August & September 2009

Fall Fruit Festival!

Benefit for Ian McConkey

Friends of Ian Day

Performers include : Abbey Road, Jimbo & Kim Carey and Michael McConkey.

Ian's website is www.caringbridge.org/visit/ianmcconkey. This is a benefit consort to raise funds for Ian McConkey's medical care. Ian was recently diagnosed with a Brain Tumor. Please make checks payable to Friends of Ian McConkey. Tickets $20 per person. Bring finger foods to share. More info contact Larry Stopper 434-361-1323, 141 Heartwood Cir, Afton VA 22920.

Meher Baba Washington Gathering

Also Sunday September 6th a Labor Day Benefit Consort featuring special guest Jamie Newell at the Meher Baba Washington Gathering, Kensington MD. Charles Mills, paintings displayed, call Terry Barton for further information at 703-346-6616. Organized by the Meher Baba Washington Gathering. Location Pamela Butler-Stone's home, 11227 Dewey Court, Kensington MD 20895, Phone 301-946-0236.

Labor Day Sahavas
Special guest Jamie Newell
Sunday, September 6, 2009

Painting by Charles Mills

We are delighted to have Jamie Newell with us once again for our second Labor Day Sahavas. The concert will also include performances by Michael McConkey, Hilary Hogan, Patrick Birge, Saroja Stone and Zoe Witkowski. This is a benefit concert for Ian McConkey, a very special young Baba lover who has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. All donations from this event will go to help offset the high medical costs.

Location: home of Pamela Butler-Stone, 11227 Dewey Court, Kensington, MD.

5:00 PM Art exhibit by Charles Mills, Photography exhibit by Greg Butler and Geri Layne Craddock

5:30 PM Indian feast -prepared by Saleem and Zeeba -
    Cost: $15 - checks payable to Meher Baba Washington Gathering

7:30 PM Benefit Concert by Jamie Newell and friends
    Requested Donation $25 - checks payable to Friends of Ian

Please RSVP by September 1st to Pamela at 301-946-0236

Please do not let the meal cost or donation prevent you from coming. All are welcome!

Edible News

Washington Post

"The apple looms large in the folklore of our gardens, and there was a time when every back yard had its version of an apple orchard. But for all its bounty and beauty, the apple tree is not as revered as it once was. With reason.

Plump, unblemished apples come with a price: They must be sprayed to avoid inevitable disfigurement or infestation by pests and diseases. The search for the perfect peach may be even more elusive. In our hot and humid climate, developing peaches can be counted on to rot in the absence of chemical intervention.

The worst fruits for the home? The apricot and the nectarine, says Mike McConkey, a fruit tree nurseryman in Afton, in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains....."

for the entire article:
Washington Post

VA Tech Breading Program

Edible Landscaping on You Tube

Upcoming Events

Heritage Harvest Festival

Garlic Festival

Persimmon Day

Blackberries and Raspberries made easy

Most of us have yards that have grass. Usually it's more convenient to concentrate garden beds as close to the kitchen or home as possible. So, that usually means the yard. At our home we have a long garden about 130' long and 30' wide. The top part we've never used and I mow the grass there. It grows thick and is mostly field grass or fescue.

For a few years I'd mow this 80' x 30' area thinking I'd like to plant varieties of blackberry and raspberry that we sell, that aren't included in the orchard at Edible. I hesitated for a few years since we have so much growing at the nursery. I needed the bed to take care of itself or it might end up a weedy area with dismal results.

One day I started to mow on a low cut setting about 80'x 10' section of the unused garden. The ground was easy to work and I tilled the middle of the 80' length about 2" to 4" deep. I didn't till the whole 10' width, just the middle 5'. The mowing and tilling took about 2 hours. I enriched the soils organic matter by adding old potting soil to the tilled area. (We keep old soil in a huge pile at the nursery). I'd come home with a few buckets and drive over to the area and dump the buckets after work. I added about 2" of this soil to the surface of the tilled area. The next 2 steps, weed cloth and mulching are where I've really saved time over the years. I rolled 3' wide x 100' long weed barrier cloth on both sides of the 5' wide bed. 8" staples are tamped down with a hammer every few feet to fasten the weed cloth tight to the ground. I squared off the ends of the bed too with the cloth.

This has kept the grass from entering my bed over the years. When I mow around this bed now, I put my mower deck on the highest position to make sure the blades don't grab the fabric. But I'm ahead of myself here. I planted 3 Wyeberry about 5' apart. Then 3 Kiowa blackberry about 5' apart, 3 Triple Crown blackberry 5' apart, 3 Heritage red raspberries about 3' apart. I did this around September. After planting I pitch forked hard wood mulch about 3" deep the length and width of the 5' bed. (about 2 pickup loads).

The following year the plants grew and I'd do a little weeding after a rain but the mulch kept that chore to a minimum.

I added some support stakes about 5' high on the inside running edge on both sides of the weed barrier cloth for the Wyeberry and blackberries, with a wire attached at the top running from 1 pole to the next. When finished, they had the shape of 3 sets of parallel bars with the plants in the middle.

