Yamato Hyakume Japanese Persimmon

Recently I purchased (quite by impulse) a set of Persimmon graft (sold as Yamato Hyakume) by Martha's Secret. I say 'by impulse' because I usually don't buy a plant unless I have thoroughly researched all about that specific plant, fruiting style, how to care for it, etc.

Anyway,  after my purchase, I realized, I knew very little about this Persimmon and seller doesn't have a lot of information on it other than this:

Yamato Hyakume is one of the newer varieties introduced to the USA.  It produces a large fruit with a red skin. Yamato Hyakume fruits early in the season and yields a large crop with juicy firm fruit that has a spicy flavor.  You should see fruit on these trees in approx. 2-3 years depending on your climate. 

They were selling both from eBay store and their main site.  On eBay they had a picture to show how the fruit should look ...

They also mentioned that this Persimmon is an astringent variety.  That means, we can't eat them until the fruit is mushy ripe :)) .. Unless of course we don't mind our mouth being inside out. *eek*

After waiting a period of time, two graft arrived (dormant) which lead me to believe, these guys are not self pollinators.   Anyway, I planted them (hole was prepared and my soil mix with load of Great White Mycrorhyzza, Rockdust, and other good stuff :) .   

I later found out through a Gardenweb discussion that those are not for each others pollinating partner.   The seller just provided two of them as part of the package.

Anyway, I did some digging and found very little info on this other than meaning of Hyakume is Brown Sugar  and Yamato means Japan :)  - So I guess Japanese Brown Sugar? :)).

According to http://www.hort.purdue.edu :

'Hyakume'–round-oblong to round-oblate, somewhat 4-angled and flat at both ends; 2 3/4 in (7 cm) long, 3 1/8 in (8 cm) wide; skin pale dull-yellow to light-orange, with brown russeting when ripe; flesh dark-brown, crisp, sweet, non-astringent whether hard or ripe. Midseason. Fairly good quality; somewhat unattractive externally. Stores and ships well.

As we can see, this contradict with what I stated above (Astringent variety).     I guess I will know for sure when I get to taste the fruit ... (Maybe at the cost of risking my mouth inside out ... *EEEK*

Vasilika Mavra (Royal Black Fig) and Vasilika Melissi (Royal Honey Fig)

Vasilika Mavra (Royal Black Fig)

I recently acquired this rooted cutting of a wonderful Greek variety fig known as Vasilika Mavra or Royal Black Fig (picture above) along with a Vasilika Melissi (Royal Honey Fig) from Greece.  Yes, I got hold of a seller who shipped those two rooted cutting to me.   I am quite excited as these will join my other Fig collection.

As far as history goes, these figs date back to ancient Greece.  They were popular for there taste and for there abundance of vitamins.   Harvesting for both these varieties are in August-September.  These varieties do not need any pollination.  

People often confuses the name Vasilika Sika which just means in Greek - The Royal Figs.  Vasilika Mavra often referred as Vasilika Sika. 

I planted both of those root cuttings on 5 gal pot with my super soil mix (:  ... come to think of it, probably a bit overkill.  We shall see how they do as time goes (it is still very cold outside ... in the 20s, so plants are staying inside.

Soil Mix

- 1 part Perlite

- 1 part Vermiculite 

- 3 part Organic Potting Soil

- 2 part Mushroom Compost

- 2 big scoop RockDust

- 1 scoop Kelp

- 1/2 cup Diatomaceous Earth

- 2 tbl spoon Epsom Salt

- 1/2 cup of Oyster Shell 

- 1 part Turface

*Some of the above product I happen to have in my storage, so I just added int he mix .. :))

Both rooted cuttings were 2.5 years old, so I anticipate figs as early as this summer!

By the way, these are the pics I obtained from Giorgos Arvanitis (Person who I received those root cuttings from)

I've grown some "Red Spinach", also known as "Laal Shag" in Bangladesh.  This shard is highly nutritious and one of my favorite.  When you stir fry this or cook it like you would spinach, you will notice the "red juice" which is very very healthy stuff!  Oh by the way, you can eat these raw (like Salad) or with your favorite Sub.   I got some seeds from my brother and scattered them at a section and they came up very quickly.  I wish I spread them up evenly as many were overlapping and stunted little ones growth.  Oh well, next time I have to speed the seed evenly.

I still have few more patches left after collecting this much (you see in that bowl).  After cooking, this amount shrink so much that you would hardly believe that much Red Spinach made so little to eat. Anyway, I hope to grow in large quantities next year if I can gather enough seed from the plants I have left.

Howdy Gardeners ...

I wanted to start this blog simply because I didn't think my gardener talk fits in my chickenyou blog.  Since I already got started on the other one, it didn't make sense for me to create one that combine both interests in a single blog.  At this point , I am mainly blogging just to keep certain things documented and keep some of my friends and family in the loop on what's growing on in my backyard ... :)

In this page, I may talk about gardening in general which may include vegitables, to composting to fruit trees to ornamental trees to blah.  I guess just about anything gardening.