Red, not deep burgundy or deep red. I didn’t ask what the process was but I will when we go back this summer.
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Yeah, I would have thought the juice would be somewhat clear. Maybe after there is some quantity it starts showing color.
Are those straight up with the stem and pit?
Yes, no processing. But of course there is just the time to pick and fill the quarts.
Do you use steam process or cold press? Cold press ime gets the dark red and the lighter clear red is steam
I’ve never juiced sour cherry before. Didn’t know it made a good juice. To your question I only have the classic press and the spinner juicer.
Tart cherry juice is great. Its popular to drink before bed cause it helps you sleep
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So for the past year I have been battling woolly apple aphids on my trees. I use an organic spray that seems to keep it from getting to a full on infestation but there is still a presence. I’ve seen introducing ladybugs as a suggested combat method. Does anybody have experience with this? What was your process? I am also looking into composting worms for soil aeration. Definitely looking into the “good guys” for the garden!
I don’t, but consider introducing lady bug larva, not the adult bugs. Only good things can come from that, so nothing to lose!
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i have a ton of ladybugs and other predatory larvae just by having a ton of native plants tbh. they take a little to show up but they arrive. i do not have many wooly aphids though just other types of aphids, so not sure if they differ in how much ladybugs eat.
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Interesting things to consider, thank you both! I am also increasing my native plant presence in the garden. Just trying to balance not being too reactive and doing something to benefit the situation.
I think the lacewing nymphs eat them as well.
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It took me quite a few years, but over time I built up a large ladybug population which now keeps any aphids in control (except for black cherry aphids). I never introduced any larvae or adults, they just slowly built up from the native population. I’m not sure if the introductions work so well, I tried it at our old house and they all seemed to just fly away.
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I agree. It took 3 years for me to see the boon that is here now. Maybe 6 years ago we bought some ladybugs, but they were half dead and I think they all left. The big county nursery uses lady bug larva inside their greenhouses and that works really well, with the bonus that we end up bringing home more larva.
I’m really thrilled with the hornets. Focusing on planting for them or just the mass of natives and bugs has finally paid off and they are here in force. Minus the fact that they murdered all the monarch caterpillars. Those vicious things are on the hunt in all daylight hours, scouring around every leaf of every plant. finally have a very noticeable drop in pests. Forgot- specially, I’ve never had so few cabbage moth worm! It’s AMAZING. The cabbage moths are flitting around all day, yet I have totally clean broccoli plants! Normally, I would be seeing poop and pulling them off every week. Now if only something would hunt the invasive house sparrows!!
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I’m probably going to speak this into existence, but last year I had an aphid boom on my honeyberries and gooseberries. This year I haven’t seen a single one, just a rare lantern fly every now and then.
Not sure if stuff showed up to eat them last year and stayed, but I’m super happy about it because the new growth on stuff is doing great instead of having some of the canes on my gooseberries dying from the green aphid infestation.
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I agree that you can build up a wonderful world of allies over time. I see the wasps/hornets all the time and it is certainly pretty awesome. I do get some in cabbage moth worms in my actual cabbage, since the leaves are folded closely and I think it is easier for them to be out of sight of the predators, but it is definitely way down from what it has been when I started.
I just saw my first squash vine borer moth trying to lay eggs on my baby zukes. It would be great if there were more natural predators for those, but I’m not sure there are. It tried to smack it out of the sky, but missed. I’m sure it is back out there right now.
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We don’t really have a “lawn” in my front yard, so my wife and I seeded the entire lawn with native wildflowers that we are just starting to see some germination. I’m hoping that helps a lot attracting beneficials to the garden. My fruit trees are in my backyard, so I’m not sure how helpful the front yard meadow will be for the backyard, but I have to imagine it will at least increase their presence. That’s been a project my wife and I have been working on (tilling, etc.) for almost a year at this point. My aphid issue started up again after those few days in a row of rainfall a lot of us got.
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I’m not sure how much it helped, but a few years ago I had bad infestations on my plums. Neem oil and Insecticidal soap didn’t help. I bought beneficial bug flower mixes and put them in pots I could move around. Last few years I notice the aphids, but the ladybug larvae shows up quickly there after to take care of them. Now, I will have random infestations on volunteer milkweed but that is nowhere near my fruit trees so I let it be.
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In years past I only had to cut a branch or two to control FB. This year was bad and every time I think I’ve cut it all out more shows up. Several trees got it and one is down to about half size now (was 25 foot). Is that a sign the tree is a goner?
No, it could recover. I’ve had it happen several times.
It’s also a relatively bad year for me, but nearly all the problem is on Reine des Reinettes and its sport King Russet. I think those trees will need to go as they will infect other trees.
My Gerardi I planted this spring lost all of its leaves too. (although it seemed like an animal chewed off the leaves. This is after it initially lost leaves due to the cold. Had new growth, then lost it all again. That was my initial thought. I put chicken wire around it to prevent it as a possibility in the near future).
It did however start pushing out new growth a few days ago. It was doing nothing for quite some time then I decided to give it a drink of liquid fertilizer (24-8-16). I don’t know if that pump of nitrogen did the trick but I did fertilize a bunch of young fruit trees (that don’t mind a nice blast of nitrogen) with that same fertilizer and they all seemed to respond positively when I did it. They all put out lush green leaves shortly after.
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