Harvesting Ginkgo Fruits - An Annual Struggle

Every year in mid-summer I look up into our beautiful ginkgo tree and ponder the day that those green fruits turn a bright orange and begin to fall. The fruits are prized as a delicacy and medicine in some cultures.  There's just one problem. The fruits smell like vomit. I'm not kidding. They smell horrible. The plump little fruits fall onto the sidewalk with a SPLAT and the aroma can be detected from over a block away.  No. Really. A block away.

"What on earth are those things?", many passers-by inquire.  I have my patter down after all these years.  "They're ginkgo fruits.  Some people eat them and, yes, they really smell like that.", I respond.  The next question is usually, "They smell awful! Why don't you take down the tree?"

This question always strikes me as impertinent. Do they think the thought hasn't occurred to me? Each year I prod its branches with long poles to dislodge the fruits.  Because it is very tall, I have to stand directly under it to reach the branches forcing me to take refuge in a rain slicker, boots, and long rubber gloves.  Did I neglect to mention that the fruits cause a rash if you get the juice on your skin?  So, yes, while I stand with hundreds of vomit bombs falling all around me, I do indeed wonder why I haven't taken down the tree.

But there are joys to my stinky tree.  Fifteen years ago when we moved into our home, the street was somewhat of a mecca for Chinese and Japanese immigrants looking for a reminder of home.  There were four female ginkgo trees in one block.  Each fall carloads of families would appear with long poles to knock down the fruits and harvest them.  I enjoyed speaking with them and learning about how this food fit in their culture.  But over the years all my neighbors had their trees removed to avoid the mess and stench.  This was not without controversy.  One neighbor actually stood on the sidewalk and cried as he watched a perfectly healthy tree being sawed to bits.

Today I steeled myself for the annual rain of putrid fruits and marched out to complete the harvest with a cheerful mind.  A few minutes into the task,  I looked up to re-position the pole I was using and an errant fruit literally hit me between the eyes.  After saying some choice words and cleaning up (remember the rash?) I set about my work again. My mind considerably less cheerful, I began to wish ill upon the tree.

Just as my curses for the tree were reaching a crescendo, a car drove up.  Out pops a well-dressed Chinese woman.  It is Anny, one of the women who came last year to pick up some fruits.  She is beaming as she gets out her bags and bowls to begin picking up the fruits.  We hadn't called or emailed each other.  She was simply driving by to seeing if the fruits were ripe yet and there I was in the middle of the harvest. We were both a little stunned by the odd coincidence.

Anny walks gingerly while navigating the aromatic minefield created by the fruits.  We both laugh when she makes a mis-step and a fruit crunches under her heel.  Her shoes, four inch wedges, are woefully inappropriate for the task.  We work together in silence as we scoop up the bounty.  Neither of us feels the need to chatter.  Suddenly I don't mind the stench or the slight throb in my forehead from being beaned on the head so many times.

Why don't I cut down this tree?  Because it brings me together with so many people I wouldn't otherwise meet.  Anny speaks broken English and I've seen her only three times, but she feels like an old friend.  I like talking to my neighbors who stop to complain, commiserate about the stench, or thank me for protecting the tree from destruction. I'm hoping my neighbors will come around to my way of thinking and protect the tree after I've left this world..  After all, ginkgo trees can live thousands of years.  I hope mine is still here bringing people together when the next millennium arrives.

Update on Surround + Footies to Prevent Apple Insect Damage

Remember my post about using footies and kaolin clay to prevent insect damage?  Well, it's late August and for the first time since I planted my apple tree 15 years ago, I've got an entire tree full of beautiful apples.  About six apples have fallen over the season, most of them had obvious damage from codling moths.  Those are pretty good odds given that I have about 100 apples on the tree right now.

You can barely see the nylon footies.  They've stretched with the growth of the apples.

The Liberty tree in full glory and groaning with the weight of apples.

The keys to success were:

1. Begin applying Kaolin clay immediately at 80% petal fall.
2. Keep applying the clay as it wears off with wind or rain until the apples are the size of nickels.
3. Once the apples have reached the appropriate size, thin them to one per bunch and then apply the footies.

It's labor intensive but it is organic and it produces beautiful apples.

Protecting Your Apples from Insects Organically with Surround and Nylon Stockings

For many years I've been frustrated by the near complete loss of my apple crop to plum curculios, codling moths and apple maggot.  If you're not familiar with these insects pests download this excellent PDF from the Wisconsin extension.  It is free to download and you can purchase a hard copy as well.

Between the three of these little devils, I was getting only enough apples for a few pints of applesauce.  I tried putting nylon stockings over the developing tiny fruit.  However, the plum curculios damage the fruit before it is large enough to be able to use this technique.

