Yesterday the pomegranates were on sale at the grocery store! You really do have to wonder why so expensive when the trees are so prolific, easy to grow, and demand nothing in the way of fertilizer and water.
You don't even have to do the work of removing the arils anymore. At Costco they sell tubs of those ruby red seeds, albeit for a rather inflated price.
For a tree that is in complete decline it did pretty well this year. I think the main culprit must be a root fungus which started to show itself a couple of years ago after an unusually wet summer. The drainage may not have been quite adequate for such a wet season. The bark began to peel and branches slowly began to die back. Even so in its dying throes it produced an amazing crop. There are new sprouts coming from below so I am still undecided as to whether to remove the whole tree. For now another of the main trunks will be removed. I'm taking the 'never say die' attitude. I just don't want to think about a year without pomegranates.
Thanks for today's post and previous posts about your pomegranate and its sad decline. I had the same problem but did not know what it was. For the last couple of years I have removed major trunks but there continues to be new growth. I agree that I will just leave it and see what happens. I love following your blog!
ReplyDeletePomegranates in Abq often remain uncollected on trees and shrubs. They are so common in older landscapes - took me decades to like eating them, but the rest of my family has always loved them. Since I have no room for one (would not work in the design...), I use them in clients' projects!
ReplyDeleteME Krauter- Searched everywhere for the answer and am not positive about this one but it seems like it is the answer. Do you have a blog? Saw your profile but no link.
ReplyDeleteDesert dweller- Rather like the lemons on the trees in Phoenix. People don't know what they are missing, do they? We have them on our breakfast cereal/oatmeal every morning. Crunchy and tangy. Also squeeze for the juice. I know what you mean about not fitting into the landscape. I don't really have another place to plant a tree and yet this is not a good place. Plus putting another tree in the same spot is asking for trouble.
I started to consider a blog and even a name! However, I decided it was a lot more work and not near as enjoyable as reading other people's blogs! The photo is from my yard several years ago. No grass in the back and little in the front. Every year I eliminate another patch. This year, the drought did it for me! Your yard is an inspiration to me!
ReplyDeleteME Your garden looks really interesting. Are you here in this drought stricken land?
ReplyDeleteI would buy your beautiful pomegranates. Those are better looking than any I see in the store. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteIf we lived in the same town, I'd trade fresh eggs from our hens for some of those pomegranates! Yours look so much fresher than the store's collection.
ReplyDeleteWe have one small tree, but it's not quite old enough to start producing.
David/:-)
I would too! I would buy your lovely poms. What a gorgeous harvest.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I bought two dwarf pomegranate trees off the back of a truck that was delivering other plants to a nursery where I shop. As it turned out, the fruit are what's "dwarf" rather than the trees. Details.... The tinier fruit are still lovely to look at and work well in floral arrangements at least.
Pomegranates are a precious fruit!
ReplyDeleteHere, the price of the pomegranate is too expensive!
I have to try this tree ...
My favorite fruit by far to eat, and your bounty looks lovely! What variety do you suggest for a newbie fruit tree grower?
ReplyDeleteI live in Austin on the NW side with almost solid limestone just beneath the surface! Beds have been built up and huge rocks have been broken up with a rock bar and pickax. Over the last 20+ years, tons of dirt, compost, dillo dirt, and soil mix have been added. Now I am replacing yard with DG and giant boulders or stepping stones. I could not bear the heat or the water bill from the last few summers. Anything that did not survive will not be replaced. I do have critters but nothing like you. Deer are present but usually leave my front yard alone.
ReplyDeletei keep trying to talk myself into planting a pomegranate tree in the front yard (in a space currently growing Asiatic Jasmine and a Dr. Huey Rose), but I keep thinking of some of the monsters I saw in Hyde Park, plus the fact that a neighbor down the street had to resort to gasoline and fire to get rid of their tree. It gives me pause...that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'd much rather buy your beautiful poms than those of Costco! Do you freeze the ariels? We thought we might try that since we have so many at the moment. Although, they are going pretty quick!
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