Are you talking about Reed Valley in Paris? That’s the one I was referring to. And actually you’re right, I checked their website, they say GG ripens in mid August, not September like I had said.
No, further west, Mulberry Orchard in Shelbyville. Never been to Reed Valley but have heard nice things from friends that live out that way.
Ok. They actually retired a couple years ago, and passed the operations over to a younger family. I last visited there a couple years ago. It’s a massive orchard, they grow mostly apples and pears, but also various cane berries, cherries and peaches, along with some veggies.
Thank you. That’s reassuring to know it’s that early.
I have a few apples on a small Ginger Gold tree fruiting for the first time this year. As long as a varmint doesn’t get them I’ll advise when they get ripe. Probably will be a bit earlier for you, I’m at ~1700 ft elevation in northeast TN.
ginger gold is the 1st fresh apples to come out in the grocery stores here. bag says they’re out of n.y. i see them in late aug. / early. sept. my yellow transparent ripens in mid aug. i might graft ginger gold to my Williams pride. they ripen at the same times. would be cool to see red and yellow apples on the same tree.
There is a house about 5 miles away from me that has an apple tree that had yellow and red apples on it last year. I have lived here for years and last year was the first year it had them. I am anxious to see if it does that again this year. It was neat to see it like that.
@OldKYHomestead …I have a early mcintosh (cross of mc and yellow transparent) that starts ripening around June 22 and normally finishes about July 22.
That is in southern middle TN.
Those were picked on June 22.
Very pretty apples.
Following up on pests this year. While I would love to take credit for low pest pressure through trying to attract lots of predators (successful), last year my trees were getting defoliated by tons of Japanese beetles; this year I’ve had a few clusters hit my plum trees and one eggplant they were obsessed with out of about thirty (made it very easy to knock them into a soapy water bucket), but overall there just haven’t been that many. The birds buffet off of the garden/orchards regularly, but last year it wasn’t near enough to keep the beetles from doing damage. I was going to spray Surround on the trees that are usually targeted, but I haven’t had to bother. I’ve crushed one cucumber beetle. Haven’t seen a brown marmorated stink bug. I’m not holding my breath, but I’m not upset about it, either.
What is everyone else seeing?
Pictured: Solitary Japanese Beetle, looking for love in a lonely world.
My 50+ apple trees in SE Ohio have been stripped by JB and the intense heat. I think I’ll loose several.
Japanese beetle pressure seems less here in middle TN as well, but they usually peek in late July here so it may just be too early. I sure miss being able to stop by walmart and pick up some REAL sevin (carbaryl)- man that stuff was incredible on Jap Beetles. I know I can still order it somewhere but its a hassle and expensive. The new formula isn’t as effective for me, though I’ve seen others here saying it works almost as well for them.
I spread milky spores last year and so far the number of japanese beetles seems slightly less. Hopefully by the 2nd or 3rd year it will have made more of a difference.
@ansayre that’s really frustrating. The early high heat caused a bunch of my trees to stop putting on growth until just these last weeks where we’re getting good rain and some cloud cover. Hopefully yours will bounce back.
@thecityman hopefully they stay away. My notes from last year show there were masses here at this time driving me crazy
@wdingus I keep saying I’ll do that, but it always gets pushed to the back burner
So sorry to hear that. JB can do a lot of damage in a very short time. My neighbor had two long rows of grape plants and a few years ago the JB stripped the leaves of every vine he had.
Hi Everyone,
I am a new member on this site although have been reading here and loving it for a couple of years. I am located in rural southern Indiana about 30 minutes from Louisville, so was very glad to find this regional chat thread.
Some observations I have noted since moving here about 14 years ago (although we purchased the land about 18 years ago) are:
Many things do grow well in our loamy clay soil (except blueberries which I cannot get to grow well in the ground with a pH of 6.5 to 7 no matter what I do to lower it). There are a lot of limestone rocks and bedrock in this area with many sinkholes and caves. The problem is not in getting things to grow, but in keeping the animals, bugs and diseases from winning the battle.
When we first moved here there seemed to be lots of Japanese Beetles, but over the years I have noticed far fewer and I really do not even call them a problem anymore. I wonder if the numerous birds that are now coming to feast on the things I have planted may also be starting to feast on the beetles.
