Nice Tips For Gardener

Information about Lynchee fruit and tree.

2011-11-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

Information about Lynchee fruit and tree.

Lychee Fruit

You say that lychee fruit is very sweet, but the fruit that I bought in the store is bitter and unpleasant tasting. Why is this?

Lychee fruit does not ripen after picking, unlike other tropical fruits such as mangoes, avocadoes and bananas. If lychee fruit is picked early it is almost always bitter tasting and often leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Often times large commercial fruit growers pick their fruit prematurely in order to get it into the marketplace when the wholesale prices are higher.

If lychee fruit is properly harevested, at the peak of ripeness, it is delicious, sweet and fragrant. Taste statistics indicate that 91% of people who try properly ripened and harvested lychee fruit find the experience excellent.

In our experience small Florida growers who focus more on quality, rather than profitablility, produce the best lychee fruit in the country. Do to our unigue climate conditions Florida is the lychee growing capitol of the US and one of the only states where they can be successfully grown. We recommend that you buy direct from Florida growers or look for the "Fresh From Florida" logo if you are buying lychees in a supermarket.

What is the correct way to eat a lychee?
As fast as possible so that you can move on to the next one. Actually, all kidding aside, we like to bite a small piece off around the stem and then squeeze the fruit so that the aril (the fleshy part around the seed) pops into your mouth.

What is the difference between a lychee fruit and a lychee nut?
Lychee nuts is a name that usually refers to dried lychee fruits but is not really a nut. A true nut is actually the edible seed of certain fruits. Lychees are much tastier when eaten fresh; however, when you can't get fresh lychees the dried lychees are a great alternative.

Are lychees healthy & nutritious?
One cup of fresh lychee fruit has only 125 calories, more of the antioxidant Vitamin C than oranges or lemons, about as much dietary fiber as an apple with the skin on and is loaded with potassium.

When is the season for lychee fruit?
Lychee season is during the summer, May & June in South Florida (northern hemisphere) and December to February in Australia (southern hemisphere). On average the season lasts about six weeks at the most.

What should I do after I receive my fresh lychees?
You should immediately place the lychees under refrigeration. If you do not plan to eat all of your lychees within the next several days you can freeze them. Frozen lychees are also very delicious and taste like a fine sorbet. If you freeze them even in months like November and December they still taste wonderful. You should enclose them in a zip lock bag.

Can you freeze lychee fruit?
YES! Lychee fruit is wonderful when frozen. Frozen lychees are like a fine sorbet. We bring frozen lychees to parties during the holidays and we never have to take any back home with us.

How do you freeze lychee fruit? Whole with skin on or do they need to be peeled first?
You can freeze them with the skin on. I put mine in Zip-Lock freezer bags. The color of the skin will turn a brownish color, but it doesn't effect the taste of the fruit. I have never peeled my lychees before freezing them so I don't know what effect that would have on them. I image they would not last as long peeled because the tough skin on the outside act like a suit of armor protecting the tender fruit inside.

If I am diabetic can I eat lychees?
"It's hard to beat a fresh fruit salad, papaya, pears, apples, oranges, Chinese plums, mango, longan and litchi. Fruit is an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and minerals, and has zero fat. Everyone, including people with diabetes, should eat three to four servings of fruit a day." This is a quote from the article "Diabetic Guide to Chinese Food" in Diabetic Gourmet Magazine

Some of my fruit have small seeds and many more have large seeds. Is this situation normal?
Yes, small seeds are the exception in the case of Brewster lychees, however, despite the predominance of full size seeds the Brewster variety is a larger fruit in general and has a higher flesh to seed ratio than many other varieties. Mauritius lychees have small seeds, but they are also a smaller fruit. Ha-Kip lychees tend to have a predominance of small "chicken tongue" seeds and Bengal seeds are relatively small.

Why does my fruit have stems on them?
We find that the fruit keeps longer when some of the stem remains. If the stem is pulled off this can rupture the skin of the fruit accelerating the spoiling process.

Will I get sick if I eat too many lychees at one sitting?
When we pick lychees we eat almost every other fruit that we pick. So far none of us have ever become sick. Su Tung Po, the greatest Chinese poet/painter of the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem while he was exiled in Guangdong province in Southern China for his politically satyrical writings, wrote a poem about consoling himself by eating 300 lychees a day.

Lychee Trees

Can I grow a lychee tree in my area?

Lychees grow best in South Florida, Hawaii, southern California and southern Texas. However, it never ceases to amaze us at how many people all over the country are successfully growing a lychee tree outside with a little freeze protection, or indoors in a greenhouse, atrium or sunny spot.

Lychee trees require approximately 100-200 hours of chilling below 68 degrees mean daily temperature in the winter to set fruit. They are subtropical and cannot tolerate temperatures below 30 degrees for more than 8 hours. If it hard freezes in your area you will have to provide some type of freeze protection for your lychee tree.

We encourage people to experiment and explore new ways of growing lychees here in the US and we are happy to assist and provide support for anyone trying to grow a lychee tree(s) in less than perfect conditions.

What is the best variety of lychee tree to grow in the US?
The Brewster and Mauritius varieties have proven to be the most reliable both to grow and to produce fruit and are the primary commercial varieties in the US. Lychee enthusiasts all over the US have reported to us that their Brewster & Mauritius consistently outperform other varieties. You will get better fruit set from cross pollination if you have more than just one variety so if you get two we recommend a Brewster & Mauritius.

The Sweetheart variety has a large red fruit with a small seed. We highly recommend this variety if you want just one lychee tree for your yard. The future of the Sweetheart for commercial production looks good, however, the variety has not been around long enough to have a sufficient track record yet.

The Emperor is another variety that has been doing quite well in the US and is a great container lychee tree. The feedback we have been getting is that the Emperor variety is quite hardy and does not require as much water as some other varieties of lychees do. The Emperor is most likely a "mountain variety" of lychee tree.

In Hawaii the main commercial variety is the Kaimana because the growing conditions in Hawaii differ from that of the mainland US.

How do I plant my lychee tree?
For details on how to plant your lychee tree read this article: How to Grow Lynchee.

How do I take care of my lychee tree(s)?
A lychee tree is as healthy as it root system. The root system is not only to hold up the tree but the primary of the roots is to absorb the water and nutrients that feed the tree. Feeding the soil and the soil food web feeds the lychee tree.

How long will it take for my lychee tree to produce fruit?
Lychee trees produced from air layers should begin fruiting the very first season. However, the first few years that you have the tree you should trim off most of the emerging fruit so that the young tree can focus it's energy on growing rather than producing fruit. After two or three years you can let the tree produce fruit normally. Maximum fruit yield begins after the tree is about 10 years old.

How much fruit does a lychee tree produce?
The fruit yield for a single lychee tree varies with age, variety, weather/climate, pollination and growing practices. The older and more established the tree is the more fruit it will yield annually. A backyard lychee tree can produce 50-200 pounds of fruit per year, but will most likely not produce the same amount of fruit every year. In a good year, a lychee tree in commercial grove conditions in South Florida can produce between 400 and 800 lbs of fruit.

How big/tall do lychee trees get?
The optimal height for a lychee tree is 10-15 feet. Some commercial growers keep their trees at 6-10 feet tall. Lychee trees can grow up to 30 or 40 feet after about 25 years or more, but it gets very difficult to pick the fruit on a tree that large. There are even lychee trees in China that have grown to 100 feet tall. If you prune your lychee tree you can keep the tree at any size you desire.

What climate conditions do lychee trees grow best in?
Lychee trees do not tolerate hard freezes (below freezing for more than a few hours), but do like chilling in the winter. Between 30 & 40 degrees for at least 40 hours during the winter is the minimum for getting the trees to consistently produce fruit. Also, lychee trees need full sun. Shaded areas of the tree will rarely produce fruit.

How much winter chilling does a lychee tree require to produce fruit?
A lychee tree needs approximately 100-200 hours of chilling below 68 F (20 C)degrees mean daily temparature in the winter for lychee trees to grow bloom spikes instead of leaf flushes.

Can lychee trees tolerate freezing temperatures?
No, lychee trees are very climate sensitive. If you are growing a lychee tree in an area that experiences freezing temperatures in the winter you must use some type of freeze protection. Lychee trees will die if they are exposed to a hard freeze below 30 degrees for more than 8 hours. They do however require some chilling in the winter to produce fruit.

Should I prune my lychee tree?
Yes. Prune your tree after harvesting the fruit to develop a nice tree shape, control tree size and promote strategically timed growth flushes.

When is the best time to prune my lychee tree?
Prune your lychee tree every year in the summer right after you harvest the fruit.

I want to buy a lychee tree for my yard. What type should I get?
The most reliable fruiting and most popular lychee trees here in South Florida are the Brewster and Mauritius which comprise most of our grove. Get a lychee tree that has been grown from air layers, not grafted. Only buy bare-root air layers if you are a skilled tropical fruit grower.

Can I graft a lychee tree?
Lychee trees are difficult, but not impossible, to graft. The most effective way to propogate lychee trees is by air layering. For more info check out the "About Lychees" section of this website for our article on Grafting Lychee Trees.

Can I plant the seeds from my lychee fruit to grow a lychee tree?
Yes and No. You can certainly plant the seed and it should sprout into a tree. Seedlings are fun to grow. However, your seedling tree will take 5 to 20 years to produce fruit and there is a possibility that it may never produce fruit at all. If the tree does bear lychee fruit the fruit may not even retain the good characteristics of the original fruit that you ate or planted.

Do I need more than one lychee tree to produce fruit?
No, you only need one tree because lychee trees have both male and female flowers on the same tree and can be self pollinated.

General Information

Do you have a nursery location where I can browse or buy your lychee fruit, trees or products?
Our licensed nursery is at our house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and our grove is in Davie, Florida near Flamingo Gardens. You can pick up lychee products and/or browse trees in 3 or 7 gallon containers from our home nursery. Fresh lychee fruit in season can be picked up during the day at our home or grove and in the evening from our home. Please call us in advance an let us know when you will be coming by.

Do you have any kind of guarantee on your fresh lychee fruit, trees or products?
We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not satisfied with your purchase for any reason or at any time contact us for a replacement or refund. In the case of lychee trees, if you are not satisfied with the size, shape, quality, etc. of your tree you can return it to us and we will send you a replacement tree. If your lychee tree dies for any reason at any time we will replace the tree. We consider it our fault that the tree died because we did not provide you with enough informaion to properly grow and maintain your lychee tree. If your fresh lychee fruit arrives damaged, spoiled or in an unsatisfactory condition contact us immediately for partial or full replacement of the fruit.

thank you informations and pictures by internet websites about Lynchee.

How to Grow Lynchee.

2011-11-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is a tropical fruit tree in the soapberry family. It is native to southern China and grows wild in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It is an evergreen that grows to 15 meters and bears edible drupes that are more than an inch in diameter. This fruit is red or pink with a large seed that should not be eaten. Here's how to grow lychee fruit.

Instructions :

1. Ensure the planting site will have full sun and a temperate climate. Mature trees can withstand only a light frost and young trees will need to be protected from cold, heat and high wind.

2. Select rich soil, with deep alluvial loam being ideal. The pH should be around 6.5 and lime may need to be added to reduce the acidity.

3. Keep the soil moist but well-drained. The lychee can withstand brief flooding but not standing water. The water table should be at least four feet below the surface and continually moving.

4. Propagate the lychee primarily by air-layering. Girdle a branch of a tree and allow it to callus for one to two days. Apply a mixture of sticky mud and chopped straw or dry leaves and wrap it with burlap.

5. Water the branch frequently so that it develops roots. Cut off the branch after about 100 days and increase the diameter of the earth ball to about one foot. Grow the air layer in a sheltered nursery for more than a year before gradually exposing it to full sun and setting it out in the orchard.

5 Tips for Growing Lychee Trees in Containers

Lychee trees can be grown in containers, even though it is not the optimal growing conditions for them. Here are some tips to help you keep your lychee tree healthy:

Lots of Sunlight

Your Lychee Tree will grow the best in full sun on all sides of the tree. If you are going to put your lychee in an area with sunlight on only one side you should turn the tree as often as possible. Lychee trees in containers grow very well outside where they can get full sun around the entire tree.
Fertilizer

We don't recommend fertilizing your containered lychee tree very often or your tree will quickly outgrow its container. Low concentration, organic fertilizers like kelp and fish emulsion are best. When you do fertilize make sure you spray minor elements on the leaves. Spray liquid phosphorous fertilizer on the leaves when you transplant your lychee tree into a new container and annually in September or October to promote flowering and fruiting of the lychee tree. As you probably know, the pollinated flowers become the fruit.
Mycorrhizal Fungi

The soil quality in potting mix is nothing like the original natural forest environment of lychee trees in Southern China. If you grow a lychee tree in a container, you must take measures to improve and rejuvinate the soil quality or your tree will slowly die within a few years. Mycorrhizal Fungi is a soil treatment that will increase the roots ability to absorb and distribute nutrients and water and innoculate the tree against many plant diseases and pathogens.
Trim the Roots

Once a year take your lychee tree out of its container and trim back the roots. Even if you are moving your lychee tree to a larger container, you should still trim back the roots. If you let the roots of your containered tree grow uncontrolled, you risk having an unhealthy tree. When the roots are all matted together, the root system does not breathe or absorb water and nutrients evenly which can eventually kill your tree or cause it to decline.
Flower Pollination and Fruit

In order for your lychee tree to bear fruit, you must to have a way to pollinate the female flowers. Outdoors bees, wasps, and other insects do the job for you. In our grove we have large beehives to make sure that our grove produces fruit every year.

If your lychee tree is indoors or in a screened patio, you will have to manually pollinate the flowers if you want fruit.

Fresh Lychees straight from the tree in midsummer is one of the true delights in life.

Brought to North Queensland by Chinese gold diggers late last century they have remained unknown to most Australians until very recently. It is only now that they are being grown commercially and starting to find their way into the better fruit shops in season, that some Australians are being privileged with a taste of these irresistible little delights. Many people have tasted canned lychees as served with icecream in Chinese restaurants, but rest assured the canned ones just cannot be compared to the real thing. The lychee tree is very attractive, Evergreen, medium size with a rounded crown and dark glossy foliage. Variety Bengal has bright pink new growth.

HOW LONG DO THEY TAKE TO BEAR ?

Some varieties take several years, but the variety Bengal will bear in three years. Of course this crop is only small but the Lychee is a long lived tree and each year the crop will get bigger. For example, at six years, the average yield in NSW is 10 Kg , at 10 years, 42 Kg and so on.

WHERE CAN I GROW A LYCHEE TREE ?

Lychees will grow in a very wide range of soils from sand to clay base. They prefer a sheltered (from wind) but sunny spot and need a clear space of at least 4 metres (all around) the trunk.

DO THEY TAKE FROST ?

Lychees will not stand heavy frost especially when young. If well sheltered with a guard for the first two winters or until the tree is 1.5 M (five ft) high, it will then stand light frosts to -1 degrees.

DO THEY NEED SPRAYING ?

Lychees are relatively free of pests especially in the home garden or mixed orchard situation. The main thing to watch for in young trees is scale insects. If you only see a few scales don't worry because they are probably being controlled by insect predators. If you have a heavy infestation it is best to spray with a recommended chemical for scale but be careful because Lychee trees are sensitive to some chemicals. If the scale is being spread ("farmed") by the common little black ant, then you may solve the problem by drenching the soil around the trees with something recommended for killing ants.

DO THEY NEED PRUNING ?

Occasionally the branches need thinning or selecting for good open crotch angles but this only needs to be done every two or three years.

WHEN DO I PLANT A LYCHEE TREE ?

Best to plant Lychees in early to mid summer - that is, about November to February, so that they are settled in before winter. Do not expect much growth in the first twelve months as they are slow starters.

ANY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS ?

Yes. Lychees have no drought tolerance whatsoever. They must be kept moist at all times. Whereas most trees will wilt when dry, then recover sometime after watering, the Lychee will not recover from a dry-out, but will drop its leaves and eventually die.

HOW DO I PLANT MY LYCHEE TREE ?

Keep well watered in pot until planting.
Dig a larger hole than pot size, and work in 1/3 bag well rotted or processed manure.
Place tree in hole after removing the pot, and fill around so that all the roots are covered. On no account disturb the roots !
Water in very well.
Spread 1 Kg dolomite around the tree on soil surface.
Mulch soil surface around the tree.
Do not stake the tree, but if it is in a windy area, erect a wind guard around the tree.

AFTERCARE.

Keep well watered.
Fertilize frequently during first four years but only a little at a time. Lychees are susceptible to any kind of sudden shocks. A sudden large dose of fertilizer can cause them to set back badly.
Protect from frost and cold winds in winter until 2 metres high.

Thank You information / pictures by other website on internet.

Growing Indoor Palm Plants

2011-03-06T02:46:00.000-08:00

Indoor palm plants are popular plants for sprucing up homes and offices. They bring a tropical environment indoors and shelter plants from outdoor cold temperatures where they couldn’t survive in colder climates. Caring for indoor palms is specific for each particular palm but isn’t difficult.

Although indoor palm plants do need some extra care and maintenance not needed by many other types of house plants, many indoor palm caretakers consider their indoor plants well worth any extra care they may need.

Identification and Size of Indoor Plants

Most of the popular indoor palms are those that grow extremely upright as space is limited when palms are grown indoors. Indoor palms have leaves known as fronds that are shaped as fans, feathers or triangles. While the fantail palm is fan shaped, the indoor palm known as the fishtail palm is triangular shaped, resembling a fish’s tail fin. The areca palm is feather shaped.

Advantages of Indoor Palm Trees

Indoor palms are plants that offer exotic beauty from their textured foliage. Besides filling up empty spaces with the beauty of the tropics, indoor palm plants have health benefits. Indoor palms are one of the best plants for purifying air. By adding moisture to air they furnish ideal oxygenation in helping to remove toxins to an office or home.

Types of Indoor Palm Trees

According to Jungle Music.net, the best indoor palms are Lady Palm, Kentia Palm and Bamboo Palm.

Lady Palms are fan shaped, multi-stemmed and easy to grow when provide with good quality water. They have shiny large leaves with blunt tips.
The Bamboo Palm is a tall plant with long arching leaves that grow upright in clusters. Its narrow rate of growth makes it ideal as an indoor palm.
The Kentia Palm has drooping dark green fronds and grows slowly. Its exceptional tolerance and adaptability to indoor conditions make it an excellent house palm.
The Bamboo Palm is a tall plant with long arching leaves that grow upright in clusters. Its narrow growth rate makes it ideal as an indoor palm.

Pests and Other Problems

Spider mites can be a problem with indoor plants due to warm temperatures and low humidity. Mealybugs and scale insects are other pests that bother palms.

Too much iron in a fertilizer can cause spotting on foliage and leaf tips to turn brown and then die. Leaf browning, which is caused by insufficient water or dry air, is another common indoor palm problem.

Indoor Palm Tree Considerations

Indoor palm plants need to have salt rinsed from their soil. Rinse a house plant palm about every three to four months. Soil should be allowed enough time to dry out completely before watering the palm again.

Although palm trees require bright light, the light shouldn’t be direct as this can cause burning of a palm tree. They shouldn’t be positioned in front of sunny windows.

Indoor Plant Cautions

Pet owners shouldn’t have the Fishtail palm as an indoor plant as has toxic parts with the roots which are especially poisonous.

Indoor palms need soil to be moist, but not soggy and shouldn’t be overly watered or under watered. They need less water in winter and more moisture during the growing season.

Resources:

Indoor Palm Trees: Indoor Palm Trees (date accessed 5/5/2010).

Jungle Music: Palms as House Plants (date accessed 5/5/2010).

Thank you credit by http://www.suite101.com/content/growing-indoor-palm-plants-a236378 and pictures by Internet web site.

How to grow Palm trees successfully

2011-03-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

If you live in a cold climate you’ve probably already written off palms as a plant that won’t grow in your garden – and you would be partly right.

Most palms are tropical and can’t exist in temperatures less than 15° C (59° F) but there are many cool climate palms that colder areas

can grow quite successfully. Dwarf Sugar Palm – can grow at temperatures of less than -6° C (21° F) and reach heights of nearly 5m (15ft). Also the more common, and much larger, Bismarck Palm can grow within the same climate while the Chinese Windmill Palmshouldn’t be grown at all in warmer climates.

While these are only a few of the cool climate palms available to gardeners, there are more comprehensive lists available, tropical palms have a beauty and majesty all their own.

The fabulous Kentia Palm is one example. TheGolden Cane Palm, Parlour Palm and the gorgeous Raphia Palm are some of the many others.

So, while we can all grow grow palms the question we need to ask is do we want to? I’ve been a major cynic of palms in the garden for quite a few years mainly because they have become the tree of choice here in Australia for landscaping new subdivisions. It seems every second home has littered their garden with fast-growing Bangalow Palms. Why? Very little maintenance is required. They don’t drop leaves and they don’t take much to keep looking good.

One day a friend inspired me with his plans to create a tropical rainforest garden in Perth, Western Australia. I cynically assumed he was off his rocker but after some investigation found that not only was it possible but I could also create a similar design to my garden in Busselton (250km south of Perth).

Caring for your palm

Palms don’t require pruning but the removal of spent fronds will help keep them looking neat and tidy. Some palms send up suckers which will need to be cut out at base level but apart from sustaining them with a moderate weekly watering they don’t need much else.

Palms naturally crave iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium so finding a fertiliser that contains higher levels of these nutrients will be helpful.

You can transplant palms and this is best done during their growing season (early spring) and provided that most of the rootball can be kept intact. Transplant your palm into a whole twice the size of the rootball and water copiously for the first month or so. Then resume normal watering and apply some fertiliser.

To keep your palm warm in winter wrap the trunk with bubble-wrap and mulch it well or wrap plastic sheeting over its drip line.

Growing palms from seed

Palms can be grown quite successfully from seed but palm seeds have a long gestation period. Kentia’s for example can take between 2-3 years before sending up shoots. To aid their success, remove the fleshy coverings and soak the seed in tepid water for at least 24 hours. Discard any that are still floating after this period and plant the ones that have sunk to the bottom. Plant them in a good seed-raising mix and keep warm in a greenhouse or on a window sill.

Credit info to http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2007/01/how_to_grow_palm_trees_successfully.html and Thank you pcitures by internet.

Growing Fresh Strawberries in the Home Garden

2010-12-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

Strawberries are an easy to grow fruit crop that will reward the home gardener with ample harvests for many years. With favorable conditions, each strawberry plant should produce one quart of strawberries.

Choosing Strawberry Plants

There are basically 3 types of strawberry plants to choose from: June bearing, Everbearing and Day Neutral.

June Bearing strawberries produce a single, large crop per year

during a 2 - 3 week period in the spring. June bearers are the traditionally grown plants, producing a single flush of flowers and many runners. They are classified into early, mid-season and late varieties. The largest fruits are generally from June bearing varieties.

Everbearing strawberries produce two to three harvests of fruit intermittently during the spring, summer and fall. Everbearing plants do not send out many runners.

Day Neutral strawberries will produce fruit throughout the growing season. These strawberries also produce few runners. Everbearing and day neutral strawberries are great when space is limited, but the fruits are usually somewhat smaller than June bearers.

Site: Where to Plant Strawberries

Basic considerations when locating a strawberry patch include:

Full sun
Well drained, sandy loam with a pH from 5.8 to 6.2 is ideal
Don't plant where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant have been grown recently (Verticillium Rot)

Planting Strawberry Plants

What ever planting method you choose, the following rules apply:

Plant in the spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to be worked, or in late fall
Be sure you have certified disease-free plants
Select plants with large crowns with healthy, light-colored roots
Amend soil with 1-2 inches of organic matter like compost or well- rotted manure
Keep weeds from competing with your strawberry plants
Make a hole large enough to spread the roots. Hill the center of the hole and place the crown at soil level. Spread the roots downward on the hill. Bury the plant so that the soil only goes halfway up the crown.

Matted Row System for June Bearing Strawberries

The matted row system works well with strawberry plants that send out a lot of runners. Set plants 18 inches apart in rows of 24 inches, with 4 - 4 1/2 feet between rows.

Leaves and flower buds will emerge shortly after planting. Pinch off all flowers during the first year in the garden, on June bearing varieties, and all flowers that form until July 1st on ever-bearing and day neutral varieties. This will encourage both plant vigor and production of runners to fill in the mat. Pinching off this years flowers means no crop this year but a much better crop next year and several more years of production.

As runners form from the plant crowns, train along the row and space 6 to 9 inches apart. Press the runner gently into the soil, hold in place with a rock or cover with about 1/2 inch of soil until roots form. Do not sever the runner from the mother plant.

Hill System for Day Neutral and Everbearing Strawberries

Day neutral and everbearing strawberry plants don't send out many runners and instead focus their energy on producing multiple harvests. The hill system is basically a raised bed 8 inches high and 2 feet wide. Plants are set out in staggered double rows, about 12 inches apart. All runners should be removed as well as all flowers until July 1st of the first year. Plants may then be allowed to produce fruit. Multiple harvests are exhausting on plants and both day neutral and everbearing varieties should be replaced about every 3 years or whenever they seem to slow in vigor.

December 6, 2005

Mulching the Strawberry Bed

Mulch between plants after planting to keep the soil temperature cool, deter weeds and to keep the fruit off the soil. Straw is the traditional strawberry mulch. Do not use black plastic since it will raise the soil temperature and optimal fruit production requires cool soil.

In colder climates, mulching over the strawberry plants will prevent injury to the crowns. Wait until the temperature drops to 20 degrees F. and cover with several inches of straw or pine needles. Be sure to use a mulch that can be easily removed in the spring.

Strawberry Water Needs

1 - 2 inches of water per week is needed for juicy fruit. Water is especially important while the fruit is forming, from early bloom to the end of harvest.

Fertilizing Strawberries

Start with a rich, organic soil. Apply a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) at planting at the rate of one pound per 100 sq. ft. Fertilize again after renovation of June bearers or second harvest of day neutrals and everbearing types. Do not over fertilizer or you will have excessive leaf growth and poor flowering. Do not fertilizer strawberries late in the season in colder climate to prevent new growth that will be damaged by frost.

Credit : http://gardening.about.com/od/fruitsberriesnuts/a/Strawberries.htm

Cultivation of Pineapples

2010-12-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

The crop requires areas where the climate is warm, humid and free from extreme temperatures (25 °C being optimal). These areas have a great potential for pineapple production.

There are 5 major pineapple groups grown throughout the world. Two of these, Cayenne and Queen, are widely cultivated in South Africa.
Cayenne and Queen Cultivars

The Smooth Cayenne cultivar is used for both canning (75 % of which is exported) and as fresh fruit. The Queen, because of its high sugar content and unsuitable canning qualities, is cultivated only for fresh consumption. However, because production of the Queen pineapple is more costly, fresh consumption is shifting towards the Cayenne.

Cayenne plants and the fruit are normally larger than that of the Queen, with succulent yellow fruit. Queen fruit has a golden yellow colour and is less juicy.

Planting Requirements

Pineapples can be grown in a variety of soil types but prefer mildly acid soils (pH 5,5_6,5). However, there are certain requirements for successful pineapple production, which include:

Preparing the soil

Remove trees, stumps and stones
Subsoil (rip) to a depth of 800 to 900 mm under dry conditions
Disc, plough and till the soil a number of times, to achieve a fine tilth, for effective plant rooting
Ridge the soil for better drainage, temperature and to improve aeration
Have soil samples analysed at least 6 months before planting to determine fertilisation and fumigation requirements

Planting material

Unlike many other crops grown from seed, pineapples are grown by planting various parts of the plant according to the cultivar, where it is going to be produced, and the cultivation methods practised in the area.

Although crowns are mostly used as planting material for the Cayenne cultivar, they are considered uneconomical for the Queen cultivar because of the length of time they take to bear.
Suckers are planted in the case of Queen pineapple production. Slips bear sooner than crowns but they require a great deal of labour (to break them out and to remove the small fruit attached to their bases). Stumps are generally used when no other planting material is available.

Planting time

Plant pineapples between July and December.
Why?

For rapid growth and uniform stand
The temperature during this time ranges from satisfactory to ideal

Do not plant between February and April.
Why?

Temperatures become progressively lower
Retarded growth, poor and uneven stand

Farm planning, selection of soils and land layout

Consider the following factors when designing the layout of the land where you are going to plant pineapples as they will have an effect on production:

Climate—is it warm, humid and frost free? The occurrence and intensity of rainfall should also be considered
Soil type—clayey loams or sandy soils are ideal for planting
Natural obstacles—rocky outcrops and vleis
Soil conservation—unprepared soil usually results in poor plant uniformity, root development and weed control
Position of windbreaks—to protect soil and crops
Topography—gentle slopes will require a layout different from that for steep slopes. Steep slopes are more difficult to manage and cultivate (more powerful machinery is required)

The aims in the layout of a pineapple land are to:

- control water runoff and thereby limit soil erosion

- facilitate good drainage and prevent root and heart rot

- uniform distribution of sunlight to all plants

- have roads allowing machinery easy access to the pineapple plants (to expedite harvesting and spraying)

Planting

Planting is done by hand, with or without the aid of a planting machine. Use of the latter results in uniform, neat plantations.

Plant spacing

Spacing from ridge centre to ridge centre: 1,5 m.

