Thread: In the Garden 2018

Ron I thought halls farm was in Iowa, is where your at in Mn. That close? Tc

I'm currently growing two types of hard neck garlic one is thriving one is o.k. The big one is averaging 18 inches but the other is only six. They are legacy and Music but I forget which one is which. I used to grow dutch shallots but they don't finish till mid to late June and that gives me less time for the hot peppers and tomatos, so no shallots and I miss them.

I love gardening too, I can almost smell the roses!

Today I found something I have been looking for a couple years. A dragon' fruit cactus, it is a viney cactus that produces very nice exotic tasting and looking fruit. Hope it does well for me.

Originally Posted by Toroblanco

Today I found something I have been looking for a couple years. A dragon' fruit cactus, it is a viney cactus that produces very nice exotic tasting and looking fruit. Hope it does well for me.

Maybe this will provide some info that you can use. I found it interesting that they bloom at night so bees are of no help pollinating.

How to Grow Dragon Fruit | Growing Dragon Fruit (Pitaya)

We used to carry the fruit in my produce department, along with other 'different' tropical fruits. 99.9% ended up in the garbage but corporate insisted that we still carried them.

Wow, that is crazy. It is exotic so most people likely don't know what it is. If you get a chnce try one. It is not strong tasting, a mixture a tropical fruits tastes all in one. If they are organic then they even have a more exotic flavor profile. It is commonly mistaken and called pitaya even by fruit profesionals but it actualy called pitahaya. Real pitaya is actualy more rare and even more expensive(in my experience even better). Not many will get the chance to even try that one. That one requires special growing coditions I can't replicate but found out pitahaya can grow in my area. Thanks for your link I will definately look it up. They flower at night because they get polinated by fruit bats. Their guano(bat that is) is considered the best thing you can use for flowering fertilizer in the high end organic production garden. If you you grow your own chiles,tomatos, flowers etc..( high phosphorus loving plants) nothing will give you a combination of flavor and yield. With flavor being first priority yield second. Well except properly made aerobic compost but that is a whole other subject. Most people will not have access to. Fruit bat guano you can order on the internet.

Here's a quick list of some exotics (at least to most people around here) that most if not all was regularly thrown away:

Guava
Cactus Pear
Nopales
Jack Fruit
Cheremoya
Habanero Chilies
Kiwano
Yellow Chilies
Passion Fruit
Tamarillo
Chayote
Kumquates
Lychee
Star Fruit
Sun Chokes-Jerusalem Artichokes
White Asparagus

I wish that I had just what cost was on all of above that I personally tossed that had gone bad over my 36+ year carer working in produce. I'd be much better off financially than I am now!

One product that if I could get a customer to try they would buy it was UGLI Fruit. UGLI Fruit is a registered trademark and it has to be grown in Jamaica . Oh you can find the same or at least very similar but it's usually sold under the name of 'Homli Fruit'.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Ron I thought halls farm was in Iowa, is where your at in Mn. That close? Tc

I don't know what you mean by halls farm. The farm I grew up on is about 25 miles south of my current home in MN. My youngest brother is running the farm.