Rosslyn Redux

Tag: Fruit and Vegetable

  • How to Apply Tanglefoot to Trees

    How to Apply Tanglefoot (Source: Geo Davis)
    How to Apply Tanglefoot (Source: Geo Davis)

    It’s Tanglefoot time again. Actually, we’re late — really late! — due to this rainy, soggy summer. But better late than never, especially since I’ve begun to spy the first tent caterpillars of the 2017 season.

    First a quick refresher. A little over a year ago I explained how to use Tanglefoot and I explained why holistic orcharding benefits from this goopy ritual.

    It’s a messy installation process, but it seems to work pretty well… Applying Tanglefoot to fruit trees a messy but relatively straightforward task. Better instructors have already explained application, so I’ll defer to their able guidance rather than overlook something important. (Source: How to Use Tanglefoot (And Why Fruit Trees Need It))

    That post includes the excellent advice of “better instructors”, but I wanted to follow up with a quick visual instructional to show you how to apply Tanglefoot. Consider it a supplement. Quick tips.

    How to Apply Tanglefoot

    In the previous post I discuss using plastic film to wrap the tree trunk, but four years into our Tanglefoot adventure, we’re still using paper/cardboard wraps.

    Following is a quick video / slide show intended for orchardists, fruit tree hobbyists, or basically anybody who wants quick and easy instruction for how to apply Tanglefoot on young (i.e. slender trunk) trees. Many thanks to Jacob for letting me photograph his hands during installation.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlnN0g11-8?rel=0&w=500 ]

    I hope you find the video helpful. We’ve been extremely satisfied with the results year-after-year, and we’re happy to recommend Tanglefoot (and confident in our recommendation) for other fruit tree growers. Good luck!

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

  • Asparagus Beans

    Asparagus Beans

    Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)

    We grow heirloom asparagus beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) also known as Chinese long beans, yardlong beans, snakes beans, and long-podded cowpeas. Ours usually grow 15-18” long, and our greatest success results from erecting an 8-10’ tall “teepee” Goethe beans to climb over the course of the summer.

    Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)

    Bountiful beans,
    red-podded asparagus,
    climbing the teepee.

    — Geo Davis

    Most summers we grow both green-podded and red-podded asparagus beans, but this spring a squirrel got into our seed cache. Strangely enough the green-podded variety were out of stock. So instead we have lots and lots of red asparagus beans!

    Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)

    When they are still young and slender, they make a perfect snack plucked from the vine and eaten raw. Tender, crunchy, and with a flavor somewhere between a green bean and a nut (pecan crossed with cashew?) As the asparagus beans mature, often growing to a foot and a half or more, they’re better eaten cooked. We usually chop them into 1/2” pieces and sauté them with garlic and olive. A dash of salt and pepper, and they’re a delicious complement anything grilled or roasted.

    • Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
      Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    • Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
      Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    • Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
      Asparagus Beans​ (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    • Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)
      Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)
    Red-podded Asparagus Beans, Summer/Autumn 2022

  • Mystery Mushroom

    A mystery mushroom clump has sprouted in Rosslyn's back meadow.
    A mystery mushroom sprouted in Rosslyn’s meadow.

    It seems that rainy days always result in crops all of mystery mushrooms sprouting in our lawns. I remain a total mycology neophyte, though I own several detailed mushroom identification books and enjoy reading the descriptions. I remain totally ill-equipped to distinguish between delectable and deathly!

    I posted an image of this mushroom clump on several social media sites and received a couple of guesses including Chicken of the Woods. But I don’t think it’s a very close match.

    My wife has a cousin who visits us each summer, and if he were here I feel pretty confident that he’d be able to identify this mystery mushroom. But he’s not. And I can’t. Can you?

    Until it vanishes (another equally quick phenomenon, not unlike the way they appear overnight) I will simply ensure that Griffin does not snarf it up. He is forever trying to eat any mushrooms he can get his mouth on. We worry that one day he’ll manage to gobble up a magical mystery mushroom. Or worse!

    An illustrated guide to mushrooms. (Credit: houzz.com)
    An illustrated guide to mushrooms. (Credit: houzz.com)

    Although it would have made more sense to start last spring, I’ll make a mental note to begin recording the various different sorts of mushrooms I encounter on Rosslyn’s grounds. There a mammoth mystery mushroom sprouting from the side of the ancient maple tree in front of our house. Tourists stop and take pictures, often with a young child standing underneath. Unfortunately, the mushroom’s prodigious growth also spells the expiring tree’s demise, but that woeful tale for another day. For now, a promise to snap photos of any mystery mushrooms appearing in the near future.

    Until then, I’m hoping that a clever reader can help me identify the clump of mushrooms above. Are they edible? Are they poisonous? Thanks in advance for demystifying the fungusamungous…