Each ridge must carry a double row of plants.

Spacing between rows should be 600 mm.

Spacing between the plants in the row: 300 mm.

1,5 m Spacing from ridge centre to ridge centre

600 mm Spacing between rows

300 mm Spacing between plants in the row

Weed Control

For the control of most broad-leaved weeds and annual grasses, contact herbicides can be used.

Apply pre-emergence herbicides immediately after planting the pineapples, before root development and weed emergence.

The herbicide should be applied according to the type of soil:

Initial weedkiller application (spray)

- 3-5 kg bromacil/ha: low rate for sandy soils

- 3-5 l diuron/ha: low rate for sandy soils

- 5-6 l atrazine/ha: where euphorbia is a problem

- 3-4 l ametryn/ha: if weeds are already present

Booster applications (at 12 months interval)

- 2 l diuron/ha

- 2 kg bromacil/ha: at grower’s discretion

- 4-6 l atrazine/ha: if euphorbia is present

- 3-4 l ametryn/ha: if weeds are already present

Pest and Disease Control

Effective control measures are available for the most important pests and diseases. Pesticides used to control soil pests and diseases should be incorporated into the soil before ridging, with booster applications if required.

Pests above the soil level are usually controlled by spraying with a foliar pesticide during the period when the pests are most active.

Always read the label on the pesticide containers.
Why?

To know if pH sensitive or biodegradable, i.e. whether it breaks down rapidly in direct sunlight
To find out how to get the desired control with minimum impact on the environment
For the safety of workers

Fertilisation

Use the following fertilisers :

Hand applied fertiliser:	ammonium sulphate 100 N (sulphate of ammonia)—10 pockets/ha
Phosphate:	drilled into the ridges 0-300 kg/ha (Saaifos and zinc)
Potassium:	broadcast before ridging 0-400 kg/ha (potassium chloride)
Mixture:	drilled/broadcast 0-600 kg/ha (0:1:6 + Mg/Zn)

Forcing agents

With the use of forcing agents, the pineapples can be made to bear fruit at virtually any time of the year.
Why?

It initiates flowering, shortens crop cycle and increases yield
It ensures uniform, complete and concentrated cropping

Fruit colouring or yellowing

Fruiting agents can also be applied to colour fruit, by spraying or brushing onto fruit. This ensures uniform colouring of the fruit in a plantation.

Irrigation

The pineapple plant is able to utilise rainwater and even dew very effectively. Therefore, the heavy dew that occurs in the coastal regions is so valuable to pineapples that irrigation may not even be necessary. Supplementary irrigation could, however, sometimes be essential and of great value.

Harvesting

Harvesting should be done 7 to 14 days after yellowing. It is labour intensive because workers walk in the space between ridges to pick the fruit by hand, loading it into baskets, or onto a boom harvester.

After harvesting the crowns are broken off (not twisted) and left on top of the plants in the field or are placed in bags to be collected at a later date for planting.

Make sure that the fruit is not too green or too ripe when harvested, not bruised or damaged and that it is not affected to a large extent by any physiological problems.

source : http://www.nda.agric.za

Cherry Trees - hints on how to plant and grow them

2010-12-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

As a general rule of thumb, cherry trees are the first of the stone fruits to blossom and fruit hence the appearance of the fruit in the supermarket shelves herald the arrival of summer. Cherry trees aren't all that hard to grow provided you have :

cold chilly winters
enough room for 2 trees (they are big trees mind you, some growing in excess of 30 feet, so if you are planting 2, then plant them at least 18 feet apart) - most cherry trees require a pollinator. There are new varieties of sweet cherry trees ( Stella and Sweetheart) which are self pollinating so pick these if you want just one tree which will give you fruit. If you are short on space, you can try to espalier them against a wall and pruning religiously to keep them in check. The advantage of having them espaliered is that you can keep them to a reasonable size and netting to stop the birds getting at the fruit proves to be an easier task.
lots of time and patience to spray them and net them to stop the birds from eating the bounty before you get to them.

Cherry trees are originally from Europe and Western Asia. The coveted cherry blossoms that enshroud the tree in spring is a vision to behold. Japan is well known for its cherry blossom festival and the hint that winter is leaving us to give way to spring is never as potently portrayed as an alley full of cherry blossom trees erupting with vivid white. So if you do decide to plant cherry trees, you get a double bounty, the spring show and the fruit to boot!

Cherry tree requirements

Most cherry trees (unless you are after the sour cherries which cooks much prefer) require a pollinator - if you only have room for one tree, then perhaps you could convince your neighbour to have one in their yard too. Cherry trees need frosty winters to bear a good crop, so whilst you may get some fruit if your winters are milder, you aren't going to be able to get basketfuls of cherries. Still, how many cherries can you eat? The fruit really only keeps for a week in the fridge so it would mean a cherry binge for that week after the harvest and then you'd have to wait another year for your next fix!

Cherry trees prefer a protected site and rich, well drained soil - they loathe wet feet. When the tree is about to fruit (around late spring) it's best if there isn't any rain around that time as you get better cherries with fewer subject to rotting. Cherry trees aren't particularly fond of mulching and too much fertilizer is wasted on them. They much prefer just an annual sprinkling of blood and bone or old poultry manure.

How to prune cherry trees

Cherries are borne on fruiting spurs on branches that are at least 2 years old. So if you prune off the spurs by accident, you will have to wait another 2 years for any fruit. Pruning essentially is done to ensure that the cherry trees assume an open vase shape, taking out any dead twigs and removing any branches that cross over each other. Pruning is best done when conditions are dry - avoid pruning in wet and damp conditions as cherry trees are prone to fungal diseases.

Cherry tree problems

Cherry trees are prone to fungal attack so bordeaux spray in winter is often a necessity. If you see little holes in the trunk and branches, then you are likely to have wood borer problems (some moths do this too) and will need to try killing them with wire down the hole or injecting insecticide into the holes and then filling them up with wood putty. The dreaded pear and cherry slug is another problem and needs to be dealt with by spraying with a solution of Derris.

What about sour cherry trees

Sour cherries are the wilder cousins of the more cultivated sweet cherry trees. They tend to be self fertile (you only need one tree) and are smaller and bushier in shape. Sour cherry trees also tend to have bad habit of suckering so bear this in mind when you plant one. The cherries tend to be more tart to the taste buds and are usually used in cooking eg pies. Growth requirements and conditions are similar to their sweet cousins.

Credit : http://www.flowerpotheaven.com/grow-plant-cherry-trees.htm

Growing Cherry Trees

2010-12-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

The biggest offender of growing cherry trees in your garden is the weather. Cherry trees are very particular about their climate.

-They don't like long hot summers.

-They need a chilling out period during the winter.

-They don't need a late frost!

The other garden enemy of the cherry tree is birdlife. Growing cherry trees will guarantee a huge garden bird population flocking to your garden. But if you want to eat the cherries you will have to guard against the birds. They can strip a tree in less than half an hour.

Preparation

Decide on the site for your tree/s some months in advance of planting. Soil Ph should be between 6.2 and 6.8. Check and adjust accordingly. Land must be well-drained. Cherry trees can't tolerate wet feet. Check the site throughout a rainy spell: Dig a hole 2 or 3 feet deep. If the rainwater stays in the bottom of the hole for any length of time, the land isn't well-drained enough for growing cherry trees.

Dig over the soil, remove all weeds and dig in well-rotted animal manure if available.

Choosing Cherries!

From the small wild cherry thousands of years ago, man's enjoyment of cherries has developed and we now expect to eat sweet varieties whenever in season.

We have wild cherry trees popping up everywhere in our garden. Thanks to the birds spitting out the pips on their own doorstep! Tut!

"Have you grown cherry trees from pips? Scroll down to the bottom of this page and share your cherry tree success story!"

In our case the system can work well because the birds stay up in the heights of the old wild cherry trees, and tend to ignore the garden cherry trees tucked away in the vegetable plot. That's the theory but it doesn't always work like that. -Best to net your trees as soon as they start to fruit!

Browse through your local garden centre catalogue or drop into a local nursery to have a look at the varieties available in your region.

Because cherries are sooo particular, many varieties have been developed to cope with different temperatures and viruses.

When you buy your cherry trees check instructions for:

Pollination requirements: as a rule sour cherries - the wilder varieties - are self-pollinating. Sweet cherries generally need cross-pollination and should be planted near a compatible variety.

Regional Compatibilty Double check the variety is suitable for your region. Growing cherry trees in extreme temperatures will require a very special variety.

Planting Instructions Growing cherry trees in your garden requires a little fore-thought. They are trees after all! There are a few dwarf varieties on the market and these may have specific planting instructions.

Here are a few different varieties available online, there are many more!

'Stella' 'Sunburst' from Crocus.

This link will take you to their homepage. Crocus.co.uk Choose 'plants' from the menu, then under 'plants by type' choose 'fruit'. There are loads of amazing mouthwatering fruits to drool over including these two glorious cherry varieties.

Growing cherry trees at Nature Hills 'Montmorency' available for U.S. deliveries

Growing cherry trees at Nature Hills 'Stella' available for U.S. deliveries

Planting

As mentioned above, instructions should be double checked before you plant your cherry tree.

Here is a rough guide to growing chery trees in your garden;

Dig a large hole in your prepared soil.-18-24 inches depending on the age and variety of tree.

Tease out the roots of your tree, unless instructions state otherwise.

Place the root ball at the bottom of your hole and fill in with soil. Press down firmly. When all soil has been packed back in the hole, use your heel to firm the tree in place.

If required, place a stake in the ground next to the tree.

Water well.

After Care

It's easy to forget to water trees in the garden. New trees, especially fruiting trees, need lots of water until they are established. During hot summer periods your cherry trees will still require water to 'swell' the cherries.

Netting

Netting is considered dangerous to birdlife and it's true, birds do get caught in nets sometimes.

One way round this is to build a cage type affair to put over your trees when they start fruiting.

Build a square wooden frame that will sit over your tree and stretch very fine netting round all four sides and over the top. The very fine netting will stop the birds getting caught up, and you can enjoy a healthy crop of cherries.

This system works well when growing cherry trees on a small scale. If your trees are big or you have many of them, other methods such as bird scarers may be more appropriate.

Harvesting

Pick the fruit as it becomes ripe. Eat fresh off the tree or bake cherry tarts and pies.

Fresh cherries will store well for a number of days in a cool place.

Growing cherry trees successfully does need a little time and energy - but worth every delicious mouthful!

credit : http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/growing-cherry-trees.html

How to Grow Avocado Seeds into Trees

2010-04-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

How to Grow Avocado Seeds into Trees

There's nothing more fun than growing your own Avocado Tree!

"How do I do it?"

Open the avocado and remove the pit from the center. You can eat the fruit of the avocado, it's yummy and is full of nutrients!*

Wash the avocado pit under cool running water, you don't need soap to clean it. With your fingers gently wipe away and remove any of the green fruit that might be on the pit. Rinse it well and then blot it dry with a paper towel.

Carefully push three toothpicks into the thickest width of avocado, you want to push the toothpicks into the pit about a 1/2" deep. (It's okay if you push them in deeper or even a little less) The toothpicks will help suspend the avocado pit in water and keep the top part of the pit in fresh air and the fat base of the pit under the surface of the water. Be careful pushing in the toothpicks, they have pointy edges and could hurt if they poke your hands, it's all right to ask a grown-up to help with this.

Suspend the pit over a glass filled with water....the toothpicks will rest on the rim of the glass and hold the pit in place so it doesn't sink to the bottom. Always check the water level in the glass and see that the water is covering the fat base of the pit by about an inch depth. If the water is below that level you'll need to add some more. Slowly and carefully pour in more water from a small cup to avoid splashing.

Place the glass in a bright windowsill. In about three to six weeks the top of the avocado pit will begin to split and a stem sprout will emerge from the top and roots will begin to grow at the base.

When the stem grows to about five or six inches pinch out the top set of leaves. In another two or three weeks new leaves will sprout and their will be more roots.

It's now time to plant the young avocado tree. Place enriched potting soil in a large flowerpot (maybe 8" to 10" across). Fill the soil to about an inch from the top of the pot. Make a small depression in the center of the soil and place the pit, root-side down into the depression. Don't put it too deep...you want to have the upper half of the pit above the soil line. Add some more soil around the pit to fill in any air holes by the roots and then firm it into the soil by gently pushing the soil around the base of the pit. The tree's stem and leaves should be straight and pointing up (like a flagpole).

Give the soil a drink to water the pit. Water it generously so that the soil is thoroughly moist. Water the soil slowly and gently so that when it's poured in it doesn't gouge out holes in the soil. Keep your tree watered but don't let the soil be so moist that it ever looks like mud.

How do I care for my avocado tree?"

Keep your tree in a sunny window, the more sun it gets the bigger it will grow.

Remember to give it frequent light waterings but don't let the soil get muddy. If the leaves turn yellow it means that the plant is getting too much watering, let the tree's soil dry out for a couple of days, then return to light waterings.

When the stem grows six more inches pinch out the top two sets of leaves. This will encourage the plant to grow side shoots and more leaves, making it bushy. Each time the plant grows another six inches pinch out the two newest sets of leaves on top.

"Can my avocado tree ever go outside?"

Yes it can go outside in the summer. If your winters are cold ~ below 45 degrees (F) or 7 degrees (C) ~ you must bring your tree inside for the winter. Otherwise, if your winters are cool and mild, the tree may stay outdoors year round.

"Will my tree ever grow fruit?"

Sometimes they will begin setting fruit after they are three or four years old. It helps to have several avocado trees growing together to aid with pollination.

"How tall will my avocado tree grow?" An avocado tree is a medium to large tall tree. It can grow between 20 and 40 feet tall. With pruning it can be kept at a much shorter height.

AVOCADO MILK

*Avocado Nutrition Facts*

Avocados contain just 5 grams of fat per serving.

Avocados contain NO cholesterol and NO sodium.

Avocados contain 60% more potassium per ounce than bananas!

Avocados are high in fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and folate.

=========================================================

Enjoy sprouting your avocado pit and growing your tree!

CREDIT BY : http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html

The Indoor Avocado Tree

2010-04-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

The Indoor Avocado Tree

No Fruit — But Great Fun to Grow

Avocados are a popular landscape tree in the American Southwest where they reach heights of up to 65 feet and produce an average of 120 fruits per year. Also called the "alligator pear," the avocado is native to Mexico where the Aztecs regarded it as a 'fertility fruit'. Because the avocado was believed to be a sexual stimulant, Aztec families locked up their virgin daughters during Avocado harvest to protect them from its potent powers.

Start Your Avocado from Seed

Indoor grown avocados rarely bear fruit. When they do, the taste of the fruit is quite different from those grown outdoors in their tropical habitat (zones 9-11). Yet, the avocado bears a most interesting seed and, if you are patient, an indoor avocado tree will reward you with an indoor touch of the tropics.

A favored method of sprouting an avocado seed is to pierce it with toothpicks and suspend it (pointed end up) over a glass, vase, or jar of water, immersing only the bottom third to half of the seed. Keep the water sweet by adding some charcoal to the bottom of your container. Keep it warm and moist, but out of direct sunlight. In two to six weeks, if your seed germinates, you should see the beginning of stems and roots.

Prune, Then Pot for Gorgeous Avocado Foliage

When the stem reaches six inches in length, cut it back to three to allow your plant to put energy into root growth. When your plant has good root growth and the beginnings of foliage, pot it in a small pot (4-5 inch diameter). Pot it partly exposed like you would an amaryllis bulb or sweet potato vine. Use a four to five inch pot for starters, filled with nutrient rich potting soil. Allow for good drainage.

If your seed doesn't sprout, toss it out and try again, or...

Leave an avocado pit in the sunshine until it begins to split; then pot it partly exposed like above.

When your avocado plant grows to about 12-inches tall, pinch it back to 6-inches to produce a rounder, fuller plant. When your new plant fills its pot with roots, repot it in its 'permanent' pot and put it in its permanent place in your indoor garden. If you provide it with moist, fertile soil and plenty of sunshine, your avocado plant will reward you with gorgeous foliage for three to five years.

How To Plant and Grow A Coconut

2009-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

How To Plant and Grow A Coconut

To start a coconut from the seed, it is best to have the outer fibrous husk intact

Get a 3-gallon pot. Use high quality nursery soil mixed with 40% coarse sand. Add drainage rocks to the bottom of the pot

Lay your coconut husk on the ground and see what way it wants to rest. Plant your coconut husk 1/2 way into the soil in the same position

You can leave the pot in the sun or the shade. Water lightly to keep very lightly moist. Partial shade will likely be more successful

Be patient. The first time we started a coconut from seed it took 9 nine months to sprout. It is common for many palms to take many months to sprout. Don't over water as you'll rot them out.

Your coconut will first split its husk at the bottom and send down some roots. It may take several months before your coconut also splits the top of the husk pushing up its first fronds. In other words, your coconut will be growing and you won't even know it until it splits the top.

After your coconut spouts, your coconut can live in your 3-gallon pot for about 3-6 months. After that, plant it out or in another larger pot or directly into the soil. Incorporate lots of manure. Fertilize properly starting after sprouting 3 fronds.

Growing
If you plan to grow coconuts, better have patience, seven years of patience before you can expect to see any coconuts. The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is considered a "three generation tree," supporting a farmer, his children, and his grandchildren. Some trees, which can grow to a height of 60 to 100 feet, even survive all three generations. Cocos nucifera, nucifera meaning nut-bearing, has only one species that includes both the tall and the dwarf coconut tree, but many varieties exist within the species.

Though the coconut is commonly considered a nut, botanically it is classified as a drupe and is the largest of all fruit seeds. The coconut consists of the thin, strong outer layer or skin called the epicarp, the thick fibrous layer called mesocarp, and the dark brown hard shell called the endocarp that encases the coconut flesh. Just beneath the endocarp is the testa, the thin deep brown layer that clings to the white coconut meat.

The coconut palm is a striking tree with a tall slender trunk that keeps its same diameter from the base to the top. Beautiful, lacy fronds, about 25 to 35 of them, form an umbrella-like structure at the tree's zenith. The tree grows taller by forming new fronds that sprout from the top of the tree as the lower fronds die off.

Coconuts grow from the center of the fronds, close to the trunk. Unique to the coconut palm, each tree blooms thirteen times a year and produces all stages of growth at the same time, from tiny new green nuts to fully ripened brown nuts that are ready to fall from the tree.

Coconuts are persnickity about where they live. They cannot survive cold climates, and do poorly in temperate zones. Coconuts require the hot, humid weather of the tropical regions that stretch 25 degrees north to 25 degrees south of the equator all around the globe. There the sun shines steadily with plenty of rainfall to nurture the slow-growing coconut palm.

To begin the growing process, purchase a coconut with its husk completely intact. Just like sprouting any seeds and legumes, the coconut must be soaked in water, only longer, two or three days.

Next, prepare a pot that is large enough and deep enough for the coconut by putting big pieces of gravel or stones in the bottom to allow for good drainage. Add about two inches of sandy soil, then set the coconut on the soil with the pointed or bud end up. Add more soil until it covers about half the coconut. Then set the pot in a warm place such as a sunny window, near a warm oven, or on a radiator.

The next step requires patience and diligence. Pour warm water over the coconut husk every day, making sure it does not dry out. The sprouting process is very slow, sometimes taking six months or longer. Until the sprout appears, the coconut is receiving its nourishment from the white meat inside. The coconut water within provides the nut with all of its moisture requirements.

For a sprout to appear it must first pierce through one of the soft spots, often called eyes, of the coconut's hard inner shell and finally emerge from the large fibrous outer shell. When white roots begin to grow out, in about a year, the coconut can be planted in a large tub.

Coconuts planted at home are unlikely to thrive or produce a coconut. Today the nuts are a highly cultivated crop, where once they were a source of survival for natives of the tropics, providing the family's support with only a few trees.

Since commercially planted coconut palms are grown for maximum yield, some farmers use commercial fertilizer while others use a different method. With intercropping, an effective method of fertilization and land use, the farmer plants banana trees or other large crops among the coconut trees. After producing its crop, the banana trees are left to disintegrate, producing ideal compost to fertilize the soil.

Coconuts come in many varieties. Some are grown for their higher oil content, while others are favored for their higher sugar content. Many growers prefer the dwarf varieties. Though they lack the dramatic appearance of the tall trees, they are far easier to harvest. The dwarfs, which have a shorter lifespan, about 40 to 60 years, are also less vulnerable to a yellowing disease that kills many of the tall trees.

In agriculture, nothing is without its challenges. With all its advantages, the dwarf coconut palm also faces destruction from rodents. The creatures climb up the tree trunks and form communities under the protection of the feathery fronds, often putting a considerable dent in a farmer's crop. The farmers have tried to outwit the rats by putting metal bands around the tree trunks, but these have no effect on the rats that are already colonized in the trees.

How a farmer harvests the coconuts is a matter of choice. On the average, trees produce about 60 mature coconuts a year, though some will produce two or three times as many. The easiest method of harvesting and one that assures fully ripened coconuts, is to simply allow the ripe nuts to fall to the ground.

Alternatively, the farmer employs nimble skilled men to literally climb up to the top of the tree with a machete and cut the ripe nuts down. Still another method, one that requires considerable skill, is to attach a machete to a long bamboo pole and reach for the ripe nuts while standing on the ground. This last method often fails to provide accuracy and frequently brings down unripe nuts as well. In some countries, farmers have been able to train monkeys to gather the ripe coconuts.

Before the farmer sends his coconuts to market, he removes the thick, fibrous outer husks, making the coconuts easier for the consumer to open. The exception is young coconuts, which reach market with their outer husk partly cut away. To remove the husk, the farmer pounds the coconut against a spiked wooden post that is firmly secured in the ground.

Health Benefits of Olive Oil

2009-10-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

Health Benefits of Olive Oil

The health benefits of olive oil have been recognised by many ancient physicians like Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, and Diocles. In recent years, modern doctors and nutritionists have realised that extra virgin olive oil, particularly, contributes significant nutritional value to human health.

You should not be too surprised if you read that people in the Mediterranean region, where the bulk of olive oil is produced and enthusiastically consumed, have reaped immense health benefits from olive oil.

Olive Oil and Cholesterol

Researchers at the University of Minnesota, for one, have discovered that while Greek, Cretan and other Mediterranean men consumed almost as much dietary fat as Americans, they had much lower rates of heart disease. The difference was attributed to the Mediterranean’s consumption of extra virgin olive oil, which is largely monounsaturated fat.
Researchers at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain found in a study that a diet rich in extra virgin olive oil helped to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and, perhaps more importantly, stimulated an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.
Researchers at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands discovered that simply following a low fat diet reduced total cholesterol but HDL cholesterol also declined; in contrast, a high fat diet based on extra virgin olive oil also reduced total cholesterol but HDL cholesterol actually increased.

This is all very good for those concerned about their cholesterol levels, especially the good HDL cholesterol, and the effects on the human circulatory system.

About Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not a water-soluble substance: it floats around in our bodies, attaching itself to proteins and making them lipoproteins. Two types of cholesterol are formed. LDL or low density lipoproteins, is the so-called “bad” cholesterol; it accumulates in bodily tissues and sticks to artery walls as plaque, causing arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) if left unchecked. The other type is HDL or high density lipoproteins, the “good” cholesterol, which helps prevent artery-clogging deposits. The levels of these two cholesterols are affected by the types of fat that we take in daily.

The structures of different fats are described as saturated, mono-unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated. Saturated fats come primarily from animal meats. They are thought the greatest damage to our health, because they increase levels of LDL resulting in arteriosclerosis.

Poly-unsaturated fats come mainly from vegetables, seeds, nuts, and grains. They lower the body’s overall cholesterol level, but to do so they reduce both LDL and HDL. You may want LDL lowered, but you would want HDL increased. There are also tests indicating that in higher doses polyunsaturated fats may do more damage than good, increasing the risk of nervous system problems, brain synapse connectivity, gall bladder stones, and perhaps even cancer, unless their action is controlled by antioxidants.

Monounsaturated fats are found in varying amounts in all fats. They lower LDL but promote increases in HDL. Thus, the best oil you can use is that has little saturated and polyunsaturated fats content but has plenty of monounsaturated fats.

Fortunately, such an oil exists: olive oil. In olive oil you find some of the lowest levels of saturated and polyunsaturated fats, averaging only 10 to 15% for saturated and 8 to 9% for polyunsaturated. More significantly, olive oil has by far the highest level of monounsaturated fat among all oils, about 75% to 80%.

Effect of Dietary Fats on Cholesterol Levels
Fat	Found in	State at Room Temperature	Effect on Cholesterol Levels
Monounsaturated	Olives; olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil; cashews, almonds, peanuts, and most other nuts; avocados	Liquid	Lowers LDL; raises HDL
Polyunsaturated	Corn, soybean, safflower, and cottonseed oils; fish	Liquid	Lowers both LDL and HDL
Saturated	Whole milk, butter, cheese, and ice cream; red meat; chocolate; coconut milk, and coconut oil	Solid	Raises both LDL and HDL
Trans	Most margarines; vegetable shortening; partially hydrogenated vegetable oil; deep-fried chips; many fast foods; most commercial baked goods	Solid or semi-solid	Raises LDL; lowers HDL

Olive Oil and Rheumatoid Arthritis

A study in Greece showed that people who had the lowest lifetime consumption of extra virgin olive oil had two and a half times greater probability of developing rheumatoid arthritis than those with the highest lifetime consumption. If you know somebody who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, you must be familiar with the pain and inconvenience it can cause. A rheumatologist of the Arthritis Foundation, which did the research, cites that adding olive oil to your diet could help you protect yourself against rheumatoid arthritis. And, the spokesperson added, since the type of oil consumed in Greece is extra virgin olive oil, that offers additional protection.

Olive Oil and Antioxidants

Among the major components of extra virgin olive oil are antioxidants. Olive oil provides beta carotene (pro-vitamin A) and tocopherol (vitamin E) which are excellent buffers of acids produced in the gastrointestinal tract and those resulting from body metabolism. Extra virgin olive oil contains 88% of its vitamin E in the form of alpha-tocopherol, which is easily synthesised by the body. These are very important antioxidants that prevent the oxidation of LDLs. Such oxidation can cause damage to ordinary cells, nerve cells and arteries and lead to arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, or even cancer.

Olive Oil and Aging

Medical studies have indicated that diets which are deficient in vitamin E accelerate the breakdown of certain fatty acids, a process which invariably leads to aging. The vitamin E content in olive oil is thought to provide a defence against such effects, and thus help maintain mental faculties and muscular control longer and better. Among other benefits, the vitamin A helps prevent and minimise the development of skin wrinkles.

As we get older, our digestive capacity becomes markedly reduced resulting in more difficulty to absorb nutrients from food, especially vitamins and minerals. Olive oil is very digestible and its nutrients are easier to digest. It also has beneficent effects in aiding digestion and stimulating the appetite.

Another problem associated with aging – bone calcification – can be rectified by olive oil consumption. Studies have shown that a diet containing enough oleates as well as a moderate supply of essential fatty acids is needed for healthy bone mineralisation – a process that aids the developing bones in children and prevents calcium loss in adults.

Olive Oil, good for every body function

Olive oil is nature’s storehouse of many healthful nutrients like vitamins A, E, D and K. Other nutrients found in olive oil are:

Magnesium-rich chlorophyll encourages formation of healthy red blood cells.
Squalene, a precursor to phytoesterols, helps reduce acidity.
Phytoesterols (in the form of beta-sitosterol) assists in preventing cholesterol absorption.
Caffeic and gallic nutrients stimulate the flow of bile which helps alkalise food coming out of the stomach, reducing stress on the pancreas.
Phenolic compounds protect against fermentation of fats and cholesterol, and may promote higher production of fat-digesting enzymes in the pancreas.
Cycloartenol lowers the amount of cholesterol in free circulation and increases excretion of bile to mop up excess acidity and increase alkalinity of the food coming out of the stomach.

Olive Oil has been shown to have beneficial effects on virtually every aspect of body function, development and maintenance, including brain development, bone structure, digestion, aging process, the condition of skin and hair, metabolism, and on plaque formation in the blood vessels.

There is so much scientific evidence now that establishes the health benefits of olive oil. You will be hard put to find any other food that has so many positive effects on so many different parts of the body and their functions.

These health benefits can be derived from all forms of olive oil; however, refined oils undergo a lot of high temperatures during processing which destroys or alters the antioxidants, and thus have very little, if any, vitamins left. In order to gain the maximum medicinal benefit, you should use only Extra Virgin olive oil.

The Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil Page 1

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About the Authors

Dr Bruce Fife N D is a certified nutritionist and Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. He has written 18 books and serves as the publisher of Piccadily Books/Health Wise Publications.

Dr Jon J Kabara, Ph D Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacology Michigan Sate University.

He was one of the first researchers to discover the anti- microbial properties of medium-chain fatty acids. He has been awarded 16 patents and has authored more that 200 scientific publications including eight books. He is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on dietary fats.

Dr Conrado Dayrit Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology University of the Philippines and Past President of the National Academy of Science and Technology. Dr Dayrit’s clinical study on coconut oil was the first which led to the breakthrough discovery that medium-chain fatty acids (lauric and capric) were effective in killing HIV in lad cultures.

