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Agricultural Update
Mar. 11th, 2010 09:42 pmI started some watermelon seeds indoors the other day. Later I'll transplant the seedlings on to hills in the side yard. I'm also planting two avocado trees out there Saturday. I did a lot of exploratory digging today in the front yard, to figure out the existing sprinkler system. It's two zones of four sprinklers each, as well as some drip lines. It's connected to the house main. My ultimate plan is to run a dedicated sprinkler main from the well and to tie into this existing piping but also to expand the system so it covers the entire lot with automated timers. Ive been reading up on this, and it's really pretty complicated, in essence I'll have to learn hydrology. I also chipped the tree limbs from the trimming last week. I rented a huge gas powered chipper and finished it all in 3 hours.
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I've done some more reading on avocado cultivation, and with the cooler nights in this area, I'll only need one tree, which will self pollinate, but I still bought two different varieties. Each tree has a different and complementary type of flower, and together they result in strong pollination and lots of fruit, plus the season for each is different, so I will have avocados ripening from August to January. I was lucky to find both a Zutano and Stewart avocado tree, which are Mexican varieties, and cold resistant. One has the greenish type of fruit, and one has black pebbly type, like a Hass avocado. Both are well suited to this location, so I should have the best luck in a cold snap. Because of the gophers, I'll have to wrap the root ball in chicken wire before I plant it. I've been baiting the gopher holes with poison the last week or so, but I'm sure they're not eradicated yet. I have a little tomato and jalapeno pepper plant that will also go into the ground tomorrow. I bought some parts to repair the existing sprinkler system, and I'll install them tomorrow. My new plan is to use what's already in place for the next 6 months, but by next fall have a more sophisticated irrigation network. In October I'll kill all the grass with Roundup and reseed the lawn. Spring is apparently the wrong time for grass seed, so I'll just maintain this crappy lawn until then, and not do all the new sprinkler stuff until this summer.
*******************************************************************************************
I've done some more reading on avocado cultivation, and with the cooler nights in this area, I'll only need one tree, which will self pollinate, but I still bought two different varieties. Each tree has a different and complementary type of flower, and together they result in strong pollination and lots of fruit, plus the season for each is different, so I will have avocados ripening from August to January. I was lucky to find both a Zutano and Stewart avocado tree, which are Mexican varieties, and cold resistant. One has the greenish type of fruit, and one has black pebbly type, like a Hass avocado. Both are well suited to this location, so I should have the best luck in a cold snap. Because of the gophers, I'll have to wrap the root ball in chicken wire before I plant it. I've been baiting the gopher holes with poison the last week or so, but I'm sure they're not eradicated yet. I have a little tomato and jalapeno pepper plant that will also go into the ground tomorrow. I bought some parts to repair the existing sprinkler system, and I'll install them tomorrow. My new plan is to use what's already in place for the next 6 months, but by next fall have a more sophisticated irrigation network. In October I'll kill all the grass with Roundup and reseed the lawn. Spring is apparently the wrong time for grass seed, so I'll just maintain this crappy lawn until then, and not do all the new sprinkler stuff until this summer.
