Broken shovel handles...

These are a cheerful spring flower. Each flower is about as big around as a pencil eraser. According Lucas (who is also a whiz at taxonomy), this is probably Veronica persica.

I got two hours of work done in the orchard yesterday. I did NOT hit my work goals. A thunderstorm showed up and I bagged it early.

The temperature was in the mid-70s, it was humid and there was not much wind.

I had to make adjustments to the break schedule. The secret-sauce was to drink a half-liter of water at the half-hour mark in addition to the full break after an hour. I was still dragging but I was able to be effective.

80% of everything was probably built/planted by people who were "not at their best".

I got one pecan tree planted. I moved six mulberry seedlings to the linear brush-pile. I girdled a black walnut near the orchard and cut a couple of "stems" to a wild black cherry. The walnut and cherries were where they would shade the pecan tree.

I put chicken wire cages around some of the grafted apples.

What I did NOT get done was to plant a couple of pear trees at the Taj orchard and I did not get the chicken wire cages around the young trees there.

Phenology update

200 Growing Degree Days b50. American plums are blooming. Asian pears and their hybrids are all in full bloom. European pears are not blooming. Apples are not blooming. On the orchard floor, Ground Ivy is blooming and daffodil blossoms are starting to fade. In the wet areas, willows of the Salix interior grex are showing yellow catkins.

Turkeys are yelping in the clearings. Geese and Sandhill Cranes (the ribeyes of the sky) are extremely vocal.

A low IQ mourning dove built a nest on top of Mrs ERJ's garage door opener.

Spring is accelerating!

Failures

I broke two shovel handles yesterday. "Unbreakable" shovel handles cost just as much as entire shovels with "unbreakable" shovel handles. That silliness is likely to change with tariffs. Somebody in the US will figure out how to cut 48" lengths of fiberglass pultrusions and sell them for $15.

The stems of the black cherry that I cut got hung up by grape vines that are wrapped around the stems and a nearby tree about 20' up. That is a potential hazard I have to deal with. The tree that is holding them up is leaning out over a neighbors parked boat so cutting that tree is not a good option. Any ideas?

Most of my fig cuttings died this year. Cause(s) unknown.

The Tixia gooseberry bush I purchased last year is clearly a currant based on the shape of the flower clusters. I will grub it out if it is a Black Currant because that species is an alternate host for White Pine Blister Rust. Some Black Currant varieties are resistant but I have no idea which cultivar this is.

I am running out of time as biological spring starts to ramp-up.

I thought the citrus seeds were going to be a failure but I see that at least two of them are finally showing signs of life. 

The Silverado is having issues. I suspect an ignition coil-pack but have to figure out when I can get it into the shop.

Random Photo (CEO in Office circa 1970)

Three telephones. Org-chart on wall. Nearly clean desk. Classy suit.