Highlights of the Reference Materials

• Why Coconut Oil is Different

• Lauric Acid-Major ingredient from mother’s milk is found in Coconut Oil

• Metabolism of MCFA

• Nature’s Marvelous Germ Fighter

• Coconut Oil as Medicine

• Coconut Oil and Weight Problems

• Health Benefits of Coconut oil – Summary

• How to make Virgin Coconut Oil

• Additional References

COMPOSITION OF DIETARY FATS

Fat===========Saturated==========Mono===========Poly

Canola Oil=========6===============62============32

Safflower Oil ======10===============13============77

Sunflower Oil ======11==============20============69

Soybean Oil =======13 ==============25============62

Olive Oil==========14==============77=============9

Chicken Fat======= 31==============47=============22

Lard=============41==============47============12

Beef Fat ==========52==============44 ============4

Palm Oil ==========51==============39============10

Butter============66=============30=============4

Coconut Oil ========92==============6 =============2

Called “monounsaturated” because it is predominantly monounsaturated, but like all vegetable oils, it also contains some polyunsaturated and saturated fat as well. Animal fats are generally the highest in saturated fat.

Vegetable oils contain saturated fat as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Most vegetable oils are high in saturated fat.

Coconut oil contains as much as 92 percent saturated fat-more than any other oil including beef fat and lard.

SATURATION AND SIZE We hear the terms saturated, monosaturated, and polyunsaturated all the time, but what do they mean?

What is saturated fat saturated with?

All fatty acids consist primarily of a chain of carbon atoms with varying number of hydrogen atoms attached to them. A molecule that has two hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon is said to “saturated” with hydrogen because it is holding all the hydrogen atoms it possibly can. This type of fatty acid is called a saturated fat.

A fatty acid that is missing a paid of hydrogen atoms on one of its carbons is called a monounsaturated fat. If more than two hydrogen atoms are missing, it’s called a polyunsaturated fat.

Wherever a paid of hydrogen atoms is missing, the adjoining carbon atoms must form a double bond(see examples on the following page). This is important because this double bond produces a weak link in the carbon chain which, as we will see in the next chapter, can have a dramatic influence on health.

The concept of saturation can be described by using an analogy with a school bus full of kids. The bus could represent the carbon chain and the students the hydrogen atoms. Each scat on the bus can hold two students just as each carbon can hold two hydrogen atoms.

A bus filled to capacity so there are no empty scats would be analogous to a saturated fat. No more

Saturated Fatty Acid

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHO

…………………………………

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-

…………………………………

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Saturated fats are loaded, or saturated, with all the hydrogen(H) atoms they can carry. The example shown above is stearic acids an 18-carbon saturated fat commonly found in beef fat.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acid

HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHO
…………….. ……………….

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-H

……………………………………….

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

If one paid of hydrogen’s were to be removed from the saturated fat, the carbon atoms would form double bond’s with one another in order to satisfy their bonding requirements. The result would be unsaturated fat.

In this case it would form a monounsaturated fatty acid. The example shown is oleic acid, an 18-chain monounsaturated fatty acid which is found predominantly in olive oil.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid

HHHHH H HHHHHHHO

………………… ………………

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-H

……………………………………….

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

If two or more pairs of hydrogen atoms are missing and more than one double carbon bond is present, it is referred to as a polyunsaturated oil. The example illustrated is linoleic acid an 18-chain polyunsaturated acid.

The fats found in animal tissue, as well as our own bodies, are mainly the trilycerides of stearic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat. Stearic and palmitic acids are saturated fats.

The saturated fat found in food consists of a mixture of the different types. Milk for example, contains palmitic, myristic, stearic, lauric, butyric. As far back as 1966 Dr. Jon J. Kabara, a professor of pharmacology and researcher at Michigan State University, reported on the antimicrobial activity of lauric acid, because of concerns about viral contamination in foods, early research focused on the antiviral effects of lauric acid.

It was soon discovered that lauric acid also exhibited antibacterial and antifungal effects as well. In fact, all the MCFA seem to share this characteristic. Most bacteria and viruses are encased in a coat of lipids (fats).

The fatty acids that make up this outer membrane or skin hold together the organism’s DNA and other cellular materials. But unlike our skin, which is relatively tough, the membrane of these microorganisms is nearly fluid.

The fatty acids in the membrane are loosely attached, giving the membrane remarkable degree of mobility and flexibility. This unique property allows these organisms to move, bend, and squeeze through the tiniest openings. Lipid-coated viruses and bacteria are easily killed by MCFA, which primarily destroy these organisms by disrupting their lipid membranes. Medium-chain fatty acids, being similar to those in the microorganism’s membrane, MCFA are much smaller and, therefore, weaken the already nearly fluid membrane to such a degree that is disintegrates.

The membrane literally splits open, spilling its insides and killing the organism.

Our white blood cells quickly clean up and dispose of the cellular debris. MCFA kill invading organisms without causing any known harm to human tissues. Our bodies have many ways of protecting us from microorganisms that can cause us harm.

The strong acid excreted in our stomachs, for example, kills most organisms that we may eat with our foods.

In our bloodstream, microorganisms are attached and killed by our white blood cells. Our first line of defence against any harmful organism, however, is our skin. In order to inflict harm, microorganisms must first penetrate the skin’s protective barrier.

While the skin is permeable to some degree, it is also equipped with chemical weapons to help it ward off attach. One of these weapons is the oil secreted by our sebaceous(oil)glands. Sebaceous glands are found near the root of every hair. This oil is secreted along the hair shaft to lubricate the hair and skin. Some have described this oil as “nature’s skin cream” because it prevents drying and cracking of the skin it also has another very important function. It contains medium-chain fatty acids to fight invading microorganisms.

A thin layer of oil on the skin helps protect us from the multitude of harmful germs our skin comes into contract with each day. The antimicrobial power of MCFA are utilized naturally by our own bodies.

They are found in mother’s milk to protect and nourish her babies; LIPID COATED MICROORGANISMS KILLED BY LAURIC ACID

Below are some of the pathogenic organisms reported to be inactivated by lauric acid

Lipid Coated Viruses
Visna virus
Cytomegalo virus
Epstein-barr virus
Influenza virus Leukemia virus
Pneumono virus
Hepatitis C virus

Lipid Coated Bacteria
Listeria monocytogenes
Helicobacter pylori
Hemophilus influenzae
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus agalactiae
Groups A, B, F, & G streptococci
Gram-positive organisms
Gram-negative organisms (if pretreated with chelator)

Numerous laboratory studies have shown that lauric acid effectively kills many disease- causing microorganisms. They are also utilized on our skin to shield us from infectious intruders. They are non- toxic to us and create no toxic by-products.

They are completely safe and natural. Lipid researcher Jon J Kabara, Ph D., speaking of the safety of using fatty acids for medicinal purposes says, “Fatty acids and derivatives tend to be the least toxic chemicals known to man.

Not only are these agents nontoxic to man but are actual foods and in the case of unsaturated fatty acids are essential to growth, development, and health. LAURIC ACID Technical speaking, coconut oil as it is found in fresh coconuts has little, if any, antimicrobial properties. Coconuts cam be attached by fungi and bacteria like any other fruit or nut.

I know this sounds contrary to what I’ve stated above, but the beauty of this is that when we eat oil, our bodies convert it into a form that is deadly to troublesome microbes, yet remains harmless to us.

All dietary oils, including coconut, are composed of triglycerides. Triglycerides are nothing more than three fatty acids hooked together by a glycerol molecule. When oil is eaten the triglycerides break apart into diglycerides (two fatty acids joined by a glycerol), monoglycerides (a single fatty acid attached to a glycerol), and free fatty acids. It is the monoglyderides and free fatty acids that have the antimicrobial properties.

The most active are lauric acid and capric acid and their monoglyderides-monolaurin and monocaprin. In regards to their antimicrobial properties, the monoglyderides and free fatty acids are active and the diglycerides and triglycerides are inactive. The antimicrobial properties of coconut oil (which consists of triglyderides).

Therefore, become active only when ingested or otherwise converted into free fatty acids or monoglyderides. The medium-chain fatty acids that appears to have greatest overall antimicrobial effect is lauric acid (and monolaurin). This is the largest of the MCFA consisting of a string of 12 carbon atoms.

Coconut and palm kernel oils are by far richest natural sources of this super nutrient, comprising nearly 50 percent of their fat content. Milk fat and butter are a distant second consisting of about 3 percent. These are the only food sources we have that contain significant amounts of lauric acid. Unlike the tropical oils, all vegetables oils are completely deficient in this and other MCFA. Neisseria meningitis, gonorrhea, pelvic inflammatory Diseases Chlamydia genital infections, lympho granuloma venereum,conjunctivitis, parrot fever pneumonia, periodontitis Helicobacter pyloris stomach ulcers Gram positive organisms anthrax, gastroenteritis, botulism, tetanus Antibiotic properties that have been used for generations with some degree of success. One of these is coconut oil.

The fatty acids found in coconut are powerful antibiotics. They are known to kill bacteria which can cause throat and sinus infections, pneumonia, ear infections, stomach ulcers, venereal diseases, and dental cavities, to name just a few.

The standard treatment for all these bacteria infections is to use antibiotics, and this may be necessary in life-threatening situations. It is conceivable that instead of taking a drug for every single infection, we may simply eat foods that will kill these organisms. Onions, garlic, and Echinacea are credible plants that are commonly used for this purpose already.

Coconut living in their digestive tract. Normally, competition from friendly bacteria and the cleansing action of our immune system keep candida numbers low and prevent them from causing any diverse health problems.

But when the immune system is compromised or friendly bacteria in our gut are killed by taking antibiotics, a candida infection can quickly flare up. A single course of antibiotics can lead to a raging candida infection.

Approximately 75 percent of women experience vaginal yeast infections at one time or another. Vaginal yeast infections are typically treated as if they were only localized in one are of the body.

Many people, however, have systemic infections in which candida grows out of control overrunning the digestive tract and affecting the entire body, including the reproductive system. Systemic yeast infections call candidiasis (or yeast syndrome) affect the entire body and can afflict men as well as women.

Symptoms are numerous and varied (see table below) and even doctors have difficult identifying the problem. Because it is not easy to identify, hundreds of thousands of women and men are plagued with candidiasis without even realizing it. Vaginal yeast infection or oral yeast infections (thrush) can be identified by the white discharge they produce.

Recurring vaginal yeast infections are one of the signs of a systemic infection. But you can have candidiasis without an active vaginal yeast infection. Anyone who has taken antibiotics, birth control pills, steroids, or immunosuppressive drugs is at high risk of having a systemic yeast infection, even if no noticeable symptoms are evident.

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The Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil

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PROBLEMS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMIC CANDIDA INFECTIONS
General: fatigue, headache, digestive problems, joint pains, depression, memory loss, irritability, allergies

Women: persistent vaginitis, menstrual irregularities, recurrent bladder problems

Men: persistent or recurrent jock itch of athlete’s foot, prostatitis impotence

Children: ear infections, hyperactive, behavior and learning problems

Source: Crook, W, 1985, The Yeast Connection

Typical symptoms also include fatigue, depression, allergy symptoms, and recurring fungal skin infections (athlete’s foot, jock itch, ringworm, etc).

Skin fungus can afflict any part of the body from the head to the toed. Dry flaky skin that persists despite the use of hand lotion and skin creams could very well be a fungal infection. Often what people call psoriasis is really a fungal infection. Dandruff is caused, in part, by skin fungus. Preadolescent children are the primary victims of scalp ringworm(tinea capitis), a skin fungus similar to athlete’s foot. Not until puberty do glands secrete oil containing medium-chain fatty acids that help protect the scalp from skin fungus (see Chapter 11 for more information on skin health).

One of the most potent non-drug or natural yeast-fighting substances is caprylic acid, a medium-chain fatty acid derived from coconut oil. Caprylic acid in capsule form is commonly sold as a dietary supplement in health food stores. It is very effective against candida and other forms of fungi. It is even effective mixed with a little coconut oil or vitamin E oil as a topical application for fungal skin infections. I’ve seen fungal infections that have lasted for months clear up in a matter of days using caprylic acid and a little coconut oil. It works just a effectively inside the body, killing fungi without the least bit of harm. Polynesian women who eat their traditional coconut-based diet rarely if ever get yeast infections. Eating coconut oil on a regular basis, as the Polynesians do, would help to keep candida and other harmful microorganisms at bay.

The efficiency of caprylic acid is reportedly so favorable that many supplement manufacturers put it in their products used to fight systemic and vaginal yeast infections John P Trowbrodge, MD, President of the American college of Advancement of Medicine, and author of the book The Yeast Syndrome, highly recommends caprylic acid as an aid to fight systemic candida infections.

William Crook, MD., the author of The Yeast Connection and recognized authority on yeast infections, also recommends it. He reports that many physicians have used it successfully and that it works especially well for those patients who have adverse reactions to antifungal drugs. It is reported that caprylic acid is just as effective as nystatin, the most popular antifungal prescription drug, but without the side effects.

The only effective cure for candidiasis has been dietary changes and medications. Caprylic acid is a natural yeast fighter that has been used very successfully in place of the drugs. Caprylic acid is often sold in combination with anti-fungal herbs in dietary supplements designed to help those with yeast infections. Caprylic (Nature’s way), Capricin (Professional Specialties), Mycostat (P&D Nutrition), and Caprystatin (Ecological Formulas) are the names of some of the anit-candida supplements available.

AIDS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

After two decades of research, the AIDS epidemic is still going strong. Drugs have been developed to help slow down the progress of the disease but like other viruses, there is yet no cure.

One of the most exciting and active areas of research with MCFA is in the treatment of those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV, like many other microorganisms, has a lipid membrane which is vulnerable to MCFA.

In the 1980s researchers discovered that the medium-chain fatty acids lauric and capric acids were effective in killing HIV in lab cultures. This opened the door to a possible treatment for HIV/AIDS that was far safer than the drugs currently being used.

One of the problems with antiviral drugs used to fight HIV is that they have undesirable side effects including muscle wasting, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, bone marrow suppression, ulcerations, hemorrhaging, skin rash, anemia, fatigue, and altered mental function. Another problem is that the AIDS virus can grow resistant to the drugs, often becoming invulnerable to them. The specific combination of viral resistance varies from patient to patient. To fight these resistant strains of super viruses doctors use a hit-and- miss approach by brewing potent AIDS drug cocktails. The more drugs used, the greater the risk of undesirable side effects.

Unlike the standard drugs used to treat HIV which attack the virus’s genetic material, medium-chain fatty acids simply break the virus apart. The MCFA are much like the other fatty acids that make up the virus’s lipid membrane and are absorbed by the virus, which weakens the membrane until it breaks apart, killing the virus. It is unlikely that the virus can develop and immunity to this mechanism, so MCFA can attack and kill any of the strains of HIV, even the genetically drug-resistant superviruses.

Over the years many HIV infected individuals have reported a decrease in their viral load (the number of viruses in the blood) and an improvement in overall health after eating coconut or drinking milk. Some have reported lowering their viral loads to non- detectable levels after eating coconut for only a few weeks.

The first clinical study on the effectiveness of coconut oil to treat HIV patients was reported by Conrado Dayrit, M.D., emeritus professor of pharmacology, University of the Philippines and former President of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines. In this study 14 patients ages 22 to 38 with HIV were separated into three groups. None of the patients have ever received any anti-HIV treatment. The treatment they were testing compared monolaurin (the monoglyceride of lauric acid found in coconut oil (see page 62) and pure coconut oil. One group (four patients) was given 22 grams of monolaurin a day. The second group (five patients was given 7.2 grams of monolaurin. The third group (five patients) was given 31/2 tablespoons of coconut oil. The amount of coconut oil in the third group contained about the same quantity of lauric acid as supplied by the monolaurin in the first group. After three months of treatment the
viral load had decreased in seven of the patients. After six months when the study as completed nine out of the 14 patients had a decreased viral count (two in the first group, four in the second, and three in the third). Eleven of the patients had regained weight and appeared to be improving. This study confirmed the anecdotal reports that coconut oil has anti-HIV effects and has provided solid clinical evidence that both monolaurin and coconut oil are effective in fighting HIV. Additional research is currently underway to further study the use of monolaurin and coconut oil to treat HIV/AIDS.

Unfortunately, the ready availability and low cost of coconut oil and its derivative fatty is one reason why research into its use as a treatment for AIDS and other viral illnesses has been slow. There is little monetary incentive for pharmaceutical companies to fund research of a natural, readily available substance that they cannot protect with a patent and charge exorbitant prices for. Currently the cost standard medications for one person to control the virus can reach over $15,000 a year. If all the hundreds of thousand of people who are infected by HIV spend anywhere near this amount you can easily see the enormous amount of money the pharmaceutical companies pull in. It is no wonder they are reluctant to support a treatment that threatens to end this flood of cash.

HIV-infected individuals often suffer from nutritional deficiencies and recurrent infections. Resistance to infectious illness decreases as the disease progresses. Opportunities microorganisms such as cytomegalovirus, candida, cryptosporidium, and others quickly take root. In time the body is devastated so greatly by infection that survival is impossible. The fatty acids in coconut oil not only offer the possibility of reducing HIV load, but kill other harmful organisms as well. Combined with the fact that lauric acid and other MCFA improve digestion and energy production, the result is better overall health.

Current research suggest that individuals infected with HIV progress more rapidly to AIDS when they have a higher viral load. Reducing the viral load to undetectable levels greatly increases the patient’s chances of avoiding the disease and reduces the chance of infecting others.

A recent study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of individual viruses in the person determines the degree to which the virus can be passed on to others. They found that someone with 200,000 virus copies (individual viruses per mm of blood) is 2.5 times more likely to spread HIV than is someone with on 2,000 copies. The researchers found no transmission of the virus at all by infected people who carried less that 1,500 copies of the virus.

Currently some researches recommended that HIV-infected individuals consume the equivalent of 24-28 grams of lauric acid a day in order to significantly reduce their viral load. This would amount to about 31/1 tablespoons (50 grams) of coconut oil.

What does all this mean to you and me? A lot. While it is not yet known if lauric acid may one day be a cure for AIDS, is has been proved to reduce the HIV load in those individuals who are infected by the virus, thus allowing them to live more normal lives and greatly reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to others. It may just as well be able to protect and possibly prevent infection in the first place if a person has sufficient lauric acid in his or her daily diet and exposure to HIV is low.

Currently the AIDS epidemic has spread worldwide. Millions of people are affected by HIV. The numbers who become infected are increasing daily. As yet there has not been effective means to stop this plague. With coconut oil and lauric acid now there is hope. Many people fear picking up the virus, even those who are not involved in high risk activities. The simple act of using coconut oil in your ordinary food preparation may provide you with a substantial degree of protection not only against HIV but against measles, herpes, flu, as well as dozens of other of disease-causing viruses.

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

Coconut oil may be one of the best solutions to chronic fatigue syndrome currently available. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), once considered to be an imaginary ailment, is now recognized as a bona fide illness. While its cause is still pretty much a mystery, it has become a problem of growing concern. It is estimated that some three million Americans and 90 million people worldwide are affected by it.

CFS is characterized by a relatively sudden onset of extreme fatigue, often following an infectious illness. Symptoms may include any of the following: muscle weakness, headache, memory loss, mental confusion, recurring infections, low-grade fever, swollen lymph glands, severe exhaustion following moderate physical activity, depression, anxiety attacks, dizziness, rashes, allergies, and autoimmune reactions. Symptoms that persist for six months or more are a strong indications of CFS.

Coconut oil provides a quick source of energy and stimulates metabolism. This boost in energy not only lifts the spirit but promotes faster healing. The higher the body’s metabolism the more efficient the immune system and the quicker the body can heal and repair itself.

It’s like a carpenter doing some repairs on your house. If he is tired and slow, it will take a long time to do the job, but if he is energetic and anxious to complete the task it will take a fraction of the time. When metabolism is functioning at a higher level or cells are like an energized carpenter anxious to complete the repairs while depressed metabolism causes the cells to work slower, and consequently healing and repair progress slower.

I believe coconut oil used regularly can be one of the best natural treatments for chronic fatigue there is. Here is what one 46-year old man experienced:

“I never thought I was trouble with chronic fatigue syndrome. I was healthy. I ate what I considered a good diet-low in fats, lot of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. But I noticed as I was approaching my mid-forties my level was decreasing rapidly. Even modest amount of yard work became a drudgery. After a couple of hours I came in exhausted and it took me two days to recover. By 8:00 pm every day I was exhausted, even though I have a desk job. I found myself going to bed earlier. Life was slowing down and I missed the energy I once had. I assumed that what I was experiencing was just the consequence of growing older and left it at that. But then I began to wonder. I saw other people, much older than I, who were more physically active and had much more energy. I then suspected something was wrong. I began to seek ways to improve my health. I learned about coconut and began to eat it in place of other oils. I did this
not to cure any illness but simply to improve my overall health. It was several months later when I noticed that the energy I used to have had returned. I no longer wanted to go to sleep at 8:00 p.m but stayed up till 11:00 without problem. I got less sleep but had more energy. Improvement came so gradually that I didn’t notice the change until after several months. And it wasn’t until later that I even thought it might be related to coconut oil. Since I’ve been using coconut oil I have not been lethargic during the day, as I was in the past: I have more energy and accomplish more. I feel really good.

PROSTATE ENLARGEMENT

If you are male, chances are you will suffer some type of prostate problem during your
lifetime. The most common prostate problem is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BHP) or
prostate enlargement. Nearly half of all men between the ages of 40 and 59 and as many
as 90 percent of those in their 70s and 80s have some symptoms of BPH. It has become
so bad that it’s almost an invariable consequence of aging. Prostate enlargement,
however, is not simply a result of aging, lifestyle and diet play and important role. BPH
is only a major problem in westernized countries. Those men who live in less prosperous
localities of the world where local foods are produces and consumed don’t appear to be
troubled by it as much.

The exact cause of BPH is unknown. The most popular theory focuses on the male
hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) as the culprit. It is believed that as we age more
testosterone is converted into DHT which accumulates in the prostate gland. DHT
encourages the growth of prostate cells. This causes the prostate to enlarge, as it does so
it pinches off the urethra, the tube through which urine flows from the bladder. This
causes frequent and impaired urinations, especially at night. And is often associated with
inflammation of the gland. While not normally cancerous, it sets the stage for such a
condition to exist.

A logical treatment for BPH is to block the conversion of testosterone into DHT. The
drug finasteride works on this principle and has been effective. A popular herbal remedy
which also appears to block the toxic effect of excess DHT formations is saw palmetto.
This subtropical plant is found in the southeastern part of the United States.

Native Indians of Florida and early settlers used the berries from this plant as a folk
medicine to treat reproductive disorders, urinary diseases, and colds. In women it has
been used to increase the supply of mother’s milk and to relieve painful periods.

Studies show saw palmetto berries are very effective at reducing the effects of BPH and are remarkably safe. Compared with Proscar (a much –prescribed BPH drug), saw palmetto is more effective in reducing prostate symptoms. Numerous studies have shown saw palmetto extract to be effective in nearly 90 percent of patients usually in a period of four to six weeks. In contrast, Proscar is effective in reducing the symptoms in less than 37 percent after the drug for a full year. Saw palmetto has no adverse side effects.

Proscar, on the other hand, may cause impotence, decreased libido, and birth defects. Saw palmetto has gained a reputation among both alternative and conventional health care professionals as an effective treatment for BPH. It is one herb that even conventional medicine recognizes as safe and effective.

The medicinal effects of saw palmetto are derived primarily from fatty acids in the berries. It is interesting to note that saw palmetto is a member of the palm family and the berries are relatives to the coconut. Many of the fatty acids in saw palmetto berries are MCFA similar to those in coconut. Dr Jon Kabara, an expert in lipid (fat) biochemistry, suggests that since the fatty acids in saw palmetto berries inhibit the formation of DHT hormone so should the fatty acids in coconut oil. The conclusion we can derive from this is that coconut oil should be just as effective or even more so in preventing and treating BPH as saw palmetto extract.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF COCONUT OIL

Research and clinical observation have shown that medium-chain fatty acids, like those found in coconut oil, may provide a wide range of health benefits. Some of these are
summarized below:

• Kills viruses that cause mononucleosis, influenza, hepatitis C, measles, herpes,
AIDS and other illness
• Kills bacteria that cause pneumonia, carache, throat infections, dental cavaties,
food poisoning, urinary tract infections, meningitis, gonorrhea, and dozens of
other diseases
• Kills fungi and yeast that cause candida, jock itch, ringworm, athlete’s foot,
thrush, diaper rash and other infections
• Expels or kills tapeworms, lice, giardia, and other parasites
• Provides a nutritional source of quick energy
• Boosts energy and endurance enhancing physical and athletic performance
• Improves digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and amino acids
• Improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose
• Relieves stress on pancrease and enzyme systems of the body
• Reduces symptoms associated with pancreatitis
• Helps relieve symptoms and reduce health risks associated with diabetes
• Reduces problems associated with malabsorption syndrome and cystic fibrosis
• Improves calcium and magnesium absorption and supports the development of
strong bones and teeth
• Helps protect against osteoporosis
• Helps relieve symptoms of gallbladder disease
• Relieves symptoms associated with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and
stomach ulcers
• Relieves pain and irritation caused by hemorrhoids
• Reduces chronic inflammation
• Supports tissue healing and repair
• Supports and aids immune system function
• Helps protect the body from breast, colon, and other cancers
• Is heart healthy; does not increase blood cholesterol or platelet stickiness • Helps prevent heart disease, atherosclerosis, and stroke
• Helps prevent high blood pressure
• Helps prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay
• Functions as a protective antioxidant
• Helps to protect the body from harmful free-radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease
• Does not deplete the body’s antioxidant reserve like other oils do
• Improves utilization of essential fatty acids and protects them from oxidation
• Helps relieve symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome
• Relieves symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (prostate enlargement)
• Reduces epileptic seizures
• Helps protect against kidneys disease and bladder infections
• Helps prevent liver disease
• Is lower in calories than all other fats
• Supports thyroid function
• Promotes loss of excess weight by increasing metabolic rate
• Is utilized by the body to produce energy in preference to being stored as body fat like other dietary fats.
• Helps prevent obesity and overweight problems
• Applied topically helps to form a chemical barrier on the skin to ward off infection
• Reduces symptoms associated with psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis
• Supports the natural chemical balance of the skin
• Softens skin and helps relieve dryness and flaking
• Prevents wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots
• Promotes healthy-looking hair and complexion
• Provides protection from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation from the
sun
• Controls dandruff
• Helps you look and feel younger
• Is resistant to oxidation, so has a long shelf life
• Does not from harmful by-products when heated to normal cooking temperatures like other vegetable oils do
• Has no harmful or discomforting side effects
• Is completely non-toxic to humans

CONCLUSION

Coconut oil is classified as a “functional food” – a food that provides health benefits beyond its nutritional contents.

Scientific research is uncovering an impressive list of dietary and medicinal benefits of coconut oil.

For this reason, coconut oil is becoming known as “The Healthiest Oil on Earth”

NUTRITIOUS ways of getting your daily requirements of immune system booster natural coconut oil: virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut on pastries; fresh young coconut dessert; dehydrated shredded coconut crackers; coconut noodles and coconut milk (gata) for entrees, and fresh buko juice.

WHY FILIPINOS ARE LAST TO KNOW ABOUT WONDER FOOD

IF COCONUT oil is a wonder food, how come Filipinos who live in a veritable coconut paradise are the last to know?

Whatever scientific studies on coconuts there are have been drowned by “Big Business-created anti-saturated fat hype” to push their soybean oil product that was losing out to coconut oil and singled out the latter as containing cholesterol associated with heart disease.

Secondly, lack of research funding has reduced the truths about coconut oil as “indigenous food traits” unsubstantiated by scientific evidence. At the height of the anti-saturated fat campaign, the country could not muster a counter information drive even as the industry was then awash with funds from the coconut levy.

While Dr. Conrado Dayrit’s own study in the 1980s operated on private funding by the Philippine Coconut Research Development Foundation of which he was a director; it was hampered by lack of concerted action from the industry, the government and the scientific.

Thirdly, the indigenous natural process that produces non-hydrogenated, non-refined, non-bleached and non-deodorized virgin coconut oil lost out to commerce. The few precious liters of healthy virgin coconut oil does not have a price in the market to compete with mass-produced cooking oil.

The SARS scare has triggered renewed interest on traditional and indigenous health products. Virgin coconut oil, albeit being a potent. Healing food in abundance, is just one of many from nature overlooked by the age of technology. It should be deemed as only a part of a total health care picture. Virgin coconut oil should be viewed not as the answer to SARS but as a question of living in sync with nature.

HOW TO MAKE VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

1. Select about 8 mature coconuts. Make sure dehusked shell is intact and has not breakage and that there is water inside the nut. To test, shake it.

2. Split the shell into halves, take out the meat from the shelf with a sharp knife, a scraper or shredder (kudkuran). You can have this done in the neighborhood market.

3. Collect the shredded meat together to be cold-pressed into coconut milk. Press the bunch of shredded meat with the coconut water by any means that does not require heat. The first cocomilk called “kakana gata” comes out. Strain this “first” milk through a cheese cloth (katsa) to separate the sediments. There are cold-pressing machines available in the bigger wet markets like Marikina, Sta.

Ana, Nepa-Q-Mart in Cubao, to cold-pressed your shredded cocomeat.

