The Final Orchard Trees for 2017

We planted the final four trees in the orchard on Friday.
Two more plum trees - Santa Rosa. This is the same variety of plum that my dad had at our home in Leon Valley when I was growing up there. It's a self pollinator, and will act as a pollinator for the two Gulf Beauty plums we planted last week.

And then for something brand new, we put in two nectarine trees - Suncoast.  This variety was developed in Florida for southern climates and produces a large yellow fleshed fruit.

The orchard is done. Now to keep it alive and thriving!

The Chicks Are Here!

Our local feed store got in baby chicks this weekend, so we went over Saturday morning to get a few to add to our flock.  We currently only have 3 hens and our rooster, Romeo, so it was time to add some new chicks.
I had promised KT that she could come along when it was time to get new chicks, so John and I drove in and picked up the girls first, then drove straight to the feed store.
We wanted Buff Orpingtons, since those are John's favorite, so we picked out 4 of those pullets first. 

KT with one of the Buffs

Then KT and Joss both got to help pick out two each.  Joss chose Barred Rocks (she said she wanted "spotted" chickens - and those have a yellow spot on their heads!)

Joss is touching one of the Barred Rocks. She didn't want to pick them up, she was afraid of their feet!

 KT chose two Production Reds. So, we ended up with 8 new chicks.

KT with one of the Production Reds

The new babies are all nice and warm in their box, 

with feed and water. They all have names, but I can't remember them all.  The reds are "Red" and "Strawberry." The Barred Rocks are "Spotted Chicken" and "Midnight." And some of the Buffs are "Fuzzy" and "HeyHey."  There are two other names, but I'll have to ask KT what they were!

I couldn't help myself -- I had to include these two pictures of the last time we had baby chicks here. The girls were so much smaller then. How time flies.

More trees for the orchard....

John added four more trees to his orchard yesterday, two more peach and two plum.
The peach trees are Texstar.  This variety of peach was developed at Texas A&M, and only requires 400 hours of chill per year - which is good for here.  

The plum trees are Gulf Beauty. These are supposedly early ripening plums that were developed in Florida for southern gardens.  It only requires 250 hours of chill per year. He's going to add two more of a different variety for pollination.

After we planted the trees, we planted out the berry starts that I rooted this winter in the greenhouse.  
Out of the 8 cuttings that I rooted of the Apache blackberries, we got 6 that rooted! I was really pleased with that. These are another thorn-less type like the Chester blackberries that we already have.

Next we planted the Black Raspberry cuttings that rooted.  These didn't do as well, there were only three out of 12 that survived. These do have thorns - ouch!

And finally I planted three Brown Turkey fig cuttings in a big pot.  I won't be putting these in the ground since I've had absolutely no success in getting fig to survive a winter here. I just don't think I have a good place that shelters them enough, so I'll just be keeping this potted. I had 5 cuttings, so was pleased that 3 took off.

U. S. Men's Rugby Team vs. Uraguay

John and I went to see a Rugby game on Saturday night.  It was really interesting, although I don't know much about what was happening on the field.  John watches a lot of Rugby, so he had a great time.  And the USA won!! Whooo!!!

It was fun, and no real rain although it was misty part of the time.  There was quite a crowd there to cheer our team on!

KT and Joss have birthdays!

The end of January is one birthday after another around here! My daughter starts it off on the 27th, then her oldest daughter, KT, follows on the 29th, and little Joss rounds it out on the 31st! Whew!  

This Saturday we had a nice dinner and cake at their home, along with Jeff's Mom and sister who came over to celebrate with everyone.  Here's a few photos from the day:

 Joss's cake was a "Moana" cake - she loves that movie!

 KT's cake was a Pokemon ball (???) I have no idea. But she does!

 Blowing out the cakes!

 JR and Max watched on!

 Aunt Colleen and Max were laying on the floor checking each other out....

 Joss's cake was multiple layers of beautiful color!

 KT's cake was chocolate!

Funny girls....

New Fruit for 2017

This year John has decided to make an orchard out of part of one of his fields, the one right in front of our home. He's mapped out a plan to add about 14 new trees in the next few years.

This weekend he planted the first four - all peaches.  There's 3 Rio Grande and one LaFeliciana. Our oldest peach tree is a Rio Grande and we love the peaches that come from that tree. Freestone and early, it ripens in late May/June and is just a very pretty, sweet peach.

The LaFeliciana is new to us, but we chose it because it only requires about 400 hours of chill weather and it's supposedly a later (July) ripening peach. It was developed in Louisiana for the south.

I spent an hour or so cleaning up under our Chester Blackberry patch and mulching it with composted turkey bedding - and fertilizing them.  We had a pretty good bunch of berries from these plants last year and are expecting even more this year!

