Drought Tolerant Fruit Trees And Vegetables To Plant Now!

[@Doc1855]

We grow collard’s, mustard greens, and Swiss chard every summer. The secret to getting rid of the bitterness that Collards tend to have is to freeze them before cooking. We add our collards, mustard, turnip greens and Swiss chard together in a Large pot to cook them down. We add 2 heaping Tbsp of bacon grease, salt and pepper to taste. About 10 minutes before they’re done, we add 2-3 full cloves of peeled garlic in with the greens. Even though I’m a WA native my parents were raised in Oklahoma and Arkansas, so naturally they taught me how to cook with southern traditions. My wife is from Montana and I’ve taught her how to cook southern. One of my favorite veggies is fried Okra. A few minutes before the Okra is ready, I add a clove or 2 of peeled garlic and a sliced sweet onion. I do have a question for you. You said that the leaves of sweet potatoes are edible. Do I cook them like I do spinach? Another thing I wanted to add is that Dandelion is VERY good for your body. The entire “weed” can be consumed. Add the tender young leaves to your garden salads. The roots, stems and flowers can be boiled down to make tea. If the tea is bitter, add some honey. Dandelion is high in vitamin K, C, A & D. Dandelion also helps our bodies pancreas produce insulin, which is good for diabetics. God knew exactly what our bodies need, so He created food for us to enjoy and to live healthy.

[@seekeroftruth9900]

Amen, Food is medicine.

[@wirelesscaller7518]

Bitter in Chinese medicine is indicated for liver.

[@kataylor62]

If you let the frost hit your collards they are much sweeter. I only like winter collards.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@Karen Taylor That is what we do

[@Doc1855]

@@kataylor62 I agree with you on the collards. You’re right about waiting till the first frost. We like to eat them year round, so that’s why I freeze them before cooking them down. I just picked my 3rd harvest of Swiss chard today.. I should be able to get 2 more harvests before we start getting snow

[@Jim-fr3gr]

We finally got some rain Monday and Tuesday.We got about five inches here NE Texas.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Awesome! We got a little but not as much as you.

[@DeepSouthBama56]

I do hate to correct you, but Figs are shallow rooted and for optimum growth and production benefit from mulching above ground. Oh and yes they are great for the homestead.

[@joanies6778]

This is true. When I lived in CA, I almost lost a fig tree where moles had dug under it. The roots were not very deep, IMO. Still, they evidently thrive in drought.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks Tom. No worries. We are both correct in essence. As you saw in the video, I added text to the bottom of the screen stating figs can, in certain soils, put roots down very deep as well as spreading out to a diameter of 3 times the canopy of the tree/bush. Regardless, they are great for a homestead, very drought resistant, and extremely delicious.

[@DeepSouthBama56]

@@CountryLivingExperience Oh yes they are great to have, I have a small fig bush too. Thanks for the reply back.

[@otahnon1576]

Go green!!!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Go White!

[@carolynstreet5325]

I live near Abilene, TX and our tomato plants are doing absolutely terrible. From 23 plants we have harvested about 6 tomatoes. About 3 weeks ago we installed shade cloth, but that doesn't seem to have helped. I think they were too stressed for too long. My cherry tomatoes have produced a few tomatoes and the yellow pear have lots of fruit, but none has ripened yet. Thank you for your informative, upbeat videos.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome. Sorry to hear about the tomatoes. It has been so very hot. They need that shade cloth early for sure.

[@yaima0901]

I live in midland Texas and I use 60% shade cloth and I get LOTS of tomatoes every year and we get 105-110 temperatures and NO rain…

[@NynkevanderBurg]

Wonderful video, nice to see which fruit trees grow well in Texas. I live in Adelaide which has a mediterranean climate with very dry summers with extreme heatwaves and cool winters but never frost. We moved here 4 years ago and I started planting fruit trees in our suburban block right away. So far I am really happy with grapes, loquat, pomegranate, apricot, plum, apples (different varieties), figs, feijoa, quince and jujube. So a lot of the same ones you mentioned. I don't grow olives although they would do well here but they can get invasive in the bushland. I think the best drought resistant trees I have planted are black and white mulberries. They are quite amazing and have never needed water beyond the first summer. I grow citrus too but they do need water in summer. And thanks for mentioning your experience with the jujube. I planted it this past winter and now plan not to water it. Tomatoes don't do well in our climate at all, cherry tomatoes are ok. Sweet potatoes do ok here but did way better in Queensland (where we lived before moving here) where it is much more humid, so I think they like humidity. The best fairly drought resistant vegetable in my experience here are eggplant, artichoke -both regular and Jerusalem artichoke, and asparagus. And the herbs that are great here as you would expect: oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage.

