Sorry, this is a bit off topic; if the moderators delete it I will not be offended. I would like to offer to share something with board members, even if it isn't a fruit.

I grow a perennial vegetable called tree collards. Not true collards, but it is a Brassica. The plants produce leaves all year. In the summer, they are best cooked, like you would cook any other leafy green, but they can still be eaten raw. In the cool months they are great raw as well, and can be used in salads or as wraps. They make better wraps than cabbage or lettuce - they "roll" better, and they are a good size. They are one of the tastiest greens, being sweeter and more tender than collards or kale. Also nice in the winter is that the leaves are clean. As harvesting is done at chest height and higher, they aren't getting splattered by mud from the rains. They are very productive.

The downside to them is that they do need to be staked, and staked fairly well. When they get to be seven feet tall, and it snows or the wind blows hard, the weight of them will prove too much for a flimsy stake. This is the voice of experience. Note that stakes shown in the pictures below were inadequate. They do not require full sun. Mine may get six hours per day but not consistently. The two plants shown were a little over a year old at the time of the pictures. They can be planted close together.

These do not flower or go to seed, but are propagated by cuttings. This year I have 20+ one gallon pots with live plants, some with multiple plants (need more pots soon!). Yes, they grow even in the winter here; some of these cuttings were started Thanksgiving through Dec 1.

If you would like to grow some and are in/near the Willamette Valley, I invite you to send me a PM or email. I specify that geographical limit because that is an area in which they grow well and you would be close enough for us to meet up some weekend. Sorry, I am not willing to ship any, but would be happy to meet up with board members over the next couple of months.

Dave

I'm interested. I sent you an email via this forum. Hopefully you got it.

I did not get an email from you, nor can I see any way to send you an email. No email button for you.

The shrubbery is no problem, we just need to work out the communication issue.

If anybody else tried to send me an email and did not get a reply, it means I did not get your email.

I was afraid of that. The email function must be broken, or perhaps the message was caught by your spam filter.

Please email me as my name here @msn.com

There was no message in my spam. I don't believe the email function is broken, as I did get email from others in response.

But do note that in threads with multiple posters, some show an email button and some don't. There is no email button with your posts. I think you have to edit your profile for that.

Yep, you were right. My count was set to not accept emails.

Apparently that prevented me from sending them as well, or at least for the ones that it seemed I had sent to arrive.

Hi Dave,
I also tried to send you an email. I would love to get some of that plant. I have heard about it for years but I've never grown it.
Thanks
John S
PDX OR

John:

Thanks for posting here, as I did not get an email from you.

Dave

Hi Dave,
If you still have one I would love to have it. I don't use the forum options often so did not see where to send you a PM. Would you mind calling me??? 503-804-4679.

Thanks,
Lorna

Lorna:

I don't see where to send a PM either. Bad typing on my part. But when logged in, anybody who has activated email through the site will have an email button visible at the bottom of all of their posts. I just used yours!

Dave

Dave, thanks a bunch for the plants and also the sample of the fresh leaves.

It is better than I expected. I'm really looking forward to growing it.

Yeah,
Thanks Dave, very generous.

Everybody in my family likes vegetables. Even our dog!
John S
PDX OR

...frantically trying to determine where to plant it - and its support stake. Thanks again. It will be nice to have my greens always fresh, rather than wilted about half the time.

mh