4. Your 8 nuts will make about 4 glasses of coco milk or half a litre. Let the filtered coco milk in the pitcher settle overnight. The coco milk will separate into three parts: 1/3 oil will rise to the top and the shredded meat will settle at the bottom, with coconut water in between.

5. To separate the oil, refrigerate until the oil turns into coconut butter form. Skim the coco butter and separate into another container. Let stand at room temperature to become virgin coconut oil ready to take. Avoid direct sunlight for the oil to stay clear. Shell life is good for 90 days.

How to Grow Radishes

2009-03-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

How to Grow Radishes

Radishes spice up salads and vegetable trays. Their color adds appeal to many dishes, and makes them a very desirable garnish. Their sharp, zippy taste livens up salads, and are great with dips and dressings. Radishes are fast and easy growing. In addition, they take up little space in your garden. As a result, it is very popular in the back yard garden.

Tip: Radish seeds germinate in a matter of days. Many gardeners put a few radish seeds amongst the rows of carrots and other vegetables that take a long period to germinate. This "marks" the rows. As the carrot crop begins to grow, you can either pull and discard the radish, or pull and eat them (We much prefer the latter!).

Even though many kids do not like them, they are a great crop. They are easy to grow, perhaps the fastest to harvest of all vegetables. With a harvest in as little as twenty days, young gardeners are quickly rewarded for their efforts.

Varieties:

There are a wide variety of radishes.
Colors are red or white.
While the most popular radishes are round, the french varieties are cylindrical, resembling a small carrot, but less tapered at the tip.

Sowing Radish Seeds:

Sow radish seeds 1/2 inch deep. Space them 1 1/2 to two inches apart. Separate rows eight to ten inches apart. We recommend double rows, with wider rows between the double rows to afford easy access.

Tip: Broadcast spreading is also common, and easy to do. Prepare a square or rectangular area and spread the seed out across the entire area. Then, lightly sprinkle loose soil over the area.

Thin seedlings to two inches apart in all directions. Radishes do not like to be crowded, and will not bulb properly if overcrowded by other radishes or weeds. Weeding is also important to proper bulb growth. Most growers don't give much thought to weeding because of their quick growth, but it is important for proper bulb growth.

Succession planting every two weeks will result in radishes all season long! Note, you may want to skip the mid-summer weeks, as radishes will not perform well in high heat. Like many other vegetables, they tend to bolt in hot weather.

Days to Maturity:

20 to 30 days. Note, some cylindrical varieties may require longer.

How to Grow Radishes:

Radishes will grow in average soils. Like other vegetables, they will respond to rich, well drained soil. While preparing your garden space, work the soil six inches or more if you are growing the long, cylindrical varieties. Add fertilizer while working the soil. Make sure to remove rocks and stones.

After the seeds germinate, thin rows to avoid crowding.

Keep rows weeded, especially in the first week or two.

Make sure to provide ample water.

Tip: Radishes will sometimes bolt or fail to form a bulb. The most common causes of this are crowding and insufficient amounts of water.

Insects and Pests:

Sucking and chewing insects can sometime infest the leaves, but not overall growth of the radish.

Root maggots can enter the roots, destroying the crop. If this occurs, plant future crops in a different location.

Disease of Radishes:

Few diseases affect radishes in their short growth cycle.

Hardiness:

While radishes thrive in cooler weather, they do not take a liking to frost. You can plant seeds just before the last frost date. If frost warnings are posted, cover them up at night.

Credit by : http://www.gardenersnet.com

How to grow carrots

2009-03-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Learn how to grow carrots

- free of carrot root fly

Such an easy crop to get started is often spoilt by lack of knowledge of how to grow carrots and insufficient preparation leading to great frustration.

Rotation; Root crop after brassicas.

Soil preparation: Soil should be well prepared and well drained. It should not have had compost/ muck/ lime within the previous 6-12 months. Prepare a seedbed 2 weeks before planting and rake in a general purpose fertilizer if needed. On the day of seeding rake surface to a fine tilth.

Sowing; Sow carrots at monthly intervals through the season. Sow very thinly so you don't have to thin seedlings out. Sow at 1cm depth and 2cm spacing in row, rows should be 15cm apart. Germination takes 15-20 days normally. Follow advice on seed packet. Use companion planting or barrier as described in maintenance of crop below; sowing carrots amongst aromatic crops deters/ confuses carrot root fly.

Maintenance;

The important thing to remember about growing carrots is not to disturb them
Avoid thinning, as leaf damage attracts carrot root fly, by sowing very thinly
Watering: keep soil moist through growing season
Weeding: careful weeding is essential, hoe early on when soil is dry or otherwise pull weeds being careful not to damage carrot plants
Use companion planting with leeks ideally or with garlic or onions for early carrot crops
Alternatively place a transparent plastic/ glass barrier, dug into soil, around the carrots - this must be 40-50cm high to keep out carrot root fly

Harvesting: Start lifting/ pulling carrots in early summer, around 3 months after sowing. Carrots are best eaten fresh and young - the delicious strong sweet carrot taste will surprise those used to shop bought carrots. Lift in autumn for storage, earlier if carrot root fly is a known local risk. Store in dry sand or peat in a dry frost free place.

Companion planting can boost yields and save effort

Save space and reduce pest and disease problems with companion planting.

Careful choice and correct row spacing is essential, but this can be a very useful technique in both conventional and organic vegetable gardens minimising the problems of the typical mono-culture and even giving a more pleasing appearance.

It is also part of the reason for vegetable crop rotation.

What is companion planting? The planting of two or more species close together for mutual benefit, otherwise used as inter-cropping.

What benefits can be seen? Reduced pest/ disease/ weed problems, better nutrition, higher yields, less effort.

What plants make good companions?

quick (short) + slow (tall) growing vegetables: Lettuce or radish amongst parsnips
tall growing sun-loving crops mixed with shorter shade loving crops that cover the ground e.g. sweetcorn and squashes
one that attract pollinators with those poor at pollination e.g. flowers amongst melons or some courgettes
one that attracts predators with one that is prone to attack e.g. marigolds attract hover flies that feast on aphids that commonly affect many vegetables
one that helps the nutrition of another e.g. legumes (peas/beans) fix nitrogen that helps roots (carrots, parsnips..) or lettuce or sweetcorn
one whose strong smell disguises the smell of another confusing pests like carrot root fly e.g. leeks or onions or garlic or marigolds with carrots
marigolds produce a strong 'pesticidal' chemical that deters nematodes and many flying pests from attacking many crops like peppers, brassicas and squash
Alliums produce a strong smell that deters slugs and snails from their favour food - your lettuce, brassicas and peppers

My own favourite, from years of testing, is sowing carrots within a patch of young established leeks;

leeks seem to repel carrot root fly for longer than faster maturing shallots/ garlic/ onions do
establish the leeks first then sow your carrots otherwise the carrot root fly will still find your carrots!

The difference companion planting can make.

Both these pictures come from my own vegetable garden in 2007.

What plant spacing should you use? assess the needs of the two crops; too close will bring undue shading and competition and increased disease risk, two far apart and little benefit is seen. Typically plant according to the needs of the bigger crop and plant in between.

Experiment to find what combinations and spacings work for you in your situation, but ...

Note that some plants make poor companions

legumes (peas/beans) produce too much nitrogen for crops like Alliums (onions, shallots, garlic, leeks) or tomatoes to thrive
ones that are too competitive
ones that chemically inhibit the growth of another e.g. Black walnut roots exude a chemical called Juglone that will stop tomatoes and potatoes growing

Credit by : http://www.easy-vegetable-gardening.com/how-to-grow-carrots.html

Cilantro InFo

2009-02-06T23:53:00.000-08:00

Cilantro

Cilantro Characteristics

Pronounced: sih-LAHN-troh

Cilantro is a member of the carrot family. It is sometimes called Coriander or Chinese Parsley.

Cilantro is the leaves and stems of the coriander plant. Ground coriander seeds are the spice commonly called coriander.

In many cultures, cilantro/coriander is regarded as an aphrodisiac and, if consumed in large quantities, it acts as a narcotic. Its crushed seeds, which now primarily come from Morocco and Romania, are today used to flavor gin, liqueurs, hotdogs, chewing gum, and cigarettes. Traditionally, they are reputed to combat flatulence. And Arab women still chew them to ease labor pains. Today, in leaf and seed form, it's used most commonly in the cuisines of Mexican, North African, and Oriental countries.

Fresh cilantro does not keep well, and the flavor of dried is not comparable. To store, pick out any wilted leaves, and put it in a jar with water like a bunch of flowers. Cover the leaves with a plastic bag and put the whole thing in the refrigerator. Change the water every two days or so, picking out any wilted leaves when you do.

Varieties

I wish this picture had smell-o-vision!

Cilantro at a market in Thailand. Notice, unlike most stores in the USA, cilantro is sold with roots intact.

There is good flavor in the roots and they usually end up in a motar to be crushed by a pestle for sauces.

Eoy's mother washing cilantro at home. She already snipped the roots off two bunches for use in Goong Chae Nam Pla กุ้งแชน้ำปล่า.+

Info by : http://www.panix.com/

Cilantro - What is Cilantro Used For?

2009-02-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

Cilantro - What is Cilantro Used For?

Overview: Coriander is a double duty herb. Its seeds are knows as coriander and its leaves are known as cilantro. This distinct tasting herb is perfect for indoor and kitchen gardens. It resembles flat parsley in its appearance and is sometimes called Chinese parsley. With its refreshing, cooling taste, it is easy to see why cilantro is used with the spicy dishes so common to Latin cuisine.

Coriandrum sativum
Common Name: cilantro, coriander
USDA Hardiness Zone: Annual, all zones
Exposure: Full sun, partial sun, shade. Best sown in cooler weather as it tends to go to seed in high heat.
Harvest: For cilantro, harvest the leaves with sharp scissors. If coriander is wanted, let a few of the stems go to seed and then cut the entire flower.
Uses: Cilantro is a common ingredient in Latin and Indian cuisine. To release more of the flavor from the coriander, roast the seeds in a dry, hot pan for a few minutes until you can smell the scent strongly.

These seeds are ground in a mortar and pestle or herb grinder before use.
Coriander is easy to grow indoors and out. It is a good idea to have two separate plantings so you can harvest the tender leaves and stems for cilantro and let one patch go to seed for coriander. Coriander likes well drained, rich soil and will bolt and turn bitter if grown at temperatures over 75 degrees, so plant it after frost has passed but enjoy it until the full heat of summer hits.

Growing Coriander (Cilantro)

2009-02-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

Growing Coriander (Cilantro)

Growing Coriander (Cilantro) - advice on how to grow Coriander (Cilantro)

Coriander is a highly fragrant annual herb and will grow to up to 2 feet in height. Coriander seeds are known as Coriander and its leaves are often known as Cilantro. Coriander is sometimes known as Chinese Parsley. Coriander is grown for both its seeds and leaves and both are used for culinary purposes. The leaves can be used raw in salads, sandwiches and salsas or in cooked items such as Bread or Curry.

Preparation
Coriander is sensitive to transplanting and the shock can cause boliting. Because of this it is advisable to sow coriander seeds where you want them to remain. If growing outside then weed, dig over and rake the soil before planting.

Sowing
If sowing outdoors then wait till May to ensure warm soil temperatures which will promote more successful germination. Sow seeds in drills around 1cm deep and then cover with soil / compost. Space rows around 35cm apart. Sow seeds around 4cm apart.Seeds will take a few days either side of 2 weeks to germinate. Once the seedlings are about 4-5cm high you can thin them down to about 20cm apart.If growing in containers then make sure the container is at least 15cm deep so that the tap root can develop.Coriander should be sown every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop through the growing season

Position
Like most herbs, Coriander likes a lot of light so if growing indoors make sure your Coriander is positioned on a south facing windowsill. A minimum of 4 hours sunshine a day is recommended.Coriander will also do better in warm spots (it originated from the Mediterenean or Asia).

Soil type
The soil should be well drained and have good aeration. If planting in containers ensure that sufficient drainage aiding materials such as broken pots and/or coarse gravel are in the base of the container.

Tending
A liquid fertiliser can be applied to the soil every few weeks to promote growth.A shock to the plants system such as lack of water a significant drop in temperature will cause Coriander to bolt (start producing seed). This process of bolting is a natural 'survival' process. If growing outside fluctuations in temperature can be reduced by growing under glass - in the greenhouse, cloche or poly tunnel.Do not overwater Coriander as it does not like its roots to stand in water.

Harvesting
You can start to harvest the leaves after the plant has reached 10cm in height.Harvest mature leaves to encourage further growth.

Info by : http://www.gardeningpatch.com

How to Grow Lemon Trees

2009-02-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

How to Grow Lemon Trees
By eHow Home & Garden Editor

If you plant, remembering to water and fertilize your lemon trees with care is not only crucial but will help result in consistently healthy, attractive trees, as well as a quality harvest. Follow these simple but important steps to grow and take care of the lemon tree you've always wanted.

Instructions

Step1 Purchase a lemon variety adapted to your area. Most lemon trees are very sensitive to frost and grow best where winters are mild.

Step2 Plant the tree in a warm, sunny area where the soil drains well. Planting next to a house or under an eave will provide some frost protection.

Step3 Water the tree deeply once every 7 to 10 days in midsummer (newly planted trees may need more frequent watering until established). Water less often if it rains or if the weather is cool.

Step4 Apply 2 to 3 inches of organic matter under the canopy of the tree to conserve moisture.

Step5 Fertilize every four to six weeks from February to August.

Step6 Prune trees every year or two to keep them within bounds and easy to pick. Cut back new growth by one-fourth to one-third.

Step7 Protect trees from frost if temperatures are forecast to drop below 30 degrees F.
Step8Harvest lemons when fruit reaches full size and color. Timing will vary by variety and growing area.

Tips & Warnings
In cool coastal areas, lemons can be harvested almost year-round.
In colder climates, plant Meyer lemons, which are hardier than the standard varieties, Lisbon and Eureka.

Meyer lemons are not as sour as standard lemons, and the trees are smaller (6 to 8 feet high).

Info and credit by : http://www.ehow.com

How to Grow Balm Lemon

2009-02-06T23:26:00.000-08:00

How to Grow Balm Lemon

Balm Lemon, also called Lemon Balm or just plain Balm, is an easy to grow herb. As it's name suggests, it gives off a lemony scent in the herb garden. The edible leaves have a lemony flavor, too. Native to Asia and the Mediterranean region, Balm Lemon will feel right at home in full sun, or a lightly shaded area of your garden. Place it near your kitchen window, where its lemony scent can waft into your kitchen on a gentle breeze.

Balm Lemon plants grow from two to twenty-two feet tall. Most home garden varieties grow 2'-3' tall. Balm Lemon plants are very aggressive, and grow like weeds. We recommend containing them with a border edging around the plants, dug about 6-8 inches below the soil.
Bees are attracted to the flowers.

Propagation:
Balm Lemon is grown from seed. We recommend an early indoor start. If planted outdoors, the tiny seeds can easily wash out of the soil in a spring rain.
Balm Lemon is commonly grown by division of the roots. Left unattended, this aggressive plant will do just fine, rapidly spreading its roots into other areas of the garden or lawn. It can also be propagated by cuttings.

How to Grow Balm Lemon:
Balm Lemon is very easy to grow. It prefers full sun to light shade, and a moist, slightly rich soil. They also do well in average soils.

Space seedlings or thin plants to 24" apart, in rows two feet apart. They will quickly grow and spread, if allowed. They will tolerate a little crowding.

Balm Lemon prefers moist soil. Water them during dry periods, at least once a week.
Add a general purpose fertilizer once a month.

Flowers will go to seed quickly. Aggressively cut back plants to keep lush, new growth.
Harvest leaves when young and tender.

To preserve leaves, dry them immediately. Then, put them into a sealed container so they do not lose their flavor.

Main Culinary Uses:
Try Balm Lemon to flavor meat sauces, in salads and meat dishes. It can be used to flavor teas and fruit punches.

Info by : http://www.gardenersnet.com/herbs/balmlemon.htm

Thai galangal root can fight cancer

2009-02-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

Thai galangal root can fight cancer

According to London researchers from the King's College, eating spicy Thai curry or other Thai food spiced with Galangal, could restrain the growth of cancer cells.

Tests have revealed that Galangal (Alpinia galanga) a ginger-like root know as Kha or Siamese ginger and in Thailand mostly used to flavor many Thai food dishes, appears to kill cancer cells.
A scientific team from the King's College in London, believes the galanga root can not only fight human cancer cells but also protect healthy cells from developing into cancer cells.

Galangal, the ginger-like root, is used as an alternative treatment for stomach cancer in most of Thailand and also taken as an aphrodisiac.

The London researchers who tested galangal-root extracts on breast and lung cancer cells uncovered that the Thai herb reduced incidence of the disease more than three-times.
Experiments have proven the claim that galangal could treat cancer.

But we need to conduct more tests, said Professor Peter Houghton, study leader of the King's College scientific team.

What is Galangal: The Thai herb Galangal (known in Thailand as Kha) is an erect annual plant with aromatic, ginger-like rhizomes. It is most commonly used in Thailand as a spice in Thai cooking and this for over 1,000 years. Galanga is also known as Siamese ginger or Kha

In Thailand and most other countries in Asia, the Galangal root is also used as an alternative medication for arthritis, diabetes, diarrhea, spasms and to combat inflammation and bacteria.
The name Galangal is a corruption of the Chinese word for ginger.

Galangal grows in Thailand, India and southern China, and has been introduced to the West by Greek and Arab physicians, its approximately 0.04 percent volatile oil has been proven to be very useful in many therapeutic treatments.

Source: MCOT Thailand News

What is Galanga Root?

2009-02-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

What is Galanga Root?

Galanga root is the edible root of the galanga plant. The root is widely used as seasoning in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, although it is probably most intimately associated with Thai food. As a result, some people call it Siamese ginger, in a reference to the former name of Thailand. Fresh galanga root is available in some Asian markets, as is a frozen version. It is also possible to find in it in dried or powdered form.

The formal title for the galanga plant is Alpinia officinarum, although the root is also known as galangal, galingale, iam kieu, kha, or gao liagn jiang. The word “galanga” is actually derived from an Arabic word, khalanjan, which means “Chinese ginger.” The plant has dark green spear shaped leaves which can get quite long, and flowers which strongly resemble irises. Some people actually grow galanga as an ornamental, since it is rather attractive.

The plants are native to Eastern Asia, and they prefer moist, very well drained soil. Galanga is also not at all frost tolerant, so it can only be grown in warm to temperate regions. Gardeners who want to try their hands at growing galanga at home should seek out a fresh, healthy looking root and plant it directly into well conditioned soil. Make sure to leave plenty of room, as a galanga plant can get quite large.

When roots are desired, dig into the soil and separate them out.
The plant is in the ginger family, so it comes as no surprise that galanga root strongly resembles ginger. There are a few differences, however. Galanga root is more white and creamy than ginger, and it also has a distinct peppery flavor which is more like mustard than ginger. While the two can be confused at first glance, galanga root has a very different flavor profile, and it is one of the things that makes Thai food so distinctive.

Most cooks work with greater galangal, a more rugged, hardy plant which is widely distributed. Lesser galangal is essentially limited to Southeast Asia, where it is used in specialty recipes. In either case, galanga root is used in varying amounts, and cooks who are just starting to work with it should begin with small portions. The flavor can be overwhelming and quite intense, especially for people who are unfamiliar with it. When a recipe calls for fresh galanga root, remember to crush or pound the root to soften it so that more of the flavor will emerge in the finished dish.

GALANGAL : Infomation

2009-02-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

GALANGAL

Two plants are used extensively in south East Asian recipes. The names are rather confusing, and differ according to which Asian country a person came from or which particular herb book has been referred to.

In either case, botanical names or common names could mean different plants; sometimes Lesser Galangal is referred to as Greater Galangal and vice versa.

I will provide information on two Zingiberaceae species, which have similarities in use:
Greater Galangal also called Galanga, Temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza) Thick stems shoot directly from large, round, yellow rhizomes that can grow larger than a clenched fist. Smaller rhizomes form around the main root.

Large 10cm wide leaves stand upright, taking the plant to 1.5 metres high. A red strip runs up the centre of the leaf. Maroon/red flowers form on thick 15cm spikes. The plant dies down over winter and shoots again in spring. Early spring, is a good time to divide the plant for propagation, however, they may be dug at any time for use. It will grow in sun or shade, and requires well-drained, rich soil and sufficient water during dry periods for good growth.

Rhizomes are aromatic and pungent with a ginger-sour-lemon flavour.
Lesser Galangal also called Laos, Languas, China Root, India Root, Colic Root, East India Catarrh Root, Petit Galanga, Aromatic Ginger, Greater Ginger (Alpinia officinarum syn. A. galangal, Laguas officianium) A hardy, perennial root spice to 1-2 metres tall with long stems and leaves (6cm wide) which shoot directly from the roots called rhizomes.

The roots are similar in appearance to ginger, but not as thick and tend to be more branching, twisting in different directions, with a shiny beige skin, and pink highlights. When cut, the root reveals a creamy/white flesh. Creamy-white, waxy, orchid like flowers form in clusters of 3-4 on thick spikes 20cm long. Each flower spike can have over 300 flowers.

Medicinal Uses
Galangals have been a valued root spices in India, Asia and Europe for seven Centuries. In Australia, it is little known or used as a flavouring, but as it is easily grown in warm temperate to tropical climates, I encourage gardeners to get to know this spice. It is used medicinally for digestive problems, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting. It has been used for sea sickness, headaches, spleen enlargement, catarrh, bronchitis, rheumatism, foot pains, liver and gall bladder disorders, sore gums, as well as used as a respiratory and heart stimulant, and as a treatment for impotence.

A drink, made from grated galangal and lime juice, is valued as a tonic in Southeast Asia. Galangal is a specific herb for a sluggish metabolism; also used as a body deodoriser and breath cleanser, as well as a tonic and aphrodisiac. Hildegard of Bingen, herbal writer of the 12th Century, esteemed galangal for indigestion, deafness, arthritis, to lower high blood pressure and improve circulation, and relieve stomach and heart pain.

She said, “If there would be a herb to wake up the dead, then galangal would be the first choice”.

Dose: To make as a tea; infuse 1/2 teasp. of powdered rhizome in 1 cup of boiling water, steep 10-15mins, drink 1-3 cups a day.

A tincture is applied to skin complaints including tinea and ringworm. The anti-bacterial properties are used in homoeopathy and veterinary medicine. In Arabia the spice is fed to horses to make them fiery and spirited.

Info by : http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au

GROW A LEMONGRASS PLANT

2009-01-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

GROW A LEMONGRASS PLANT

by Gayla Trail

How to grow lemongrass from a store-bought stalk.
Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citrates) is fast becoming a fashionable herb best known for putting the lemony zip in Southeast Asian cuisine. Slices of fresh stalks are added to soups, salads and seafood dishes. Dried leaves and bits are also widely used medicinally or as a tea.
But lemongrass is still the new kid in town and hasn't made it into my local garden shops up here in the great white north. Thankfully, despite its exotic reputation, lemongrass is easy to grow and can be started from stalks purchased cheaply in the produce section of most large supermarkets or Asian food stores. I bought a bunch of mature stalks for about a buck and had a pot growing on my windowsill in a few weeks.

Grow Your Own
Choose the freshest, plumpest looking stalks at the store. It will take a divine miracle to revive stems that have become dry and desiccated so pick the choicest stuff possible. Your best bet are stalks that have a bulbous base with traces of root buds visible under the surface. If you find lemongrass with actual, viable roots still intact then you're really rockin'.
At home, trim a few inches off the top of the plant and peel away any dead outer leaves right off from the base. Plop the stalks into a jar of shallow, room temperature water and set the whole kit and caboodle near a sunny window for a few weeks. Make sure to do this as soon as you get home from the store. Lemongrass dries out quick so the faster you can get it revived the better. And of course once your jar is in the window check on it intermittently to be sure it doesn't run out of water-otherwise you'll have to start all over again.

After a week or two has passed you should start to see small roots emerging from the bottom end of the stalk. When the roots have grown an inch or two in length it's time to transfer everything into soil. Fill a pot (with drainage holes in the bottom) with rich, all-purpose container soil and bury the rooted stalks with the base (also called the 'crown') just below the surface.
Place your pot in a warm and sunny spot on your deck or window ledge. Water regularly, keeping the soil moist like a damp sponge, but not soggy. Lemongrass will thrive outdoors during the summer months or year-round in southern climates (at least zone 9). Southerners can super-size their plant by growing their plant in the moist soil around a backyard bog or pond. In climates that experience freezing conditions, plants must be brought indoors for the winter-- which is cool because a pot in the kitchen means easy access to fresh clippings.

How to Use
For a lemony herbal tea, steep fresh clippings of the grassy parts in hot water. Fresh leaves also add a lemony tang to ice cream or salad dressing. Tender, chopped stalks are great in spring rolls, desert cakes and soup or when used to flavor oil or fish dishes. To harvest the stalks, gently yank a stem or two from the pot, roots and all. The remaining stalks will continue to reproduce throughout the growing months. My cat goes wacky for lemongrass so keep yours out of kitty's reach or grow a pot just for her.

Credit and Info By : http://www.yougrowgirl.com

How to Grow Pepper Plants

2009-01-02T22:35:00.000-08:00

How to Grow Pepper Plants

Peppers have always been one of the more popular vegetables in the home garden. Growing pepper plants is easy. Bell peppers, and many hot peppers, are native to Central and North America. A wide range of hot pepper varieties are also native to Asia, most notably Thailand and China.

It used to be that any grower who liked peppers, would plant several sweet green bell pepper plants in their garden. Several weeks later, they would harvest some great tasting fruit. No difficult decisions on the variety. And, home grown peppers are not difficult to grow.
Today's gardeners enjoy the opportunity to select between a tremendous array of choices. You can pick sweet or hot. When it comes to hot, there are varying degrees of hot. The debates rage as to who has the hottest pepper. Varieties from Mexico, China and Thailand usually are the hottest.

You also get to select color. There are a wide variety of colors to choose from, versus the "plain old green" ones which were the only choices your parents and grandparents had to choose from. There are a number of yellow, red, and orange colors. There is even a variety with a striking purple color.

After you are done selecting hot/sweet and color, don't forget shape. There are traditional "bell pepper" shapes, long and slender, and of course round or "cherry peppers".

Whatever your preference, seed catalogs and garden stores cater to the high demand and wide variety of peppers. Buy Pepper Seeds now
Did you know?: A sweet green pepper is a pepper that is not yet ripe. Let it grow, and it will turn red. The texture will change markedly, and the flavor will change as well.

Varieties:
By far the most popular pepper remains the sweet green bell pepper.
Banana Peppers with many hot varieties.
Cherry peppers
Did you know? Paprika is a pepper!

Sowing Pepper Seeds:
Peppers are best started indoors, eight to ten weeks or more before the last frost date for your area. Pepper seeds can be a difficult seed germinate, and seedlings grow slowly. Many growers simply visit their local garden store for seedling to transplant. Avid garden hobbiests find pleasure in a new challenge, and start their own pepper plants indoors.
Tip: Provide bottom heat or heat lamps to raise the soil temperature to 80 degrees. This will promote better and quicker germination.

Buy Germination Heating Mats - for an overall healthy start for your seedlings.

Days to Maturity:
70 to 90 days or more, depending upon the variety. Read the package for the specific time for the variety you acquire.

Days to Maturity:
70 to 90 days or more, depending upon the variety. Read the package for the specific time for the variety you acquire.
How to Grow Peppers:
Select a location in your garden that receives full sun. Prepare the garden, adding plenty of compost, manure, and a general fertilizer.
No matter what type of pepper you grow, they like the weather hot. Transplant young seedlings outdoors after the last chance of frost. If the weather is still cool, delay transplanting a few days, and keep them in a coldframe, indoors or next to the house.
Space 18-24 inches apart, in rows 24 to 36 inches apart. This spacing may vary somewhat by variety.

Pepper plants prefer moist soil. Avoid wet soil. Water regularly in the hot, dry summer months.
Add mulch around the peppers to keep down weeds, and to retain moisture. As the peppers develop, switch over to a fertilizer higher in Phosphorous and Potassium. Gardeners often make the mistake of providing too much nitrogen. The result is a great looking bushy, green plant, but few fruit.

Tip: Peppers are self pollinators. Occasionally, they will cross pollinate from pollen carried by bees or other insects. To minimize this possibility, don't plant hot and sweet peppers too close. Don't worry though, as it will not affect the fruit of this year's crop. The cross will show up in the genetics of the seeds, if you save them.

Harvesting:
Peppers can be picked as soon as they reach a size which is edible.

Insects and Pests:
Several insects enjoy your pepper plants. Spider mites and aphids are the most common, with an occasional borer. In many areas, it is infrequent. For the infrequent problem, try an organic insecticide or dust.

Disease:
While many viruses and diseases can affect Peppers, it is somewhat infrequent. Fungal infections can be treated with fungicides. Apply treatment as soon as you see it.

Hardiness:
No doubt about it, peppers do not like frost. In the spring, frost will stunt or kill the plants. Cold weather can cause the plant to slow down or stunt it. In the Fall, cover the plants, if frost is expected. Use a hot cap in on cold and frosty spring nights. If they are vented, they can they left on all day.

