Glad to hear someone is able to plant something, I’m still waiting on parts for my tractor before I can finish discing. I was talking to my bro in-law, and he said I could just run a tiller over the turned sod. But, my plow turns a deep furrow, so I don’t think a tiller could get that deep, it needs to be knocked down with a disc first. Plus trying to run a front tine tiller over those hills is not something I’d enjoy. But, we’re supposed to get about an inch of rain later this week, so that’ll knock those hills down a bit more, we got almost a half inch yesterday.
I was able to disc our tater patch, so tomorrow I plan on putting down the rest of the lime needed for the plot, and the fertilizer. Then, I can till it in, and in a couple weeks our first planting will be seed potatoes. Going with just Red Pontiac and Kennebec this year, not a lot of seed taters available this year for some reason.
That’s a lot of corn and beans. We’re also planning on planting some white or striped half runners, and Honey Select. Is this your first year planting half runners? We think they’re great.Do you can any of your veggies?
Don’t think we’re going to plant as many watermelons as you!
Bob- even though I’ve got a pretty big garden (its about 150 ft by 150 ft) I’ve always used a hand tiller until this year I finally broke down and bought myself a used 4 ft tiller for my little tractor (I have a “compact” new holland tractor). HOLY COW!!! It is absolutely amazing. First, even with my little tractor and just a little 4 ft tiller, I can do a lot of the stuff you just mentioned- like tilling grown that has only been plowed but not disked. It is just the greatest thing EVER for me. THey are expensive…even my little 4 ft tiller that was used cost me $700, but its best money I ever spent.
I also know the frustrations of tractor breakdowns and how they can really shut you down. I am undoubtly the least mechanically inclined person on earth, so when mine breaks down I am at the mercy of friends and neighbors and then have to wait for parts. Fortunately my tractor is pretty new so it hasn’t had many problems, but it stinks when it does break down! My finishing mower had problems last year and I had to hire someone to mow my place…that HURT.
I forgot to mention I also planted 150 ft row of snap peas today. Those are one of my favorite things I grow. I haven’t grown KY half runners before, but they have been around all my life and I’ve eaten them many times and like them a lot. I like beans in my green beans! ha. These have that. I’ve grown contender and tenderette the last few years, and White McCaslin before that, but that was back when I the energy to create neat little hanging string curtins for them to climb, Now I’m older, fatter, lazier so I like bush beans. haha
I don’t can anything except jams and jellies, but I do freeze quite a bit of veggies. I wish I did can more and may try it this year. BTW…honey select is WONDERFUL in case you haven’t grown it before. Just wonderful!
As for lots of watermelons, I’ll be planting about 350 hills before its over. And I don’t sell a one! I’ve just sort of become the local watermelon source. I just love giving them away. At harvest time I bring lots of them to work and give them to everyone who comes in to city hall. Its a great way to get along and win friends-something that is good with my job since I usually only hear from people when they are mad about something. haha.
Glad to see/hear that you seem to like gardening as much as me.
I’ve heard of tillers you can hook up to your tractor’s PTO, my wife’s cousin has one, and she said I ought to go borrow it. But, that was before the tractor broke down. They live in the other side of the hillside from us, so I don’t know how to get it over here, other than driving the tractor almost 7 miles on the road, which I do not like doing. I’ll just have to wait to fix mine. I think I can do it, but I’m prob going to need assistance, but thankfully I have neighbors would would help out.
My other BIL who lives on the other side of the farm from us said he’d disc it for us, but he won’t be off until Friday, and the ground will be too wet to disc then.
I thought half-runners were pole beans, not bush? Take it from me, canning is very easy, it is a bit time consuming, but it’s worth it to open up a fresh jar of beans, or corn in the middle of especially winter, and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Like @JustAnne4 says, it’s like opening up a can of summer when it’s cold out. We’ve had Honey Select, we like it very much. We have quite a bit of it canned.
I do like veggie gardening, but all this fruit planting already has me a bit burned out. At least next year my fruit related work will change to pruning, fertilizing and spraying as opposed to planting trees. Plus, we’re not going to plant as much veggies as in the past, either. Too much other work to do around here. I already have more area to mow now that I want my orchards to look neat. I think that brings the area mowed to about 2 acres, and it has to be done every ten days or so.
yes, my tiller I was talking about works off the PTO, and the tractor hydraulics raises it up and down. After so many years of little hand tillers, its just incredible to have one on my tractor. Wish you could borrow one to see how nice they are!
There are KY half runners that are bush and some that are pole beans. The bush ones have white beans and the pole ones have brown beans.
You do make me want to can…I’ve always wanted to and you make it even more tempting. But I don’t have a pressure cooker, which I understand is a requirement for many items.
