Today I sprayed my apple (dwarf Fugi) and two pear trees (a Keiffer and a Bartlett) with a dormant oil spray. I also gave one of my grapes (a Cabernet Sauvignon) a spray too. The buds are nicely swollen and I am pleased to see that there are a few flowers buds ready to pop on the pears this year - finally. (I have been pruning them wrong and removing the buds for 2 years.) It was a warm sunny day - up to about 50*F, and bugs just starting to get active. I think this is the perfect timing for the oil spray. I diluted it to 4 Tbs in a 1 qt spray bottle, then soaked all the branches well.
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Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
2012 crop review
At the end of the year, I like to go through my crops from last year, one-by-one, and write down the successes, failures and what I'd like to do different next year.
Going alphabetical the first is:
Apples. Well I'm starting the list off with a failure. No apples this year from my dwarf Fuji tree :-( I forgot to spray it with dormant oil before the buds broke this spring. The tree got badly infected with something. No flowers and no fruit. Also, growth of a maple to the east has shaded it more. Last winter we took down a big branch, maybe not in time to affect this year's flowers and fruit. Hopefully next year added light and timely dormant oil application will give us some apples. An added note, this summer I pruned the tree back quite a bit. I removed a lot of sucker growth and shortened the length of all branches.
Asparagus. I was able to harvest one small meal from my 3 year old patch this year. It was yummy. It seems that the spears grow faster than I had realized and that I'll need to harvest daily to catch them at the right point for eating. Many escaped me this year and got to big for eating. I expanded my asparagus patch this year and put in about 10 more new crowns. Its now about 4 x 5 ft. I fertilized with liquid fish fertilizer and kept it watered and weeded well this year. The ferns looked really nice. I cut them down a couple weeks ago and they are providing mulch for the plants now. I'll add some hay to the top next time I am at the plot. I am definitely looking forward to a BIG harvest of asparagus next spring!!
Basil. I planted a big patch of basil under the tomatoes. Then, when late blight was spotted nearby early, I started spraying the tomatoes with copper. This seemed to seriously damage the basil. The leaves looked burnt. I pulled all the plants after a couple weeks of spraying. Next year, no basil under tomatoes. The basil grows better in my sheltered side yard garden anyway and is more convenient to harvest there. I am thinking of planting all herbs in my side yard next year.
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Going alphabetical the first is:
Apples. Well I'm starting the list off with a failure. No apples this year from my dwarf Fuji tree :-( I forgot to spray it with dormant oil before the buds broke this spring. The tree got badly infected with something. No flowers and no fruit. Also, growth of a maple to the east has shaded it more. Last winter we took down a big branch, maybe not in time to affect this year's flowers and fruit. Hopefully next year added light and timely dormant oil application will give us some apples. An added note, this summer I pruned the tree back quite a bit. I removed a lot of sucker growth and shortened the length of all branches.
Asparagus. I was able to harvest one small meal from my 3 year old patch this year. It was yummy. It seems that the spears grow faster than I had realized and that I'll need to harvest daily to catch them at the right point for eating. Many escaped me this year and got to big for eating. I expanded my asparagus patch this year and put in about 10 more new crowns. Its now about 4 x 5 ft. I fertilized with liquid fish fertilizer and kept it watered and weeded well this year. The ferns looked really nice. I cut them down a couple weeks ago and they are providing mulch for the plants now. I'll add some hay to the top next time I am at the plot. I am definitely looking forward to a BIG harvest of asparagus next spring!!
Basil. I planted a big patch of basil under the tomatoes. Then, when late blight was spotted nearby early, I started spraying the tomatoes with copper. This seemed to seriously damage the basil. The leaves looked burnt. I pulled all the plants after a couple weeks of spraying. Next year, no basil under tomatoes. The basil grows better in my sheltered side yard garden anyway and is more convenient to harvest there. I am thinking of planting all herbs in my side yard next year.
apple harvest
I picked all my apples today. A bit early. The squirrel had started eating one (he thinks they're ready!) and hurricane Irene is coming in tomorrow and I don't know if the wind might blow then around. The 20 heavy apples seemed so big on my little tree! Some branches were weighted down almost to the grass.
I've read that apples ripen up after picking. They sure look pretty! I'm admiring them in a bowl on my table.
apples on the tree
There are about 20 apples on my dwarf Fugi apple tree this year. All are getting big and red and I'm tempted to pick one soon. I can imagine the crisp juicy bites!
All summer, the apples have been covered with plastic baggies and I just removed them last weekend. I took them off on Sunday because it seemed some of the fruits were getting some black fungal/mildew growth. Its been such a humid summer that I think I have every type of fungus growing in my garden somewhere this year.
The risk for the uncovered apples now is that the squirrels might find them before I pick them. Once they start to sweeten up the squirrels get interested. I'd like to leave them on the tree to ripen as long a I can. SO I'm watching out.
bagged apples
I looked around for some information on bagging my apples and pears. Here's an informative thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg0400030418546.html. It seems that plastic Ziploc bags are the way to go. Zip the baggie over the stem of apples about 3/4 inches in diameter and cut off the lowest corner of the bag so any water that gets in will drain.
I have 24 apples bagged now. Will do my 5 pears soon.
apple tree
This is the back of my side yard - behind the vegetable garden. Center view is my little Fugi apple tree. This year is has at least a dozen apples!!! More than ever before. :)) We trimmed a big branch off off the maple tree in the backyard and I guess the apple appreciated it.
I like to cover the young apples to keep away bugs and squirrels. I've used stockings in the past, but don't have enough old stockings for such a big crop. I'm looking into other options. Any suggestions??
Same question for my pear tree at my community plot. It has a dozen or more pears forming. I'd like to cover them soon.
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