Desert Adapted Banana Trees? | Pistachio Update

[@carolleenkelmann3829]

Hello, you wonderful people. You always manage to surprise me with your unboundless energy and insatiable enterprise. And it's all there to see in that green, diverse, productive oasis. Don't drive yourself bananas, though. Pistachio in the desert...! Next you'll be telling us you've planted pine nut trees. 😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you continue to enjoy these. Your comments are always so encouraging to us, thank you! Now to find that pine nut tree. 😉

[@annellacannella5674]

I think Italian stone pines would work just fine.

[@dianaj3139]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I found a pine nut tree from Italy in the strangest place EVER... a Christmas Display at a local grocery store, they had several different kinds of trees in Fancy Christmas pots but since it was AFTER Christmas, and nobody bought them they put them all on sale for $5 many were originally priced for over 20 bucks! Now two years later I am getting the longer pine needles and it's looking pretty healthy... I am so excited to see what happens with the pine nuts... Hopefully it happens in my life-time! :D

[@lindapal774]

I've never known anyone else to grow moringa in the valley! This is awesome! I started mine earlier this year. She's already 6 feet tall!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They grow like crazy once that heat hits!

[@AbidAli-bv2gl]

Excellent video. I am very pleased about jujube . it is like desert gold

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The jujube trees are loaded with fruit right now. Just starting to ripen, but most of them are being eaten by the birds these days!

[@kevincharles112]

I had a banana growing in a sunny window indoors and it did wonderfully...never got fruit was a great indoor plant. Yours look great ... awesome that you created such a good microclimate for it! I have a decorative pistachio and it's gorgeous in the fall ... glad yours are doing so well. Best to you both!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Kevin. Was it a fruiting variety of banana or did it just not get enough sun to set fruit?

[@kevincharles112]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Fruiting type - dwarf cavendish - but I really didn't expect it to fruit (and didnt really buy it for that) since it only got mottled/indirect sunlight. It was always dark and green, then it outgrew the pot and didnt like being constrained. This was also several years before you educated me properly, so I didn't know what the heck I was doing either ☹

[@louiseswart1315]

We also have sweet potatoes around our bananas to keep the soil cool in summer. Actually it is a tree circle around a compost pit for our kitchen scraps with papayas and bananas around it. The

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Now that is the right way to go about this. Compost it all right there and keep feeding those trees!

[@louiseswart1315]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm we cover the scraps with wood chips to avoid gnats and fruit flies and a slimy mess.

[@slamboy66]

Make a SLO-MO #short of the Cat Catch Also What was it flying by⁉ Beatle?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great suggestion. I'll have to see if our editing software can make that happen without it being too blurry!

[@mesutozsen903]

Eline Emeğine Sağlık Bu Güzel Vlog ve Video İçin Kolay Gelsin Hayırlı İşler Bol Bereketli Kazançların Olsun 👍👍👍👍

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Teşekkürler mesut!

[@yaima0901]

Yellow cats are just built different 🤣🤣🤣

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

No doubt about that. She is on top of her hunting game and the only one enjoys belly rubs and gives kisses. A killer with a soft side I guess!

[@waxwax8781]

What type of banana? Always a pleasure to see you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

This one is a namwah banana.

[@gracealonso275]

Use the laves you cut off the Banana tree as mulch around the base. It will retain water and feed the trees

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We do leave them around the tree as mulch and I'm thinking it may be more beneficial to place them under the wood chip mulch to break down a bit more quickly. 🤔

[@gracealonso275]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm That is probably a very good idea. I pull all my wild grasses and trim off the yellowing leaves and add it to the pile. I grow them in a circle and fill a pit. Soon you may have enough pups to do that. our should see how beautiful my plants are. Of course I am in Florida, so when it starts raining it seems to never stop and the air is always moist. But combining leaves and mulch should create an nice damp micro climate

[@fleaniswerkhardt4647]

Your jujubes are doing magnificently well. Are they around 3 years old? What variety are they? You should make it a habit of wearing a wide brimmed hat any time you're outside working - especially in summer when the UV index is high.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The jujube are about 3 years old at this point. We're growing the Lang, Shanxi Li, Ant Admire and Empress Gee.

