And, that handling of all those millions/billions of microbes is exactly what makes our bodies able to handle them 
One of the reasons why I do not use anti-microbial soaps or detergents in my house. We NEED to be exposed to microbes in order to stimulate and challenge our immune systems. Circle of life is fascinating, isn’t it?
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Hey, I grew up on a dairy and hog farm. Talk about being exposed to microbes by the trillions. I had it every day all day!! And I think that’s why I have few allergies or other ailments of that kind. We evolved in a sea of lower life and need to have our immune system activated at a young age. Can you imagine how dirty kids were 10,000 yrs ago.
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Yup, exactly. There are studies out there about the use of anti-microbial products (soaps, detergents, hand cleaners), and how those are affecting the development of our immune systems. Of course there is always the situation of being “too dirty”, but, we’re discovering that there is this happy medium that hopefully will keep us from contracting some horrid disease from the environment (such as Tetanus, Botulism, etc.), but still stimulating our immune system so it develops to the point of being able to protect us from many pathogens. I was an NICU and pediatric nurse for many years. My doctor and I laugh and say that I’m immune to everything, lol! I rarely get sick. In fact, was just discussing this with my supervisor, as I am again, about ready to max out on my PTO hours, and have to schedule some more vacation time so I don’t max out. Again. God Bless my good health.
I’ll just continue using this thread… here we go…May 27th… beautiful warm day after days of heavy rain.
seedling nectarine (in the ground)
pluot (splash?)…one of those i think
Flavor Supreme (yes…i need to thin …i thinned a ton today…i leave some extra in case curculios show up late)
Saturn Peach
seedling peach
TangOS i think
Seedling plum (???) with curc damage/and without
Curculio on an apple (they’ve been hit hard)
Seckel is loaded…most ever
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My peach trees look about the same. I’m very happy, as none of the fruit should have survived this cold winter, yet it did!
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Finally got a chance to check the orchard today.
Lodi apple:
Gingergold apples:
Goldrush apples:
Baby Crawford peaches:
White Lady peach (far right):
Oh God-- This fall, please let me eat this luscious looking Harrow Sweet pear fruitlet!
(picture is upside down)
The Harrow Sweet is the only pear tree that flowered anywhere nearby. If this fruitlet matures, then it is definitely self-fruitful.
These pomes and peaches are the first fruits of their kind I’ve ever been able to successfully grow, so I am freaking-out excited. Especially considering they are all just one or two-year old transplant newbies.
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Matt,
They all look good. Excited for you. I planted my Harrow Sweet pear in 2012 and let it fruit in 2013 (greedy, yes) a couple of fruit. Don’t know if that delayed its growth. Last year, I left only one fruit.
It would have grown a lot more this year had deer not eat a few good scaffolds to stub. Still, the tree is about 4.5-5 ft tall. It has flowered abundantly every year. I let 4 fruit on this year. With a few fruit, I’ve bagged them so no spray needed.
I think you will like this pear.
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Matt-
Your stuff looks pretty close to mine… It was mid 80Fs here today so that helps after a couple inches of rain the past 4 days. We also have a bunch of rain coming Friday…with a cold shot this weekend (back into the 60Fs)
I should have taken some pics… my Harrow Sweet is pretty good size now and has a lot of pears. Its right next to the Seckel. I also planted 2 Bartlett pears (one of my favorite fruits)… I also have 2 seedling pears that are quite big now (one is probably pushing 14 feet tall) that need to be grafted (next year) with a bunch of different pears. I also forgot my apricots which are huge now…
Sprayed most stuff this evening again. PC are still active here by the looks of it… Should be close to the last spray i put on.
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warmwxrules, I may have asked you this before, but what do you use as a mix in your pots?
It varies year to year…but its mainly woodchips (various sizes…although usually filter out big chunks), perlite, some compost (this varies), sometimes peat moss…so mostly a wood based mix. I do see a lot of “shrinkage” so like last spring i pulled a bunch of trees and added more mix to the bottoms. Then i fertilize with a complete fert… often over the summer…water probaly every day when it doesn’t rain/hot out.
Thinning apples tonite…killed 3 more curculio. Rabbits are horrendous this year. Hearing this from other people. Trapped several already and have found several babies… Saw a little guy chewing on my Reliance grape vine they mangled this winter (back to the ground)…ugh… his days are numbered.
sub sonic 22lr will relieve your rabbit headaches. available at your nearest Cabelas.
I was chasing the little one around trying to catch him in a butterfly net… i probably looked like a fool.
Get a cat. I let my cat out at night. Rabbit is not my problem now, but the chipmunks and squirrels are
NO pets. Wife wants dogs, cats, hamsters, fish…3 kids is enough I was never a pet guy growing up. Every pet we had in our possession ran away (rabbit/dog/cat)…serious…my mom made no effort to find any of them (this was in the 80’s).
warmwxrules, I want a dog ,but the cat won’t let me to; I want get rid of the cat, the kid won’t let me to. Now I get rid of the kid ( move to college) and keep the cat. At least it only need a bag of food every three months, and watches the yard, no need to pay for college tuitions.
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Well, the Emerald blueberry I have is completely dry. I ended up pruning it so that all that remains is 1/2" caliper stick, about 8 inches long.
Is there any hope? Should I leave it at that height, or cut it down to the ground and hope for new growth or just pull it and replant something else. It is in a large container right now in a mostly wood chip, peat, perlite mix. The other two blueberries are both pushing out a lot of new growth right now.
Thanks.
You know, I must need better glasses. I look and look and look, but never ever see any PC…oh they’re there, I just never see them. I think they see me coming, shouting out “here comes that SOB, and he’s got the spray tank”.
On the rabbits, you’re not kidding. They run around here in packs and some are larger than a small dog. They are absolutely everywhere day and night…I’ve never seen anything like this. They don’t even run from you when walking right by them…it’s like some sort of sci-fi movie. We haven’t put our beans in yet because of them and I told my wife it’s hopeless with all these rabbits.
I’d trade the cat in for a dog too.
Appleseed,
I saw it the first time yesterday, crawling from a stem to my J plum. This plum is hanging down shaded by leaves. It’s almost at dust.
Could it be that PC or other bugs like OFM work more diligently later in the day or at night when it’s not too hot?
Needless to say, I squished it before I thought about taking its picture.