The Heritage did not need any trellis. For the past few years I don't spend a lot of time on the upkeep. In the fall I'll take out the old dead canes that fruited and clean up the beds generally.

The Wyeberry is first to ripen. Kiowa starts to ripen a little before Triple Crown but they overlap too. Heritage has been harvested July thru August at this writing, ripening a few weeks after the Wyeberries started to ripen and past the blackberries.

I spend more time picking the fruit than upkeep. The yields are eaten fresh and we're able to freeze a lot for winter use. Plus, I've learned more about these varieties. I hope this helps your planning and planting practices with raspberries and blackberries. For a limited time we are selling weed barrier fabric (Lumite) at $1 per foot.

New Filberts at Edible Landscaping

Edible Talk

"We bought three Asian Pears approx 8 years ago and lost one during the 2007 drought. They are a hit along with the Persimmon which I have talked a number of people into buying. Its been very fun seeing the Persimmons for sale at Whole Foods for $3.00 each when our tree has more than we can eat!"
Bernadette.

Reminder of Our 2nd Annual Persimmon Day
10 am to 5pm Saturday October 31.

Thank you so much for speaking to the Herb Society of Southwestern VA last month. Yours was without a doubt the most delicious and entertaining talk we've ever had. I don't think anyone has ever serenaded us before!

Just about when Id decided it was impossible to find truly sweet, tasty fruit, you came along and proved me wrong. The pawpaw had always put me off just by its name, but it is wonderful. And I can't remember the name but the little "Brain" fruit was unique and a treat. (Che Fruit)
Thanks again for a memorable Herb Society meeting,

Sincerely,
Judy W, secretary
Herb Society of Southwestern Virginia.
22 November 2008

Thank you to Alexis Zeigler!!!

Alexis wanted to help in someway with Ian's situation. For the last few weeks he has biked from Charlottesville to our nursery (some 25 miles) to help with potting up plants. The outpouring of prayer and love from the surrounding community has brought unity for us all.

Ginkgo article from Tropical Fruit News

"The Ginkgo tree, known as a living fossil, is one of the few plants in the world to have survived through the fourth ice age 67 million years ago. Although the Ginkgo was found only in China, it was not until around the eighth century that the ginkgo tree was introduced to Japan and other countries. China can still claim more ginkgo trees than any other country, one third of which can be found in Taixing.

In the Jinsha Village, on the western outskirts of Taixing, there is a ginkgo tree with a diameter of 2.5 meters (8.25') at the base. Chinese experts date this tree to be over 1,000 years old. In the Dewan Village, there is another ginkgo tree with some protruding nodes growing on its trunk, the villagers humorously call it 'the breast' tree. On closer examination of the base of this tree which measures 84 cm (33.5"), experts now believe it was grafted about 250 years ago. Even at that early date, the Taixing people had mastered tree grafting. This tree still bears up to 150 kg (330 lbs) of nuts each year. For many families in this village, these trees which play a very important economic role to the family's income are nicknamed 'mints.' Ginkgo nuts produced in Taixing have a desirable and characteristic thin shell, plump meat and ease of preservation are now in high demand especially in Southeast Asian countries. In recent years, the nuts have been exported to Russia, Canada, Australia and the United States.

The ideal geographical setting for the ginkgo tree is a temperature between 8 and 22 degrees centigrade (47-72 degrees F), fertile soil and lots of sunshine all of which can be found in Taixing. Today, this number has skyrocketed to 1.13 million and growing, the direct result of worldwide acceptance and demand for these nutritious and vitamin packed nuts.

In Materia Medica, Li Shenzhen (1518-93), one of the greatest pharmacists in ancient China, pointed out that ginkgo nuts are good for the kidneys, strengthen the body, relieving coughing, treat asthma and can expand capillaries. Eating these nuts regularly also prolong life.

Moder medical research has confirmed Li Shizhen's theory. Scientific research shows that ginkgo nuts possess 18 kinds of essential amino acids, vitamins A, B and C plus traces of calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, selenium, carotene and other nutrients. It has been discovered that the fruit can also fight tuberculosis, lower serum cholesterol and treat angina pectoris, heart diseases, cerebro-vascular diseases, cancer and AIDS.

Ongoing research reveals that its bark is rich in falconoid, a main ingredient in a special drug for the treatment of cardio-vascular diseases. Ginkgo leaves can be made into drugs to treat soreness or inflammation caused by frost or cold, usually affecting the feet or hands known medically as chilblain. Ginkgo nut have been so readily accepted worldwide that plans to produce ginkgo fruit juices will soon be available to consumers. Research is also underway to produce a special dandruff shampoo and a line of skin care products to treat dermatitis.

In Taiwan ginkgo nuts are effective cures for many modern diseases and is said to check the spread of cancer cells or even eliminate them."

The rest of the above article can be found in the May/June 2009 issue of Tropical Fruit News.

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