[@scottcampbell7944]

I live in S Texas. The deer eat our figs trees leaves. In fact, they eat any young plant or tree they can get their grubby mouths on. We must put fencing around any plant we want to keep.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

We had to do that early on but then we got a farm dog. He does a good job keeping them away now.

[@diversparadise7058]

There’s a homestead channel, Perma Pasture Farms where Billy sells bone sauce that is supposed to deter deer you could try that.

[@lunabeta3516]

Oh my gosh, I love sweet potato leaves. So much better than spinach

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Absolutely!

[@stevenpage8847]

I live near Norman Oklahoma. It’s been hot and dry this summer. My tomatoes did awesome! They’re still producing.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Cool

[@barbaralong8665]

Small or cherry tomatoes usually do well in hot arid climate. Larger tomatoes quit in the summer but will sometimes begin producing again in late September.

[@xrpayday5637]

Drought and higher than normal early summer temps and sandy soil seemed to bring me a lot of blossom end rot on my tomatoes that i have never experienced before. We have rain barrels as our only water source but when it doesn’t rain the gutters only collect dust!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Blossom end rot is usually from a calcium deficiency. We add a powdered calcium to the soil around our tomatoes and never have an issue. Give that a shot.

[@xrpayday5637]

@@CountryLivingExperience I had the sparty labs analyze my soil last fall - no indication of that. Will see if it continues with the new fruits that have and are developing since the weather and moisture have returned to normal. Thanks for the tip - it’s an easy fix if my issues continue

[@seekeroftruth9900]

plant dandelion and carrots around your toms. They thrive together, keep those carrot flies away, and they both help naturally bring calcium up out of the ground for the plants they are next to. Kinda like green beans are nitrogen fixers. ;) Diff root veg bring up diff minerals/vitamins for em. As well as powdered eggshells, old milk you aren't drinkin...compost tea with dandelion powder as well.. Hope this helps.

[@xrpayday5637]

@@seekeroftruth9900 thank you. Some good ideas here.👍

[@seanpatterson5033]

This was a great video 💯

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@ligbzd837]

We have so many gophers! How do you manage your gophers or moles?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I put a wire cage around plants when they are young. This protects young roots.

[@Stephenrsm7600]

What were the two type of fig trees you have???? I could not understand what name you said. Thank you for this information!!!!!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I don't remember mentioning them. I have many. I have a White Adriatic, Celeste, LSU Purple, Texas Everbearing, and Brown Turkey.

[@Stephenrsm7600]

@@CountryLivingExperience I went back and listened again, it is your Texas Everbearing fig. Thank you SO much!!!

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

Here in the East Med, what thrives ''in the wild'' regarding fruit trees and bushes, are the olives as you said, date palms, loquats as you mentioned, carobs but that's a taste not everyone likes, I personally love them and have been eating them since a child, if they can grow there and you manage to make carob honey on your own it will be fantastic. Almonds of course, wild blackberries, sycamore, and last the mulberry tree. Tons of both white and black mulberries, no one waters them and they get loaded with fruits every year.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Wonderful. Those are all great fruits. We are adding mulberry this year.

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

@@CountryLivingExperience I bet it will do fantastically well. I planted my first Pakistan black mulberry 3 years ago, it was less than a meter, that's like 2 feet or something like that, now it's more than 4 meters, let's see, 4 meters it must be somewhere between 10 to 15 feet.

