BTW - didn't respond fully before because I was trying to restore one of the computers after the younger child formatted the hard drive to install a Linux dual boot. I've got it pretty much done now.
I have read about planting a mulberry tree to keep the birds from eating the cherries. One house we almost bought (had a contract, it's a long story) had a mulberry tree and that's the first one I ever saw. The fruit was pretty good but not as good as cherries.
Our cherry trees are semi-dwarf and not very old, so it isn't hard to wrap them in netting. Some people a couple of blocks away have a HUGE sour cherry - probably Montmorency - at least 30 ft tall, maybe 50. I doubt they can even pick the cherries. So I guess that cherry-pickers are aptly named, that's the only way you could get the cherries, and the birds don't go for them because they are sour, so they go to waste.
A couple of years ago we visited Monticello, and I was surprised to see that Jefferson grew figs. Monticello is on the top of a tall hill. The fruitery is on a stepped terrace, with the open side facing south. The cold air slides down the hill, and the microclimate in the fruitery is warm, so Jefferson also grew grapes and peaches.
monticello.org
We are a hundred miles north of Monticello, but we are also at a lower elevation, and our microclimate is moderated by the Potomac and the Chesapeake, so I think if anything it is more southern.
In New Orleans, fig trees grow without any care needed at all, but I thought they couldn't grow here. My three little fig trees are doing fine but they don't get enough sun, that's why I think about cutting other things down. I mentioned five blueberry bushes - two are Elliots. One gets lots of sun, one gets more shade, and the sunny one has much sweeter fruit.
Your description of Concord grapes intrigues me. I have never seen them growing, but I am very familiar with kudzu. Not sure why kudzu hasn't made it to Louisiana, but so much of Alabama and Mississippi is covered with kudzu that it's not only alarming but frightening. I am sure that if you fall into the kudzu by accident late at night you will never be seen again.
We don't have to fight with deer at all, and squirrels, as you can imagine, are also no problem. Last year what got our pears were crows. Earlier this year we had a lot of crows but lately, none. I wonder whether someone is poisoning them or whether it's West Nile, or what. |
