, calcium, and other minerals that benefit your plants and contribute to an ecologically rich garden.

5. Borage is a great companion plant in the vegetable garden. Borage makes an excellent companion for your tomato plants, it deters tomato hornworms and some gardeners swear planting them together improves tomato growth and flavor. Borage also makes a great companion for the squash family, increasing pollination rates in cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchinis, and melons.

6. Borage is a great companion for fruit too! Planting borage around fruit trees will create a supportive understory, attracting pollinators and beneficial insects while suppressing weeds and feeding the soil. Borage also makes a great border plant for strawberry beds for the same reasons.