Can you give me some examples of the non-detergent soap you use? And why not just use the Castille soap for your non-detergent soap?
AM Leonard has free shipping for the next 2 days, some exclusions apply.
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I’m not sure of the brand names,but my last container was probably bought at Whole Foods and was maybe their brand or one they carry.
Soap use to and maybe still is made from animal fat and lye.Castile is derived from oils,like vegetable and Coconut.
It may work with the Soybean oil.A test could be done,by putting some oil and Castile in a clear jar or glass,shaking it up and seeing if the mixture emulsifies.
The way most major dish soaps are now,the non detergent name,might be mostly marketing. A bit of Dawn will probably suffice.I just thought non detergent might be less sudsy,which might be the case,because there isn’t any when agitating the tank.Brady
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Thanks B! Aphids wreaked havoc on my cherries and plums last year, so I want to be ready for them this year.
How often is spraying needed?
With mine,I waited until seeing a little color on the flower buds and then sprayed only once.
Make sure to coat the entire tree,trunk and all.
I’m uncertain if rainfall will change the effectiveness.Brady
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What is the coupon code for AM Leonard? I called and they told me ‘HAND18P’, but it did not work.
The email I got from the says the discount will be done at the final check out, no code needed.
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Well, I finished grafting of two of my other scions to some M7 rootstocks today. I got them at the apple workshop I went to Sat. These were some of my first whip and tongue grafts, and I had trouble getting them lined up, but I think I did alright. I wrapped them nice and tight and hope they take. I grafted Snapp Stayman and Suncrisp, on Sat I grafted a Goldrush. I have heard that GR doesn’t do so great on M7, but that’s what I had available, so…
Today I also got a blackberry plot tilled up, getting ready for some plants to go into the ground. It hasn’t rained any in about 5 days, so I figured I’d better take advantage of the weather.
It’s supposed to get cold later this week, highs in the low 40s, lows in the hi 20s. Looks like we’ll be in this cool spell for a while, but not too bad.
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Well, yesterday I got a blackberry run tilled up, and today I got my Triple Crowns planted. I ended up getting 7 tip layers planted with very good roots. I placed them about 4-5ft apart in the row, hope that’s enough room.
Some of the canes had a little green on them, don’t know if they’re starting to wake up yet. I had to hold onto them almost two weeks before I could plant them as it was way too wet to plant. It’s been a bit drier the last week, so thought today would be my best chance. I kept them moist in a bag with wet paper in a dark cool cellar before planting.
When I know they’ll survive and sprout new canes, I’ll be putting up a trellis for them. They’re near the barn in some very rich soil, so they should do well.
Hopefully next year we’ll have more TC’s than what we know what do with! Plus, next month we’ll be getting some more thornless BB’s to plant.
A special thank you to the very generous GF member who sent them to us, you know who you are!
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First blooms of the year. Brady
Cornelian Cherry-Started flowering about 3-4 weeks ago
Sugar Pearls Apricot
Flavor Queen Pluot
Dapple Dandy Pluot
OrangeRed Apricot
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Your apricot blooms are just gorgeous. !!!
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Anyone heard of this apple? Ruby Frost. I bought a tray of them at Costco yesterday. Huge, crisp apple. Very good flavor. Quite hard. White flesh, tinged with pale green. The tag says they are ‘distributed’ by United Apple Sales in NY - but doesn’t say where they are grown. Australia, you think? I’ve never seen this one before.
My favorite apple of this winter was, hands down, Pink Lady.
A close second were the early Opals. They must not store very well . . . because later purchases were not anywhere as near as good.
Strawberry Plugs. I found a ‘new’ feed & seed that’s not too too far away from my house. Norfolk County Feed & Seed. The biggest supply and choice of soils, composts and fertilizers, in one place, that I’ve ever seen. The only place around here that sells ‘mushroom compost’, (which a friend raves about.) While I was there I picked up some strawberry plants. One variety for stacked pots. And one with runners, to plant in beds. I’ve never tried the pot method. Should be fun - and I can put it close to the house and easily net it. Kids will love it, too.
We have ‘U Pick’ Strawberries around here, but they have become tasteless over the years - and I quit going. Gonna try growing some at home. 
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Pom,
Ruby Frost is one of Cornell-bred apples. Here’s the store that I visited.
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That trip to Cornell sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for showing me the reference to Ruby Frost. I can definitely taste the Vitamin C! 
Got an email update on our 3 pluots from Bay Laurel. They shipped out today, supposed to be here next Monday. Was hoping they would’ve shipped yesterday so that they’d be here by Friday. Don’t like the idea of them being in a truck for 7 days, but not much I can do about that.
Anyways, getting kinda geeked about them coming in. I have a place for them planned, down by the barn with some other of our fruit trees.
As mentioned earlier today, I got some blackberries planted today, with more rasps and BB’s coming in next month.
That’s all the fruit plants I’ve ordered for this year, l’m serious. Really. Hard to believe, but we’re actually running out of good places to put all these plants and trees.
It’s about time to get my indoor veggie starts going soon.
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Nice pics. If the blooms make it thru any cold spells, will these be your first year of fruit from these trees? If not, how has their fruit been?
Our 3 pluots are on their way here now from Cali.
My latest forecast for Kentucky is 23 for Thursday night…but they usually miss it.
(Hope they don’t miss and it is even colder than that!)
@BobC, we were in Ashland today and stopped by Rural King to check out their fruit tree stock. They had a lot to pick from, quite a few apples, plums, peaches, and cherries. They even had a Pixie Crunch apple like the one one you got.
Of course there were some that I wanted to get, but had some self-restraint. I was particularly interested in a Santa Rosa plum, but at $40, I had to say no thanks.
Afterwards, we stepped inside the store and got some hot popcorn and looked around a bit, but I only got a couple packets of yellow tomato seeds. It had been a long day so we didn’t linger too long and headed home. But always nice to look around at the ole RK.
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