I have never seen any purple martins here although I noticed them everywhere when I lived in Alabama. We do, however, have a large flock of tree swallows that come every year and nested in an old standing tree stump full of holes by the pond which has since fallen and now nest in the many birdhouses I have put on fence posts all about. They follow me when I am on the tractor bush hogging the pasture and will swoop all around me within a few feet grabbing multitudes of insects and also flying over the pond catching insects. I am convinced they are just as good as purple martins as insect catchers. My husband and I are stunned that we can sit outside on the porch and near the pond and not get ANY mosquito bites. That may also be attributed to a healthy population of bats near the pond, and catfish and dragonfly larvae in the pond eating the mosquito larvae.
We did plant several fruit trees here about 16 or so years ago when I knew nothing about fruit trees except that some were considered more disease resistant. My Enterprise and Liberty apples have never had any touch of any disease that I am aware of. Never a hint of fireblight and produce lots of apples most years. They are very afflicted with plum curculio, however and must be sprayed for those horrible beasts which I am not good at doing. I am hoping to get more consistent with spraying now that I have retired for the third and hopefully final time. . My Freedom apple tree is a total waste and is infested with cedar apple rust each year and there is no getting away from the millions of cedars in this area. My two pears, Moonglow and Starking Delicious do get a little fireblight many years, but I have never cut it out and they seem to heal themselves.
Romance series cherries, Romeo and Juliet grow great here and make lots of cherries if you can get them from the birds. They have gotten pretty big and are hard to net for this old woman, so I am going to cut the centers out, shorten them and shape like a peach tree, which will be easier to net. We shall see how that works. They also send up suckers everywhere, which I just mow down, but I may let a few grow for additional bushes since they are on their own roots.
Anyway, I am learning all I can about grafting and plan to start next spring, which I am very excited about. Hoping to graft pawpaws, persimmons, pears, mulberries, jujube, and apples on existing trees and also to some wild rootstock that grows around here.
Sometimes I want to give up between the deer, rabbits, and bugs, but we plant people are a resilient bunch and we shall not be overcome!!
Sandra
Glad you finally posted something here. Glad you have been enjoying the information here.
Good to see you, Sandra. I’m an AL native (Lee Co.), but have been here in KY(near Hopkinsville) for nearly 30 years. 3 of our 4 kids attended UofL, and one still lives in Louisville.
We had purple martins here years ago, but a windstorm blew down the house with many babies pre-fledge; we put it back up and the adults came back, but then another straight-line wind blew it over again, and they left, never to return. I see them at other folks’ properties, but have been unable to entice them to take up residence in new PM houses we’ve erected.
Rabbiteye and Southern highbush blueberries have done well for me, and are 10X more productive than the Northern highbush types we planted, at UK Extension recommendation, when we first arrived here.
I’ve abandoned or removed all apples except a handful - mostly apple-crabs/‘lunchbox apples’.
Pears, persimmons, mulberries do well. Have not grown jujubes, but Clifford England has extensive plantings over in southeast KY.
Lucky, Thanks for the nice welcome. My family hails from Choctaw County, Alabama and I also have relatives in Mobile. My husband lived most of his life in Louisville and that’s how I ended up living there and then moving to southern Indiana. I have spent most of my adult life trying to get back to the very rural living that I so loved in Alabama where I lived at the very end of a long red clay dirt (mud) road. I am now on a gravel road in a rural area and my long-suffering city slicker husband made the trip with me. It’s been an adventure!
I will definitely look into Rabbiteye and southern highbush blueberries. They can only be an improvement on what I have experienced so far.
I am looking forward to obtaining/grafting some better varieties of pears, mulberries, persimmons, pawpaw and jujubes. Always something new to try and hope for in the realm of fruit growing. I enjoy reading your informative posts under the various topics here!
Sandra
I started this conversation about Blare in the central midwest Region Central Midwest - KS, MO, OK - #104 by clarkinks but there is little doubt it is going to hit the South west eg. Kentucky etc. hard and many others. @subdood_ky_z6b this is why you have solar batteries charged up. It wont be enough by itself but it is going to help