Tip: For a quick cover-up on cold fall nights, use five gallon buckets. They are the perfect size, and can be quickly placed over the plant.

A little bit about Hot Peppers:
The ingredient in peppers that makes the "hot" sensation is called Capsaicin. A sweet green pepper is devoid of this chemical. The hotter the pepper, the more the level of Capsaicin. It is measured in parts per million (ppm).

Info by : http://www.gardenersnet.com

Overview of Garlic

2009-01-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

A Garlic Overview

The Garlic Family Tree and Where Garlic Came fromGarlic isn't just garlic, there are many different kinds of garlic and they're almost all different in size, color, shape, taste, number of cloves per bulb, pungency and storability. Most Americans aren't aware of the many kinds since they seldom see more than one kind in the local supermarket. There are said to be over 600 cultivated sub-varieties of garlic in the world, although most of them may be selections of only a handful of basic types that have been grown widely and developed their own characteristics over the centuries as local growing conditions changed.

Botanists classify all true garlics under the species Allium Sativum. There are two subspecies; Ophioscorodon , or hard-necked garlics (Ophios for short) and Sativum , or soft-necked garlics. The hard-necked garlics were the original garlics and the soft-necked ones were developed or cultivated over the centuries by growers from the original hard-necks through a process of selection.

The latest research (2003) shows that ten fairly distinct varietal groups of garlic have evolved; five very different hardneck varieties called Porcelain, Purple Stripe, Marbled Purple Stripe, Glazed Purple Stripe, and Rocambole; three varieties of Weakly bolting hadnecks that often produce softnecks - Creole,Asiatic and Turban, plus two distinct softneck varietal groups; Artichoke and Silverskin. Our website has evolved to show this new structure (It was previously thought that there were only five groups.)

An earlier study classified garlic into 17 isozyme types, but that didn't work out satisfactorily. Apparently all of the hundreds of sub-varieties (separate cultivars) of garlic grown all over the world came from these ten basic groups or sub-varieties of hardnecks that evolved in the Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Their individual characteristics have been altered over time by careful (or accidental) selection and changing growing conditions, such as soil fertility, rainfall, temperature, altitude, length and severity of winter, etc. as they spread across Asia and Europe and the Asiatics and Turbans developed in the East, while the Creoles developed in Spainand southern France and Artichokes and Silverskins developed Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

This picture of the structure of the garlic family is by no means final as work continues to define it more accurately using a larger number of cultivars and this may lead to the identification of more clusters of sub-varieties.

How Did All These Garlics Get Here?
A few of the kinds of garlic now in America came in with Polish, German and Italian immigrants over the centuries, but most of them came in all at once in 1989. The USDA had been asking the Soviets for permission to go to the Caucasus region to collect garlics but permission had always been refused because there were many missile bases in the area and this was where their spaceport was and is.

Finally, as the Soviet Union was disintegrating in 1989, they suddenly invited the Americans in to collect the garlics. They were under continuous armed guard and were allowed to travel only at night so they wouldn't see anything of military importance. They went from village to village along the old Silk Road buying garlic from local markets and naming the cultivars after the town or village where they were purchased.

When they got back to the US, they realized they had no gardens ready in which to plant the garlic (The USDA plans things years in advance.) so they contracted out the growing to a few private growers on a share-the-garlic basis. After they crop was harvested and the USDA got their share, these growers began to trade with each other and to sell some to friends and other garlic growers and that is how they came to be available now when they were not available 15 or 20 years ago. There was no time for adequate phytosanitary precautions to be made so we don't really know what kinds of "hitchhikers" might have been brought in with them.

The above explanation also shows why these garlics are rare and expensive. Slowly more growers are beginning to grow these cultivars and as more of it is grown and the supply begins to catch up with the very great demand. Garlic lovers take one look at these delightful things and they feel an overwhelming urge to try them. In a few years, these gourmet garlics will be more widely grown and the price will eventually come down somewhat, but not as long as all growers are selling out in a short time.

Purple Stripe Garlics Purple Stripe garlics are ophios (hardnecks) and are usually vividly striped with purplish vertical stripes decorating the bulb wrappers, hence their name. In between the purple stripes, their bulb wrappers are usually very white and thick. Some sub-varieties are even heavily splotched with purple. Coloration is affected by growing conditions, particularly weather and sometimes they are strongly colored and at other times more white than purple.
They tend to be rather rich in flavor, but not overly pungent, though some are milder, and store fairly well. Standard Purple Stripes (Chesnok Red and Persian Star) make the sweetest roasted garlic. They mature about midway through the local harvest season although the larger ones may mature later. In addition to the standard purple stripes, there are two other groups of Purple Stripe varieties, the glazed group and the marbled group.

Both seem to have thicker bulb wrappers and fewer cloves per bulb than the standard group. Purple stripes can be very beautiful garlics that range from the very strong, such as Metechi or Skuri #2 or very mild, such as Siberian. Persian Star and Chesnok Red have a rich medium flavor

Allium Sativum Sativum (Soft-necked garlics) Artichoke Garlics Artichoke garlics (sativums or softnecks) are the kinds of garlics seen most in the supermarkets in our part of the country. California Early and California Late are grown in huge quantities around Gilroy, California and shipped all over the country and are the generic garlic that most people think of when they think of garlic. In fact, most people around our parts weren't even aware that there was more than one kind of garlic. We think artichoke garlics are among the easiest to grow and seem to less fussy about growing conditions than the others. They have lots of cloves, usually somewhere between 12 and 20, with lots of smaller internal cloves.

These are a favorite among people who want to use only a very small amount of garlic in a dish (although I can't imagine why). They appear to feel that if you can taste the garlic in a dish you have used too much and prefer to use the small inner cloves. Artichokes are generally very large, store well and have a wide range of flavors with some, like Simoneti and Red Toch, being very mild and pleasant and others, such as Inchelium Red and Susanville, have greater depth of flavor. Chinese Purple and Purple Cauldron are much stronger and stick around for a while. The Asiatic group of artichoke garlics tend to send up scapes, despite the fact that they're supposed to be softnecks and have a little more color to the bulb wrappers than the main group, which are usually very white.

The Turban group of artichoke garlics tend to be the most colorful artichokes and have fewer cloves per bulb than the others. The turbans also harvest earlier and store less long than the other artichokes and a good bit stronger in taste as well. Artichoke Garlics are the commercial growers favorite because they are easier to grow and produce larger bulbs that most other garlics. Artichokes are often called red garlics or Italian garlics despite the fact that most are neither red nor were ever grown in Italy. Most of the artichokes that have red as part of their name have no red in them, but we retain the word as it helps to describe exactly which cultivar we are discussing.

Silverskin Garlics Silverskin garlics are usually, but not always, the ones that you see in braids. Silverskins are generally the longest storing of all garlics and have a soft pliable neck that lends itself to braiding and holds up over time better than the artichokes whose necks tend to deteriorate earlier than the silverskins. They are usually fairly hot strong garlics with very few cultivars being mild. They are also usually the last ones to come out of the ground. Their bulb wrappers are very white although the clove covers can be strikingly beautiful as in the case of Nootka Rose or Rose du Var. Silverskins have more cloves per bulb, on the average, than the artichokes but are not nearly as large.

the Creole Garlics The Creole garlics are a unique and truly beautiful group of garlics. They are genetically related to Silverskins, but utterly unlike Silverskins in almost evert way. Botanists are having a hard time pinning them down - they are almost certainly a separate group unto themselves, but connected to other groups.

Creoles are downright gorgeous to look at and are one of the easiest eating raw garlics owing to a taste that is rich and full but only very moderate pungency (heat), though Creole Red and Ajo Rojo are noticeably stronger. They retain their flavor well when cooked. They have eight to twelve cloves per bulb arranged in a circular configuration. Both the bulb wrappers and the clove covers have a beautiful vivid rose color and I regard them to be as beautiful as the porcelain garlics even though their configuration is very different. They are easily grown in southern climates and are much more tolerant of adverse weather conditions than most garlics.

Porcelain Garlics - Picture to be Posted Soon. Porcelain garlics (ophios) are among the most beautiful garlics of all and sometimes seem too beautiful to eat. Their bulb wrappers tend to be very thick, luxuriant and parchment-like and tightly cover their few, but large, cloves. The outer bulb wrappers are often very white and tend to some purple striping as you peel away the wrappers. Their appearance tempts one to wonder whether they were sculpted by some great artist rather than something grown in the ground. There are few or no smaller cloves as most cloves are large and fat (typically only five really big cloves per bulb).

Porcelains are generally strong tasting garlics with a few exceptions and can store for up to eight months or more at cool room temperature, if grown well. Bulb wrappers vary from white/ivory (Zemo) to very purplish (Romanian Red). Clove covers have elongated tips and a golden brown color with some having distinctive vertical, purplish streaks.

Porcelains grow better up north than they do down south but still most southern growers can grow them some years.

Rocambole Garlics - Picture to be Posted Soon. Rocambole garlics tend to have thinner bulb wrappers than other ophios and lots of purple striping and splotches. They are not as white as other ophios and seem to have a brownish cast to them, in fact, some of them almost look as though they need a bath. What they lack in beauty, they are said to make up for in taste. Many people (including Ron Engeland-author of "Growing Great Garlic")consider them their favorite garlics. In the spring they send up a scape (stalk) that forms a complete double loop. They have usually six to eight cloves arranged in circular fashion about a central scape and have few or no smaller internal cloves.

Alas, we shall not know as they do not grow well in warmer climates such as ours. They require a colder winter and a cooler spring than we have here in central Texas. We have tried for years to southernize these garlics, but to no avail; they simply die in the ground. If you want to try these alleged culinary delights, we suggest you order them from Filaree Farms in north central Washington. Their primary drawback, other than being fussy about growing conditions, is that they are among the shortest storing garlics of all.

Garlic Which is Not Garlic Not all plants that some people think of as garlic is actually garlic of the species Allium Sativum. Elephant garlic is Allium ampeloprasum. Ramsons garlic is a broad-leaved wild garlic and is of the species allium ursinum. Crow garlic is a narrow-leafed smallish wild garlic of the species allium vineale. Garlic chives is of the species allium tuberosum.
99. Elephant Garlic - All Size Cloves Available Elephant garlic is sold as whole bulbs early in the season and later on it may be as loose individual cloves - $16. per pound. Elephant garlic is not a true garlic; it a leek. All garlic species are botanically classified as Allium Sativum and elephant garlic is Allium Ampeloprasum, formerly Allium Gigantum.

Large elephant garlic is about twice the size of the largest real garlics or larger and has a milder taste but with a sharp onion-like edge to it and a distinctive aftertaste. They average five monstrously large cloves that are somewhat yellowish compared the milky whiteness of true garlic cloves. It also has far less allicin potential than real garlic but grows extremely clean and disease free and does not seem to be bothered by insects. Elephant garlic stores very hard and clean much longer than real garlic, even when separated into individual cloves. Unlike real garlic it produces bottom bulbils called corms that have very hard shells with sharp pointed tops and they store even longer than the bulbs.

The corms are attached to the bottoms of the bulbs but grow up their sides and are often incorporated into the bulb wrappers several layers deep. The bulb wrappers on elephant garlic are extremely white and they cure out to be very thin and flaky and are intact only on freshly harvested bulbs. After a few months they seem to evaporate, leaving bare or almost bare bulbs that have a rather rough look but it does not seem to affect their storability much, only their attractiveness.

The Many Tastes of Garlic Believe it or not, all garlics do not taste the same. Some cultivars are exceedingly mild in taste, such as Chet's Italian Red and Red Toch (both Artichokes). Some are medium flavored like Inchelium Red (another Artichoke) or Burgundy (a Creole ) while others are very hot and strong, such as Metechi (a marbled Purple Stripe) or Chinese Purple (Asiatic). I usually enjoy a milder garlic for eating raw and stronger garlics for cooking or for using as medicine. Each garlic is different in taste, but don't take my word for it, try several kinds to see which tastes appeal to you as each of us has our own likes.
There are several components to garlic taste, but we only measure three of them - flavor (or garlickiness), pungency (whhich is the degree of hotness when eaten raw) and residual or aftertaste, which for some varieties is considerable, and it's not necessarily related to pungency. We measure (subjectively) heat, flavor, and aftertaste on a scale from 1 to 10, each. Raw garlic is hot like a chile pepper, it just doesn't last over a minute, usually and has an aftertaste. Flavor is the intensity of the garlic taste itself, whether it is hot or not; that is, the garlickiness of it. Some have a heavy flavor but mild in heat, whereas others may be light in both or very heavy in both. If you get garlic that scores a ten on all three scales, you have a very potent garlic.
Even among the hot garlics, taste varies. Chinese Purple (Asiatic) for example is instantly hot, whereas Asian Rose, another Asiatic AKA Chinese Sativum, produces a truly beautiful garlic flavor with no hint of heat for about ten seconds then your mouth seems to explode with heat. Some varieties I have taste tested had a delay of almost 30 seconds before the raging one minute inferno set in. Unlike Hot peppers, or chilis as they are properly called, the heat from garlic dissipates quickly, usually in 30 to 45 seconds. Garlic is only hot when eaten raw as cooking removes the heat. This overview is intended to be brief and a detailed discussion of taste will be included in each of the illustrated varietal descriptions of the garlics we have for sale.
The taste of any given garlic changes almost continually. Any garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground than it will be after a few months of storage as the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year. Once pulled from the ground, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying down process that takes months and as it loses its moisture it slowly shrinks in size and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature. If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point and will not change any more. Shelf life at room temp and about 50% humidity is from four to ten months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.
Also, growing conditions directly affect taste. While each cultivar has its normal flavor, that is, what it tastes like in a normal year, each one varies from year to year based on that years growing conditions. Adverse weather can make normally mild varieties hot and usually hot garlics become mild - but the next year they return to normal. Our varietal description will try to describe the current crop's taste as accurately as possible since we test taste random samples of each cultivar.
All taste tests are done with raw garlic because that is the only way I know of to accurately determine the true taste of a garlic since cooking changes the flavor of any garlic. Please read our section on cooking with garlic for a detailed discussion of how cooking affects the flavor of garlic. There we talk about some tricks you can use to make the garlic flavor mild and creamy or as bold as you prefer.
Burgundy has a deep flavor yet mild heat that make it a delight for raw eating - most creoles have this characteristic although some are a little stronger. Red Toch, Chester Aaron's favorite, has a similar taste - lightrichness. Chesnok Red and Siberian fall in there somewhere. Inchelium Red and Nootka Rose are excellent medium and medium warm tasting garlics and are very good for raw eating with rich fullness.
Hardnecks, such as Rocamboles, Purple Stripes and Porcelains have generally the deepest flavors with Rocamboles having the most earthy and musty flavor and usually a lot of heat, but storing the shortest time. Rocamboles are excellent for raw eating even though they're strong because of the deep, rich, earthy flavor that just makes everything feel better. Commercial Artichoke garlics are generally considered to have the least flavor of garlics, although they can have a lot of heat, they may not have much depth.
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to get good garlic at your local supermarket during the late winter through mid-summer? There is a reason for that-most garlic sold in stores is artichoke garlic and by that time it is beginning to deteriorate or trying to sprout and grow as it has been out of the ground long past its time to be replanted (the fall). It is usually sometime around mid-July before good garlic again becomes available.
Because most garlics grown in the United States are grown in more northerly latitudes, the time to harvest usually starts in late June or early July. Since we are located in the southernmost part of the country, our garlic matures a month or two earlier than the northern growers so we can offer high quality gourmet varieties much sooner than most other growers. We often begin harvesting in mid May and can have freshly harvested garlic available in June.
Elephant garlic is so mild you can take a whole bulb of it and slice the cloves into quarter inch thick steaks, sauté them in butter or olive oil and serve them as a vegetable.

In Summary The hard-neck garlics tend to be more colorful and have fewer, but larger, cloves per bulb than the softnecks. Soft-necks generally have about twice as many cloves per bulb as the hard-necks. The Silverskins (soft-necks) tend to be the longest storing garlics with Porcelains (hardnecks) the second-longest storing and are usually hot and strong in flavor-though not always. The Asiatics (hard-necks) tend to be the shortest storing kinds with Rocamboles (another hardneck) next and Rocamboles and seem to be unsuited to growing well in the southern climates, unless grown at higher altitudes. The other main varieties all fall in between and grow well in our soil and produce generally superior garlics as long as we get decent rain and reasonable temperatures.

How to Grow Garlic #1

2009-01-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

What Really is Garlic, anyway?

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) may be the oldest cultivated plant by humans and is of the same general plant family as lillies and onions and leeks. More than botanical designations, garlic is a lifeform, that is, a living being that continues to remain alive by dividing or cloning itself into many miniature versions of itself and basically consumes its old self in the process of becoming its new self.

The heart and soul, as it were, of the garlic is the so-called true stem, or basal plate from which the roots extend downward and the leaves, cloves and false stalk (properly called scape) emerge and reach upward seeking light and air, for it is the sun and air that power the water pump that is a garlic plant. It is from this true stem that the mother clove gives her life to all her daughter cloves, passing her very essence on directly to them.

Garlic grows by dissolving nutrients and drawing the nutrient laden moisture into its roots and drawing it up to the true stem where it is used to build various parts of the plant. The whole time, the tiny central heart of the plant is growing like a nautilus in its chambered shell, for its growth pattern is a spiral, with new growth forming at the center and maturing as the new little cloves work their way around and out from their birthplace at the the center, growing ever larger as they dance round the center in celebration of their lives as if honoring their giver of life as they take their first steps in their trip through life. What else could it be?

Garlic is undeniably a living entity that responds to its environment. As diners, we justify our wholesale slaughter of our defenseless little brethren by agreeing to preserve their species by becoming growers and thereby allowing the garlic species not only to carry on their kind, but promising to let them live in sumptuous quarters, free from interference by weeds on the condition that they have plenty of kids we can eat.

Sunlight and atmospheric gasses provide energy to power the process and as sunlight increases with the day-length in spring, the pump works harder and harder until the intensity of the sun causes it to burn out and the plant withdraws all its liquid resources back down into the rapidly forming cloves and it withdraws to the cool underground to wait until fall so it can begin the process of growing again, this time in multiplex.

The Growing of Garlic
Garlic is fairly easy to grow. Great garlic is fairly difficult to grow. If you just want to grow garlic, put the separated cloves in the ground anytime between September and March and it will probably grow, but not very well. If you want to grow large, healthy bulbs, there's much more to it than that.

This section is meant for the backyard gardener and is not meant for those who want to grow large quantities of garlic for commercial purposes, I recommend Ron Engeland's book Growing Great Garlic. It's the book that got us started.

First, consider your location, climate and soil conditions and then determine the kinds of garlic which grow best in your area.

Let's talk about location and climate first. While garlic originated in central Asia with its long cold winters, damp cool springs and warm, dry summers, it has been transported around the globe and grown in so many areas that its needs seem to have changed a little. Some varieties, such as Rocamboles, still want those conditions in order to thrive. Porcelains, Purple Stripes and Silverskins are more tolerant, but still won't stand for a hot, dry spring. Artichokes will do well almost anywhere. For a detailed description of these five basic varieties, please read our Overview of Garlic section where we explain the differences between them. Don't be afraid to experiment. A wonderful and wizened master herbalist, Odena Brannam, told us when we first started that she had grown things all her life in places the experts said they would not grow. She had accomplished the impossible many times because she did not know it could not be done.

Organic Growing Versus Chemicals
Soil conditions and watering are of utmost importance if you want to grow excellent, large healthy garlic. Garlic will grow (barely) in almost any dirt with whatever water is available to it but will thrive in healthy soil with proper watering. If you do not grow organically, you cannot grow garlic as good as those who do. That is a simple fact of nature. Chemical manufacturers may tell you otherwise, but they stand to make a lot of money from you if you grow as they say, whereas I stand to make no money off of you if you grow as I suggest-just a slightly less polluted planet. You figure out who is more likely to be honest with you.

Chemical growers feed the plants at the expense of the soil-and a lot of money. Organic growers feed the soil to the benefit of the plants-for very little money. If you build up your soil with manures and compost and a few trace minerals, your soil will stay healthy for years with a minimum of additions but when you use chemicals, you must add them on an on-going basis if your soil is to grow anything. The reason for this is that the soil is an ecosystem that contains millions of microscopic plant and animal lifeforms that live off one another just like in the jungle or the sea. When the soil is in balance in this way, the plants that grow in it can pull what they need out of it and thrive. Plants need much more than just Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous, they need the wide variety of micronutrients and minerals that healthy, well balanced soil provides.

When you add high concentrations of NPK fertilizers, this imbalance kills off vast numbers of these microorganisms and the plants feed on their decaying bodies which gives you a good crop this year, but results in a less naturally fertile soil with far fewer microbes and you have to keep adding more of the fertilizers in subsequent years just to grow a plant that is inferior to a plant grown organically.

When you use chemical insecticides and herbicides, they kill not only the surface pests you aim to kill, but also soak into the ground and kill most of the microorganisms living in the soil as well, resulting in a less fertile growing environment yet. They can also leach into your community drinking water, too.

Do you really want to drink pesticide-laden water? Pesticide residues in our drinking water are not neutralized by adding chlorine or flouride to the water as they are not organic lifeforms but inorganic chemicals that can contribute to many human ailments. Some of the highest cancer rates are among people who apply pesticides and who work with the plants that have had pesticides applied, according to insurance industry statistics. That stuff soaks into the plants and cannot be washed off because it is inside them. If the government requires applicators to wear "protective" clothing, boots, gloves, hoods and masks to apply it, why would you want to eat it?

What's Really in Your Fertilizer?
Until recently I thought that NPK fertilizers weren't so bad; after all, it was the pesticides that were the real problem, right? I now see I was wrong and that many commercial fertilizers are as bad and some are worse than pesticides and are actually hazardous to your health. Fertilizers have been required to have their claimed amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium, but the other "inert" ingredients weren't regulated so any hazardous waste that contained any amounts of any form of N, P or K could be sold as fertilizer, regardless of what the undisclosed ingredients were.

A few years ago at the Garlic is Life! Symposium in Tulsa I met the former mayor of a small town in Washington and listened to her story. Patty Martin and some of her constituents discovered that some large industrial companies were disposing of hazardous wastes, including dioxins, lead, mercury, and even some radioactive material by putting it into fertilizer or selling it to companies that did. She was rightfully concerned for the welfare of her own family as well as all the town's other people and rattled enough people's cages to spur an investigation by investigative reporter, Buff Wilson of the Seattle Times newspaper. The story attracted nationwide attention and was nominated for a Pulitzer prize. It resulted in the state of Washington passing and implementing a law regulating the content of fertilizers and requiring fertilizer manufacturers to label the contents. They also tested all fertilizers sold in Washington and have published the list of ingredients on the internet - good move!

By avoiding the EPA's expensive hazardous waste disposal sites and selling their wastes to fertilizer manufacturers, some industrial companies have turned otherwise costly hazardous waste into a profitable product. Slick, huh? To find out what's in your fertilizer and learn a lot more about this important issue or Buy the Book, Click Here.

In view of the above, I cannot in good conscience recommend using commercial fertilizers in growing garlic - which is good because research shows that standard NPK fertilizers really don't do much for garlic, anyway, as it's the minerals/micronutrients that garlic seeks. After all, garlic originated in the thin, rocky mountainous soils of the area just north of modern Afganistan.
Follow our organic growing links for much more detailed information about growing organically and get into it. Prepare your soil a few months in advance so that it is in good balance when you plant. We recommend you have your soil tested for more than NPK and pH, but for micronutrient analysis also so that you will know what your soil lacks and what it has enough or too much of. That way you will know what and how much to add. Too much of anything can be bad, it is balance that is important.

Planting the Garlic
It's usually best to plant garlic in the fall as close to the autumnal equinox as possible. Garlic likes to sprout roots in the fall and feed and develop for a little while before the cold winter temperatures force it to curtail its growth and rest until the warmer weather comes. It uses this time to establish its root system so it can survive the winter and be ready to explode with growth in the spring before the weather turns hot. Hot weather forces garlic to bolt; that is, try to go to seed, as it were. But since garlic does not produce seed, it reproduces by forming as many cloves as its genetics allow and growing them as big as it can before the summer heat kills the leaves.

If you leave that multi-cloved bulb in the ground, it will wait until fall and every one of those cloves will try to send up its own leaves and they will all try to grow in the same spot, resulting in a large number of very small garlics the following spring. That is why it is necessary to pull the bulb out of the ground when it matures and store it in a cool, dry place until the fall. In the fall, separate the bulbs into cloves, being careful not to bruise or damage the cloves, and plant the cloves, top side up, four to eight inches apart so they will have room to grow and not fight over the limited resources of a small area.

Commercial growers in California and other places usually plant them right next to one another and the bulbs are not only touching, but crowding each other in heavily chemically-fertilized fields. These fields are also treated with toxic fungicides to try to fight soil-borne fungi that are too firmly entrenched from 75 years of growing almost nothing but garlic. On the other hand, if you grow garlic in a three or four year rotation with other crops, Mother Nature will sweeten the soil for you and drop the level of fungi below the level at which it is a problem - and grow a better tasting and better looking and healthier plant as well. And the additional outdoor exercise contributes to your all-around good health and well being, all for a lot less money. It's your choice.

In most parts of the country, garlic likes to be planted in fertile, well drained raised beds so that the bulb itself is up out of the water level and the roots are down in the water. The height of the raised beds and the depth to plant the cloves (root end down) depend on what part of the country you want to grow the garlic in. If your area gets a lot of rain and snow and very cold winters, then use higher beds and plant the cloves four inches deep and mulch heavily to protect the garlic from sub-zero temperatures. If you grow in more arid areas with warmer winters and less snow, then lower the beds and don't plant the garlic so deep. Garlic will grow in flat ground without raised beds, but the raised beds help the garlic fend off diseases that can come when the bulb sits in water too long.

Preparing the Garlic for Planting
Garlic is subject to fungal diseases and pest infestations that can be virtually undetectable until they strike. Prevention is the best way to deal with them. In our experience, garlic that is soaked in certain solutions and with the clove covers peeled off have a better chance of growing free of pathogen or pest.

When your soil is fully ready to be planted, take the bulbs you want to plant and break them apart into their individual cloves (Being sure to keep each variety separate from others. Soak each varieties' cloves in water containing one heaping tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and liquid seaweed to protect them from fungus as well as give them an energy boost. Leave the cloves in the soda water overnight or long enough for the clove covers to loosen so the liquid comes into contact with the surfaces of the cloves. Garlics clove covers can contain fungal spores, or conidia or the eggs of pests such as mites and are best discarded rather than planted since the first thing the cloves do is to shed them, anyway. The baking soda helps neutralize the fungi. Commercial growers don't have time to peel cloves bare but gardeners do.

The cloves should then be soaked in rubbing alcohol or 140 proof vodka for three or four minutes and then planted immediately. The alcohol kills pests and pest eggs and any pathogens the first soaking missed. Every time I have done this, the treated garlic turned out better than the untreated control group. Alcohols are on the National Organic Program accepted list and baking soda is accepted under part 205.605.

Here in central Texas, we plant about 2 to 3 inches deep, with larger varieties going a little deeper in the ground than the smaller varieties. We put them in by hand so we can be sure each clove is properly bedded down. It's a lot of work on our hands and knees, but it's the best way to get the best results. Garlic does not lend itself well to automated planting technology due to the irregular size and shape differences in the cloves. Our beds are 6 in. high and 24 in. wide, we drip irrigate with T-Tapes and cover all with a 3 inch deep mulch to protect from weeds and to hold in the soil moisture, more to act as a barrier to direct sunlight on the soil than for temperature protection. Garlic survives cold quite well as it was designed by nature to grow in the fall, rest in the winter and bulb out in the late spring or early to mid-summer.

Across the northern tier of states garlics leaves do not usually emerge from the ground until spring, although in a warm winter, they will emerge an grow in the winter just as they do in the South or in California. Garlic loves the cold weather but it can be frozen out if the temp drops 10 or 20 below zero-F and stays there for a couple of weeks, but it is rare. During those times when we actually get snow down here, it's a beautiful sight to see all those lush deep green spearlike leaves shooting up abruptly out out of the stark white snow. When you walk out to make sure they're OK, you can almost hear them laughing and frolicking in the snow and singing their song of joy. The garlics allow the grower to join the party, but no one else - it's a private family affair.

Tending the Growing Garlic
Garlic is a naturally very resourceful competitor for available nutrients and will find a way to get what it needs out of the soil it grows in. You don't need a lot of NPK, just a good well balanced soil that is loose enough for the bulb to grow and expand when it is the time for it to do so. Ordinary garden soil with a little manure added a couple of months before planting is great. It doesn't much care for dry, hard packed clayey or thin rocky soils that may restrict its expansion, oh, it will still grow, it just won't get as big. It may; however, have a more intense flavor and store a little longer than the big beautiful ones. Like its cousins, the onions, garlic doesn't like to dry out completely during its growing season as that tends to make it stronger in flavor. A good thing to remember if you like strong garlic.

Professional growers know that size is what sells in this country, no matter what they grow. In a supermarket, most people will buy a larger fruit or garlic rather than a small one and would be surprised to learn that the small one might even taste better. Size in a garlic is determined first by the variety and then by the growing conditions. Some varieties are naturally larger than others - please see our section on Varieties of Garlic for an explanation. After varietal type, the next consideration is soil fertility and the amount and frequency of watering, mostly the watering.