I'll be planting the other berries that I've been rooting in the greenhouse all winter.  There's some Apache Blackberries that took off, and a few Black Raspberries (sadly only about 3 of the dozen canes look like they are viable. We'll see when I dig them out.)

My Seed Bank for 2017

Seed Bank - Spring 2017 Plants
	Type	Name	Year	Source	Viable	Plant Type	Additional Info
1	Beans, Green	Tendergreen Improved	2016	Ferry-Morse	3 years	DS	Bush
2	Beans, Green	Climbing French	2017	Seed Savers Exchange	3 years	DS	Pole
3	Beans, Green	Red Swan	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	3 years	DS	Bush
4	Beans, Green	Calima	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Bush
5	Beans, Green	Fortex (2)	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Pole
6	Beans, Green	Gold Crop	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Bush
7	Beans, Green	Jade	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Bush
8	Beans, Green	Purple Podded	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Pole
9	Beans, Green	Red Noodle Yard Long	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS	Pole
10	Beans, Green	White Emargo Runner	2017	SeedsNow	3 years	DS	Pole
11	Beans, Green	Asparagus Yard Long	2015	(Saved)	3 years	DS	Pole
1	Beets	Chioggia	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	DS
2	Beets	Cylindra	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
3	Beets	Detroit Dark Red, Morse's Strain	2016	Ferry-Morse	4 years	DS
1	Broccoli	DeCicco	2013	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	3 years	Trans
2	Broccoli	Rapini	2015	SeedsNow	3 years	Trans
3	Broccoli	Green Goliath	2016	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	3 years	Trans
4	Broccoli	Romanesco	2015	SeedsNow	3 years	Trans
1	Cabbage	Early Flat Dutch	2013	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	4 years	Trans
2	Cabbage	Brunswick	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans
3	Cabbage	Golden Acres	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
4	Cabbage	Red Express	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans
5	Cabbage	Savoy Perfection	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
6	Cabbage	Danish Ballhead	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
7	Cabbage	Gonzales F1	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	4 years	Trans
8	Cabbage	Troncuda	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	Trans
9	Cabbage	Michilhili	2017	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
10	Cabbage	Drumhead	2017	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
11	Cabbage	Cabbage Mix	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	Trans
1	Carrots	Parisienne	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	3 years	DS
2	Carrots	Chantenay Red Core	2016	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	3 years	DS
3	Carrots	Dragon	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	3 years	DS
4	Carrots	Rainbow F1	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	3 years	DS
5	Carrots	St. Valery	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS
6	Carrots	Tendersweet	2017	SeedsNow	3 years	DS
7	Carrots	Sugar Snax	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS
1	Cauliflower	Green Macerata	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans
2	Cauliflower	Snowball X	2015	American Seed	4 years	Trans
3	Cauliflower	Igloo (2)	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
4	Cauliflower	All-Year	2015	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
	Celery	Utah Tall	2015	SeedsNow	2 years	Trans
	Corn	Glass Gem Popcorn	2015	Native Seed Search	2 years	DS
	Cotton	Mississippi Brown	2014	(Saved)		DS
1	Cowpeas	Mississippi Silver	2013	(Saved)	3 years	DS
2	Cowpeas	Piggott Family Heirloom	2014	(Saved)	3 years	DS
3	Cowpeas	Peking Black	2014	(Saved)	3 years	DS
4	Cowpeas	Red Ripper	2013	(Saved)	3 years	DS
5	Cowpeas	Queen Anne	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	3 years	DS
1	Cucumber	Burpless F1 Hybrid	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	5 years	DS
2	Cucumber	Marketmore	2016	Botanical Interests	5 years	DS
1	Garden berries	Huckleberry	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds		Trans
2	Garden berries	Chichiquelite Huckleberry	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds		Trans
3	Garden berries	Aunt Molly's Garden Cherry	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds		Trans
1	Gourd	Mixture	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4-6 years	DS
2	Gourd	Speckled Swan	2015	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4-6 years	DS
3	Gourd	Bushel Basket	2015	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and (Saved)	4-6 years	DS
4	Gourd	Dinosaur	2014	Seed Savers Exchange	4-6 years	DS
5	Gourd	Luffa	2015	SeedsNow and (Saved)	4-6 years	DS
6	Gourd	Guarijio Dipper	2014	Native Seed Search	4-6 years	DS
7	Gourd	Large Bottle	2013	(Saved)	4-6 years	DS
8	Gourd	Large & Small Mix	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4-6 years	DS
9	Gourd	Penguin	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4-6 years	DS