[@ericbowers1620]

Banana looks great! Whats the large spreading plant near it thats covering the ground nicely?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It's hanging in there. We had a great suggestion here in the comments from somebody in FL to use a heavy fertilizing schedule monthly for it. Oh and the ground cover is sweet potato. We don't harvest it, so it comes back stronger every year.

[@ericbowers1620]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Very nice. Did they recommend something specific for the fertilizer? Also, how long does the sweet potato ground cover hang around?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@ericbowers1620 they didn't mention a specific brand, so we're going to search for an organic grass fertilizer and start there to see how it does. The sweet potato hangs in there until our first solid freeze. Sometimes that's well into December and then back in the Spring.

[@ericbowers1620]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok great info! Thanks. Gotta find something to cover ground and help absorb some heat instead of the ground reflecting it and heating yard more.

[@gordybishop2375]

Nice to see a banana growing there. They take lots of fertilizer?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Funny you should ask this. We just had another viewer here in the comment section from FL suggesting we fertilize it monthly with a heavy potassium fertilizer. So now we're on the hunt for an organic option for that!

[@DoItYourselfGardening]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm a few videos show the banana, onion peel and wood ash fertilizers say they contain potassium. Definitely do some research. I’d have to do hands on testing. The onion and banana peel vids use the water soak method but I personally like KNF so id use equal weights brown sugar and peels of either and seep for a few days strain and dilute to use. This for me in Florida helps create biota in the mulch in turn I hope stimulating the roots down below. I use it on my lawn clippings but will make a batch specifically for my little cavendish that ive tortured and maybe by Christmas’s I’ll have an update about growth!! Sorry for the word salad hopefully any was helpful. I love everything you are doing and I hope regardless of anything you both here, you guys are well past the point of success so with that in mind keep breaking the limit!!! Thank yall!! 🤙

[@Maria-ql3fc]

I have comfrey growing pots and trying to decide where I should plant them out. My son gets a bit careless with the mower. I want a banana plant so much but have no space for it.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

So far the comfrey is doing better than we expected. It definitely needs quite a bit of shade, especially in the afternoon.

[@jaredmccutcheon5496]

Your garden bed with the beans and tomatillos will probably never have to be seeded again, lol. I planted tomatillos and pole beans in my garden 7 or 8 years ago and they come back all over the place each year. The tomatillos are particularly weedy. I broke my mower and have been waiting for a part to fix it so things are a bit overgrown right now and yesterday I just noticed I have one growing in the middle of my lawn, haha. The beans are nice because if I find them when they’re first sprouting they’re super easy to move wherever I want them, but the tomatillos get pulled ruthlessly and they keep on coming. I let one grow this year so I can make some salsa verde but the rest get removed or they get out of hand quickly.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Jared, you are absolutely correct on those beans. They will pretty much always have a home in that bed. This is the first year we've grown tomatillo and we prefer green salsas over red, so I'm hopeful we'll be trying to knock back some volunteers like you are!

[@threeriversforge1997]

How do those beans taste? It's too wet to grow them over here, I'm told, but I'm curious about them nonetheless. Might have to buy a pound just to see how they do in a Ham-n-Bean Soup. With winter coming on soon, a fellow is wise to lay in stores just in case we get one of those frigid South Carolina winters. :D

[@youtuudodo]

If it too wet to grow in the ground try growing in raised bed.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I think they have more of a "green" flavor to them than most dried beans. Now that could simply be from eating them not too long after harvest. They're about the same size as a decent sized black eyed pea for reference.

[@WashoeValleyCollies]

Why no dogs on the farm? You guys are so inspirational! 😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We do have plans for a few pups starting this Fall. A couple of larger, livestock guardians and a smaller ratter for the rabbits and squirrels.