Some growers recommend fertilizing garlic in the early spring to give it a boost just as the foilage gets a good start but before the plant begins to form a bulb, and I think that's usually a good idea. Others say that if your soil is naturally fertile enough you don't even have to fertilize at all during the growing season. If you're not going to do a spring fertilization, we think a foliar spray with a tablespoon each of seaweed, molasses and baking soda in a gallon of water two or three times during the spring helps the garlic finish out its growth, nicely - but do not foliar feed it within a month of harvest. It is a good idea to make sure the garlic is not real dry when you spray as that may not be beneficial to the plants. Foliar spraying should only be done on healthy, well watered plants. Garlic will build a good stand of lush foilage before it begins to swell at its base and form a bulb. Discontinue all fertilization at the first sign of the bulb beginning to swell. If you continue to fertilize beyond the bulbing point, especially with nitrogen, it can cause the leaves to become extra lush at the expense of bulb size.

Garlic likes a slightly moist but not wet soil. If the moisture content of the soil at the root level is below 50%, it is time to water the garlic. If it stays too wet, diseases such as fungus and blight can set in. Few things in nature prey upon garlic as garlic kills or repels most insects, fungi and other things that are problems for most other plants, but the things that bother garlic don't seem to bother much else (except grasshoppers).

Garlic needs to be protected from those diseases by giving it the growing conditions it likes and avoiding those conditions that lead to problems.

Overwatering garlic can lead to some of those problems as can underwatering because any plant that becomes stressed is more likely to develop problems than a plant that is not stressed. If it gets too dry, water it; if it gets too wet and stays that way for a bit too long, pull back some of the mulch and let the soil dry out some before replacing the mulch.

One way to determine the moisture content is to stick your hand down into the root zone feel the soil. If your hand comes out dry, it's time to water; If it is muddy and sticks to your hand, it's too wet. If it stays that way for too long, pull back the mulch and let the ground dry out a bit. Do not water during the last week or two before harvesting your garlic as it is easier to pull or dig garlic out of fairly dry soil than mud, and the garlic will store better.

Credit and Info by : http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com

Link to Page #2

How to Grow Garlic # 2

2009-01-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

How to Know Exactly When to Harvest Each Garlic Bulb

How do you know when it is time to harvest the garlic? There is no pat answer as it varies depending on what part of the country you grow in and the variety of garlic involved. Different varieties harvest at different times as Artichokes mature first, followed by Rocamboles, Purple Stripes and Porcelains and, finally Silverskins. Since spring warms up from the South to the North, southern growers will harvest earlier than Northern growers. It also seems to depend on the weather; how soon it warms up to what extent. If high temperatures come early in spring and it stays warm to hot, harvest will be earlier than usual because it is the heat and sun that causes garlic to bolt. A long cool spring will delay harvest until after the usual time as the bulbs will mature slower and maturing is delayed. We usually start harvesting in mid-May or so whereas far northern growers may not begin until July or later.

Hardneck garlics will send up a stalk, or scape as it is properly called, a month or two before harvest time. Some growers prefer to cut off the scape and some prefer to leave it on. There is widespread disagreement among growers about when or whether to cut the scape. Some say if you cut the scape it will make the bulb larger. Some say if you don't cut the scape the garlic will store longer and better-and make better seedstock. Some say you must cut off the scape at just the right time to get the right balance of size and storability or hardiness of the bulb. Some say if you cut off the scape too soon you will get big bulbs but that they are more susceptable to disease and short storability (just eat them first.) I suggest you experiment and see what works best for you in your situation. Most serious growers I know do cut the scapes while they are still tender and either eat them or sell them to gourmets - they're highly prized for their delicate flavor and they're only available for a short time in the spring.

Softneck garlics don't usually send up scapes but sometimes they do when stressed by adverse growing conditions. The Asiatic and Turban groups of Artichokes often send up scapes, even though they're classified as softnecks. They're both very early ripeners and need to be harvested as soon as the lower leaves start to die down, don't wait for the last six leaves or they will be overripe - they're unique in that regard. The Creole Silverskins also often send up scapes. All softneck scapes form an inverted "U" pattern - at least all that I have ever seen.

The real secret to knowing when to harvest the garlic is to watch the leaves and they'll tell you when to harvest. Garlic leaves signal maturity by beginning to turn brown and dying. The lowest (and outermost) leaves die first and then the rest die from the ground up. Generally with softnecks, the time to harvest is when the lower leaves have all died down and only the top six leaves are still green. Don't wait for the leaves to all die down and fall over like onions do or you will be inviting trouble in the form of overripe bulbs that are unattractive and more subject to fungus, pests and poor storage. Also, the upper leaves of the plant are the ones that determine how many bulb wrappers the harvested bulb will have. If you let the leaves all die down then the bulb wrappers will all rot away and you will have bulbs with the cloves exposed and no bulb wrappers to protect them. Use these bulbs immediately while they're still good-the ones with good bulb wrappers will store longer and better.

On the other hand, research indicates that garlic left in the ground longer has more potency and a stronger taste. Since the cloves within the overripe bulb tend to splay out as they crowd each other out, it becomes easier to break the bulbs apart. In fact, I know growers who say they let the bulbs they want to use as planting stock stay in the ground a little longer than usual because shortened storage is not a problem since it doesn't have to store very long until planting time comes around. These same growers also leave the scapes on their planting stock while cutting them on the stock they intend to sell as cutting scapes makes those bulbs bigger than they otherwise would be.

All the plants of any given variety of garlic will come to maturity at about the same time, but some varieties will mature in the early spring and others not until mid-summer. As each variety approaches maturity, inspect the bulbs so that you can see when they get to the size and condition you want. You can dig down around a few plants to inspect the size and shape of the bulbs, being careful not to disturb the roots, every few days until you are satisfied they are ready to harvest. If they're not ready yet, carefully replace the soil and let them go a few days more then inspect again. If you are growing more than one variety, be sure to inspect some of each and harvest only the ones that are ready.

Once any given variety of garlic starts losing its leaves and there are still eight leaves left (a week to 10 days from harvest), discontinue watering and let the soil begin to dry out some so as to make harvesting easier - it's easier to pull garlic out of loose soil than mud.

When your garlic is ready to harvest, there are several ways to do it. It is important to remove the garlic from the ground without injuring it as it is still a living creature and germs can enter through wounds at a time when its ability to ward them off is diminishing. If you have real loose rich soil, you can simply pull them up by their necks as long as doing so will not tear or damage their necks or roots. Few of us are fortunate enough to have that kind of soil. For most of us the best way is to use a shovel or garden fork and slip the blade down beside them and then work it under them and pry them up from the bottom. Be very careful not to cut the bulbs as you do this. We use a thick, tractor mounted , wedge shaped blade to undercut them below root level and push them up without touching them. The blade gently breaks up the ground under and around them and we retrieve them by hand, lay them gently into a wagon with a sun cover and immediately take them out of the sun and into a cool shady place to cure out for a while.
Be very careful in handling the bulbs at this point and do not bang them together as that can cause them to be bruised and invite storage problems and ruin them for seedstock. Do not throw them onto the ground or into a wagon, place them down gently - you have spent a lot of time and effort to grow them right, don't blow it all now by handling them rough. Get them out of the sun as soon as possible as the sun can scald them or cause them to dry down too quickly and may result in problems.

Many large commercial growers plow them up, windrow them for a few day then cut off the tops and roots and store them, but it's not a good idea. They do it because of the economics involved with personal handling and the cost of building huge drying sheds. Growers who are more concerned with quality than quantity don't do that any more than they would use conveyor belts and let the garlic bounce into truckbeds from the height of three to five feet - which they also do. However you harvest, cure and store your garlic, always keep the different varieties separated and identified so that you will know which is which.

Curing the Garlic
Many growers dispute the proper way to cure the garlic and cut the leaves and roots off for storage. Many growers wash their garlic and see nothing wrong with it while others are horrified by the thought. In my experience, garlic that is washed has a tendency to have wrinkled bulb wrappers that look a little like your fingers do right after a bath. It also seems to me that the extra moisture that accumulates in the bulb could lead to fungal infestation. Some cut the roots and leaves immediately, some wait a few weeks before trimming and some never trim their garlic. What is proper for one but not another may have to do with climate, humidity, human resources, cost of handling or available facilities.

We feel that garlic likes to dry down gradually in temperatures that are similar to those a few inches underground (about 72F). This initial drydown process is called curing the garlic. The idea is for the excess moisture in the roots and leaves to evaporate or withdraw into the bulb. When the roots and necks are completely dried and it does not emit a typical garlic odor when cut, that is the time to trim it. It usually takes two to four weeks to get to that point, longer for extra large bulbs. If you trim it while it is still moist and green, the fresh cuts expose the garlic to fungi, viruses and other contaminants that can set in and cause the garlic to spoil or pick up some disease you don't want it to have. With softneck garlics, many people braid them before they are completely dried down and are still pliable and never trim the roots while other braiders will trim the roots and flake off an outer bulb wrapper or two to make them more attractive.

After the garlic has cured, it is time to decide whether to trim or how much to trim it and how to store it so that it will last and still be good and healthy a few months later when it is time to plant next years crop or to last you for eating through the winter. USDA standards prescribe no more than a quarter-inch of root and no more than a half-inch of stem. I don't go along with that as I think it makes the garlic difficult to handle. We also use stem length as a means to identify certain garlics at a glance-different varieties of softnecks are cut to different lengths, that is, Locati will have longer stems than Rose du Var, to tell them apart at a glance since both look alike but taste different. It helps our customers identify them better, too. Many growers peel away the outer one or two layers of bulb wrappers in order to remove soil particles and contaminants and to make the bulbs more attractive to purchasers. If you have harvested your garlic at the right time, there should be several layers of bulb wrappers remaining.

Storing the Garlic?
As you might suspect, there is not widespread agreement among growers about storing the garlic any more than there is agreement about anything else. Again, you might try a few different things to see what works well for you. About the only thing that most people agree on is that it is bad to store garlic in plastic bags or sealed containers as these things promote rotting. They also agree that garlic should not be stored in direct sunlight.

Four factors affect the storage of garlic; namely, how well it was grown and cured, its varietal type, temperature and humidity. Garlic that was poorly grown and improperly cured will not get any better in storage. Some varieties naturally store longer than others. Silverskins are the longest storing , with Porcelains coming in second and Rocamboles being the shortest storing varieties, with Purple Stripes and Artichokes falling somewhere in the middle. Specific cultivars of each kind can vary from the pattern, but in general, this is the way it is.

Have you ever noticed that garlic that you buy at the supermarket doesn't seem to store very long once you take it home? There is a reason for that. The USDA recommends storing garlic at 32F, so most large chains of stores do that and require their suppliers to do likewise. Garlic stores well at that low temperature for a few months, (if the humidity isn't too high, which it sometimes is) but when you remove it from cold storage and place it on the shelf for sale, time catches up with it in a hurry. It either deteriorates rapidly or sprouts fairly soon and tries to grow. This makes for a garlic that is good for immediate use only.

We think garlic stores best long term when it is stored at between 55F and 65F and between 40% and 60% humidity. If the humidity stays below 40% for a couple of weeks or more, garlic has a tendency to dry out faster than it otherwise would. If humidity goes higher than 60% for any extended period of time, fungus and molds can set in. If the temperature goes below about 55F for an extended period of time, garlic tends to want to sprout and grow, even if it is not the right time of year (that's why the refrigerator is not a good place to store garlic). If temperatures stay much over 70F for any extended length of time, garlic tends to dry out and deteriorate. These are approximate ranges and need not be taken literally, but are very good guidelines. In our experience, garlic, except Rocamboles will store quite well for four to six months at between 65F and 75F as long as the humidity is moderate.

One of the advantages to keeping garlic around 55 F. is that fungi and other pathogens and pests are much less active than they are with the temp in the 75-80 F. range. Keeping them cool, but not cool enough to sprout them is the key to storing garlic well. It's pretty hard for the average person to achieve the proper temperature range for ideal storage of garlic.

It is important that airflow around the bulbs not be restricted too much as this hastens deterioration. A ventilated terra cotta storage jar is the best way to store garlic for the average person, since most people don't have grandpa's root cellar anymore. We have found that garlic stored in double paper bags in the shade in a normally air conditioned house seems to do pretty good. Of course, this isn't practical if you have several thousand bulbs, but works quite nicely for a few dozen. Basically, any dark, cool place is ok as long as the humidity is not excessive.

Good luck and enjoy the fruit of your labor. You will probably discover that you get much better tasting and longer storing garlic when you grow your own from selected cultivars than the garlic you get at the local supermarket. Enjoy.

New September 20, 2008 - Now you can buy two different kinds of Virus-Free Garlic. Pssst - Hey You - Gardener. Wanna grow some really BIG bulbs? Use Virus-Free planting stock.
Big News - We have two cultivars of very rare Virus-Free garlic available this fall.

We were very lucky to be able to get two of the three cultivars of Virus-Free garlic , some Duganski, a Marbled Purple Stripe and some California Late, an Artichoke but the Sofia, a Rocambole from Bulgaria got flooded out and will not be available until maybe next year. Not even virus-free garlic is exempt from the ravages of nature and while much of the garlic crops in the NW part of the country were greatly stunted by cool, damp and cloudy spring that never did warm up until well into summer, two of the three V-F varieties did quite well and were of good size in a world of smaller garlics.

This is good news for growers all over the country and especially the warm winter growers have something to cheer about as the Artichokes and Marbled Purple Stripes both do well in warm winter areas. A Marbled Purple Stripe called Metechi is always the biggest and best in our garden year after year.

Why does virus-free have any special appeal and how do they do it? At this point I'm not entirely clear as to all the features and benefits of virus-free garlic but I can tell you how they are developed and that ridding a cultivar of virii causes the garlic to grow larger and heavier than the same cultivars the contain virii. I'm not sure what effects being virus-free has on the health benefits of garlic but researchers have shown in the past that denser, heavier varieties, Porcelains, in particular had greater capability to produce Allicin, from which the most healthy fat-soluble compounds are derived.

All natural garlics contain some viruses; it's what happens out in the wild, life happens. These viruses have no known harmful effects on humans but apparently only affect the garlics and most of their effects are unknown although a few are; for example, the yellow streak virus carried by wheat curl mites cause a garlics leaves to show some yellow streaks but their effects on the clove is minimal if anything. If a garlic bulb has a viral contamination, and they all do, almost every part of the plant is affected. All, in fact but the tiniest growing tip where the virus has not yet gotten a grip on the plant.

This tiny growing tip, called a meristem, is snipped out under a microscope and tediously grown out from that tip and that virus-free tip will eventually grow into a full size plant and develop a bulb with multiple cloves and the cloves will also be virus-free and can be replanted to produce virus-free offspring. It takes several years of replanting all or most of the cloves for a single virus-free bulb to reproduce into a marketable number of bulbs to base a virus-free seed garlic business on. They are still a few years from widespread distribution.

Removing the viruses causes the bulbs to get bigger and denser. This is only the second effort I know of ever to produce virus-free garlic. The earlier one was done in California in the 1980s but the grower discontinued his program because it produced such large garlics , over 3" in diameter, that he had a hard time selling such large garlics and he quit doing it. I understand he is retired now and no longer involved. Our virus-free garlics were produced by a different retired plant pathologist and grown in Oregon and we're ready to try again so we can see for ourselves what the results are and are inviting our customers to try them also and see how they do for them.
To my knowledge, we are the only place in the country at this time offering virus-free garlics for sale on the internet although there may be others I don't know about.

They were not grown organically and normally we would not handle such garlic but since there is no source of organically grown virus-free garlics, these can be introduced into an organic operation and their offspring, if grown by a certified organic grower would become certified organic next year. They're a little pricy but so is everything that is truly rare.

Are virus-free garlics acceptable in an organic program? I don't know as I have never seen any prohibition against it. It is not a genetically modified organism, it is only a modern extension of the ancient art of rooting plants to produce offspring. Do virus-free garlics have the same health benefits? I don't know but I would think so since the chemical reactions would seem to be unchanged by the presence or absence of the viruses. Are these particular viruses any kind of enemy? I doubt it. Does eliminating the viruses have any kind of advantage? Only in that the garlic grows larger and denser with the same effort and most growers find that to be a desireable trait.

What is the future of these V-F garlics? How long will they stay virus-free? I don't know. Nobody knows how many years it took garlic to pick up all its virii. Nobody knows how long it would take to re-acquire some more of them via insects, etc. or how often new virus-free planting stock would have to be purchased in order to assure an essentially virus-free crop. We're stepping out on unexplored turf here. Whacking out new trails, so to speak. We'll learn as we go.

Credit by : http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com

Link to Garlic Page # 1

How to Grow Rose Apple

2008-12-26T23:43:00.000-08:00

How to Grow Rose Apple PAGE #1

Rose Apple
Syzyygium jambos Alston
Eugenia jambos L.
Jambosa jambos Millsp.

Like many other fruits to which the word "apple" has been attached, the rose apple in no way resembles an apple, neither in the tree nor in its fruit. It is a member of the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is technically known as Syzygium jambos Alston (syn. Eugenia jambos L.; Jambosa jambos Millsp.; Jambosa vulgaris DC.; Caryophyllus jambos Stokes).

The term "rose apple" (in French, pomme rose, pommier rose; in Spanish, poma rosa, pomarrosa, manzana rosa, or manzanita de rosa) is so widely employed that the species has few alternate names apart from those in the many local dialects of Africa, India, Malaya, southeastern Asia, the East Indies and Oceania. It is sometimes called jambosier by French-speaking people, plum rose or malabar plum in the English-speaking West Indies, pommeroos or appelroos in Surinam, and jambeiro or jambo amarelo in Brazil; jaman in India, and yambo in the Philippines.

Fig. 103: The rose apple (Syzygium jambos) is a minor fruit, but the tree is a quick-growing source of fuel and other products.

Description
The rose apple tree may be merely a shrub but is generally a tree reaching 25 or even 40 ft (7.5-12 m) in height, and has a dense crown of slender, wide-spreading branches, often the overall width exceeding the height. The evergreen leaves are opposite, lanceolate or narrow-elliptic, tapering to a point; 4 to 9 in (10-22 cm) long, and from 1 to 2 1/2 in (2.5-6.25 cm) wide; somewhat leathery, glossy, dark-green when mature, rosy when young. The flowers are creamy-white or greenish-white, 2 to 4 in (5-10 cm) wide, consisting mostly of about 300 conspicuous stamens to 1 1/2 in (4 cm) long, a 4-lobed calyx, and 4 greenish-white, concave petals. There are usually 4 or 5 flowers together in terminal clusters. Capped with the prominent, green, tough calyx, the fruit is nearly round, oval, or slightly pear-shaped, 1 1/2 to 2 in (4-5 cm) long, with smooth, thin, pale-yellow or whitish skin, sometimes pink-blushed, covering a crisp, mealy, dry to juicy layer of yellowish flesh, sweet and resembling the scent of a rose in flavor. In the hollow center, there are 1 to 4 brown, rough-coated, medium-hard, more or less rounded seeds, 3/8 to 5/8 in (1-1.6 cm) thick, which loosen from the inner wall and rattle when the fruit is shaken. Fragments of the seedcoat may be found in the cavity.

Origin and Distribution
The rose apple is native to the East Indies and Malaya and is cultivated and naturalized in many parts of India, Ceylon and former Indochina and the Pacific Islands. It was introduced into Jamaica in 1762 and became well distributed in Bermuda, the Bahamas, the West Indies and, at low and medium elevations, from southern Mexico to Peru. In Guatemala, the tree may be planted as a living fencepost or in hedgerows around coffee plantations. For this purpose, it is drastically pruned to promote dense growth. It grows wild abundantly, forming solid stands and thickets, in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.

In 1825, eight young trees were taken from Rio de Janeiro to Hawaii by ship, and, in 1853, a United States warship delivered avocado and rose apple trees from Central America to the island of Hilo. The rose apple became naturalized on the islands of Kauai, Molokai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. In 1893, it was reported as already cultivated in Ghana. It is semi-naturalized in some areas of West Tropical Africa and on the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Reunion. It is believed to have been first planted in Queensland, Australia, about 1896. A tree obtained from an Italian nursery has grown and borne well on the coastal plain of Israel. However, it is not of interest
there as a fruit tree but rather as an ornamental.

The rose apple was introduced into Florida, at Jacksonville, before 1877, but, as a fruit tree, it is suited only to the central and southern parts of the state. In California, it is planted as far north as San Francisco for its ornamental foliage and flowers. Because the tree occupies considerable space and the fruit is little valued, the rose apple has not been planted in Florida in recent years, though there are quite a number of specimens remaining from former times.

Climate
The rose apple flourishes in the tropical and near-tropical climates only. In Jamaica, it is naturalized from near sea-level up to an altitude of 3,000 ft (915 m); in Hawaii, from sea-level to 4,000 ft (1,200 m). In India, it ranges up to 4,400 ft (1,350 m); in Ecuador, to 7,500 ft (2,300 m). At the upper limits, as in California, the tree grows vigorously but will not bear fruit.
In India, it does best on the banks of canals and streams and yet tolerates semi-arid conditions. Prolonged dry spells, however, are detrimental.

Soil
A deep, loamy soil is considered ideal for the rose apple but it is not too exacting, for it flourishes also on sand and limestone with very little organic matter.

Propagation
Most rose apple trees are grown from seeds, which are polyembryonic (producing 1 to 3 sprouts), but the seedlings are not uniform in character nor behavior. In India, vegetative propagation has been undertaken with a view to standardizing the crop and also to select and perpetuate dwarf types. Using cuttings, it was found that hardwood does not root even with chemical growth promoters. Treated semihard wood gave 20% success. Air-layers taken in the spring and treated with 1,000 ppm NAA gave 60% success. Air-layers did not root in the rainy season. In budding experiments, neither chip nor "T" buds would take. Veneer grafting in July of spring-flush scions on 1-year-old rootstocks was satisfactory in 31% of the plants. In West Bengal, air-layering is commonly performed in July and the layers are planted in October and November. Fruiting can be expected within 4 years. Sometimes the rose apple is inarched onto its own seedlings.

Culture
Rarely do rose apple trees receive any cultural attention. Some experimental work has shown that seedless, thick-fleshed fruits can be produced by treating opened flowers with growth regulators–naphthoxy acetic acid (NOA), 2,4,5-T, or naphthalene acetic acid.

Season
In Jamaica and Puerto Rico, the rose apple trees bloom and fruit sporadically nearly all year, though somewhat less in summer than at other times. The main season in the Bahamas and in Florida is May through July. The fruiting period varies in different parts of India. In South India, blooming usually occurs in January, with fruit ripening in March and April, whereas in the Circars, ripening takes place in April and May. In the central part of the country, flowering occurs in February, March and April and the fruits ripen from June through July. Then again, it is reported that there are varieties that produce fruit in February and March.

READ HOW TO GROW ROSE APPLE PAGE #2

How to Grow Rose Apple # 2

2008-12-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

How to Grow Rose Apple PAGE #2

Yield
In India, they say that a mature rose apple tree will yield 5 lbs (2 kg) of fruit each season. The fruits are, of course, very light in weight because they are hollow, but this is a very small return for a tree that occupies so much space.

Keeping Quality
Rose apples bruise easily and are highly perishable. They must be freshly picked to be crisp. Some studies of respiration rate and ethylene production in storage have been made in Hawaii. The fruit is non-climacteric.

Pests and Diseases
The rose apple tree has few insect enemies. In humid climates, the leaves are often coated with sooty mold growing on the honeydew excreted by aphids. They are also prone to leaf spot caused by Cercospora sp., Gloeosporium sp., and Phyllosticta eugeniae; algal leaf spot (Cephaleuros virescens); black leaf spot (Asterinella puiggarii); and anthracnose (Glomerella cingulata). Root rot caused by Fusarium sp., and mushroom root rot (Armillariella (Clitocybe) tabescens) attack the tree.

Food Uses
Around the tropical world, rose apples are mostly eaten out-of-hand by children. They are seldom marketed. In the home, they are sometimes stewed with some sugar and served as dessert. Culinary experimenters have devised other modes of using the cuplike halved fruits. One stuffs them with a rice-and-meat mixture, covers them with a tomato sauce seasoned with minced garlic, and bakes them for about 20 minutes. Possible variations are limitless. The fruit is made into jam or jelly with lemon juice added, or more frequently preserved in combination with other fruits of more pronounced flavor. It is also made into a sirup for use as a sauce or to flavor cold drinks. In Jamaica, the halved or sliced fruits are candied by stewing them in very heavy sugar sirup with cinnamon.

Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion*

Calories	56
Moisture	84.5-89.1 g
Protein	0.5-0.7 g
Fat	0.2-0.3 g
Carbohydrates	14.2 g
Fiber	1.1-1.9 g
Ash	0.4-0.44 g
Calcium	29-45.2 mg
Magnesium	4 mg
Phosphorus	11.7-30 mg
Iron	0.45-1.2 mg
Sodium	34.1 mg
Potassium	50 mg
Copper	0.01 mg
Sulfur	13 mg
Chlorine	4 mg
Carotene	123-235 I.U.
Thiamine	0.01-0.19 mg
Riboflavin	0.028-0.05 mg
Niacin	0.521-0.8 mg
Ascorbic Acid	3-37 mg

*Analyses made in Central America and elsewhere.

Toxicity
The seeds are said to be poisonous. An unknown amount of hydrocyanic acid has been reported in the roots, stems and leaves. An alkaloid, jambosine, has been found in the bark of the tree and of the roots, and the roots are considered poisonous.

Other Uses
Fruit: In 1849, it was announced in Bengal that the ripe fruits, with seeds removed, could be distilled 4 times to make a "rosewater" equal to the best obtained from rose petals.
Branches: The flexible branches have been employed in Puerto Rico to make hoops for large sugar casks, and also are valued for weaving large baskets.

Bark: The bark has been used for tanning and yields a brown dye.
Wood: The sapwood is white. The heartwood is dark-red or brown, fibrous, close-grained, medium-heavy to heavy, strong; and has been used to make furniture, spokes for wheels, arms for easy chairs, knees for all kinds of boats, beams for construction, frames for musical instruments (violins, guitars, etc.), and packing cases. It is also popular for general turnery. It is not durable in the ground and is prone to attack by drywood termites.

The tree grows back rapidly after cutting to a stump and consequently yields a continuous supply of small wood for fuel. Rose apple wood makes very good charcoal.

Leaves: A yellow essential oil, distilled from the leaves, contains, among other properties, 26.84% dl-a-pinene and 23.84% l-limonene, and can be resorted to as a source of these elements for use in the perfume industry.
Flowers: The flowers are a rich source of nectar for honeybees and the honey is a good amber color. Much comes from the San Cristobal River Valley in Cuba.
Medicinal Uses: In India, the fruit is regarded as a tonic for the brain and liver. An infusion of the fruit acts as a diuretic.

A sweetened preparation of the flowers is believed to reduce fever. The seeds are employed against diarrhea, dysentery and catarrh. In Nicaragua, it has been claimed that an infusion of roasted, powdered seeds is beneficial to diabetics. They say in Colombia that the seeds have an anesthetic property.

The leaf decoction is applied to sore eyes, also serves as a diuretic and expectorant and treatment for rheumatism. The juice of macerated leaves is taken as a febrifuge. Powdered leaves have been rubbed on the bodies of smallpox patients for the cooling effect.
The bark contains 7-12.4% tannin. It is emetic and cathartic. The decoction is administered to relieve asthma, bronchitis and hoarseness. Cuban people believe that the root is an effective remedy for epilepsy.

READ HOW TO GROW ROSE APPLE PAGE #1

Garcinia mangostana (Clusiaceae)

2008-12-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

Garcinia mangostana (Clusiaceae)

Common Names
English: mangosteen
Spanish: mangostแn, mangostํn
French: mangoustan
Indonesia, Malaysia: manggis
Philippines: manggustan, manggis
Cambodia: mongkhut
Laos: mangkhud
Thailand: mangkhut
Vietnam: cay mang cut

Origin and Distribution
Native to Southeast Asia. Cultivated throughout the tropics, but primarily in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Honduras, Panama, and in the USA, in Hawaii.

Botanical Synonyms
Mangostana garcinia.

Description
Medium tree, to 30-60 feet (9-18 m) tall, with a straight trunk and a rounded, dense crown.

The new bark is bright green and smooth, becoming dark brown and rough with age. All parts of the plant exude yellow latex when wounded.

The thick leaves are opposite, elliptical and bright green, from 3-6 inches (8-15 cm) in length.

The flowers are solitary or in pairs at the branch apex, 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) in diameter, with 4 pinkish white petals and 4 persistent sepals.

The fruit is round, 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) in diameter, with a thick purple rind surrounding 4-8 fruit segments.

The pulp is aromatic and has a delightful sweet sour taste. Usually only one enlarged segment has a viable seed, which is flattened and about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) long.

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) fruit.

