Edible Seasonal Passive Sunshade

Chayote (sp?) Vigorous vine. Very edible.

John!

jetgraphics wrote:

Reply to
GA Pinhead
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That's going to have to be a pretty hefty shell, just to be freestanding all the way around. Are you planning on a wood structure, or steel pipe and I-beams?

How big is this going to be?

I'd allow at least four feet, both for ease of access during harvest and pruning and to minimize the likelyhood of creepers bridging the gap.

Use trees with tap roots--like pecans. When planting, dig a hole as deep as you can with a posthole digger (rent a power augur if doing more than a few holes; much less work, and you can go deeper). Dump a pound or two of fertilizer into the holes, then add 10-15 gallons of water (I just fill the hole a couple of times). Break up some of the clay from the holes, mix with some peat moss, compost, topsoil, and a bit of plant food; use this to backfill the hole and surround the tree roots when you plant the tree. Save a bit of the mix for filling in around the trees, as the mix will settle. Use the leftover clay for landscaping.

This approach gives the tree a good environment to start growing, an easy path for the tap root to follow, and a great boost at the bottom to really anchor it.

And, using pecans also means a crop to gather in late fall. Pecans should be planted at least 40' apart.

So will the south wall.

Sounds like a few roots were growing near or into the foundation and became conduits for water when they rotted out. Roots can leave some big holes, and they don't close up quickly in hard soil like clay. I have more filling work to do in my back yard from that very problem.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Heston

Ah.. but Kudzu IS edible. It is a legume, and every part of the plant can be eaten. I have never had it myself since I am from the non-Kudzu blighted zone 4.

But you can eat the 'bean', the leaves, the root, and as I understand it, in its native parts of Asia it actually is a desirable culinary plant.

Here is a page I found listing some 'recipes' for Kudzu. Perhaps this summer if you're from the South you can reduce your grocery bill eh? My Google search did turn up other pages with recipes, happy hunting.

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Reply to
Troy Lubbers

freestanding

Ferrocement catenary tubes for the roof top

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How big is this going to be?

Vaulted arch on 28' x 28' footprint, height hasn't been decided

trees,

Reply to
jetgraphics

I am new to passiflora... so have no experience (yet) to pass on. Did a brief google tho' and this site looks promising for this:

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am hoping to get seeds this year, but will also experiment with starting from cuttings. Mine is P. cerulea.

Reply to
Katra

Kudzu IS edible!!! Seriously. Do some googling on it.

It also makes fantastic graze for both cattle and sheep.

I've seen recent articles on great success in controlling kudzu using sheep.

Reply to
Katra

you have many edible choices. I would only have a perennial vine, so I would not consider Malabar spinach or chayote. Besides grapes, hardy kiwis (but not fuzzy kiwis, unless it is a sheltered location - they will take 20F for short periods, no more), akebia, and schizandra. Hardy kiwis and schizandra are the best looking plants.

Reply to
simy1

How to Grow Kudzu

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I've seen recent articles on great success in controlling kudzu using >sheep.

Lots of sheep!

Reply to
Rex Tincher

site, it appears to have an insane amount of fiber. Like, 5 times as much as an equivalent amount (calorie-wise) of whole wheat flour or 3 times as much as an equivalent amt. of pinto beans. So I imagine it's kind of "woody."

Reply to
DrLith

Cascade Hops. Put them in your homebrewed beer.

Also, string beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and melons will climb a trellis. Consider dipper gourds and loofahs.

Reply to
bb

drooping) to

TMEN ran an article about someone slashing a bunch of kudzu and bringing it home to feed the goats. Some consider goats edible. ;^)

Reply to
bb

Noooo... the edible thing "kiwifruit."

A "kiwi" is bird (supposedly named after the sound it makes.) Also, "kiwi" can mean a human from New Zealand. The bird-type kiwi is the national bird, and legally protected. And eating the human-type kiwi went out of style about 150 years ago.

Reply to
Endangered Bucket Farmer

Just a thought. We used wire one year to allow climbers to climb. Burnt the stems. And we are only in zone 5b.

Reply to
Dana Schultz

Thanks for the link. I'd done some searching previously, but had not seen this page. Looks like I have some experimentation ahead of me. Good luck with your P. cerulea.

Reply to
David

In Edible Seasonal Passive Sunshade on Fri, 01 Apr 2005 17:38:52

-0500, by jetgraphics, we read:

One option for you is the Kiwi. Originally from New Zealand this is a hardy plant that branches and grows fast and can reach 35 feet in height. It can be trained or let grow where it will.

I built a screen using a system of 4x4 posts and

4x8 sheets of trellis. I reinforced the trellis wall with 16 gauge wire between the vertical posts.

This plant is sexed, so plant a male and a female in order to get fruit.

Reply to
Strabo

Maybe try peas. Edible, and also have nice flowers.

Reply to
Endangered Bucket Farmer

David said the following on 03/04/2005 04:38 pm:

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for a future has a database of over 7000 useful plants. Might be worth a look at.

Andy

Reply to
news

Thank you! :-) I'm currently attempting hand pollination of some blossoms to try to induce fruiting. I want to try seed propagation, but am also planning on playing around with air layering for clone propagation.

Reply to
Katra

And here I thought I'd just throw some seed in the ground and get some passion fruit. And to think, I used to collect the fruit in the wild when I lived in Hawai'i. There were at least three varieties I knew where stands of them were. Oh well. At least I know the work will be well worth it. But clone propogation? You are way ahead of me there.

Reply to
David

It's often easier and faster, hence more rewarding than seed propagation. My two Wisteria vines are a perfect example! 5 years old started from seed and only 12" tall. :-P

I bought a good book by Rodale's on plant propagation and it's very very well written! Air layering seems to be the most promising for a lot of perrennials.

Just take a small pot of good soil, (I plan to use Miracle Grow) and place it near the main vine or plant. Choose a nice section of vine or whatever, and select a promising joint where the leaves are coming out. Remove the leaves and stuff that section an inch or so into the soil, then just leave it alone for a period of time until that section sprouts roots into the soil.

That can then be cut from the "mother plant" to make a new plant. :-)

Seems to be a bit more sure than cutting propagation using rooting compound.

Kat

Reply to
Katra

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