[@WashoeValleyCollies]

​@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Make sure you work with a proven breeder who socializes and trains the pups before they release them to you. The larger dogs will mature more slowly than the smaller breeds. So do ask many questions about what to expect. And for the livestock breeds, they need to be taught by the adult dogs, and also spend time with actual livestock, to learn their jobs. So I would not suggest getting one of those pups too early before they finish this step in their learning. And considering it's so hot where you live, I'd look toward the short haired guardian breeds......like the Antatolians of Turkey. Also feeding a great diet to your working dogs as they grow and not doing a spay or neuter before they reach puberty, will provide you with a dog with healthy hips and other body parts. I only tell you this because I've been a collie breeder for 15 years, and they are herding dogs. Many of my kennel offspring have done well in obedience and herding. But there is a training curve....and the essential 'allow the brain to mature' before you expect anything. Usually this happens at puberty, which you'll need to talk with your breeder about. And the females usually mature before the males....gee that sounds familiar? lol Go to AKC and I think the group you'd want to look at is called Working dogs and seek information from there. I have no info to guide you about ratter type dogs, except I think many terrier types are what you seek, but again temperament and instincts must be in the genetics. So work with your breeders to get the best dogs for your purpose. Also I'm sure you have coyotes, the little dogs could make a nice meal for a coyote pack...so be aware of that aspect too. The bigger dogs, if the mark your property, will let the coyotes know not to tresspass. Also I'd look on FB at the group Puppy Culture.....it's a great program for socializing puppies. You can ask questions there and also look for suggestions for the breeds you are investigating. Be an educated buyer and don't fall for the cutiest puppy you see. You need working stock, not pets. I hope this helps you out. Barb

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@WashoeValleyCollies thanks for all the great notes here Barb. We're focusing on the 2 most common LGDs found here in the desert areas around Phoenix. Typically it's either an Anatolian or Great Pyrenees (or a cross of the 2). There are a few Facebook groups that focus on farm dogs that breed their dogs and have them around farm animals from birth, so we're following those and getting to know a few breeders. The smaller dog will be a bit more difficult to find.

[@WashoeValleyCollies]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I forgot this important topic.....research the topic of inhaling fungual spores in the desert, like Valley Fever, Hanta, etc. One of my customers spent some time in Tucson and played with their collie in the desert (fetch) and eventually she came home to Reno with a persistent cough......yep, caught a fungal infection that was treated wrong.....and thus her life was cut short, eventually. I know you are smart enough to take this info and do the research. But it's important to know about since we are all desert dwellers.

[@WashoeValleyCollies]

One more tip from my desert ranch in NV....if you dogs eat wildlife (and they will probably hunt baby quail, rabbits, etc.)and you don't catch it going down....you risk your dogs get parasites from wild life. One of my own collies this spring, had eaten a baby rabbit and I did not know it. Lucky for him I saw him poop a couple of weeks later and he had white crawly worms on his stool. I sorta suspected tapeworm, but when I researched it, I knew it was tapeworm. So learn about parasites too and how to fix the problem (appropriate wormers for your canines, depends on their DNA status to specific Rx drugs, you'll need to ask the breeder for this info....hopefully they do the DNA testing for drug sensitivities like we do in collies and will know this info). Or you can ask me questions too anytime, as you are so generous with your insights on farming. I can at least point you in the right direction.

[@gaza1677]

Check videos on ancient omani agriculture to get a glimpse of what to plant in deserts They also have ancient banana varieties adapted to desert climates

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thank you for this suggestion. I'm not familiar with this!

[@JesusisLord78]

Nice how much water do you give the banana tree per week in liters please if I may ask? Thanks

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh boy, that's really difficult to say as we hand water that plant. It's watered daily though and probably gets around 20 liters at each watering.

[@Puaspapa]

Aloha from Hawaii…. Steve here Great to see your banana tree grow beautifully!!! Don’t touch that third keiki (child) lol… let it go to let it grow I saw your Florida watcher comment on fertilizing We fertilize only using organic fertilizer like chicken manure. Sorry, sounds gross but pee on it. The fruit is only for you! I agree with the Florida guy it needs potassium BUT organically we put the trimmed leaves back into the soil. It’s pulling potassium so put it back into the soil… if that makes sense We basically just leave the dead leaves alone Anyway… you guys do what you guys want to do You guys are doing great!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Steve, I was hoping you would chime in on this one. We're the same here with only organics when it comes to fertilizer and I like the idea of chicken manure. We use that on our evergreen trees as well for that extra nitrogen. For the trimmed leaves, do you dig them into the soil and bury them?

