Rivers End Nursery and Farm

How About Green Friday….

Kathy — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:53:27 +0000

Every year I get caught up in the Holiday Rush, not camping at the store waiting for the opening bell but the frantic need to get this and that done before the calm of our South Texas winter. Planting, feeding and pruning- they are the chores of Fall. But those efforts do yield a yard of red bouganvillas and orange tangerines, gardens of flowers, fruits and herbs during the most pleasant time of the year when we want to be outside enjoying our gardens.

Being able to share these rewards is our most favorite gift to give at the Holidays. Sending a box of sunshine via our beautiful grapefruit or oranges or tangerines, with that special tropical treat of Starfruit and Sapodillas lets our friends and family know that we wish them good health and happiness for Holidays. And taking the flavors of our fruits and bottling them as a jelly or jam lets us all savor them long after the harvest.

Fresh fruit, jellies, jams and marmalades, quick bread and fruitcakes – consider sharing the bounty of your garden this Holiday.

Trick or Treat

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:17:19 +0000

With a little bit of Fall in the air, we will all be able to enjoy the outdoors a bit more this weekend. And in the spirit of Trick ‘r Treat, we have a treat for you. Come out the Nursery this weekend, the end of our Annual Fall Sale, and tell us you saw the picture of Frick in her cooler weather attire. You will save an additional 50% on our available Bamboo or Bromiliads or seedling sapodillas and canistels. No Trick.

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New Blossoms

Kathy — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:54:31 +0000

Is My Fruit Ripe? Or What Difference a Day Makes

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:28:18 +0000

If you ever tried a certain fruit and it was all you could do to keep from spitting it out? Or perhaps there is the fruit that you taste that you were sure was the most wonderful taste in the world. For many tropical fruits they can taste terrible today , but absolutely delicious tomorrow. That may seem strange, after all the fruits at chain grocery stores sit there for days and I’ve never eaten apple that made a lot of difference whether I ate today or next week.

Fruits that are called Sapotes and the avocados are called climacteric and are gener- ally picked while they are still hard and then allowed to finish ripening on the counter. There are certain changes in color or texture that signal the fruit is mature but it needs to finish aging before you can enjoy their true flavor. The Chico Sapote and Black Sapote are two such fruits that we are enjoying now .

Food for Your Plants

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:24:10 +0000

When it comes to feeding those you love whether its your family or your plants, you want to make sure that you are providing all their nutritional requirements. And just we have the food pyra- mid, plants also require certain nutrients in differing amounts. The three we always hear about, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (N-P-K) are considered the major elements because they typically make up the bulk (by volume) of nutritional needs. The micronutrients, things like Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Sulfur (S), Zinc (Zn) along with 10 other elements are also a critical part of feeding your plants. If any one of them is not present in sufficient amounts, the reactions that take place inside the plant cells are affected and your plant can not grow and thrive correctly— no matter how much nitrogen is present.

Here in South Texas, the alkalinity (saltiness) of our soil fre- quently binds up the micronutrients so they are not able to be absorbed by the plants. An easy way to overcome this limitation is to apply the nutrients directly to the leaves. Using a liquid spray you can readily overcome deficiencies in many of the minor elements to maximize the growth potential of your plants.

Talk to us about some of the choices you have in making sure your plants have a full plate.

Plan Wash – still available!

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:29:27 +0000

As we have done for the past 7 years, we still offer the Plant Wash, a type of non-toxic, biodegradable product. The manufacturer has reformulated the Plant Wash so it is even more concentrated. Regular use of this product does increase the BRIX levels and reduces insect and disease problems. To modify the old adage “A Clean Plant is A Healthy Plant – and a Very Happy One Too!” Because our Grandchildren like to taste all the fruits they find in orchard, we don’t want to use anything toxic. We like knowing that this product is made from processed extracts of plants and vegetables.

If you have a sago palm (cycad) that is suffering from Asian Scale infestation (a snow-like white mass) – talk to us. We have found some materials that are effective in dealing with this devastating problem. And if is too late to save your sago, we can show you some good alternatives.

Beneficial Nematodes during the first 2 weekends of each month beginning in February.

What’s Blooming and Fruiting??

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:28:57 +0000

With the February freeze and the then the year it forgot to rain, our trees have struggled to bring their fruit to maturity. That has given us time to experiment a bit more on the jellies we offer (the Strawberry Guava Jelly as quite a following) and we were encouraged by Jenis of Ice Cream Fame in Ohio to try a few new twists to that cold and creamy treat. We have both Guave Ice Cream and Sugar Apple Ice Cream available by the scoop at the Farmers Markets (-along with our already famous Mango Smoothies and Nuthin’ but Fruit Sorbet) and the are a few small containers you can take home to your family. In the weeks ahead we plan to offer Avocado Ice Cream and I promise you so salsa and chips are needed, I am eyeing those starfruit riping on the trees and imagining how we are going to turn them into a smooth, lickable, delicious mass of ice cream and perhaps experiement with creating a sorbet os passionfruit and ale.

We have a limited amount dried mangos and starfruit available. They are great addition to the packed lunches or even a snack for car trips. They are nothing but fruit – no preservatives or additives or sugar- so you get a healthy snack.

Thanks for visiting our web site…”Rivers End – The Valley Nursery with Worldwide Appeal”.

Nursery Walkthrough/Hike

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:26:42 +0000

We are having an evening walking tour of Friday, July 8, 2011. Beginning at 6 PM we will be taking a cooler stroll though the orchard. Good walking shoes and bug repellant are recommended. Please call in advance for your reservation. The cost is $3 per person and that does entitle you to 10% off your first tree purchase on that day. Please call ahead to register.

The Spring of Recovery

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:38:34 +0000

This winter really took the stuffing out of the tropical trees and us. Two episodes of really cold weather had major impact on many of the fruit trees we grow but it looks like we are finally getting to the end of the clean up. Though we were disappointed about the damage we had, we were able to see where our windbreaks were the most—and least effective. As some of you may have heard, we have cancelled the Mango Festival for 2011. When the February freezes hit, most of the mango trees already had fruit on them, so the crop for this year will be very small. On the bright side, this did give us a chance to bring some of the more sprawly trees back within bounds. Now with thicker canopies and thus more terminal ends for fruiting, we are looking forward to next year’s harvest and the Mango Fiestival of 2012. Since most of the sugar apple trees were dormant during our cold weather, they suffered little damage and leaved out early. It looks like we will be having a great harvest of these fruits in late summer. While some of the more cold tender avocado trees were damage, many of our favorites like the Day didn’t miss a beat. The Allspice trees bloomed profusely this spring and now they are loaded with the most wonderful scented berries. And yes these are the very same berries you find in your spice cabinet. But even if you tree doesn’t flower, you can still enjoy the fragrance by crushing a leaf. The Peanut Butter Fruit trees flushed out with lots of new growth and now it is harvest time. Try out the Lo -Cal Smoothie recipe for a tasty treat. We have replanted our DragonFruit. Thank goodness Ed did a lot of cuttings last fall of our favorites varieties so we will have more of them to enjoy next year. That is part of the challenge and fun of growing tropical and subtropical fruit trees, see what works and how we can “push the envelop” with our trees.