Propagation and Culture
Mangosteen is usually propagated by seed. The seeds lose viability quickly, and must be planted fresh or stored in moist peat moss, sawdust or paper. Germination occurs at 2-3 weeks, and the seedlings are somewhat slow growers. They need from 50-75% shade for the first 3-4 years, then can be grown in full sun. They are sensitive to high levels of fertilizer, and should be fertilized with a dilute fertilizer solution or an organic fertilizer. Trees can be transplanted to the field after 1-2 years, when they are a foot (30 cm) or more in height. Mangosteen can be successfully grafted onto rootstocks of Garcinia venulosa, G. xanthochymus and G. hombroniana (mangosteen grafting).

Mangosteen grows best in a fertile, well drained soil with an acid pH and a high organic matter content. Rainfall or supplemental irrigation should be available throughout the year, although they tolerate brief periods of drought, and this stress may induce flowering. Mangosteen will grow from sea level to 5,000 feet (1,524 m), but suffers if temperatures drop to 40F (4C) or lower.

Trees should be fertilized every 3-4 months during the first 3 years of growth, and thereafter 1-2 times per year. Mulching is recommended to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, conserve moisture and control weeds. With good care, trees can begin to produce fruits at 6-8 years from planting. Young trees produce about 100-200 fruits per year, while a mature tree can produce from 500-1,000 or more. In Puerto Rico, mangosteen fruits from July to December.

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) flower.

Cultivars and Related Species
Although Mangosteen is apomictic, with female plants producing clonal seeds without fertilization. Thus, there is little variation in mangosteen and almost no cultivars exist. However, the Malaysian Department of Agriculture has identified two clones, 'GA1' and 'GA2', whose fruits differ in shape, weight, external color, and number of seeds. It is hypothesized that mangosteen is a polyploid that arose from natural hybridization between Garcinia hombroniana y G. malaccensis.

There are over 100 Garcinia species, mostly from southeast Asia. Of these, approximately 30 have edible fruits, but the mangosteen is the most important and has the best quality fruit. Other important Garcinia species include G. atroviridis (assam gelugur), G. hombroniana (seashore mangosteen), G. indica (kokam), G. parvifolia (assam aur aur), G. prainiana (cherapu) y G. xanthochymus (yellow mangosteen).

Uses
Mangosteen is primarily consumed fresh, but is also canned and used to make juices and jellies.

Nutritional composition per 100 g mangosteen fruit

Carbohydrate	6-20 g
Fat	0.1-1 g
Protein	0.6 g
Calcium	7-11 mg
Phosphorous	4-17 mg
Potassium	19 mg
Iron	0.2-1 mg
Vitamin A	14 IU
Vitamin B1	0.03 mg
Vitamin B2	0.03 mg
Niacin	0.3 mg
Vitamin C	4.2-66 mg

The fruit rind is ground and used in the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery, and for skin diseases. A tea made from the leaves and bark is used to lower fever and for urinary disorders.
The tree, with its glossy green leaves and symmetrical shape, is also a beautiful ornamental.

Credit by :http://www.montosogardens.com/garcinia_mangostana.htm

How to Grow Durians # 1

2008-10-03T01:05:00.001-07:00

How to Grow Durians
(Hawaii growers click here)

Latitude: The durian tree is ultra-tropical, a native of Southeast Asian equatorial rainforests, and needs much tropical warmth, abundant moisture, and sunshine to thrive (except for the young trees’ first year, when semi-shade is preferred — simulating rainforest conditions). Most commercial durian cultivation in Southeast Asia is located within 15 degrees latitude of the equator, and some literature has suggested that 18 degrees north or south is the limit at which durians can thrive. However, growers in the Hawaiian Islands have demonstrated that durian cultivation is quite possible as far north as the island of Kaua‘i at 22 degrees north
(1 degree latitude equals about 70 miles or 112 km, at these latitudes). And in Thailand, one of the established commercial durian-growing areas is in the northern province of Uttardit, not far from Chiang Mai at 18 degrees north; the southernmost point of land in Hawai`i is only about 70 miles [115 km] further north in latitude than this. Successful durian cultivation is very unlikely outside the tropics.

Altitude: In Sri Lanka, the upper elevation limit for growing durians is said to be 600 m [2000 feet]; in the Philippines, 700 m [2300 feet], in Malaysia, 800 m [2600 feet]. These are the upper limits at which it’s possible to grow durians at all, though, not the optimum; on Penang island in Malaysia, few productive durian farms are above 300 m [700 feet]. These places are also all relatively close to the equator, which suggests that the altitude limit for successful durian growing in areas further away from the equator like Hawai‘i may be considerably less, perhaps 300 m [1000 feet] at the most, with best growth and production at the lower elevations.
It will take some experimentation by growers at marginal altitudes in more northern or southern tropical areas (such as Hawai‘i) to determine just what is the upper limit for growing durians there. The Hawaiian islands in particular have so many microclimates depending on elevation, wind patterns, terrain, and existing vegetation that it may be difficult to give any set rules for this. Some higher-elevation microclimates as on the south slopes of gulches, may be suitable though the surrounding area is not.

Regarding altitude and climate, coconuts may be a fairly good indicator as to the likelihood of success with growing durians: if coconut palms can grow and bear well in your micro-climate… except for seaside areas [durians are not salt-tolerant], durians may be possible too.
Temperature: For an ultratropical, durian is surprisingly tolerant of relatively low mean temperatures. There are places on the island of Java between 400-600 m [1300-2000 feet] altitude where durian is successfully grown that have a mean yearly normal temperature of just 23º C. (73º F.)

Some research has indicated that growth is limited below a mean monthly temperature of 22º C. [71º F.]. The trees may survive occasional dips in temperature as low as 10º C. [50º F.], but may drop their leaves. On the other end of the spectrum, durian trees in India sometimes successfully tolerate high temperatures up to 46º C. [114º F.].

Water: Durian trees need abundant rainfall, or equivalent irrigation. In most areas of Asia where durians are grown, mean annual rainfall is greater than 2000 mm [75 inches]. Historically, though, the better production sites have developed in areas with annual mean rainfall totals of 3000 mm [125 inches] or more, well distributed throughout the year. There is no doubt, though, that drier zones can produce good crops with appropriate irrigation. In India, durian trees are often planted along the banks of streams, where the roots can reach water. They do not do well very close to the ocean, having almost no tolerance for salinity in the soil.

Established durian trees cannot withstand more than 3 months drought without suffering irreversible damage. However, in places fairly close to the equator (such as Malaysia), three to four weeks of dry weather and relatively dry roots are needed to provoke the tree to flowering. Without a sufficient dry period, there will be no fruit that season. Farther from the equator, on the edges of the tropics (as in Hawai`i) where weather patterns start to somewhat resemble the four seasons of the temperate regions, this dry period is not necessarily required, and flowering is influenced more by day length and seasonal temperature.

Soil: "Rich soil conditions will make the tree grow well and fast. Sometimes four to five-year old trees can start to flower. The secret is in the soil. Organic fertilizer will improve the soil by balancing the pH level. This will produce quantity and quality durians."—Bao Sheng Durian Farm website, Malaysia

Favorable terrain for good durian cultivation ranges from flat to steep. In Chanthaburi province, Thailand, which leads the world in quantity of annual durian production, many durian plantations are on relatively flat land. In contrast, on the island of Penang, which has the reputation for growing the finest connoisseur durians in Malaysia, all the durian farms are on tall hillsides and valleysides, many of them fairly steep. The root system of a durian tree is very sensitive to standing water, and good drainage is essential, which is well taken care of by such sloping situations.

Durian trees grow best in a rich, deep, well-drained sandy clay or clay loam (deep alluvial or loamy soil), high in organic matter, pH range of 6 - 7. Heavy clay soils are not supportive of good durian tree growth and health, as they do not drain well. Seedlings make more vigorous growth when potted into media that is light and sandy rather than high in clay content.

In Thailand it is commonly recommended that growers avoid using organic animal manure, as the most troublesome disease of durian trees there, the fungal Phythophera palmivora, is encouraged by the moist fertile conditions at ground level around the trunk created by manure and mulch. It is not clear that such advice holds true for conditions elsewhere, however, and when using good organic tree planting practices. Traditional organic fertilizers are used with good results in Malaysia and elsewhere.

In many places in Southeast Asia, semi-wild durian trees thrive and bear perfectly well on their own with relatively little care. Maxing out the health of durian trees of choice varieties with modern organic methods and soil amendments such as compost and rock dust is likely to produce bumper crops of humongous spiky fruits of unimaginable and staggering deliciousness! Amen. :-)

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Italian Gardens and the Olive Tree

2008-10-03T01:02:00.001-07:00

Facts, History and Use of the Olive Tree in Italian

GardensThe European olive tree (Olea europaea) has come to symbolize, more than any plant, the essence of the Mediterranean region and it's gardens. Growing from 8 -12 meters tall in the poorest, rockiest of soils and depending on ferocious Mediterranean sunshine, the olive tree has truly won the battle of survival in the Mediterranean, growing indigenously from Lebanon to parts of Iran and Syria and even to certain areas of China. The olive can survive for 2,000 years or more, with the correct human care and cultivation and can provide one of the most respected substances ever derived from nature olive oil!

Italy alone produces around 3,150,000 tons of olives per year and world production currently stands at a staggering 17,320,000 tons and most of this is destined for the production of olive oil. Olive tree cultivation counts for one of the largest and oldest agricultural practices in the whole of the Mediterranean's history.
Olive oil, or "Liquid Gold", as Homer (the great Greek poet) so rightly named it, has been used throughout history in cooking, skin care and as a medicine. It

has been considered a divine 'gift' from the Gods and nature by many cultures throughout history. Ancient Greek athletes were anointed with olive oil to render their skin supple and healthy in elaborate ritual ceremonies and both Roman men and women used the product to clean and render their skin beautiful and supple.

Olive tree branches and elaborate crowns made from them were also discovered in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs. The fascination and respect for the olive tree honored it with a spiritual status over the centuries and it has been considered a symbol of peace, abundance and great natural power.

Indeed it is a plant that is able to survive in the most inhospitable, rocky terrains and with just the minimum of water it survives, thrives and provides a wondrous, healing oil. An evergreen tree it kept it's leaves throughout the winters while others would lose theirs and this would have also mystified early civilizations.

In Italy there are around 300 cultivars of the tree, however only a few are now cultivated for large agricultural production. The 'Leccino', 'Frantoio' and 'Carolea' are the cultivars favored in Italian agriculture owing to the 'sweet' and 'fruity' flavours (respectively) of their oil. Curiously these cultivars have very little in common with surviving evidence of their ancient ancestors- the closest relatives being found only in the Licinian olive varieties.

The magnificent Etruscan culture that arrived in the area now known as Tuscany in around 400B.C. was probably responsible for initiating the intense farming of the olive tree.

_{Below: The area populated by the Etruscans. Below Right: Etruscan vase depicting olive harvest.}

The Etruscans clearly delighted in the use of olive oil and displayed their respect for it by including the olive tree and it's cultivation often in elaborate designs on their intricate ceramic work. The designs on Etruscan vases, discovered in numerous tombs in Tuscany, have revealed how this highly social and sophisticated culture used and regarded both the olive tree and its oil.

The Etruscans were responsible for trading vast amounts of high quality olive oil throughout the whole of the Mediterranean region. Vases and Amphora of superb quality were produced in order to store and transport, not only oils, but also wine, by ship, to many areas in Europe, including the south of France.

The use of the olive tree in Italian gardens

Olive trees, with their dreamy, metallic-silver foliage and gnarled trunks, that almost resemble old Tuscan men, are a must for any Italian garden. The olive's strong Mediterranean symbolism clearly creates a valid nuance in the Italianate garden and it's pacifying grey color creates the perfect, shimmering backdrop for many Mediterranean plants. In spring the reds of poppies can be literally propelled out from grassy areas between the lines of olive trees. Alternatively the pastel pinks and blues of wild flower areas around the olive trees can be harmonized and pacified by the silver-grey foliage. When the trunks of old olive trees are illuminated at night their character can really emerge, rendering them by far as interesting as any sculpture.

Cultivation

The olive thrives on calcareous, poor and well-drained soils, in areas that are not afflicted by prolonged cold periods during the winter- making coastal areas the ideal place. They can be purchased in a range of sizes, even several centuries old and can transplant well if moved immediately after hard pruning in late February or early March.

An olive tree's contribution to a garden can be both as aesthetic as it is fundamental in supporting the tiny ecosystems that contribute to and maintain the area surrounding it in perfect health.

_{Below: A old, gnarled olive trunk in Tuscany}

_{Below: Ants living in the same, living tree trunk}

Culinary use

Both the fruit and the extracted oil can be used in cooking and it's use is widely known.

Medicinal use

Olive oil's anti cholesterol properties are widely publicized but the potential for skin care is rarely touched upon. Olive oil can render skin supple and healthier with daily applications.

Olive tree leaves also provide an anti-oxidant substance that is currently undergoing studies in Israel that have found the leaf effective against disease by helping to damage the cell membrane of the virus or bacteria, allowing intercellular nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, and glutamate to leak out, disabling the infection and letting the immune system restore a healthy balance. This can be taken in the form of a tea made of the leaves of the olive tree.

NOTE: Life in Italy strongly recommends consulting medical advice before preparing the tea to establish any possible harmful side-effects

By Jonathan Radford

Macro photographs by Hannah Summers

Coppy from http://www.lifeinitaly.com

Elements of a Roman-Style Pleasure Garden

2008-10-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Essentials to a Roman Style Garden

There is a considerable body of evidence surrounding the gardens of ancient Rome that details the various elements that comprised their pleasure and villa style gardens. Many classical features are found in today's gardens and landscapes paying homage to those ancient stylized Roman gardens. The following article discusses ways you can transform your garden or landscape into an ancient Roman pleasure garden filled with elements reminiscent of that glorious past.

While inhabitants of the city of Rome frequently employed courtyard ( as above) and kitchen gardens, it was the inhabitants of the Roman countryside who perfected the pleasure garden that ancient Roman villas are noted for. These gardens were so beautiful that even the ancient Barbarians who conquered Rome kept them up and learned from their design. Today, gardeners opt for many various themes when designing their own garden or landscape; a roman style garden, because it is classical, will never go out of style and many elements that are reminiscent (mainly reproductions) of the era can easily be found online or at local garden centers.
The overlying ideal of the pleasure garden was for relaxation and rejuvenation. Entertainment was also at the core of the design. The owners of these elaborate villas usually entertained guests and the garden was the ideal place to entertain them. Certainly, the orchards and vineyards were productive and useful to provide the banquets with an abundance of fruits, vegetables and wine. Nevertheless, the idea of the pleasure garden was to showcase the landscape with many beautiful features and breathtaking views.

Most Roman villas featured a transition element between the house and the garden. The Romans incorporated marble into their patio type structures. One can well imagine pergola style overhangs decorated with vines and hanging flowers. Marble was the construction material of choice. Of course, the price of marble is very rich today, so many landscape designers might even consider a painted patio with a marble effect; however, simple large clay tiles like terra cotta work perfectly. Roman style patios would have featured wall artâ€”large frescos depicting scenes from Roman agricultural life. (Visit our section on frescos here: Italian Fresco)

There most likely would have been a dining areaâ€”low tables with low couches. Garden furniture is widely available today so purchasers have a good selection. However, to find something in a truly authentic Roman style might warrant a custom job when it comes to furniture. Nevertheless, always opt for lavishly comfortable styles when selecting furniture for your own pleasure garden. Other patio features would include stone planters, a water feature like a chalice well, basin or wall fountain.

While there is not a wealth of information surrounding the ancient Roman pleasure gardens, there is enough information to suggest that the patio opened up to a grand landscape that was designed in all directions. A walk would be the main element of the grounds for seeing each garden delight. Generally, the property would feature a terraced section, an orchard or vineyard (probably both), a kitchen garden for herbs and vegetables (this might not be a part of the grand garden tour however) and various sections that might contain prized plants like roses. The center of the garden would also feature a special element like a fountain. Other important features might include shrines and grottoes.

Water was prized in all styles of Roman gardensâ€”the ancient Romans who were the aqueduct builders of the old world. A Roman pleasure garden would boast several water features on the property. In fact, each view might contain its own water feature. From the central fountain to a stream running down the terrace, to a garden pond to an elaborate pool that was an important social element of the Roman world. When considering water features for your landscape, work with the land, but also with a view for the types of entertaining you will do.

As for the types of plants, you will certainly want to adapt plant life to your climate but some typical Roman choices would include roses, cypress, rosemary, mulberry and fig trees, dwarf variety trees, tall trees, marigolds, hyacinths, narcissi, violets, saffron, cassia, thyme, and many more. Your pleasure garden should be well-kept and each section should feature its own scheme of plantings. Flowerbeds, groves and water-loving plants should all be included.

Finally, your ornamentation will go a long way to capturing that ancient Roman feel. Your garden walk might contain hidden arbors with stone benches, various classical figures carved in stone, and perhaps even ruins like a column base implanted somewhere in the landscape. Finally, birds were welcome attractions for the guests of these ancient villas, so consider features that might attract various kinds of wildlife such as birds and other desired animals. ( Above the remains of the 2000 year old Villa Adriana at Night - ANSA)

coppy from :http://www.lifeinitaly.com

How to Grow Potatoes

2008-09-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

How to Grow Potatoes
Solanum tuberosum

Have you ever munched down on a fresh, home grown potato?There is a good reason why potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables in the home garden. They're easy to grow, and they taste better!Potatoes were first cultivated by the Inca Indians in Peru, in about 200 B.C.In 1537, the Spanish Conquistadors discovered the potatoes and brought them back to Europe on their return trip. The first potatoes arrived in North America in 1621.Today, potatoes are one of the largest food crops in the world, with the United States alone growing about 35 billion pounds of potatoes every year.

Potatoes require full sun to grow. Because they are aggressively rooting plants, they will produce the best crop when planted in a light, loose, well-drained but moisture retentive loam. Potatoes prefer a slightly acid soil with a pH of 5.8-6.5. Fortunately, however, potatoes are very adaptable and will usually produce a respectable crop, even when the soil conditions are less than perfect.Potatoes should be rotated on a 3-year program. This means, you need 3-suitable sites if you want to grow potatoes every year.

Growing PotatoesPotatoes may be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the early spring, but you must use good judgment. Potato plants will not begin to grow until the soil temperature has reached 45 degrees F. The soil should be evenly moist, but not wet or soggy. If the soil is water logged when you dig, not only will you risk "caking" the soil, your seed potatoes will probably rot before they even get started. Potatoes can tolerate a light frost, but you should provide some frost-protection for the plants when they are young. This can be a loose covering of straw, or a temporary plastic tent.

(Be sure to remove or ventilate the plastic on sunny days!) If you plan to store potatoes through the winter, you can plant a second crop as late as June 15.

Use only certified seed potatoesPotatoes are susceptible to several serious diseases. Even though the potatoes you saved from the previous year, or the potatoes you see in the supermarket may appear healthy, they should not be used for your seed. Certified seed potatoes are disease free, and have been selected to give you the best results with the highest yields. Certified seed potatoes are available at most quality nurseries and garden centers. There are several different varieties of potatoes to choose from, each with it's own characteristics and qualities. The most popular types are listed here. .

Variety	Maturing	Comments
Yukon Gold	Early to Mid season	Large, yellow-fleshed variety. They are excellent baked, boiled, or mashed. The potatoes also store well.
Superior	Mid season	Good baked, boiled, or mashed. Resistant to potato scab.
Red Pontiac	Late maturing	High yields, large round potatoes, easy to grow, stores well.
Kennebec	Late maturing	Excellent producer, large potatoes, great for baking or frying, stores well.
Russet Norkotah	Late maturing	Excellent baking potato, excellent producer, large potatoes.
White Rose	Early to Mid season	Good producer, good for cooking, doesn't store well.
Russet	Mid season	Excellent producer, excellent baking potato, large potatoes, excellent for storage.
Norland	Early maturing	Red skin, white flesh, excellent when boiled, fried, or mashed, stores well.

Planting potatoesA week or two before your planned potato planting date, set your seed potatoes somewhere where they will be exposed to some warmth (between 60 and 70 degrees F.) and lots of light. This will induce them to begin sprouting. A day or two before planting, use a sharp, clean knife to slice the larger seed potatoes into "seeds". Each seed should be approximately 1 1/2-2inches square, and must contain at least 1 or 2 "eyes" or buds. Smaller potatoes may be planted whole. In the next day or so, your seed will form a thick callous over the cuts, which will help to prevent it from rotting once planted.

Potatoes in the Home GardenTraditionally potatoes are grown in rows. The potato seeds are planted every 15 in., with the rows spaced 2 1/2 to 3 ft. apart.If space is limited or if you would only like to grow a small crop of potatoes, you may prefer to plant one or two potato mounds. Each 3-4 foot diameter mound can support 6 to 8 potato plants.With either method, the first step is to cultivate and turn the soil one last time before planting, removing any weeds, rocks or debris. This will loosen the soil and allow the plants to become established more quickly. Your potato plants will benefit from the addition of compost, well composted manure, and other organic matter to the soil.

HOWEVER, too much organic material can increase the chances of potato scab. (Potato scab is a bacterial infection which doesn't affect the usability of your potatoes, but it makes them look pretty ugly!) To lessen the likelihood of this, mix the organic matter into the soil below the potato seed, where it will feed the roots, but not contact the newly forming potatoes.

Planting in rows Dig a shallow trench about 4 inches wide and 6-8 inches deep. The spacing at which you place the seed pieces will determine the harvested potato size. For most household uses, you will want to plant your potato seeds 15 inches apart in this trench. If you'd like a quick crop of "baby" potatoes for soups and stews, you can plant the seeds 4 inches apart, and begin harvesting them as soon as they reach the desired size.Place the potato seeds into the trench (cut side down) and then cover them with 3-4 inches of soil. (Do not fill the trench in completely!) Depending on the soil temperature, the sprouts will begin to emerge in about 2 weeks. At this time add another 3-4 inches of soil.Your crop of potatoes will form between the seed piece and the surface of the soil.

For this reason, when the stems are about 8 inches high, you once again add enough soil to bring the level half way up the stem of the plant. Another hilling will be needed 2-3 weeks later, at which time you again add soil half way up the stem of the plant. After these initial hillings, it is only necessary to add an inch or two of soil to the hill each week or so, to ensure there is enough soil above the forming potatoes that they don't push out of the hill and get exposed to light. (If the new potatoes are exposed to sunlight while they are developing, they will turn green. This green portion may be toxic!)

This hilling process is necessary to create sufficient space for the potatoes to develop large tubers, and an abundant crop. Don't get carried away with hilling though... If you cover up too much of the foliage, you may end up reducing your final crop yield.

Mound plantingThe basic procedure for planting potatoes in mounds is the same as for planting in rows. The difference here is that you can grow your crop in a more confined area, or take advantage of an otherwise unused area of the garden.Cultivate and loosen the soil where your potato mound will be. Designate the approximate perimeter of your planting circle (3-4 feet diameter). Space 6-8 potato seeds evenly around your circle, and cover with the initial 4 inches of soil. Continue the same procedures as you would for planting in rows.

Potatoes without a gardenIf you have no established garden plot, or if there just isn't enough available space within your garden, you can still grow a respectable crop of spuds, and do a little recycling at the same time. Potatoes thrive in the warm environment of a soil filled tire!Four tires + Two pounds of seed potatoes + Good soil = 20-30 pounds of winter potatoes!Pick a spot where you can stack your tires which is out of the way and preferably out of sight. Loosen the surface of the soil just enough to allow for drainage, and set your largest tire in place. Fill the inside of the tire casing loosely with good topsoil, and then set 3-4 potato seeds into the soil. (Use sticks or rocks to keep the casing rings spread open.)

Add enough soil to the tire "hole" to bring it to the same level as the soil inside the tire.When the new plants are eight inches tall, add another tire and soil to the stack, as in the first level. Repeat the process for your third, and if desired, fourth tires. As you add tires and soil to the stack, the 8" of the plant stalk is covered with soil. By doing this, the existing stalk essentially reverts to a root status and the plant is forced to grow upward to once again find the sunlight which it needs. (much like if you were to try to eliminate a dandelion by covering it with a scoop of soil) By raising the soil level this way (in 8" increments) the plant is able to continue growing without suffocation, and at the same time you are creating a 24-30" tap root from which many more lateral roots can develop.

PATIO RAISED BED

A durable and modular way in which to grow potatoes and other vegetables where space is limited

Each lateral root can then produce additional potatoes (at 3-4 levels rather than the normal single layer). When you water, be sure that the soil is thoroughly moistened all the way to the base of the pile.The tires act as an insulator and heat "sink" for your potatoes. This added warmth will cause the lateral roots (where the new potatoes form) to multiply more rapidly, thereby giving you more potatoes.

Watering and careFor the maximum crop, keep your potato vines well watered throughout the summer, but especially during the period when they are in flower, and immediately thereafter. This is the time when the plant is creating the new tubers, and water is critical. Water early in the day so that the foliage has time to dry completely before evening. (Wet foliage can make your plants more susceptible to several potato diseases.) When foliage turns yellow and dies back, discontinue watering to allow the tubers to "mature" for a week or two before harvesting.Once the vines have passed the critical watering stage while in flower, they will tolerate a certain amount of drought.

According to some studies, non-irrigated potatoes are less watery and more healthful. However, potato plants which are not watered regularly will produce a much smaller crop.
The Potato HarvestYour may begin to harvest your potatoes 2 to 3-weeks after the plants have finished flowering. At this time you will only find small "baby" potatoes if you were to dig up a plant. Potatoes can be harvested any time after this, by gently loosening the soil, reaching under the plant, and removing the largest tubers, leaving the smaller ones to continue growing.If you want late potatoes for storage, wait 2-3 weeks after the foliage dies back. Carefully begin digging a foot or so outside of the row or mound. Remove the potatoes as you find them. (Be careful not to bruise or cut the tubers with your spade!)

If the weather is dry, allow the potatoes to lay on the soil surface, unwashed, for 2-3 days so they can dry. If the weather is wet, or rain is expected, move the harvest to a cool, dry area (like a garage or basement) for the drying period. This drying step is necessary to mature the potato skin, which will protect the potato during storage.

If, by the end of September, the plants have not begun to die back, all of the foliage should be cut off to ensure your crop has ample time to mature before winter.Store your undamaged potatoes in a well-ventilated, dark, cool (about 40 degrees) location. Properly dried and stored potatoes should keep well for three to six months.

Don't grow potatoes in the same soil more than once in three years. Many diseases and insect pests will survive and remain in this area, in spite of your best eradication efforts!

CREDIT BY : http://www.thegardenhelper.com/potato.html

How To Grow Mango Trees

2008-09-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

HOW TO GROW A MANGO TREES.

1. Read the classic reference: Fruits Of Warm Climates by Julia F. Morton To download or print this costly book for free just say, "Thanks Perdue U."

2. Here's a short briefing:Mango trees have been cultivated and grafted for hundreds of years. Grafting was a 'secret' in many cultures and tasty mangoes were status symbols for the royalty only. Ancient kings would steal limbs off each others' mango trees and bribe and kidnap the other kings' gardeners. Peasants were beheaded for possession of mango fruit or unauthorized cultivation of mango fruit trees. Royalty would try to surpass each other with lavish mango parties and huge gifts of perfect, ripe, delicious mango fruits. Some of today's Indochinese awesome varieties existed many, many years ago exactly as we have them now.

Mango trees are evergreens.

Their leaves make superior mulch.
The civilized grafted mango trees we have now are nothing like the ancient, wild trees whose small fruit tasted like turpentine and had the texture of nylon yarn. The old test of a mango fruit was it's stringiness, it's fiber content. You used to judge a mango by how much dental floss it had. The advent of the science of grafting changed all that.

Mango fruit from seeds is never the same as the mother tree's fruit. So the seed out of a great tasting fruit will likely produce a tree yielding horrible tasting fibrous fruit. The only certain way to be sure you'll have tasty fruit is to propagate (by grafting, and in some cases cloning) an existing particular, individual tree (DNA-wise) whose quality is proven.

The odds of a seed producing worthwhile fruit are very, very small.

All mango trees grown from any seed are properly called "Wild Mango Trees".

All good tasting mango varieties are grafted. It's easy with younger trees to see the graft...just look near the base of the trunk and you can see a scar that circles all the way around the trunk. Older trees have the scar too if they are grafted, it's just harder to see.

Watch out for grafted trees that have been frozen back to the stump and all the top (good) part of the graft (scion) has died of the freeze and only the rootstock has survived and branched...such trees, if they do live and re-grow, produce very inferior fruit.

It is a good citizen's duty to kill these "fruiting wounded" so that people sampling mangoes for the first time will not taste their unpleasant "free" fruits and form an aversion to all mangoes.
Grafting Is When You Artificially Attach a Tiny Proto-Limb (Bud) of a Desirable Tree to the Lower Trunk of a Similar Tree, Usually a Sapling, Thereby Prolonging the Life and Fruiting Ability of the Desirable Tree.

THIS CAN RESULT IN A SINGLE DESIRABLE TREE'S DNA BEING USED FOR AN INDEFINITELY LONG TIME! Like possibly thousands of years!

Sometimes young trees sprout limbs from BELOW the graft's scar, always kill these limbs because they will produce bad tasting fruits and weaken the good scion above the graft.

Grafting occurs in nature, for example, when two trees growing too close together constantly rub limbs in the wind scraping them both bare at one spot and they both 'bleed' sap and when the windy season ends they are still pressed together and grow 'joined' together over months into one tree. Grafted. There is this type of 'joining' in root systems too.

