My Orchard Projects

After reading of the reviews for those,they are like some I tried,with a paper/cardboard interior,that doesn’t hold up well to moisture.Mine basically turned into a thicker version of a gum wrapper.bb

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Yeah, buying from big box stores can be a risk, but sometimes online vendors can ship the wrong stuff, too. Good thing about the TS trees is that they’re only $14, so no big loss. Like you said, you could always top work it, or use it as a Frankentree.

Some pics of the callery pears in the front of my land this evening

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And now tomorrow night it is suppose to get cold… :scream:

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No fruit on these trees but will put off being able to graft for a while longer… :thinking:

While I was out I thought I could also take a few before pics of the field I am thinking of clearing this Spring and Summer for another Orchard :+1:

Mostly will just have to mow it a few times to get a lot of it in shape for planting but will also have to remove some trees as well… I had to do the same with the orchard that is just down the driveway from this spot. It had smaller trees though as I let both go at the same time but cleaned the other one back up around 2012 in preparation for my first Orchard. I started planting in it the following year.

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What about these two for small, stampable scion tags

Shapenty Small Round Stainless Steel Flat Blank Stamping Tag Pendants Mini Discs for Bracelet Earring Necklace Chain Charms Jewelry Making and Specialized Photo Number Alphabet Stamping, 100PCS (8MM)|180x180

$6.49

Beadthoven 1Box/36pcs Iron Letter Alphabet Initials A-Z & Number 0-9 Seal Stamps Metal Steel Tag Pendant Stamping Tool Message Word Phrase Inked Set |Size 60x6mm|180x180

$17.90

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Those little tags do look like they could work! Maybe stamp a number and have a corresponding list :thinking: :+1:

That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ve started assigning numbers to my scions that are just waiting in the wings. My existing trees are numbered to in case I decide to make pollination easier with multiple scions on trees that aren’t self pollinated. The numbers dies are affordable for those of us that don’t already have something like that. Alternatively you could put the variety if you don’t want to have to do a lookup

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And now some pictures the very next day :scream: What a difference :cold_face:

It is also suppose to get close to if not 22° F tonight and tomorrow night!

That should put anything down that thought about budding or kill it sufficiently :man_facepalming: :grin:

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I have had trouble with rabbits clipping some of my grapes and this has kept them from ever starting good :man_facepalming: so I decided that this year I will try to deter them from doing this :grin:

I built some small cages from chicken wire :+1: I had some lengths of heavier guage wire that I used to weave them together and also to hold them in the ground. Seems like it should do the trick!

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I took a pic of my plum tree that I planted last week with the cage that I have around it. It is a repurposed tomato cage, to keep deer away from the plum, that my wife says is to big for the tomatoes but it looks like it will work perfect for this!

I also took a pic of one of my peach trees nearby and they look like they are starting to swell now.

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I got home a good deal before dark this evening and decided to walk around in my front section of land and see how the 2 callery pears are doing. Seems likes they are starting to wake up amongst the cold then warm weather we have been having.

That was the one by the driveway. The other is protected a bit more by some pines and is just a little farther along.

The exciting news though, is that I walked around trying to see if there might by the off chance be any more!

Guess what…

I found a few more! So excited to find more of them and in varying different stages of development!

That one will have to be cut down to just one trunk and then grafted but is in a very open spot with lots of sun :grinning:

Some smaller ones as well!

None of these have begun to wake yet but I am sure they aren’t far behind…

A close up of one of the branches. Another smaller tree growing right beside it but it will be taken out when I begin the clean up :+1:

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I wonder if it would be possible to dig down and separate the one with 4 trunks coming out of the ground into 2 or more trees? Does anyone think that is a viable option?

I can’t wait to start taking trees out and cutting the briars and weeds down now! I know a lot of hard work is ahead but it is fun to think about :blush:

Poncho, a really dumb question for you. On the last pic, is all the growth in limbs and no buds? I cant seem to tell which is which before they bud. I have several pears which look exactly like that last picture. Does that mean no blooms, although nice growth?

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These are callery pear (Bradford pears) so no fruit. It may flower but that one is still young and may not. Not a dumb question at all. I just hope the grafts take and then they do have fruit buds and flowers :grinning:

I find it funny that ten years ago, when I didn’t grow hardly anything, that these late winter warm spells meant nothing to me.

Now I kvetch about every little warm and cold spell because I could end up losing a lot of possible fruit for the year. And, because of some late spring freezes (a couple in May), I have to wait until almost June to plant out my tomatoes and peppers. Plus, with all this rain, I can’t get the tractor out and do much work without tearing up the sod.

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I have fretted about cold and hot spells like this for years. Of course it was to do with gardening instead of orcharding though. I preferred it to be warm and stay warm then, so I could plant my potatoes early :grinning: I remember the first year I planted fruit stuff though :man_facepalming: I was terrified that everything I had planted was budding out and the temps were dropping very low :scream: Since then it has been roller coaster after another during winter… :rofl:

Our luck with taters has been dismal in six years of trying. Ironically our best year was the first year. Since then our seed potatoes have had a tendency to rot because of too much rain after planting. Or, they were bit by a May (?!?) freeze after they had been planted in late March.

Because of these late spring freezes, we have been planting out tomatoes and peppers around Memorial Day.

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I have planted them as early as the first week of February and they do great and then planted them in April and not do as good :man_shrugging: I didn’t plant any last year but my father in law usually plants enough for the whole family :rofl:

I haven’t decided what I am growing exactly in my garden this year… I know cukes and corn. Probably lettuce, tomatoes, cantaloupes, some type of squash, pumpkins (maybe), and pole beans (Caseknife). Not sure what else. I also would love to start making some raised beds and grow in those instead of a more traditional in ground garden :thinking:

We’re going to try to grow more corn this year, our canned (pressure cooked) corn reserves are running a bit low. We do have frozen ears though, of Honey Select and Ambrosia.

Very little cukes this year. In '18 we made over 50 quarts of various pickles, so we’re good there!

If you like pole beans, I recommend Rattlesnake beans. They are sweet and tender right off the vine. I’m not a big fan of green beans, but they changed my mind. Also, half-runners are very good, white and stripes HR are the ones we usually grow.

Of course we’ll do our usual big tomato and pepper crop. Last year we had about 35 tomato and 25 peppers planted out. Had a great crop because we had a very dry and warm summer. Usually our toms get blighted out because of all the rain and humidity in the summer.

Going to try lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and chard indoors and try to plant them out later.

Speaking of pumpkins, we had good luck with Early Sweet Sugar Pie variety, gave us over a dozen volleyball sized fruit a couple years ago. Great thing about pumpkins is that the deer leave them alone, I guess the vines are way too spikey for their likes.

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