[@Puaspapa]

Hi Duane…. Time as you know is precious. If you could spare some, sure chop it up into smaller pieces and get it to the soil but if you don’t… you can leave it alone and keep piling it up to act like a blanket to protect it from the direct sunlight and #2 during the winter to keep your tree warm. Aesthetically… it will look ugly but here in Hawaii we believe that EVERY part of your plant is useful for something Again, do what you want to do… these are just suggestions from a guy surrounded by banana trees for over 50 years You guys are doing GREAT!!! I learn a lot from you guys!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@Puaspapa thanks for the tips here Steve. Really appreciate it!

[@dianaj3139]

I do not know of anyone in my area that has a Pecan tree... They are plentiful in Texas where my son used to live, but here in Oregon we have hazelnuts and Walnuts ... that's about it! This year even after the deer Heavily PRUNED my Pecan tree it has 3-4 potential nuts forming... I am thrilled!! Also, my Banana trees are doing well and multiplying! It is challenging! I really want to know more about Pistachios. I think it gets too cold here where I live... but maybe worth a try?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad to hear that pecan is trying to put on some fruit for you, that's exciting! We'll be learning as we go with the pistachio. It will probably be a few years before any fruit set, but we're hopeful. They do need some chill hours, I believe they are only good down to about zone 7.

[@stunbanks]

What beans are those ?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Those are tepary beans. I'll link to the website we purchased our seeds from a couple of years ago for you here; www.nativeseeds.org/collections/tepary-beans

[@DoItYourselfGardening]

And I don’t own chickens but the idea of using moronga fresh from the tree or dried in powder would be a nutrient additive for the chicken feed? I’m going to use moringa powder and lava rock for my worm castings as a way to keep them feed in storage and was curious if moronga was a good source of trace nutrients for chickens if that makes any sense. Like a little powder could go a long way. Or it could do nothing just didn’t know what y’all might use for feed and it peaked my interest! Thank you for any answers!!🤙

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The chickens do enjoy the moringa leaves and they are also fans of the alfalfa which we have growing in their pasture. The major advantage to the moringa would be the additional nutrients that are mined over time as the tree continues to send that tap root down further into the soil.

[@DoItYourselfGardening]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you for that! I noticed they have a daikon radish type root imo and I should research root uses for food!! Anyways thanks for the updates and can’t wait to see the beauty that fall brings!!

[@jrap0003]

May I ask had you any experience with Persimmon trees in desert climate? I live south of Sicily here summer can get hot like yours and my persimmon trees are not doing great, thick trunk but struggling with growth. Any suggestions?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We have a couple of persimmon trees, but they don't grow very well. They have set fruit, but they don't make it through our summers into Fall when they ripen. The biggest issue is the hot ,dry summers that cause issues with the fruit and stop the tree from growing for several months.

[@jrap0003]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm not adaptable like our climate better remove. Thanks and keep it up

[@leilawerner5620]

Bananas need monthly granular feeding of 6-3-16. except December and January here in South Florida. Your banana plants look too pale green. They are heavy feeders of Potassium. the 3 is phosphate Try that if you can

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh, thank you for this suggestion. That makes total sense being it's a grass!!

[@OZARKMEL]

The white flies have been HORRIBLE this year....no matter what organic method I use I cannot eradicate them!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yeah, they were bad last year, but this year they arrived earlier and are just out of control!

[@laughingbuddha28]

Y dont u guys rain water harvest more. Im always thinking while wtxhing the videos

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We do passive catchment on all of our buildings (house and outbuilding). The gutters on the house are directed into underground pipes that pool the water up around our grapevines that we dug swales around to help retain that moisture. The outbuilding gutters are directed into the berry area where the woodchips allow more of the water to penetrate into the soil. Active catchment requires a bit more labor to maintain (and utilize) that we just don't have in our bandwidth these days, so we figure this is the next best thing.