The herbicide I sprayed last fall worked (it snowed right after I sprayed) and I ran the sub-soiler through to help dry things out. I should be able to till these last 3 rows in the next week or two. Looks like I have first time blooms forming on a bunch of varieties as well as a few that have bloomed previously .
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As of today I have flower buds showing on the following varieties at the orchard:
Almata on B.118
Apricot Apple
Arkansas Black on M.111
Bramley’s Seedling on MM.106
Breaky
Centennial Crab on MM.106
Cherry Cox
Chestnut Crab on MM.106
Connell Red on MM.106
Cortland on B.118
Crimson Beauty on M.7
Crimson Gold on M.7
Dolgo Crab on MM.106
Golden Winesap on P.18
Hewe’s / Virginia Crab on M.111
Holstein on MM.106
Honey Gold on G.890
Hyslop Crab on B.118
Jonagold on B.9
Kieffer Pear on OHxF333
Lady Sweet on MM.106
Liberty on M.111
Lubsk Queen on G.210
Moonglow Pear on OHxF333
Muscat on M.111
Nova Easygro
November Peach on P.18
Paula Red on G.210
Rambour d’Hiver
Red Astrachan on B.118
Red Baron on G.890
Red Stayman on P.18
Red Westfield Seek No Further on B.118
Reinette Clochard on MM.106
Smokehouse on B.118
Swayzie on G.210
Wealthy on P.18
Whitney Crab on B.118
Whitney Crab on MM.106
Wickson Crab on B.118
Wickson Crab on MM.106
Winter Banana on B.118
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Great apple varieties. Nice blossoms.
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Having the photos in succession, you can really see the difference between the simple and showy blooms. Really beautiful!
Any idea what your fruit set looks like for this year?
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No idea at this point. I haven’t had any petal fall yet. Got down to 30.2F last night and Thurs night is supposed to be 27F and we’re often below forecast. Here at the house, I’ve had honeybees on the trees but at the orchard all I’ve seen are native pollinators. I have many varieties that haven’t opened yet. Last night’s temps didn’t hurt blooms here at the house and I haven’t gone to the orchard yet. Wed and Thurs day temps look low enough to hamper pollinator activity, but otherwise day temps should be good for that. How about yours @Rosdonald , looking good this year?
I should also say, since you can’t see the whole tree in these pics, some of these trees are too small to bear fruit and I’ll pluck any fruit that sets on them.
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Depending on which thermometer we choose to believe, we stayed above 40°F or dipped just below. Wednesday night is our next frost potential.
We have reached petal fall in some apples and lots more on other fruit trees. I didn’t see many pollinators when the pears first started to blossom, but fruit set is abundant. I have hours of thinning ahead of me.
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That’s encouraging, I’m hoping things will be good at the orchard.
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Apple fruit set is very good, but temps dipped too low for other fruit. Now many of us are dealing with FB in the orchard. This has been a year of extremes and unpredictable results.
BTW, we are ready for another of your magical videos about Maggie’s Orchard! 
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Ha ha ! I said today I need to fly the drone at the orchard, but I ended up milling a big 'ol hard maple for my cider press build (the wood needs to air dry for a year and then be kiln dried before I can begin). We just cut the tree down yesterday and I milled it today. Got some beautiful stuff out of that log. I got row 12, 13 & 14 tilled this spring and planted part of row 12, so I thought I’d fly the drone to show that and maybe try to show a few of the trees that are blooming. I have 4 + rows to get mulched, hope to put a significant dent in my chip pile.
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You’ve got to love some of these variety names. The one that struck me was Westfield Seek-no-further. It has a rich history like most apples. I have Hubbardston Nonsuch (or none such). I think both say there’s no better apple (none such) than this one so don’t bother looking for it.
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My Westfield is a red sport, because the name wasn’t long enough already! My Red Westfield Seek No Further and Hubbardston Nonesuch are both first year bloomers for me.
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The article reports that Westfield “hasn’t produced an abundance of apples over the years.” That is true of our Westfield on Antonovka rootstock, and it took a long time to first bear fruit. I took scionwood from that tree and grafted it onto G16 in 2015. That tree was precocious and bears prolifically.
It is one of my favorites, although I like Hubbardston Nonesuch better. I talked to the owner of a local commercial orchard a number of years ago, however, and she said they pulled out all their Westfields, dubbing it Westfield Eat-No-Further, complaining of an astringent aftertaste.
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Same for me and Hubbardston. First blooms.
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I should get to sample Camack’s Sweet, Golden Sweet, May Queen, possibly Northwest Greening and Mammoth Blacktwig and Esopus Spitzenburg for the first time this year. Lots of other new additions in the last 3 or 4 seasons, no fruit yet.
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I only have Esopus Spitzenburg, that’s a great line up! Looking forward to hearing what you think of them. I’ve been wanting Northwest Greening, we’ll have to do some trading next spring, Red Vein Crab would be great for your red fleshed collection.
The E. Spitzenburg is a really great apple, for me and my family. Everyone I give an apple to says “Wow, what kind of apple is this?” They also store well. One of my favorites to grow.
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