10	Gourd	Bule	2017	Seed Savers Exchange	4-6 years	DS
1	Grain	Sorghum, White African	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds		DS	Field
2	Grain	Sorghum, Mennonite	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds		DS	Field
3	Grain	Amaranth	2015	SeedsNow			Field
4	Grain	Carolina Gold Rice	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds		DS	Container
1	Herb	Globe Basil	2016	Seed Savers Exchange		Trans
2	Herb	Blue Spice Basil	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds		Trans
3	Herb	Italiano Classico Basil	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds		Trans
4	Herb	Mad Dog Skullcap	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
5	Herb	Culver's Root	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
6	Herb	Lemon Balm	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
7	Herb	Echinacea Purpurea	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
8	Herb	Urtica Dioicia - Nettle	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
9	Herb	Hyssop	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
10	Herb	Catnip	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
11	Herb	Borage	2013	My Patriot Supply		Trans
12	Herb	Fennel	2014	(Saved)		Trans
13	Herb	Parsley, Triple Moss Curled	2015	SeedsNow		Trans
14	Herb	Horehound	2017	SeedsNow		Trans
15	Herb	Dill Bouquet	2017	SeedsNow		Trans
16	Herb	Lovage (3)	2017	SeedsNow		Trans
17	Herb	Mint, Lemon	2017	SeedsNow		Trans
18	Herb	Parsley, Italian Dark Green	2016	SeedsNow		Trans
1	Kale	Tronchuda	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans
2	Kale	Nero di'Toscana	2016	Territorial	4 years	Trans
3	Kale	Siber Frill	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	Trans
4	Kale	Vates	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
5	Kale	Blue Curled Scotch	2017	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
5	Kale	Lacinato	2016	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans
1	Lettuce	Monte Carlo	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	5 years	DS
2	Lettuce	Valmaine	2016	Territorial	5 years	DS
3	Lettuce	Asian Red	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	5 years	DS
4	Lettuce	Romaine	2016	SeedsNow	5 years	DS
5	Lettuce	Winter Density	2016	SeedsNow	5 years	DS
6	Lettuce	Baby Oakleaf	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	5 years	DS
7	Lettuce	Crisphead	2016	SeedsNow	5 years	DS
1	Melon	Ananas D'Amerique A Chair Verte	Unknown	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	5 years	DS
2	Melon	Bidwell Casaba (3)	2013	(Saved)	5 years	DS
3	Melon	Delice de la Table (3)	Unknown	(Saved)	5 years	DS
1	Okra	Beck's Big Buck Horn	2015	(Saved)	2 years	DS
2	Okra	Stewart's Zeebest	2016	(Saved)	2 years	DS
3	Okra	Silver Queen	2016	(Saved)	2 years	DS
4	Okra	Jambalaya	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	2 years	DS
5	Okra	Mixed	2013	(Saved)	2 years	DS
6	Okra	Hill Country Red	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	2 years	DS
1	Pak Choy	Shanghai Green	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
2	Pak Choy	Extra Dwarf (2)	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
1	Peas	Strike Garden Peas	2016	Territorial	3 years	DS
2	Peas	Oregon Sugar Pod (2)	2016	Territorial	3 years	DS
1	Pepper	Gypsy Hybrid	2016	Totally Tomatoes (some saved)	2 years	Trans	Sweet
2	Pepper	King of the North	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	2 years	Trans	Sweet
3	Pepper	Cayenne Long Red	2013	My Patriot Supply	2 years	Trans	Hot
4	Pepper	Aji Golden	2017	Facebook Garden Group	2 years	Trans	Hot
5	Pepper	Aji Angelo	2017	Facebook Garden Group	2 years	Trans	Hot
6	Pepper	JR's Orange	2016	(Saved)	2 years	Trans	Sweet
7	Pepper	Candy Apple Red	2016	(Saved)	2 years	Trans	Sweet
8	Pepper	Violet Sparkle	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	2 years	Trans	Sweet
9	Pepper	Italian Fry Pepper	2017	(Saved)	2 years	Trans	Sweet
1	Pumpkin	Connecticut Field	2014	American Seed	4 years	DS
2	Pumpkin	Amish Pie	2013	(Saved)	4 years	DS
3	Pumpkin	Godiva	Unknown	(Saved)	4 years	DS
4	Pumpkin	Large Stripes	Unknown	(Saved)	4 years	DS
5	Pumpkin	Medium Orange Warty	2015	(Saved) HEB Grocery Store	4 years	DS
6	Pumpkin	Large White Flat	2015	(Saved) Pumpkin Patch Medina	4 years	DS
7	Pumpkin	Medium Orange	Unknown	(Saved)	4 years	DS
8	Pumpkin	Fortuna White	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
9	Pumpkin	Orange/Cream Ornamental (small)	2016	(Saved)	4 years	DS
10	Pumpkin	Rouge D'tEmps	2016	(Saved)	4 years	DS
11	Pumpkin	Princess	2016	(Saved)	4 years	DS
12	Pumpkin	Small Pie	2016	(Saved)	4 years	DS
13	Pumpkin	Seminole	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
1	Spinach	Palco	2016	Territorial	4 years	Trans
2	Spinach	Regiment	2016	Territorial	4 years	Trans
3	Spinach	Red Kitten	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	4 years	Trans
1	Squash, Summer	Golden Zucchini	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
2	Squash, Summer	Gentry (Yellow Crookneck)	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	4 years	DS