[@debkincaid2891]

Very helpful as we're in our 4th? year of drought here in SE Idaho. Question: do you do market gardening? What do you do with all those melons? We are zone 5 here, extreme temps but usually low humidity (thank goodness!), and a very short, hot, challenging growing season. Grape vines are on my to-purchase list & now I'm going to investigate figs. I've discovered a kiwi variety that is supposed to tolerate our cold winters, too, so I'm excited about that as well. I'm enjoying your channel; thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. 🙂

[@Doc1855]

What variety of Kiwi can you grow in ID? We’re in north central WA state and get COLD in the winter (15-25 degrees in the day and around 0 at night). We also average 4-5 feet of snow every winter. The last 2 years our summers are getting hotter. Triple digits for more than a month. We usually get to triple digits in September but it’ll only last for about a week or less.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Glad it helped. I don't do market gardening but have thought about it. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these melons....lol. I have given some to friends and neighbors and Church members......still have a ton.

[@debkincaid2891]

@@Doc1855 Hi! I'll have to look it up again--which I'll do today --and I'll post the info here. We moved here from WA: SW WA--totally different hardiness zone. 😄 Look here later this afternoon for the info. All the best~

[@Doc1855]

@@debkincaid2891 I spent all my professional career in Tacoma. We now live between Leavenworth and Wenatchee up in the mountains. I’ll look later today for your post.

[@zuzax1656]

@@CountryLivingExperience I guess freeze-drying kind of defeats the purpose. 😜

[@TK-123]

GREAT ADVICE! I just planted some jujube and think I’ve been overwatering! Do you have a list of these plants from your video? Thanks..

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks. Yep, no need to really water those Jujube trees. Sorry, I don't have a written list. Just what I mentioned in the video.

[@arpotu]

great info. thanks!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome!

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Hello

[@davidsabo405]

Thank you

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome

[@wirelesscaller7518]

We've got loquat, 45 ftx25ft you can have it!! Huge mess when fruit drops! Lucky racoons like it.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

As long as I can eat them, it does not bother me.

[@samialsahhar9621]

The other tree you need to plant is pomegranate tree. pomegranate easily can grow in TX and tolerate heat and cold. Not sure about Loquat tree as they flower in Nov/Dec period and cold damage the flowers so you may get small crop or not due to the cold weather in TX.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you. I have one but it has never done well. It died back this winter and I was about to pull it out. It did recover but is not growing well. It is only 3ft tall and it has been in the ground for 2 years.

[@doubles1545]

I have pomegranates in New Mexico. I learned quickly if I want fruit then I need to water consistently. If I let it dry, then when it rains the arils swell so fast the skin will split. The bush will live just fine without watering, but if you want fruit they need a drink during the dry season.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@@doubles1545 Thanks for the heads up

[@matthewphares4588]

Al-sirin is a great pomegranate variety for Texas.

[@napoleonbonaparte7204]

I live in West Texas near the big bend and pomegranate trees 🌳 don't resist the winter, figs either, but they regrow in the summer.. Persimmons 👍 yes.

[@crystalaudas5035]

Do you have a video on how you set up your grape vines and materials used? I would be interested in seeing that! I live in the Texas Hill Country, also in zone 8b. I have been watching your videos as we are going to start turning our small back yard into a place we can grow some of our own food.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I do. We have an entire series on grapes. Probably 6 or 7 videos. Try this one to start.....kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXu1aIV_ZrOShtE

[@yaima0901]

Have you had any luck with grapes? I’m in zone 8a midland/Odessa area and I haven’t had any luck with any fruit trees, weather here sucks lol

[@iceprincess2134]

I live in the DFW area, and while we have the normal Texas weather my property has a high amount of clay. Would this be a problem for those sensitive to water?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

High clay soils hold a lot of moisture and will harm plants like grapes. Most fruits and veggies like a well draining soil.

[@iceprincess2134]

@@CountryLivingExperience Would amending the soil be reasonable or do the roots go too deep for that?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Amending your soils is always a good idea. Do it wherever and whenever you can.

[@countryblends]

I live in the DFW area also. I amend my soil with leaves, compost, top soil, etc. so that I CAN grow things here. Challenging, but not impossible.

[@Doc1855]

What is a JuJubee tree? What does the fruit taste like? As you know we live in north central WA state and get a lot of rain in the fall and spring. Our summers are getting hotter than normal. We grow apples, cherries, peaches and next year we’ll add 2 Elderberry trees. All of our water comes from our well, so we’re not dependent on city water.

