Above Average Chill-hours so far

Posted on November 30, 2010 by beth

What are chill hours?  There are different ways to calculate chill hours, but basically they’re the cumulative hours under 45°F from the beginning of November through the end of February.  And why do we care?  The cold is required to break down the hormone that causes deciduous trees to be dormant, allowing for new growth, bud break, blossoms and eventually fruit.

There are lots of low-chill varieties of fruit trees and bushes available to grow in San Diego.  Most of the recommendations I’ve heard are to look for varieties that require fewer than 300 chill hours.  For blueberries – that’s the southern highbush types. For apples, we found a triple graft tree with Anna, Dorsett Golden and Einshemer on a single rootstock. (It’s been a few years now, but I’m guessing that must have come from Walter Andersen nursery.)

I just found a link for weather services on the UC-Davis Fruit and Nut site that shows the chill hours to date based on a weather station on the Balboa Park Golf Course. So far this year – we’re at 30 hours, and all of that was in the last 5 days.  That’s more than twice what we’ve had in any of the last 8 years for the same period.  Time to start thinking about the dormant spray and winter pruning.

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Blueberries

Posted on November 28, 2010 by beth

Against the better wisdom of the folks at Walter Andersen and Dave Wilson Nurseries, I planted my first blueberry bushes – gasp- right in the ground.  I carefully amended the soil with sulfur to lower the pH.  Then I mixed in peat moss and small pathway bark for moisture balance.

The plants took off well with lots of new growth, but then… some of the leaves started to turn brown around the edges. They curled and dried up.  Some red blotches appeared on the canes.  Before too long it was obvious that they were not going to survive.  So much for the first attempt.

Second time around, I planted them in containers. They are 2 years old now, happy and thriving.  We have two low-chill varieties, Sharpblue and Sunshine Blue. True to the description for the Sharpblue’s -“Bears fruit nearly year-round” – we got a little harvest just this morning.

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High-tech Hop Dryer

Posted on November 27, 2010 by beth

When drying your homegrown hops, it’s very important not to let them get too hot. Heat drives out the volatile hop aromas you want to keep for your brewing.  Most food dehydrators now have adjustable thermostats that let you control the temp down to the low 90s, so if you want to fork out the cash and find some place to store it, go for it.  You’ll have to run it for a few days to get the hops properly dried.   Or you can try this high-tech hop dryer….

Put a layer of hops no more than 3-4 inches deep in the bags and roll the tops over to close them. Remember – sunlight is bad for harvested hops – it causes skunking. Then put the bags in your car.  Give ‘em a good shake once or twice a day so you don’t end up with a moldy middle.  They’re dry when the stems snap instead of bending.

I weigh an ounce and pack it into a quart size freezer ziplock.  I put it under a book and stand on it to squeeze all the air out – then label and date it and store it in the freezer.

Cascades from Hop Dryer

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4th and Final Hop Harvest

Posted on November 26, 2010 by beth

I thought I was done for the year, but those Cascade hops keep coming.  Looks like I can get another ounce or two off the bines before I clean them up.  I planted the rhizomes in the spring of 2009 and got a small harvest last year.  This year they went crazy.

In mid-July I was starting to have a whitefly problem and there were tons of hops ready, so I cut the bines all the way back – leaving just a few new shoots.  I harvested over a pound of Cascades from the cut bines, which yielded a little more than 4 ounces dried.  By August, they were back up to the roof and setting more cones.  In September, I harvested another pound or so.  Tragically, I did not tend my drier well and that batch got moldy – had to toss ‘em.

In October, I cut them way back for another harvest.  The Cascades yielded another 5-6 ounces dried. The Nuggets were much less prolific throughout the season – only got about 4 ounces total.  My first batch of homebrew made with all homegrown hops is fermenting now.

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Rain Barrels Help Prevent Runoff Pollution

Posted on November 25, 2010 by beth

Well – it’s not rocket science, but apparently rain water collection is good for more that just watering your plants.  The results are in from the Rain Barrel/Downspout Disconnect Pilot Program sponsored by the City of San Diego Storm Water Department.

“The rain barrel system not only conserved water, but it was also effective at improving water quality by redirecting water away from the hardscape and directing it to landscaping where it can infiltrate into the ground,” said Clem Brown, a senior planner with San Diego’s storm water department.

We’ve got 5 55-gallon drums (from San Diego Water Recycling) and a 275 gallon tote hooked up to gutters here and they’re all just about full from the recent rains.  Last year, the water we caught in the tote was enough to get a new peach tree and a new plum tree established.  Recently, I’ve been using the water to keep the Cascade hops and the papayas happy.

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