Walnuts – are an excellent source of plant based omega 3 fatty acids, known for fighting heart disease. They are also packed with micronutrients, antioxidants and plant sterol, which lower cholesterol.
Walnuts also provide protein and phosphorus as well as vitamins B and D. Eat nuts in moderation though as they are quite high in calories – perhaps a handful up to five times a week. Oil made from the nuts is delicious in salads or on pasta dishes.

Common walnut (Juglans regia) is a beautiful, slow growing, deciduous tree that may grow to around 15meters/50feet tall with a spread of about 10meters/30feet. Because of it’s potential mature size give some thought to its permanent position as not all back yards are able to accommodate such a tree. Even though they will tolerate heavy pruning, they shouldn’t be planted near drains or buildings.
It is a cool-climate tree and prefers a sunny position. The mature tree is quite frost hardy, but young plants and new spring growth are vulnerable to frost damage. Walnut trees prefer deep, rich, well drained soils with regular watering through summer and plenty of light.

Grafted plants will produce much better fruit than trees grown from seed. The cultivar ‘Wilson’s Wonder’ fruits at around 7 years, much sooner than most others. It is best to plant out young trees in winter, while leafless.

Barely noticeable female flowers grow on the current years growth and greenish/yellow male catkins hang from last seasons twigs on the same tree in spring, just before the large pinnate leaves appear.

The fruits are oval in shape and are 4-5cm across. The hard shelled nuts form inside green husks that turn dark brown when ripe. The tasty kernel is found inside the hard outer shell.

The fruit should be collected from the ground in autumn (fall) once they have withered and fallen from the tree.
Use gloves to remove the husk from the white kernel inside, to prevent staining your hands. Black walnut (Juglans nigra) produces the toxin juglone, which is emitted via its roots. Many plants that come into contact with it will wilt or die because this toxin is so strong.
Leaves that fall from walnut trees, as well as the husks, are toxic to other plants, so don’t include them in your general composting. They are also very poisonous to fish and most animals. The outer husks can be used to make a brown dye.

Some species are grown specifically for their yield of fine timber for furniture production. Sometimes they are just grown for their elegant, aromatic foliage and remarkable form.

Happy gardening, healthy living…

By: Julie Williams
Hi, I am an avid organic gardener and am known by my friends as the recycling queen. I live on a small country property in South Australia. It is my mission to encourage as many people as possible to start organic gardening. This will improve both our individual lives and the wellbeing of our personal and global environments. Please visit my website and get your free 3 part Composting Guide. For Companion Planting info click here http://www.1stoporganicgardening.com.

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Fig trees are fruit tree garden favorites. Buying and planting large fig trees can fruit the first year of growing. Two of the best orchard or fig tree garden selections are: Brown Turkey Fig Trees and Celeste (Celestial) Fig Trees.

The fruit of the fig tree was well known in Biblical scripture and a fig tree was condemned to wither by Jesus in the Bible gospel of Mark 11:16 for being barren of fruit. The fig was used numerous times in the Bible to symbolize truths of the scripture, both in the old Testament and the New Testament Bible. The fig tree is a fast growing fruit tree that grows fresh fig fruit over a long period. The brown turkey fig tree and the Celeste (Celestial) fig trees have been important old varieties grown in the United States for hundreds of years. New hybrid fruit of fig trees vastly improves quality and quantity of figs of older selections. Fig fruit can ripen in various mature colors: red, black, yellow, purple, orange, gold, blue, green, and white with a sweet mild flavor. The ripe fig can be dried, eaten fresh, or cooked in a large variety of food such as fig newtons and fig-strawberry jam. The growing size of the fig fruit can vary just like the color. The largest fig grown is the Patrick's Supergiant fig that can weigh-in at ½ pound. Figs black in color like the the Black Mission fig tree and the Jack Black fig trees are very high in sugar content and date back to their introduction from Spain at the Spanish Missions in California in the 1500's where the fig fruit was dried like raisins to be eaten later.

Green fig cultivars are important to buy for planting and growing for gardeners who want to avoid birds who love to feast on a red, yellow, or ripe white fig, because the birds do not see the green color of the Japanese Green Ischau fig or green Kadota fig among the green leaves.

For gardeners who prefer black fig fruit, the Jack's Black fig and the black mission fig are tasty fig tree cultivars. The Black Mission fig is famous, and was intoduced into California by Spanish missionaries hundreds of years ago. Jack's Black fig is very sugary, suitable for dried fig markets and elongated in shape.

