How Wet Is It?

I met "F" in town at the coffee truck today and she asked if I was getting lots of rain where I am. Rain? Gosh, do I have rain? You betcha!! It's been raining a awful lot for the past five years. And recently it's been wet almost every day. This past couple months have been the worst so far.

Here's a photo to show how wet it's been recently. This pipinola is still on the vine......and it's sprouting! Not only is it sprouting, but it's growing roots too. And this is not the only one doing it. I'd estimate that 50% of the mature pipinolas are sprouting right on the vine. Yup, things are wet here.

Green sprouts and roots while still on the vine. 

Planting More P & P's

Today I added 18 more baby white pineapples to the gardens. I'm hoping that next year I'll be drowning in pineapples. That would be grand. 

Found spots for a dozen more pipinolas. If you live here, you probably think I'm crazy growing all these pipinola. But they are an easy crop for feeding to the pigs and chickens.......and wwoofers. Low work crops are right up my alley! 

Speaking of pipinolas, I harvested an oddity today. You know, if you grow enough veggies you're bound to find some oddball ones. Well. This is the first oddball pipinola that I've come upon. It's a double, a Siamese twin so to speak. The pair in the foreground are joined. I put one behind them to show you what they normally look like. 

Pipinola fruits are always singles. Not only have I never seen two being produced on the same spot on the stem, I've never seen two joined. Pretty neat, I'd say. 

Planting Pipinola

Pipinolas (known as chayote on the mainland USA) are a good crop for my location. Except for during drought years, I get enough rain for them to grow without the need to irrigate. Yes, a good crop......not only because I eat it myself, but it's good food for the livestock too. I find pips to be rather bland when eaten by themselves, but they are great additions to soups, stews, and stir fries because they absorb the flavor of what they are cooked with. My favorite use for them is as mock apple pie. Hubby loves this better than when made with real apples, and that's saying something! 

I'm slowly planting more pipinola in my semi-shade areas. While it will grow in full sun, it also does well in part shade. Actually, I'm finding that this plant is really happy with moist, shaded roots and a sunny environment for the vines to climb into. 

This week I'm expanding my pipinola patches. Here's what I'm doing: 

Take one large pipinola. It doesn't need to be sprouting yet. As long as the skin has toughened up, it's mature enough to sprout. I will next prepare a spot for planting by turning in a generous amount of compost. Then I'll take the pipinola and push it gently into the surface soil, pucker side down. I don't bury it at all. I just have the pucker make soil contact. 

These pipinolas are being planted where the full sun sometimes shines. So I wish to protect the pips from sun burning. The easiest thing I've tried so far is a piece of old sheet suspended from a stick teepee. I use guava sticks simply because they are readily available and don't break easily. 

I weigh down the edges with either rocks, soil, or grass clippings. I use whatever is on hand. The sheet is enough to block the worst of the sun, help retain moisture, keep the drying wind off. 

Below is a photo of the teepee before I drape a sheet over it. Since I don't need the teepee long, I use a piece of duck tape to hold the sticks together. I used to use wire, then later tried string, but they were more complicated to use. I next tried duct tape and was happier. It's not "sustainably friendly" as homemade twine, but a roll of the stuff could last me years and years. In this photo, the pipinola has started to sprout and it's time to remove the sheet covering. 

I once tried a quad (4 sticks) but discovered that the three stick teepee was simpler and did the job. It's that old KISS principle...keep it simple. This pipinola is doing great and producing two vibes already.