40
pages of fruit tree varieties and information on planting, growing,
and caring for them
First
of all, I didn't take a single picture of the fruit tree sale! I
meant to, but I just never thought of it. It started at 9AM and was
about a half hour drive to the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds where the
sale was being held. Usually, it's held outdoors but because rain
was forecast for Saturday, they held it in one of the big barns. We
got there 15 minutes early because, as my sister said, it's not
exactly like the 70% off sale at Macy's with people tugging trees out
of your hand, but it's a close second. So, 15 minutes early and the
parking lot is already full of cars and trucks and there is a long
ass line and I'm not talking single file either, plus a good many of
them had brought wagons and garden carts.
We
got in line and I perused the list I had made the night before from
their web site narrowing down the possibilities because seeing all
those people ahead of me, I knew by the time I got foot inside I
needed to know exactly what I wanted and go straight for it. I had
peach, fig, navel orange, satsuma, blueberries, and something called
cherry of the rio grande on my list with several choices of each.
They offered 24 different kinds of fruit trees including things like
avocado, olive, persimmon, jujubes, pomegranate among others plus
blackberries, blueberries, and goji berries with most things having
several varieties and some having many varieties all good for growing in this area.
It's
a well run event. They made sure everyone in line had a copy of the
booklet that listed all the trees and all the varieties and had a map
of the space included so you knew where to go for what you wanted.
They had some wagons available for those of us in need, check out was
organized and speedy with lots of people herding you into the proper
line and getting all the info down so that when you got to the
cashier you just forked over the proper amount.
photo
credit:https://www.facebook.com/FortBendCountyMasterGardeners/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
Imagine
this room filled elbow to elbow with people and wagons and garden
carts from the first row of trees back.
photo credit:https://www.facebook.com/FortBendCountyMasterGardeners/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
Anyway,
by the time we got to the door I had decided on a satsuma and
blueberries and fortunately for me, they were both on the same aisle.
I headed straight for the satsumas and my sister went for a wagon.
I got about 30 or 40 feet in and came to a screeching halt as the
crowd in front of me with all their carts and wagons made forward
progress impossible. However, being skinny and limber has some
advantages, plus I learned how to move through crowds when I was a
teenager at Mardi Gras in New Orleans so I'm stepping over people's
wagons and slipping between people keeping my eye on the trees to my
right til I spotted the satsumas and picked up the first one I came
to that was on my list (I had 3 varieties selected) and then headed
back the way I came, stepping over wagons and slipping between
carrying the tree in a 3 gallon pot, for the blueberries and my
sister with the wagon and checkout. We were probably in and out in
30 minutes, back on the highway in 45.
I
was going to work on the new raised bed over at the shop today for
the blueberries and figure out where to plant the satsuma but as
things usually go, it's rainy out there today. Not enough rain to do
us any good, of course, but enough to make it impossible to work
outside.