3	Squash, Summer	Alexandria (Pale Zucchini)	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	4 years	DS
4	Squash, Summer	Desi	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
5	Squash, Summer	Yellow Crookneck	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
6	Squash, Summer	Zephyr	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	DS
7	Squash, Summer	Fordhook Zucchini	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
8	Squash, Summer	Lebanese White Bush Marrow	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	DS
9	Squash, Summer	Zucchetta Rampicante Tromboncino	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	DS
10	Squash, Summer	Tomboncino	2016	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	4 years	DS
11	Squash, Summer	Bennings Green Tint	2016	Southern Exposure Seed Exchange	4 years	DS
12	Squash, Summer	Lebanese White Bush Marrow	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
1	Squash, Winter	Kikuza	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	DS
2	Squash, Winter	Sweet Meat	2015	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
3	Squash, Winter	Japanese Pie	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
4	Squash, Winter	Kamo Kamo	2016	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
5	Squash, Winter	Red Kuri (Hokkaido)	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
6	Squash, Winter	Honey Boat Delicata	2012	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
7	Squash, Winter	Spaghetti	2015	SeedsNow	4 years	DS
8	Squash, Winter	Orange Cushaw	2012	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
9	Squash, Winter	Jumbo Pink Banana	2012	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	DS
10	Squash, Winter	Metro F1 Butternut	2016	Johnny's Select Seeds	4 years	DS
1	Swiss Chard	Mixed Colors	2016	Ferry-Morse	4 years	Trans
2	Swiss Chard	Sea Foam	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	Trans
3	Swiss Chard	Orange Fanstasia	2017	Pinetree Garden Seeds	4 years	Trans
1	Tomatillo	Green Husk	2015	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	Trans
2	Tomatillo	Amarylla	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans
3	Tomatillo	Purple De Milpa	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	Trans
1	Tomato	Beefsteak (2)	2013	Ferry-Morse	4 years	Trans	Large - Ind
2	Tomato	Cherry, Rainbow Blend	2012	Botanical Interests	4 years	Trans	Mixed Cherry - Ind
3	Tomato	Snow White	2015	Penny's Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Cherry - Ind
4	Tomato	Homestead	2015	Penny's Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Large - Det
5	Tomato	Great White	2015	Penny's Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Large - Ind
6	Tomato	Juane Flamee	2015	Penny's Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Med - Ind
7	Tomato	Red Star	2015	Penny's Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Plum - Ind
8	Tomato	Ten Fingers of of Naples	2016	Totally Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Paste - Det
9	Tomato	Rapunzel Hybrid	2016	Totally Tomatoes	4 years	Trans	Cherry - Ind
10	Tomato	Sleeping Beauty	2015	Penny's Tomatoes (some saved)	4 years	Trans	Med Burgandy - Ind
11	Tomato	Black Vernissage	2017	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans	Large Cherry - Ind
12	Tomato	Cream Sausage	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	Trans	Yellow Paste - Ind
13	Tomato	German Pink	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	Trans
14	Tomato	Speckled Roman	2016	Seed Savers Exchange	4 years	Trans	Red/Yellow Striped paste - Ind
15	Tomato	Costoluto Genovese	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large - Ind
16	Tomato	Darby Red & Yellow	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Med Red/Yellow strip - Ind
17	Tomato	Arkansas Traveler	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Pink Medium - Ind
18	Tomato	Black Mountain Pink	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large - Ind
19	Tomato	Amana Orange	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large Orange - Ind
20	Tomato	Blanche Du Soleil	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans
21	Tomato	Dagma's Perfection	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Med Orange - Ind
22	Tomato	Aunt Ginny's Purple	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Purple Black Large - Ind
23	Tomato	Blueberries	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Black cherry - Ind
24	Tomato	Mikhalych	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large - Ind
25	Tomato	McMurray	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large
26	Tomato	Japanese Black Trifele	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Med Pear Burgandy - Ind
27	Tomato	German Pink	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans
28	Tomato	Chocolate Amazon	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Large Purple - Ind
29	Tomato	Rutgers	2017	SeedsNow	4 years	Trans	Large Red - Det
30	Tomato	Carbon	2017	Facebook Garden Group	4 years	Trans	Black Large - Ind
1	Tomato	Garden Berry Litchi	2014	Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	4 years	Trans