Click Here for a Short Movie on How to Graft

Most of the mango varieties you find in the supermarket are not ancient. (The best mangoes never make it to a grocery store.) These modern varieties taste great and are resistant to some problems. The newest varieties are often 'designed' to taste like other fruits such as coconuts, lemons, vanilla, ice cream etc.

Generally, modern mango tree varieties are superior in every way to the ancient ones.
Except the Nam Doc Mai, a treasured survivor from ancient Siam (Thailand), which politely delivers indescribably delicious fruit, one limb-full at a time, over the course of the year, thus providing a long, manageable supply rather than bestowing a few hundred pounds of mangoes during about six weeks time as is usual with most varieties.

Here are some APPROXIMATE dates of recognition:Haden..........1898Tommy Adkins...........1915 Kent..................1925Zill......1940Temperature is very important with mango trees. Cold weather is a major health factor. They die or suffer great damage at 32 F. They go temporarily dormant at about 40 F.

So you must learn the normal yearly temperature pattern for where the tree will be.

The idea that there is a "coldhardy" rootstock or cultivar is absurd. All mango trees behave exactly the same way as regards 32 F. They die or suffer great damage.

Here are some cold weather ideas. In some places the threat of frost or freeze is normal only at night for a few nights each year. You can either keep the tree in a container and drag it inside during the hours of frost or freeze or plant it in the ground where you will have to cover it up for only the duration of the frost or freeze.

If you cover it be sure to fasten the 'skirt' to the ground all around with sod staples so as to trap the ground warmth radiating upward, you can add a light bulb for added warmth or even a little electric space heater...just watch out for rain. Also where the covering tarp/plastic touches the tree the freeze will 'burn' it, no big deal usually, but you can get elaborate and build a skeleton frame to stretch the cover over, just remember the wind. Remember to open a vent hole or uncover the mango tree in the morning after temperatures get back above 40 F. You could 'cook' it if you forget.

In Northern Florida they used to plant mango trees right up against the South side of the house where the hot water heater was, so the tree kept warm at night. During cold weather, even if there was a killer freeze and some limbs died, the trunk above the graft was still warm and would sprout new limbs and yield delicious fruit in the Spring.

In an emergency, you can heat just the trunk, (it will save the graft and the tree), you will be sacrificing all but one of the scion's branches. But it will save the life of a grafted tree.
There are several ways to heat it: put hot wet towels, electric heating pads, an electric blanket, or hot water bottles, etc. wrapped around the trunk clear up to a few inches ABOVE the first branch. And put some warm water on the ground near the base of the trunk. Remember you must save at least one limb (small is OK) ABOVE the graft or else the tree is worthless.

It is possible to use sprinklers to spray water onto a tree to save it. BUT you must not stop spraying until the temperature is up to 36 F. Don't just stop the water at dawn. You can try to divert the flowing water away from the base of the tree and the roots with plastic sheeting, (mango trees like dry winters).

In places where it freezes all night and all day you must keep the tree inside the house near a big South facing window (for light) until the frost threat is over. Lots of light is the main concern. You can phone your local NOAA weather station and they will read you the historically earliest and latest freeze dates in your area so you know about what date to drag it inside. Of course a sunny, heated greenhouse or pool house is nice!

Mango trees like a dry spell for a couple months in the winter.

Water the tree every 3 days for the first month if you plant it in the earth. Then every week for the next 2 months. Then don't water it any more except for dry spells.

When it's mature, don't water very much or fertilize at all during the time when fruit are forming or ripening, you'll burst the fruit or dilute the flavor.

Don't let small trees have fruit for 2-4 years. Keep sniping the fruits off when they are golf ball size...fruiting drains the vigor and growth.

Have you ever seen a mango tree with more weight in flowers than tree? Yes, it happens. The excess weight of flowers or fruits can break off limbs and really ruin a tree. You may have to support young trees and trees that have a bumper crop with lumber or ropes. Be creative and over-engineer everything. Don't ding up the bark, wrap old water hose or panty hose so it's cushioned where the support touches the tree.

Pruning to remove dangerous excess weight of inflorescences or fruits is OK. Otherwise forget it. You can really mess up the life of a tree fast with just a few uneducated cuts.
Any needed cuts to the tree should be made with sharp clean tools.

Some growers use a hand held one quart propane torch (hardware store) to quickly sterilize the knife or scissors after each cut so as to not spread virus disease.

Don't burn mango leaves or cuttings, the smoke is toxic. Also don't allow animals to eat the leaves.

For the first 3 years apply about one level tablespoon of 12-5-9 (scattered) per foot of tree height in fall after all the fruit have been picked. After the tree is three years old start using 4-4-8 with trace elements, apply about 1/4 cup once yearly after all fruit are picked. Fertilizer is mixed with a gallon of warm water and applied to the DAMP soil, not dry, not wet. Apply about a quart daily for four days. Mango trees need less fertilizer than the same area of lawn grass!
A 'citrus' type all purpose spray (lots of different brands, but we recommend Exxon 435 soluble oil) is good to spray every month with the Kocide (copper sulfate).

And get yourself a decent sprayer that makes a fine mist.

And get some 'Kocide' (brand name for copper sulfate) from a garden shop and spray the trees thoroughly in humid/warm conditions twice a week! Follow the directions on the bag. Add a teaspoonful of dish detergent in each sprayer load to make it stick.

Anthracnose is the condition that spoils the fruit. Look for black dots on the fruit and leaves and the growing tips die curling black. Spray Kocide. Spray twice a week. In Florida or other humid places spray twice a week all year. Don't let the copper sulfate drip on to the roots, use plastic and rags or paper towels to keep it off the soil over the roots. It is good for the above ground parts only.

Death to all squirrels! And rats! ...Get some dogs.
Mango trees come from poor, sandy soil with alternating monsoons and droughts. Lots of hot sun. Few nutrients. Since it survives under very harsh conditions you need only keep it from freezing. It's close cousin is the cashew nut tree.

If your mango tree's in a pot, check the moisture every week. Stick your finger into the soil, is it damp? Stick your finger into one of the holes around the bottom of the pot, is there moisture at all? Water thoroughly only if dry. The soil should go from very wet to very dry, then back to very wet. And so forth.

DO NOT TRY TO KEEP THE SOIL IN ANY POTTED PLANT OR TREE SLIGHTLY DAMP ALL THE TIME. Go back and forth from real wet to real dry. REASON: BECAUSE THE VARIOUS PATHOGENS CANNOT ADAPT TO THE EXTREME CHANGES IN MOISTURE AND IT KILLS LOTS OF THEM. And with no chemicals and no labor!

Roots need air just like they need water.
It's always good to "spin" a potted plant halfway around every month so as to give it sunlight equally all around and help it grow straight.

FOR PLANTS, SUNLIGHT IS FOOD. Not enough means less growth, less flowering and less fruiting. The more hours of daily direct sunlight...the more tree growth, flowering and fruiting. Also if you reposition the potted tree suddenly, sunburn and leaf dropping can occur because of any change in the amount of light. Sometimes a little leaf dropping isn't too bad. Acclimation to lighting changes takes weeks and months.

If you want to keep a non-dwarf mango tree small, don't up-pot it. Make it pot bound.

Just like Bonsai?
Yes, Mango trees are perfect for Bonsai. They were some of the first subjects for the art form. Imagine a six inch tall mango tree that's 30 years old and has a ripe 3 lb. fruit on it!

("Julie" is the true dwarf and will get only 8 ft. high. "Cogshall" is the semi-dwarf mango tree and can reach 12 ft. Also there is a new "Hawaiian Dwarf Mango" to try!)

If you are serious about mangoes, then you'll want to know about proper spacing in a grove. Plant "Keitt" variety, space them about 35 ft. apart in long rows running North and South. Space the rows about 45 ft. apart so as to leave space to drive a tractor pulling a big grove sprayer. "Keitt" fruits get to 4 lbs., ship well, taste terrific, have no fiber at all, are resistant to anthracnose, it's a huge tall tree, rave, rave.

Go to the library and look up "Mangifera Indica L." in the card catalogue and in the Reader's Guide. Join the local Garden Club.

Visit plantations in India, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, Philippines, Haiti and South Africa. Even the Bahamas Islands are now exporting!
Mango fruits cost $1.00 or more each in the supermarkets.

Excuse us, but it needs to be said: there is no such thing as a "mango poop"; they are not a laxative.

In many places the mango fruit is prepared and cooked while green and eaten as a carbohydrate.
More mangos are sold on Earth than any other fruit. Any other fruit. Think about it.

CREDIT BY : http://www.tropicalrainflorist.com/mango_trees.htm

How to Grow an Olive Tree in a Container

2008-09-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

Olive trees add Mediterranean flair to any abode.

You don't need to live in Southern Europe or California to enjoy the leathery, gray-green leaves of an olive tree. Neither do you need to own a garden for olive trees can be grown on balconies or indoors quite easily.

Most nurseries offer potted olive trees for sale. You will need to repot the olive tree a year later as the roots will start getting crowded in the normal container. To make your olive tree comfortable I suggest you buy yourself a large terra cotta pot with a drainage hole at the bottom, fast draining potting soil and a balanced houseplant fertilizer on the same day.

For your olive tree locate a spot which is situated near a south facing sunny window. Your olive tree will require 6 hours of direct sunlight a day to thrive. The pot should not be placed near a radiator or heat vent. Also consider that if the plant is placed to close to the window this could act as a magnifying glass and "burn" the olive tree.

After you have found a pleasant spot for your olive tree you will need to transplant your tree into the pot. I suggest you position the terra cotta pot first and bring your soil and tree to the pot and work there because once the pot is filled with soil it can be very heavy to reposition.
First fill the terracotta pot half way with the potting mix.

Then moisten the potting mix.

To remove the olive tree without damage to the roots from the original container you will have to clutch the rim and then turn the pot upside down.

Tap the pot gently with the heel of your hand.

The olive tree will slide out.

Pick up the tree and loosen the sides of the root ball with your thumbs.

Position the root ball of the olive tree so that it is about 1 inch below the rim of the pot.

Then fill the pot with the rest of the soil mixture.

Firm the soil around the olive tree.

Then water thoroughly.

You will know when to water your olive tree by putting your finger into the soil mixture. If this feels dry 1 inch below the surface, then water well. In the colder seasons olive trees take a natural rest so you will need to water less in autumn and winter. But make sure the soil never dries out completely! In the winter you only need to fertilize once a month and in summer every two weeks.

You can prune the tips of the branches in spring to encourage a bushy growth on the head. Make the cuts where where a pair of leaves attaches to a stem.
Unfortunately olive trees sometimes are victimized by soft-bodied scale which is small yellowish brownish insects which attach themselves to the stems of the trees and suck sap from the plant. To eliminate the scale you will need to spray the tree with insecticidal soap. Garden centers have different types of remedies for indoor use.

Enjoy your olive tree.
Alissa Mattei is a degreed food technologist with a heart for olives. She is a sought after "olive consultant" and travels the world teaching food corporations how to recognize the quality of an olive so it can be introduced into a product range.

Alissa also is an expert on "olive oil tasting". She owns and lives the life of her dreams together with her husband on a huge olive plantation, where together they run one of the most popular luxury guest houses in the heart of Tuscany. The guest house is simply called Casa Montecucco which in English means the house on the hill.

Visit Alissa at http://www.casamontecucco.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alissa_Mattei

Grow An Avocado Tree!

2008-09-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

There's nothing more fun than growing your own Avocado Tree!

"How do I do it?"

Open the avocado and remove the pit from the center. You can eat the fruit of the avocado, it's yummy and is full of nutrients!*

Place the glass in a bright windowsill. In about three to six weeks the top of the avocado pit will begin to split and a stem sprout will emerge from the top and roots will begin to grow at the base.
When the stem grows to about five or six inches pinch out the top set of leaves. In another two or three weeks new leaves will sprout and their will be more roots.

How do I care for my avocado tree?"
Keep your tree in a sunny window, the more sun it gets the bigger it will grow.
Remember to give it frequent light waterings but don't let the soil get muddy. If the leaves turn yellow it means that the plant is getting too much watering, let the tree's soil dry out for a couple of days, then return to light waterings.

"Can my avocado tree ever go outside?"
Yes it can go outside in the summer. If your winters are cold ~ below 45 degrees (F) or 7 degrees (C) ~ you must bring your tree inside for the winter. Otherwise, if your winters are cool and mild, the tree may stay outdoors year round.

"Will my tree ever grow fruit?"
Sometimes they will begin setting fruit after they are three or four years old. It helps to have several avocado trees growing together to aid with pollination.
"How tall will my avocado tree grow?" An avocado tree is a medium to large tall tree. It can grow between 20 and 40 feet tall. With pruning it can be kept at a much shorter height.

*Avocado Nutrition Facts*
Avocados contain just 5 grams of fat per serving.
Avocados contain NO cholesterol and NO sodium.
Avocados contain 60% more potassium per ounce than bananas!
Avocados are high in fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and folate.
==============================================
Enjoy sprouting your avocado pit and growing your tree!

How to Grow Beets

2008-09-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

How to Grow Beets

How many of you out there like beets? Okay, so Beets may not be the most popular vegetable on the planet. But those who like Beets, really love them. Home gardeners quickly discover, that Beet plants are easy to grow. Big, bulbous beet roots reach maturity quickly, and take up little space.

Almost all varieties of beets are a deep rich red. There is one white variety on the market. Beets are commonly known to bleed, or leak, their deep red juices. This juice can cause stains, so be careful where your set them.

Did you know? Beets are one of eight vegetables that makes V8 taste so great.
Varieties:

There are several varieties of beets. Most are round in shape, with deep red color.
A few varieties are deep red and cylindrical, making them easier to cut uniform slices.
There is also an uncommon white beet.

Planting Beet Seeds:
Plant Beet seeds thinly, 1/2 inch deep. After germination, thin to 2 to 3 inches apart. Rows should be spaced 1 1/2 feet apart.

Growing Beet Plants:
Apply a general purpose fertilizer while sowing, and again two to three weeks later. Beets should be kept weed free. It is easy for weeds to overshadow the shorter beet leaves.
Do not overcrowd beets. Overcrowding will affect the development of the beet root, causing it to grow deeper and slender, rather than forming a big round bulb.
Tip: Keep the soil lightly watered. Too little water will result in a tough and leathery crop.

Days to Maturity:
Approximately 55 to 60 days for most varieties.

Insects and Pests:
Aphids and beetles will occasionally infest the plants. Treatment with insecticide is effective.
Mice and squirrels and a few other pests will sometimes nibble on your Beet crop.

Disease:
Mildew and leaf spots are an occasional problem. Treat with fungicides.

Harvesting Beet Roots:
Begin to harvest beets when they are two inches in diameter, thinning the row as you go. Beets are tender when young. A big, round beet root will look really impressive, but will certainly not taste impressive, as they will get tough quickly.

Hardiness:
Beets are sensitive to frost. But, they are a root crop. Should Jack Frost pay an unexpected visit, the beets are still harvestable.

CREDIT BY : http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/beet.htm

How To Grow Corn

2008-09-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

How To Grow Corn

1. Soil Preparation : Choose a wind sheltered spot in full sun which provides good drainage and enough humus to insure that the ground will not dry out too quickly in hot weather. Ideally, the top soil should be slightly acidic, deep and very fertile. Dig up your plot in the winter being sure not to bring clay to the surface and incorporate a good grade of compost into the soil. Two weeks prior to sowing the seed, rake in a good source of fertilizer.

2. Sowing & Planting : For the best results, corn must be planted in a rectangle of at least 4 rows opposed to a singular row. This will not only insure proper pollination, but provide some wind protection to the crop. Sow the seeds directly into the ground opposed to starting them in trays or pots as corn can be difficult to transplant. Sow two seeds together approximately one inch deep every 18 inches in the row and remove the weaker of each two seedlings, leaving 18 inches between the remaining plants.

3. Looking After the Plants : Protect your seedlings with netting if birds are a nuisance and keep down the weeds but do not hoe close to the plants. If roots appear at the base of the plant's stem, mound dirt or compost over them. These protruding roots, which are referred to as "tillers", should not be removed. If the plants are tall and little protection is available, it may be wise to stake each plant for extra support. Be sure to provide plenty of water for the plants in hot water, which is especially necessary when they flower. Make it a habit to tap the tassles at the top of each stem regularly as this will aid in germination. Feed the plants with a good liquid fertilizer source when the cobs begin to swell.

4. Harvesting : Each plant will produce several harvestable cobs. Test the cobs for ripeness when the silks (tassles) have turned a dark brown color by pulling back part of the sheath (husk) and squeeze a couple of the grains between the thumbnail and fingernail. If a watery liquid squirts out from the kernel, the ear is unripe. If the discharge is creamy, the ear is prime for harvesting, where as if the liquid is thick and somewhat solid, you have waited too long to harvest. Carefully twist the ripe ear from the plant's stem, being careful not to injure the plant. Harvest just before you intend to cook the corn as this crop is at its best if cooked within 10 minutes of harvest.

5. Storage : If storage is necessary, corn can stay fresh in your refrigerator for up to 3 days, but can also be frozen for the freezer in zip-lock freezer bags.

CREDIT AND COPY BY : http://www.seedfest.co.uk/tips/how-to-grow-corn.html

How to Grow Durians # 4

2008-09-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

SEE PAGE DURIAN #1
SEE PAGE DURIAN #2

SEE PAGE DURIAN # 3

Harvest: Grafted cultivars generally start bearing at 4 to 6 years after planting in the ground; seedlings usually take from 7 to 10 years but have been known to wait as long as 13 to 21 years—powerful incentives to use vegetative propagation.

Durian fruits vary in size and shape depending on variety and completeness of pollination, but most often are oblong and have an average mass slightly larger than a (U.S.-style) football. Fruit weights of 1.5-4 kg [3 to 10 pounds] are common, but occasionally massive 8 kg [20 pound] (tribal-size!) durians are produced. Of the weight of a typical whole durian, only about 15% to 25% is fruit pulp and about 20% is seeds, making it one of the most expensive fruits in the world in terms of its ratio of whole fruit to the part actually edible.

Depending on variety and climate conditions, it may require from about 85 to 150 days for durians to develop after flower pollination, and if not harvested, they will naturally drop from the tree over about a 10-week period.

In areas near the equator where there are no defined wet and dry seasons, as in parts of Malaysia and Sumatra, individual trees commonly bear fruit twice a year, with the peaks in June and December. In these equatorial areas, durian trees do not start flowering in response to any seasonal changes in day length or temperature, but rather are stimulated to flower by periods of dry weather. In tropical areas with distinct wet and dry seasons, for example, India and eastern Java, flowering begins near the end of the dry season. In tropical areas farther than 10º north or south from the equator, flowering normally starts in the spring months, with an annual harvest in mid-summer to autumn. There is a tendency with some trees to bear only every other year, even in areas where twice-a-year fruiting is possible.

"Initial yield may be 10 to 40 fruits for the first year of fruiting to about 100 fruits for the sixth year. Yield of up to 200 fruits is common after the 10th year of fruiting" — Durian OnLineWell-grown, high-yielding cultivars may produce 10 to 15 tons per hectare [9000-13000 pounds per acre] of durian fruits per year by 10 to 15 years after planting. As durians command relatively expensive market prices even in the areas of southeast Asia where they are plentiful, it is easy to understand that in that part of the world, people who have more than a few bearing durian trees are considered wealthy.
The two very different approaches to harvesting duriansShunyam NiravAs inclined to diversity as the durian is, it’s not too surprising that two very different basic approaches to harvesting and eating durians has developed among humans. For convenience they can be called the Thai approach, which is prevalent mostly only in Thailand, and the Malaysian approach, which is prevalent almost everywhere else in Southeast Asia but has been particularly developed and refined in Malaysia.

In Thailand, it’s customary to harvest durians from the tree by cutting with a knife (sometimes on the end of a long pole), when they are approaching ripeness, but not entirely ripe. Like papayas, bananas, and avocados, durians do ripen well off the tree, if not cut too soon. Many people (including me) savor Thai varieties of durians eaten when mid-ripe, somewhat before totally ripe; totally ripe is usually past their peak of deliciousness. The Thai durian varieties have evidently been selected and bred over generations to support this customary harvesting-before-ripe. Part of the fruit stem (botanically speaking, the peduncle) is always left attached when the durian is cut from the tree, rather than breaking off the fruit from the stem. The fruit stem is cut as long as practically possible, and is often wrapped with a banana leaf or paper, which is said to extend the fruit’s shelf life.

In Malaysia (and elsewhere), it’s a fundamental principle that durians should be allowed to naturally fully ripen on the tree for maximum-quality flavor, aroma, texture, and appearance. Durian growers wait until the trees naturally drop their ripe fruit, and collect the fruit several times a day from under the trees.To prevent damage from hitting the ground or rocks (or people!), either large safety nets are arranged under the trees to catch the falling spiky fruits; or workers climb the trees early in the season to attach long strings or ropes to each developing fruit, which are looped over branches above and then down to ground level like a pulley, so when the fruits are dropped by the tree they are caught and can be safely and easily lowered. Durians in Malaysia are thus regarded as highly perishable commodities — those that have fallen within the past 12 hours command very high prices in the marketplaces; after 12 hours the quality is perceived as having diminished and become ordinary, and the price is reduced.
On Penang, at Bao Sheng farm, the best just-dropped varieties of durians sold in the 1999 season for about the equivalent of US$3.50 a pound, which meant that a typical 4-pound durian cost about US$15 for one fruit. That’s at the farm, though; just-dropped durians are rushed from farms to the cities of Malaysia where the same durian may readily sell for over twice the farm price. And in durian-crazed Singapore, when swiftly exported fresh-dropped Malaysian durians of the highest quality varieties are available there, durian connoisseurs snap them up for the equivalent of US$75 per fruit! For the lowest prices and good fun, large numbers of Malaysian durian-lovers make pilgrimages to durian farms in various regions of the country during the season to savor the best freshly-dropped durians.

It’s a real connoisseur scene in Malaysia around durians — over a hundred officially registered varieties (and countless more unregistered), all with rich subtle differences of flavor, texture, aroma, and appearance, and much importance given to tree-ripening and fresh-droppedness. Malaysian varieties are generally smaller than Thai durians (rarely as large as a soccer ball), many varieties have much thinner spikes, and usually the fruit flesh around the seeds is not as thick as is common in Thai varieties. They usually have a much more complex and rich flavor than most Thai durians have, though, and it can be highly variable from fruit to fruit from the same tree, even from section to section within the same fruit.

It’s evident that Thais and Malaysians have a good-natured rivalry around their approaches to durians. The Malaysians disapprove of the Thai practice of harvesting durians before ripe and letting them ripen off the tree — that’s unthinkable in Malaysia. To cut durians early and not allow them to ripen on the tree and drop naturally occurs to most Malaysians as an insensitive ruination of full-flavored durian quality. (T.S. Chang of Bao Sheng Durian Farm asserts that durians lose 20% to 25% of their full potential for aroma and flavor by being harvested early...and I can understand from eating Malaysian durians what he means.) However, a Thai variety of durian allowed to ripen and drop from the tree is usually already past its prime. The Thais possess durian varieties which in their own way are of magnificent quality when cut, ripened off the tree (like bananas), and eaten at just the right stage before totally ripe.

Having the kinds of durian varieties they have, Thais don’t understand Malaysians’ (and others) obsession with tree-ripened fruit and enduring all the harvesting and marketing challenges and high prices that result. The practically-inclined Thais do have a commercial advantage with their approach — cutting durians before ripe has allowed them to develop a large profitable commercial durian-growing industry, the biggest of any country. In Thailand, everyone has about a week after harvesting to transport and market the fruit far and wide, whereas the Malaysian practice of only accepting tree-ripened durians necessarily greatly limits their commercial reach and shelf life and makes them very costly to consumers. Malaysians, however, cheerfully just regard these things as facts of life that necessarily come with obtaining their high-quality tree-ripened durians, satisfied that their durians have a much richer and more complex flavor and better overall quality than those of their Thai neighbors.

When I visited both countries in June 1999 at the peak of durian season, the highest-quality durians in Thailand were selling in the marketplaces for the equivalent in U.S. money of about 50 cents a pound; over the border in Malaysia highest-quality durians were selling for the equivalent of US$3.50 a pound at the farm, more in the marketplaces. Durians in Thailand have been made a widespread commodity that the majority of average people appear to be able to afford; in Malaysia it appears that durians are in financial reach of primarily only wealthier consumers (not a criticism, just an observation of the way things are). However, the big exceptions in either country are people who grow their own durians...who, if they have more than a few trees, inevitably become wealthy themselves from the abundant bounty given year after year by the trees!
As a durian-lover from the outside, I respect, understand, and enjoy both the Thai and Malaysian approaches and the resulting fruit. I’ve been fortunate to experience both incredibly luscious Thai durians (especially Monthong and especially those grown on the southern islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pha-Ngan, and in the durian-growing capital of Chanthaburi in eastern Thailand) — and some of the extremely richly-delicately-flavored connoisseur creme-de-la-creme Malaysian durians (especially on the island of Penang). Comparing them isn’t really fair; at their best they’re both fantastic, unmistakably durian and yet so different — as similar and yet as different as, say, Chinese and Japanese humans. And then there are all the other durian varieties found in Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam, south India, and Sri Lanka, with a vast range of subtle differences and nuances. If you enjoy eating durian and get a chance to be in that part of the world during the season, visit the colorful local marketplaces and try as many as you can! Or better yet, if you live in a tropical area, seek out the best varieties of grafted trees to grow yourself!

More cultivation information: click here to view the Durian chapter (19 pages) from The Production of Economic Fruits in South-East Asia by Othman Yaacob and Suranant Subhadrabandhu (Oxford University Press, New York, 1995).
CREDIT BY :http://www.durianpalace.com

SEE PAGE DURIAN #1
SEE PAGE DURIAN #2

SEE PAGE DURIAN # 3

Cherry Trees - hints on how to plant and grow them

2008-09-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

Cherry Trees - hints on how to plant and grow them

As a general rule of thumb, cherry trees are the first of the stone fruits to blossom and fruit hence the appearance of the fruit in the supermarket shelves herald the arrival of summer. Cherry trees aren't all that hard to grow provided you have :
cold chilly winters
enough room for 2 trees (they are big trees mind you, some growing in excess of 30 feet, so if you are planting 2, then plant them at least 18 feet apart) - most cherry trees require a pollinator. There are new varieties of sweet cherry trees ( Stella and Sweetheart) which are self pollinating so pick these if you want just one tree which will give you fruit. If you are short on space, you can try to espalier them against a wall and pruning religiously to keep them in check. The advantage of having them espaliered is that you can keep them to a reasonable size and netting to stop the birds getting at the fruit proves to be an easier task.
lots of time and patience to spray them and net them to stop the birds from eating the bounty before you get to them.
Cherry trees are originally from Europe and Western Asia. The coveted cherry blossoms that enshroud the tree in spring is a vision to behold. Japan is well known for its cherry blossom festival and the hint that winter is leaving us to give way to spring is never as potently portrayed as an alley full of cherry blossom trees erupting with vivid white. So if you do decide to plant cherry trees, you get a double bounty, the spring show and the fruit to boot!

Cherry tree requirements
Most cherry trees (unless you are after the sour cherries which cooks much prefer) require a pollinator - if you only have room for one tree, then perhaps you could convince your neighbour to have one in their yard too. Cherry trees need frosty winters to bear a good crop, so whilst you may get some fruit if your winters are milder, you aren't going to be able to get basketfuls of cherries. Still, how many cherries can you eat? The fruit really only keeps for a week in the fridge so it would mean a cherry binge for that week after the harvest and then you'd have to wait another year for your next fix!
Cherry trees prefer a protected site and rich, well drained soil - they loathe wet feet. When the tree is about to fruit (around late spring) it's best if there isn't any rain around that time as you get better cherries with fewer subject to rotting. Cherry trees aren't particularly fond of mulching and too much fertilizer is wasted on them. They much prefer just an annual sprinkling of blood and bone or old poultry manure.

How to prune cherry trees
Cherries are borne on fruiting spurs on branches that are at least 2 years old. So if you prune off the spurs by accident, you will have to wait another 2 years for any fruit. Pruning essentially is done to ensure that the cherry trees assume an open vase shape, taking out any dead twigs and removing any branches that cross over each other. Pruning is best done when conditions are dry - avoid pruning in wet and damp conditions as cherry trees are prone to fungal diseases.

Cherry tree problems
Cherry trees are prone to fungal attack so bordeaux spray in winter is often a necessity. If you see little holes in the trunk and branches, then you are likely to have wood borer problems (some moths do this too) and will need to try killing them with wire down the hole or injecting insecticide into the holes and then filling them up with wood putty. The dreaded pear and cherry slug is another problem and needs to be dealt with by spraying with a solution of Derris.

What about sour cherry trees
Sour cherries are the wilder cousins of the more cultivated sweet cherry trees. They tend to be self fertile (you only need one tree) and are smaller and bushier in shape. Sour cherry trees also tend to have bad habit of suckering so bear this in mind when you plant one. The cherries tend to be more tart to the taste buds and are usually used in cooking eg pies. Growth requirements and conditions are similar to their sweet cousins.

CREDIT BY : http://www.flowerpotheaven.com/grow-plant-cherry-trees.htm

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