[@edgarfriendly5081]

I believe the JuJuBe fruit is a type of date. They taste like a cross between apple and date. A little sweet a little tart.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

A JuJube is also commonly known as a Chinese date. We did a video on the tree here....kzbin.info/www/bejne/foa3nWOXi7iYd9E.

[@Doc1855]

@@edgarfriendly5081 Thanks, that sounds yummy. I’ll have to look for one to buy

[@celindahearld1328]

Would these same fruit tees apply to southeast louisiana. Drought was never an issue but it is now with geoengineering of weather. I know fig trees grow all over south La

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Absolutely. Good to have drought resistant trees just in case an odd weather pattern happens.

[@mariafernandez-browne749]

I have not had luck with chickpea, or garbanzo. Any tips? All of my fruit trees have survived. I do water them once or twice a week. No fruit, other than my fig tree. I also recommend getting bare root. It helps to let roots get strong

[@CountryLivingExperience]

No real tips for chick peas accept for dryer rockier soil.

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

I don't know about your persimmons, but mine, all 4 varieties I have need lots of watering to hold on the fruits. Once I didn't water them for a bit more than a week during Summer, due to too much work and zero free time, and ALL fruits fell, I almost cried since they're my favourite fruit, and there they were, laying on the ground, 400-500 persimmons. So, when you get fruits, you'll either have to water, or, thin them out, leave a third of them on the tree.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

We have wild persimmons and usually get summer droughts. They do fine.

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

@@CountryLivingExperience oh yes, the D. virginiana is native there, that's awesome. Mine are D. kaki, different varieties of that, like the jiro, fuyu, hana fuyu and another fuyu that I always forget, they're Northeast Asian, maybe that's the difference.

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

@@CountryLivingExperience by the way, is the American persimmon worth the space? I don't have anywhere to plant it, but since this is a wild one, does it really grow like a tree, or more like a big bush? If it's bushy, maybe it can stay permanently in a pot, but is the taste worth it? Is it as good as the Asian persimmons? Does it has a strong taste other than sweet honey? Lately some Spanish varieties have appeared here, they're so extremely sweet it's repulsive, you can't taste anything else than sweetness.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@@TropicalGardeningCyprus It grows like a tall tree. The root system is very extensive. It has a strong taste but it is astringent.

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

@@CountryLivingExperience thank you for the information man. I saw it once in an Italian online plant store and got me interested. Now I know I don't have the space for it as this spring am filling up all remaining ground places.

[@kataylor62]

I'm in NC i only planted Roma Tomatoes, just 4 bushes. They were not watered well and it had been extremely hot. The plants were pitiful looking but the fruit came in like gangbusters all at once but hung on the vine green for a VERY VERY long time. Then all of a sudden they all went red at once. I had almost 50 Tomatoes at one time from 4 bushes at once. The plants were so heavy with fruit í kept adding stakes. Then the plants all died off. It was the strangest tomato season ever. My bell peppers did nothing. The only thing that grew normal was my Carolina Reaper but even that was hotter than 3 hells.😂🔥

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Interesting. Mine did well with the shade cloth but just needed more water. My peppers are doing ok.

[@mkshffr4936]

Sage?

[@darlenenuss308]

Maybe it's too hot for the tomatoes. I think they don't like above 90 degrees.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

True. Mine are shaded though and have still produced a decent amount.

[@Back2Simplelife]

Do u know how are the fig and jujube in our prairie's black gumbo clay? Do you think I'd need grafts? Grapes nor persimmons are having any issues. My Quince tree is actually doing the best. My hybrid toms (heat tolerate varieties) are doing amazing but longer than normal to ripen... Herilooms are def struggling a lil.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Figs and Jujube should be fine although I am not familiar with your soil.

[@chrisrichardson8908]

How do I get my hands on these plants

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Your local fruit tree nursery.

[@magnumxlpi]

Not olives?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Sure, but those won’t grow where I live.

[@magnumxlpi]

​@@CountryLivingExperience ahh ok cool

[@lunabeta3516]

Apparently there are different kinds of muscadine grapes. Does it matter which one to plant for drought resistance?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Mostly all grapes that I know of are drought resistant.

[@lunabeta3516]

@@CountryLivingExperience thank you