MARCH Chore List 2011
Nice day today. Spring is happening. The pussy willows have started bursting out about a week ago. Canadian Geese "Vs" move across the sky. Today I finally did some winter-sowing. Got out 24 containers. I swept out the deck and places some jugs against the hot-tub. Thats a nice sunny location and they are relatively safe from strong winds. The other jugs web against the south facing foundation.
Then I moved on to tackle the old grape vine. Grapes need to be pruned when they are dormant. I should have done this February, but the snow way so deep I couldn't easily get near it. Here's the problem... the grape vine (Concorde Grapes) is VERY old, and has been neglected for so long. I need to do a radical pruning but if I want fruit (I do) I have to keep some of lasts years growth. Grapes grow off the previous year's growth. I started by cutting out dead and damaged branches and anything smaller than a pencil in circumference. Then I studied the vines to decide what else to cut to give it proper structure. I need to remove many vines but I'm trying to keep enough so I can get a decent fruit harvest.
This is what I wintersowed ...
Broccoli, Calabrese
Broccoli, Green Mountain
Broccoli, UNK
Cabbage, Late Flat Dutch
Chicory - Radichio Blend
Kale, Blue Scotch
Kale, Judy's
Kohlrabi, Purple Vienna
Leek, American Flag
Leek, Blau Gruner Winter
Onion, Evergreen Bunching
Onion, Lisbon Bunching
Onion, Red Burgundy
Spinach, Bloomsdale
Swiss Chard, Barese
Tomatillo, UNK
Columbine, Long Spurred
Delphinium
Larkspur
Maiden Pink
Malva, Zebra
Mexican Hat
The next job was to prune the young fruit trees (3 apple). I cut off the suckers and a few wayward branches.
On the next nice day I will tackle the blackberry patch. I really HATE the blackberries. Oh don't get me wrong, I love the fruit ... but this is an invasive type Himalayan" Was here before I owned the place. And the lateral roots travel a distance from the mother plant causing a small patch to become a big nuisance. I'm cutting berry plants out of the veggie and flower beds constantly. Another thing... they have BIG thorns.
To punning berry bushes is easy as long as you have protective ware against the thorns. A cane has a two year cycle and fruit is produced on second year canes (last years growth). So early in the spring I cut out the canes that fruited last year. It's easy to tell... they are dead.
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