It's a Thorny Situation

Litchi Tomato or Morelle De Balbis [Write up below from Baker Creeks Catalog]

 Large plants grow to 5', and are covered with thorns; sweet red fruit and large white flowers. Lovely to look at, but be careful with the thorns! We enjoyed the fruit all summer right from the plant. They're about the size of a cherry and taste like a cherry crossed with a tomato. A very pretty and attractive plant that originated in South America, but has been naturalized in many countries. Start plants as you would a tomato.[The above information is from Baker Creek]

Do you see the thorns here? 

I recently posted a general farm update. It mentioned these tomatoes and they seemed to catch everyones eye so here is a post devoted to these interesting and very pointy, sharp and prickly tomatoes!

These plants are some of the strange old or rare varieties we have tried this year. The germination of the seed was good and we had a vigorous set of seedlings to set out.

They took right off but we noticed the thorns right away, even on the seedlings. Ralph got poked several times planting them. We re-read the information but it didn't mention the thorns on the leaves!

The Litchi didn't mind the extreme wet or the dry and have grown really well in the garden by the house and the big main garden south of the barn. We did not stake them as we couldn't get onto the garden due to wet conditions, now we cannot stake them due to the vicious thorny nature of the plants. They are strong though and don't seem to be bothered without support. The flowers look very much like potato blossoms and the fruit are grown in clusters and have a husk...the husk has thorns on it. As they ripen the husk shrinks away and after a few pokes you get the hang of picking them without injury.

 We are loving the fruit. I don't think any have made it to the house. If we are attempting to get weeds under control or I am picking peppers or corn I seem to amble by the Litchi and snag the ripe one. Our neighbor who is cutting our hay stopped by when I was in the garden the other day, he and the other neighbor who cuts hay with him came over to see what i was doing. They marveled at the huge stalks of Incan corn but then I had to tell them about the Litchi. I told them they tasted like a cross of tomato and cherry. Jim was skeptical and so was Andy. The look on their faces after they tried them was one of amazement. Jim didn't like them but Andy was soon getting stabbed to get more of the tasty treats! He said I wasn't kidding when I said they were thorny. But he didn't stop eating them!

We  have decided they are worth the effort. Next year will see a row of them properly staked in the house garden and they WILL make it into the house to be put up for winter treats.

The heat of August did slow them up but now it is a wee bit cooler they are setting fruit again. We did have tomato horn worms on one but we have the beneficial wasps that lay eggs on the hornworms so that did not last long. (We still have no idea how the hornworms made it though the spikey net of thorns but they did.)

So I hope this helps out a bit, they really are great tasting snacks and quite unexpectedly sweet. If nothing else they are great for starting conversations and the flowers are beautiful.

Happy gardening to you all and make jam from thorny situations!

Its been Almost a year!

We took Possession of our farm on September the 1st 2015! Now its the 23 rd of August 2016 and it is odd, it feels like we  have been here forever and yet not long at all! The farm felt like home the day we moved in...well even before that it felt right! In that sense it is a blessing as the farm fits us and I think we fit it. I hope that makes sense.

The planning we had done prior to buying and with the buying delays paid off in so many ways and has let us get a lot done in the way of gardens and poultry and generally setting up the base for our future endeavors. Applying the plans to a new climate has been an adventure!

Above is the current layout of the farm, it is not exactly to scale but is fairly close and has all the pertinent information on it. The house sits at 862 feet of elevation and the high point of the land is around 900 feet and is at the point of fence west of the South Garden. The map is oriented North at the top. There is not a lot of really flat ground but it is all workable if we choose to.
The round dots are trees and the three round dots with red borders are the apple trees. The clothesline is next tot the Herb Garden.

I think the thing that has struck us the most is how this country can grow things. Given the hot, wet and humid summer it  is more like jungle than we had ever expected. Last summer when we gardened here in August it was dry, they all said pretty normal so we did not experience the insane weed and vegetation growth we have seen this year.

This is Ralph flail mowing the West Garden, it was fallow to be used for fall crops, as you can see the weed growth and return of the hay and Johnson Grass got totally away on us! However this complete fail has some good things about it. The flail mower chops the vegetation into a useful mulch which we will work into the soil. (When is gets dry enough) Plus the fresh mowing gives the poultry a wonderful selection of chopped weeds, disturbed bugs and the like to forage on.

This is the front of the house as we saw it the first time, quite plain and bare. We decided since Rhubarb does not like super hot and full sun we would try this location for it. Ralph made a raised bed for the Rhubarb along the house. 

Now it looks like this! That doesn't look like Rhubarb your saying to yourself about now. It isn't....it is the result of adding squash to the winter diet of the poultry. We fed them squash on a regular basis over the winter to give them fresh vegetables and to supplement the commercial diet of chicken ration. When we cleaned the chicken pens we dumped the shavings, old hay and poop mixture in a pile by the Tobacco barn door. We used pails of this mix to add organic and natural fertilizer to the potting soil, dirt mix we made the raised bed with.  Somehow we had both forgotten squash seed are extremely durable so now we have "Wall 'O' Squash" in front of the house. It is climbing the chicken wire fence we made to keep the poultry out of the young Rhubarb. By the way the Rhubarb is liking the location and the Squash makes a wonderful Privacy hedge!

The critter free yard the first time we saw it, the lawn was mowed with a lawn mower not turkeys, ducks and chickens. It was pretty and pristine and just wanting a little bit of fertilizer and love!

Not a tidy pristine lawn any more but filled with noise and all sorts of going's on. Closer to what a farm yard should be and always fun to go out to. The poultry does a really good job of grazing and keeping the bugs down. I have had just one Mosquito bite this year and I think I have to thank the bats, swallows and our birds for that.

The late corn out in the South Garden, this was just hayfield last year and we are pleased with how it is growing after just being broken this spring. I will be getting corn to can from this patch fairly soon.

Imagine these arrivals on the 28th of August last year....our very first livestock. The turkey Poults that came to New Castle by air and then rode with me in the car to Kentucky!

What a difference a year makes!

Little golden balls of fluff were also a delightful addition when we finally got possession and were moved in.

Now some of those same chicks are raising our next generation of poultry and starting the foundation for our farm flock. Its a grand thing!

All in all we are loving our new home and I know it will keep us amused, entertained and fairly fit for years to come. Of course it is also feeding us like kings as the seasons progress. This post does not begin to cover all the aspects of the farm and its progress. We hope it gives you some idea and a few smiles at how the year has gone. I would rate the results of the first year as 60% success, 30%  failure and 10% disaster. We have learned from all aspects and are already working on things to change and do better for 2017.

 God Bless you all and be safe. Take joy in the small things we are blessed with!