This year I finally got smart and I began spraying my apples since petal fall with Surround, a finely ground clay that irritates the insects and prevents them from feeding or injecting their eggs into the fruit.  Here's a good article about using Surround kaolin clay.  (It's probably obvious but "petal fall" is when most of the petals have fallen off the blossoms.)  Don't spray before petal fall or you will interfere with pollination.

The Surround keeps the insects at bay until the fruitlets are the size of a nickel and ready for their nylon stocking hats.  The nylon "footies" protect the apple for the rest of the season.   You can read all about this technique and buy footies from the Home Orchard Society website.

Here's the whole process:

This is what the Surround Kaolin Clay spray looks like when applied.  The silvery color is actually pretty pleasing but does look a little weird.  I hated the way the spray covered my grass and so I avoided using Surround for years.  This year I experimented and found that if I spray the grass immediately after application with a strong jet of water, most of the excess clay is washed away.

Before putting on the footie we need to thin the fruit to prevent the tree from over-taxing itself and to make the apples that remain on the tree bigger.

Using a scissors I carefully thin away the excess fruit.  Choose the largest fruit and do your best to make sure it isn't damaged in any way.

After thinning this apple has room to grow!

Now comes the weird part.  Putting on the nylon footies.

Here's the footie as it comes out of the package.  These stockings do NOT snap back so handle them carefully.

You need to open the footie 1/3 to 1/2 its length.  I  pull the footie over my thumb to coax it open far enough to slip over the tiny apple.

Now gently slide the footie over the small apple.  Insert it about half way.  This  gives plenty of room for the apple to grow.

Now just lightly twist the end shut under the fruitlet.  Be careful not to break him off!

Here's the finished product.  A cute little apple snug inside a nylon footie.  Sure, it looks a little weird but isn't that worth it for perfect organic apples?

There you have it.  Not only is this process completely organic, it also avoids killing the pests.  As a Buddhist, I really appreciate being able to avoid unnecessary killing.  The pests land on the tree, become irritated by the clay, and move on somewhere else!

Urban gardening from a country perspective: Do it yourself (and easy!) garden trellis

Check out this great article about building a trellis out of electrical conduit.  If you replaced the string net with wire, this would be a great way to build support for the smaller fruits.   I'm not sure it would be sturdy enough to hold up an apple or pear laden with fruit but it would work wonderfully with currants, gooseberries, or even raspberries.

Urban gardening from a country perspective: Do it yourself (and easy!) garden trellis

Protecting Espaliers from Frost

Another great benefit of espaliers is the ease of protecting them from late frosts.  Frost is threatening my home town tonight.  I found some tarps and sheets and clipped them to the wire support system to provide some protection against frost.  It's doubtful that these passive measures will be effective under 28 degrees but the forecast is for 30 degrees tonight.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Tarps and blankets covering espaliers will protect to 28 degrees if you're lucky.

The micro-climate here with the cement driveway close by might be enough to protect these blossoms if there is no wind but I didn't want to chance it.  If you're lucky enough to have your espaliers planted against a rock or brick wall, you've got excellent protection if you can use a tarp to cover the tree and include the wall allowing the radiant heat to be trapped by the tarp.

Good luck to everyone.  I'm hopeful I can still have a harvest this year.

Pruning Black Currants

Pruning black currants is a fairly easy task. Since black currants bear the most fruit on last year's wood, the only real trick is to remove all the wood that is more than one year old. Here's a before photo:

See the finished product below.  It looks like I've killed the poor thing but without removing those old canes, there wouldn't be room for the new shoots that will bear next year's crop.

Be sure to either burn the removed canes or remove them far away from your garden to avoid spreading disease or insect pests.

Spray for Peach Leaf Curl Now

Peach leaf curl is a serious problem and can defoliate a tree

Photo credit goes to the University of Illinois Extension

There is no cure for peach leaf curl, only prevention.  You must apply a fungicide early before the buds begin to swell.  The fungus is carried into the opening buds via rain so you've got to knock out the fungus before buds are susceptible.  Some people also apply fungicide in late fall.

If you're looking for organic solutions, you can use lime sulfur. My experience is that it is quite effective.  However, it smells like rotten eggs and since mine is an urban orchard, I didn't feel it was fair to make the neighbors smell that for weeks!

I switched to Chlorothalonil.  I try to be as organic as possible but sometimes gardening requires compromises.

The folks at your local garden store will be able to help you with what is available in your area. 

Whatever you do act now!  Once the disease starts, you just have to wait while all your lovely peach leaves curl up and fall off.