A friend asked how the gardens and orchard(s) are doing.
The Liberty apples look like they will have a full crop which bodes well for our supply of applesauce. The property I am managing also has Liberty in one of the orchards but many of the trees are shaded by less productive varieties. I am leaning toward removing those less productive varieties and replanting with Liberty or Enterprise.
GoldRush is over-bearing and needs to be thinned.
Asian and European pears are about a 40% crop. Some trees have a heavy crop while others are almost fruitless. Rains have been frequent and many of the pears show cracking which is a symptom of scab.
Grapes look like they are a little bit less than that.
Marge Elderberry has enough fruit to harvest. That will be a first for us.
The oldest American plums are carrying a good crop but none of my European plums are. Much of that is due to pollination issues, which I am addressing by grafting in a second variety into each tree. The other issue involves chipmunks and red squirrels "cutting" the green fruit.
Grafted persimmons are looking good with Lehman's Delight having a good balance of fruit-load to leaf coverage.
The gardens are swimming in weeds and the grass needs mowing.
So some good news...
ReplyDeleteHow old is the Marge Elderberry bush?
ReplyDeleteThird summer
DeleteCharles Malki at IV Organics is a grafting machine. One of his projects has 15* varieties on one fig tree. All varieties are producing good fruit.
Delete*It may be more than 15 since it has been several years since I spoke with him.
I've had plum tree's for 6 years now? Hand pollinated them last year, STILL no fruit! Grrrr.... And something's stealing my apples. Got the big one last night. Time for a trailcam.
ReplyDeleteThe gardens are swimming in weeds and the grass needs mowing.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of old Hank Parker's TV show- the house needs paintin' and the grass needs mowing, and where is he?
Gone fishin'.
Milton
Last night some deer came in and ate all the leaves they could reach from my cherry trees and elderberry. Oddly, they left the hazelnuts and peaches alone.
ReplyDelete