Conadria fig trees originated in Europe and are important as a large, fast growing fig tree requiring a big landscape for a large tree. LSU hybridizers have released several notable yellow-gold cultivars; the most popular is the LSU gold fig that can produce two crops in one year. The Nero Caesar fig is yellow-gold in color and ripens with honey-drops of dew on the skin, with a pink pulp beneath the skin. Peter's honey fig originated in California and the yellow color on the skin is repeated inside the fig that is sweetly scented.

Several white fig producing trees are available to buy from internet nursery sites. The Italian Everbearing fig ripens white, but may age into a cream-yellow skin. Italy is the point of origin for the Italian white fig, big in size and sweetly aromatic with a tasty flavor.

The Osborne fig tree is very unusual, because its color when ripe can vary from white to pink to red, but it is remarkably beautiful in appearance with its dark tapered rips that encircle the fig. The King Fig is big and grows burgundy-red in color on large trees. Some gardeners rate the King fig as the largest, and others rate the Patrick's Supergiant fig as the largest.

The Mystery fig is a brightly colored wine fig with a delicious flavor, but scientists have been unable to identify this fig tree's origin, which is still a mystery. Patrick's Supergiant fig is very large, weighing up to a half pound each. The Patrick's fig is juicy and sweet with an agreeable flavor. The Tennessee Mountain fig tree is very cold hardy and was discovered growing in the mountain areas of Tennessee where temperatures can fall below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. For gardeners who want to bu a cold hardy fig tree for the North, the Tennessee Mountain fig has survived very cold temperatures as far North as Pennsylvania and New York. TyTy Nursery offers a large selection of small or big fig trees for fast shipment.

By: Pat Malcolm
Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: TyTy Nursery.

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If you live in a hot, humid sub-tropical zone like Florida or California, you have many options for growing fruit trees. You are lucky enough to be able to support almost any type of plant as long as you prevent pests from taking over. You should consider growing an orange tree, as these are usually easy to maintain and produce some of the most delicious fruits. The orange is one of the most popular fruits worldwide due to its sweetness, juiciness, and distinctive flavor.

The orange tree can reach up to 50 feet in height towards its later years, so you should definitely take that into account when planning. Even if youre starting with a very small tree, plan ahead and place it in an open area so that it will have plenty of room to expand. If you make the same mistake I did, you will end up having to renovate your yard to some extreme measures, such as taking out an entire shed. Just take the necessary precautions beforehand and avoid all of this trouble.

The ideal soil for growing an orange tree would be fine sand with great drainage. The soil should be deep enough to allow for extensive root development, since the trees are known for reaching monstrous sizes and requiring lots of support from down below. If you have shallow, easily saturated soil then you should either do something to remedy it or move onto a different type of tree. It is most likely that attempting to grow an orange tree in these conditions would be disastrous.

One of the more popular types of orange is the Washington Navel. It probably came about as a mutation of other oranges. It originated in Brazil around 1820, and had moved on to Florida within fifteen years. It is characterized by being one of the largest of all available oranges. The peel or rind is easily removed. Usually it is not as juicy as other oranges, but has an intense flavor. These are the most popular orange trees for commercial growing. If you decide on one of these trees, you probably wont have to water as much.

Another type of orange is the Trovita. It was invented sometime in the early 1900s at a lab in California devoted to experimenting with new types of citruses. It started being publicly marketed around 1940. It doesnt have a very strong flavor, and has more seeds than a Washington Navel. However, it was designed to be more adaptable to harsher, hot and dry environments that would not be acceptable for other types of orange. Some of the more popular oranges in Florida right now are mutations of this type.

The Valencia is one of the most juicy and flavorful oranges. It is most popular in South Africa and the southern USA states. Until about 20 years ago, Valencia oranges made up a strangely large portion of the orange market due to its popularity. It is thought to have been invented in China. It has almost no seeds. Another subgroup of Valencia oranges are the Rhode Red Valencia oranges. These were created around 1960, so they are slightly more recent than other types. Various mutations occurred and the trees that grew as a product of them were large and extremely hardy. The oranges themselves are more juicy and less acidic than the standard Valencia oranges.

Orange trees are a great thing to get planted, because with just a little effort in the planting process you will be able to enjoy hundreds of delicious fruits every year. Just pick whatever orange sounds the most delicious, and go with it! Before you purchase a tree, you should of course consult a local expert to make sure your desired type will flourish in your area. Usually this wont be a problem, but it is always good to make sure before you spend the money and time.

By: John Pawlett
Living Fruit is an informative Fruit site that looks into all aspects of Fruit from Trees to Taste. To find out more visit Living Fruit

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