It sounds like you really are sort of getting burned out on fruit trees, so maybe you really are done planting. I get that feeling after planting many trees, but it seems like after the winter goes by without any work, and then everyone here starts talking about what they are ordering, I get the fever. Maybe you will and maybe you won’t.
As for mowing, on my property I have a total of 4.5 acres that I keep mowed, so don’t tell me how tired you are of mowing 2 acres. hahaha. Actually, 1.5 of mine is inside my goat area and even though I have to mow it in the spring to keep it from getting over their head (and because its right out by the road and looks awful if too tall) once summer comes around the goats can almost keep it mowed so I only have to do so every month or so, meaning I only mow about 3 acres after spring. WHen I have to mow the full 4.5 it takes me about 12-14 hours- partly due to all the trees I have to go around. But like you, I really enjoy mowing my orchard- it looks so good cut.
Would soapy water be preferred since it will drown and kill them rather than just blowing them off onto the ground for them to come back 10 minutes later?
From HBUSA
Primus
Translucent white fruit with a sweet, intense flavor. The attractive plant is upright, vigorous, and produces good yields of high quality, flavorful berries. Primus is a very attractive plant as its leaves have a distinctive red tinge and young shoots are almost entirely red. Primus is a late-season white currant variety that was bred by J. Cvopa at Bojnice, Slovakia, and released in 1977. It has the same Minnesota connection that Tatran and Blanka do, having Red Lake as one of its parents. Resistant to White Pine Blister Rust and powdery mildew.
Awesome, I’ll take cuttings from that in trade next spring. If you don’t mind? Need any others? Or want honeyberry cuttings? Looks like hardwood cuttings root. I’m getting in Honey Gin and Blue Banana both rated in the Sweet Plus category, the highest brix of the honeyberries. These are Russian cultivars. They may not grow enough for cuttings, but they may? Very fast growing plants if conditions are ideal (half day of sun). I’m experimenting with an air layer on Indigo treat a Sweet/tart type. I won’t need the plant, up for trade. Or figs too, rooting a Panache right now with an air layer. Not my fruit!
Yes, Drew I would like to have honeyberry cuttings very much. I bought two honeyberries this year Blue Hokkaido and Blue Moon. Blue Hokkaido has a few berries on it. If they survive our hot summers I can send cuttings to you. I am not sure if honeyberries are suited well for our climate but I’ll try. I also have named Tartan and Ben Sarek currants, which I think are quite good. I have another bushes of black and red currants, received from Raintree as bonus plants without names and they are not so good as the named ones. You Panache fig looks very cool. I do not have any time to grow them in pots. I have several cuttings in the ground and of cause they died during the winter even with protection. Sure I will be happy to swap cuttings with you. Yesterday I put nitrogen fertilizer around all my plants which I want to grow fast like bush cherries, honey berries, pawpaws, it worked really well for last year.
where is the fun in that , The trees are situated in a way that the compressed air shoots em clear across the backyard. I guess i could get out my air compressor and shoot them into my neighbors yard…
I just used Holly-Tone and Tomato-Tone on everything, yes, OK, I will contact you late winter about swapping. I may have a honeyberry plant this fall from that air layer. Not too much sun for them, and during the summer they go dormant, and even can lose all leaves, not a concern. Now is the time for them to grow once summer hits, it’s over till next season.
Fruit set
I’m happy to report all my trees set fruit. I even have about 40 Flavor Supreme pluots! Yes!! Nadia set fruit too.
Raining here again today, five inches two weeks ago , six inches last week end and half an inch more last night. Here is a photo of the interstate up by Lebanon MO
I have what looks like little toothpicks made of frass sticking out of the trunk of my pawpaw tree. It looks like the pictures of ambrosia beetle damage I see online. Is there any good treatment out there for these guys? Does painting the trunk work like it does for peach borers?
I think its plum curculio…something chewed on a bunch of apple blossoms and pear blossoms about 10 days ago… I’ve read PC will do that early in the season. They need energy before coming back later and laying eggs in all those remaining fruit!
Yeah, I noticed this too. I think they were also feeding on my plum foliage. The shucks were just starting to fall on my few plums before the cold/rainy spell. Hopefully the cold kept them at bay.
Despite having over 2" of rain, I can still see that there is still some Surround on my apples. Not so much on the peach and plum. Surround sticks way better to apples than peach and plum. But I need to get out there tonight and put more down on everything that is past petal fall and hit the fruit clusters that are past bloom on the trees that are still blooming. (Zestar is looking to be probably the worst of my trees for a drawn-out bloom.)
, The trees are situated in a way that the compressed air shoots em clear across the backyard. I guess i could get out my air compressor and shoot them into my neighbors yard…