Apple Tree Pruning

This year the columnar apple trees had gotten too tall and the branches were so long that they were bending under the fruit.  So I decided it was time to cut them back and make them columnar again.

I cut the side branches way back and topped the trees as well.

I also cut the nectarine way back.  Now we'll be able to reach any fruit and hopefully we can control the stink bugs.

Little Green Apples

The Golden Sentinel apples have been falling for about a week.  They're small, but some look ripe.  I think I'll make a tart.  Also, the first North Pole apples fell today.  They are much larger.

Today I picked the first Aunt Ruby's tomato.  It's hard to tell, but I think it's ripe.  We've had Cherokee Purples for about a week now.

I continue to patrol for stink bugs.  I've now removed the cucumber vines, as well as some of the blackberry vines.  I'll finish that job next week.  My hope is that if we remove all their favorite plants, they'll move on.

Back from Tucson

After being away for two and a half weeks, things have changed.  We've had some record temperatures.

The red-flowering currant is blooming.  The blueberries are in full bloom.

So are the pear, nectarine and apples.

I pruned the new peach hard.  I should have done it for the nectarine as well, so I may have to do some remedial pruning.

 I've spotted a few early flowers on the strawberries and the asparagus has started to come up.

The fawn lily is blooming.

So are the pulmonarias and brunneras.

Apples & Figs

The Golden Sentinel apples have started to fall.  Almost enough for a pie!


And I picked our first (of two) fig.  We split it.

Apple Bags

Today was the day to put the little net bags on the tiny apples.  There isn't going to be much of a crop this year.  Only two apples on North Pole, a dozen on Golden Sentinel, and about two and a half dozen on Red Sentinel.  I suspect a pollination problem.  We didn't arrive home from our trip early enough for me to hand pollinate them, and maybe it was too cold and wet for the bees.

Today I planted five unnamed varieties of dahlias that I got on sale.  I thought all mine in the ground had died.  But I found that several are alive.  So now I have lots.

All the berries are blooming, front and back.

Windfall Apples

Today we had a big wind storm.  The result was four big beautiful North Pole apples.  There are still quite a few hanging on for dear life.

Golden Sentinel Apples

I've picked the last of the Golden Sentinel apples.  They are pretty good.

Apple Pie

After picking up two more apples from the Golden Sentinel tree, I decided it was time to bake a pie. The apples are small, so it took more than I usually use, but it turned out very good.  Except for the crust, which was a ready-made one.  I really don't like them.  I need to work on a crust from scratch.

Today we went up the hill to Sunnyslope Park to check on the pears.  There were quite a few on the ground, already ripe, so we picked a bunch.  We'll mostly eat them as they ripen, but I may end up dehydrating some.

Tomatoes at Last

Yesterday I picked the first Cherokee Purple tomato.  It was wonderful.  I also picked the first Red October, which was tasteless.  It may be a good keeper, but what's the point if it doesn't even taste like a tomato?  It is rather firm, so maybe I'll use it to make salsa.  There is at least one ripe tomato on each of the paste varieties.  No Green Zebras yet.

The Golden Sentinel apple tree continues to drop two or three apples a day. I guess they really are ripe.  The other two, which are reds, have not started dropping yet.

Golden Sentinel Apple

Today three apples fell off the Golden Sentinel tree.  They're kind of small, and still fairly green, but I tried one and they are pretty good.

We had a neat thunderstorm this afternoon.  I was afraid there might be hail (there wasn't) and that my bean teepee would fall over (it didn't).

Tomatoes

Yesterday I set out the tomato plants.  It's a bit early, and it was very windy, but it's been sunny and warmer than normal.  Plus, even with the raised cold frame, they were bumping their heads on the top.  So out they went.  I have ten plants this year -- five canning and five eating.  I have two Amish Paste, two San Marzano, and one Debarao, which I've never heard of but sounded good.  And I have Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Stupice, Sungold, and a new one called Red October, which is supposed to stay on the vine longer and keep longer off the vine.  We'll see.

I also planted the melons.  I've planted three different varieties in each of three places in the bed.  I have Ambrosia, Athena, Papayadew and Honey Ace.

Today I put the little mesh bags on the apples.  I ran out, so we'll have a test to see if they make a difference.

The ceanothus in front has started blooming.

Spring!

We're back from our cruise and spring has arrived in our absence.  The fruit trees, except the pears, are blooming.  The pears are just leafing out.  Here's the nectarine.

The apple trees are loaded with flowers.

The blueberries are all showing signs of blooming, but the Earliblue has flowers.

The celandine poppy is blooming, as are the red-flowering currants.

 

There are a lot of weeds, but yesterday was a nice enough day that we were able to get out and attack them.