{"id":8513,"date":"2023-03-23T00:23:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T23:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/?p=8513"},"modified":"2023-04-25T22:41:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T20:41:41","slug":"a-walk-in-the-fields-in-early-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/a-walk-in-the-fields-in-early-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"A walk in the fields in early spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year the spring arrives slowly in Ticino, at night it is still cold (5-7 degrees).
Some pictures of 20.03 to observe the very first leaves on some fruit trees, small and big.<\/p>\n\n

The small fruits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Raspberry bushes, variety “Enrosadira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kiwai Issai, a green mini-kiwi (Actinidia arguta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Tayberry, blackberry\/raspberry hybrid (Rubus fructicosus Aurora x Rubus idaeus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Josta, blackcurrant\/mackerel hybrid.
Of all the currant bushes, it is always the fastest to start.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Cassis.
Despite a more sheltered and warm position, it starts slowly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Dorman Red.
A hybrid of Dorsett raspberry with a wild American red mulberry (Rubus parviflorus).
Very vigorous and productive, and unfortunately also very thorny! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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“Siberian huckleberry” (lonicera kamschatica), actually a honeysuckle.
Already covered with leaves, it is the earliest of all, the fruits will be ripe already in May.
Too bad they are too bitter, barely edible (in my opinion… but to each his own). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The blueberry trees, the real ones, covered with white bells.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Rubus Phoenicolasius.
I don’t know a common name for it, so it’s called “sticky raspberries”.
It spreads very quickly if you let it. 3 small plants 3 years ago, 4 rows today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis), a climber that multiplies very well by itself, provided it has shade. The fruit with 5 flavors for the Chinese. Acidic, bitter, sweet and pungent for the fruit. These are a few small red bunches, very few for the moment. But the plant is only 7 years old… patience.
Is there a flavor missing? The leaf is very salty! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fruit trees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Biricoccolo (one year).
A natural plum\/apricot hybrid (Prunus cerasifera x Prunus armeniaca), very ancient and introduced from China in 1700. It is cultivated only in Italy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another Biricoccolo (4 years old).
It is planted in the woods, so it is protected from deer. Height of the fence must be two meters! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sins.
No blisters yet this year. They were watered in early March with a homemade garlic decoction. I’m going to spray them a little more before the end of March and we’ll see if it really works.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sorbier (Sorbus domestica).
It wakes up slowly and grows very slowly too. 3 years and I haven’t seen a fruit yet.
Behind them are feijoa guava trees (Acca sellowiana). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Mirabelle (Mirobolano), an ungrafted semi-wild tree. The flowers are already almost gone.
Planted in the woods for 5 years, branches bent into a parasol, it is now high enough to do without a fence while remaining safe from ungulates.
It has yielded very little fruit so far. I think I know why: you have to plant a second one to ensure cross-fertilization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Plum tree Reine-claude. In the wood, therefore protected.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another plum tree (4 years old). The plum trees grow very slowly in the wood, probably because of lack of water. It is not possible to water and there is not enough rain in the last years. It’s frustrating at times, but there’s nothing we can do about it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 3 year old plum tree near the vegetable garden. Cut in a bun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Almond tree.
In bloom since mid-February, it is almost the end of the flowering period.
It has been planted for 3 years and already had almonds on all branches last fall. It is folded to be able to pick them without shaking the tree. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A one year old apple tree in an espalier.
He’s just past winter and has his whole life ahead of him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Three-year-old goumi in the vegetable garden (Elaeagnus multiflora).
He produced two buckets full of berries already last year.
The Goumi is adapted to poor soils, it enriches its own soil with nitrogen. In a rich soil it grows at an impressive speed. It remains to find out how to use the fruits that it produces in profusion, small red berries with soft core. Goumi wine? To be invented.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hedge of Goumis, 8 years old. Planted between the rocks, they grow without problems.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nanking cherry tree or Ragouminier (prunus tomentosa).
Tiny, planted this winter. But the first one in bloom, long before the real cherry trees.
It is in the fenced area, safe from ungulates. But it must be protected individually in spite of everything because of the badgers. The outside fence does not stop them and they eat all the young cherry trees. They love leaves and completely massacre small trees, the low branches of large ones too. But they don’t touch the cherries. Go understand badgers… <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A Cognassier (Pero-cotogno). A disease resistant variety from Romania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Williams Pear Tree. 20 years old, big production.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Beech tree (Nespolo germanico).
The blue fruits from last year are still on top. Not enough customers for medlars… it’s a special kind of fruit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Finally, some color. Two intertwined plants. These are not fruit trees, just decorative.
Who guesses the names of the two?<\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year the spring arrives slowly in Ticino, at night it is still cold (5-7 degrees). Some pictures of 20.03 to observe the very first leaves on some fruit trees, small and big. The small fruits Fruit trees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1630,"featured_media":8445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1630"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpagrumi.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}