I had a light frost this morning. I think the temperature was 38. I brought my peppers and tomatoes in. I don’t think anything got hurt.
This morning I had to scrape ice off my windshield but the bleeding hearts that traditionally wilt to mush at 30 were completely fine. I think I just don’t understand physics. Or Ohio weather doesn’t. Could really go either way.
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They were saying 36 for me last night… my low was 42… they usually are off about that much.
Planted my Prime Ark Freedom in ground today… I clipped off the little short floricanes several weeks ago and they have new primocanes up now. Looking good. Going to put a tomato cage around each now, to hopefully keep a deer from munching them.
My fig is sending out shoots… my peach trees (all 3) are loaded, early Mc apples, Gold Rush blooming like crazy and setting fruit. Raspberry blossoms are getting near open… Exciting… so much to look at.
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Thank you Bob for mentioning me. Been turkey hunting for the last couple of weeks (without any luck) and getting the garden ready. Not much time for keeping up with the forum.
How is your nursery work doing?
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Good to hear from you, hope you’re doing alright. Sorry you didn’t get any gobblers, we see lots of them up and down our roads.
I’ve been pretty busy doing various tasks around the farm. Regarding the trees, been doing some pruning, planted out 9 potted apple trees in the front yard. Looks like they’re doing well in their new home. Several fruit trees in bloom, but can’t be too optimistic about anything until we get thru the inevitable late freezes. Supposed to be around 32 tonight, but after that it’s looking pretty good.
No gardens started yet, still haven’t turned any plots, waiting on things to dry out a bit, it’s been very wet this month. Got tomatoes and some greens growing indoors right now, tho.
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Hey there! Thanks for the mention! I lived in Lexington for a little over 10 years but I’m currently about 2 hours from Central Ky about an hour from Huntington, WV.
That’s some lovely wild plums you have there! What is your favorite thing to grow?
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Dropped to 30 here on the hill, maybe a degree cooler down in the lower orchard, so that’s shouldn’t be too much of a problem with a couple trees in full bloom. Now it’ll warm up, with no freezes forecast for the next 10 days.
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32 here this morning. Well, maybe we’re out of the woods? Be nice to have some fruit . . .
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Hopefully dodged a bullet… We were at 32F or lower for 4.5 hours with a low of 30.7 Long range forecast for the next N days looking much better…
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I had a low of 35 yesterday in Franklin, TN. One grape vine had lots of wilted leaves last night. All other grapes, kiwi etc. were totally fine. Strange that one vine would get damage like that at relatively safe temps, while things next to it were fine.
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Well, I did not make it to the turkey woods this morning. Getting up at 2:30 A.M. morning after morning is rough on the constitution. So, this morning after the alarm went off, I got up, checked the NBA scores (my Grizz won!) and went back to bed. Oh well, probably the reason I have not been seeing the gobbler is that he is coming by while I am napping in the doghouse blind. 
Getting too old to do much “running and a gunning” style turkey hunting anymore. Plus , it keeps me awake. 
Yesterday at dusk I hose sprayed Triazicide on my plum tree and Stayman apple tree (since it appears to have lost about 75% of its blooms). Hope I did not bother the bees much. Stayman to me is a great tasting apple but the worms also seem to make it their favorite too. Not sure whether its the coddling moth or the one that does the smiley face (can’t think of the name). Probably both. My other apple trees seems to be more in full bloom.
Indoors I have some Better Boys and Brandywine Red tomatoes growing. Getting a little leggy, tho. Also, have Bell, Sweet Banana and Anaheim Chilli peppers growing inside. I have sworn off of the really hots since they cause me too much heartburn.
It has been a cold and wet April in the deep south too.
P.S. What variety of apples did you plant this spring?
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Longtime favorite of ours as well… We buy at least a few bushel, still eating on them now as good as when I put 'em in the fridge last year. Hoping my trees will start producing enough that we won’t have to buy 'em in the future though.
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Welcome to the thread, My favorite thing to grow is Figs, When I get some free time will jot down my low tunnel protection method which has worked for me.
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So far I have planted 10 Antonovka rootstocks in ground 4 weeks ago and buds are opening at the moment, plan to start grafting this weekend. Also have 6 bench grafts from 39th Parallel on M111 including Winesap, Esopus Spitzenburg, Barmley’s seedling, Sweet 16, Kid’s orange pippin and Macoun and forgot about Pink Pearl bought from Rural King . Likewise have 20 Pear rootstocks in ground and have another 50 or more miscellaneous rootstock to put in ground for Plums, Cherries, Interspecifics etc.
I need some time off from my day Job to finish all what I want to do this spring …
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Just got in from mowing the front yard. I started about 4pm, and finished about 7, with just a couple short breaks. And thats on a 48in riding mower… And I’m not even done, as I still have the backyard, back orchard and lower orchard. I bet if I did all of it in one day, it’d take at least 5, maybe 6 hours.
Funny you mentioned Stayman, as that’s one of the varieties I planted, but it’s a Snapp Stayman, which I think is a red sport. I grafted it in 2018.
The others are Suncrisp, Goldrush (bench grafted 2018);
Enterprise, Honeycrisp, Mollie’s Delicious (2019);
Spartan, Melrouge (red sport of Melrose), Loriglo (a Jonathan sport discovered in KY) (2020)
All were grafted to M7 rootstocks.
Good thing I planted extra Goldrush and Suncrisp, as the older GR looks like it’s dying, and the older SC has bad root damage and may not make it much longer either.
I have 20 varieties of tomatoes, mostly heirlooms, some hybrids. I sowed seeds in 42 pods on April 7th, all but 5 or so have sprouted.
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My 4 tomato plants and my 3 potted figs suffered no freeze/frost damage this past chill.
Over 90% of the apples grafted in March are takes…pears are not so quick.
Graft count for the season is up to 155.
Still have a handfull of rootstocks…but may save for budding or for next year.
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Yeah, I’m getting a bit more optimistic, our last average freeze date was last Friday, and we’re not due for another freeze for the next 9 days. So we might get lucky??
My Zestar and Macoun are loaded with blooms, I’ve never have tasted a Macoun, ever, so I’m hoping this is the year. I got this variety strictly off the reviews of it.
I did get to try a couple Zestar from our tree a few years ago, and they were as good as I remember them from the orchard we’d get them from.
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Gonna be a big year for Cedar-Whatever-Rust this year, I guess.
Saw the big galls on a bunch of cedars, with their orange telial horns out a week or so back. Walked up to the mailbox yesterday and on the way back stopped to look at the mayhaws, in bloom. Almost every fruit - and even blossoms that aren’t yet open is infected. Didn’t look at the big Southern crab at the end of the driveway… I’m sure it’ll look like a canary all summer, but the fruits usually are unaffected… we’ll see…
Serviceberry bloom winding down, I hope I don’t lose them ALL to CSR.
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For those interested, here’s the patent information on this variety I’m growing. I obtained the scions at a grafting class hosted by the UK extension office in Flemingsburg-
Description
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of apple tree discovered as a limb sport of a Jonathan apple tree.
The new sport was asexually reproduced by top-working by grafting the new variety. When the top-worked trees came into bearing, it was positively observed that the fruit unmistakably resembled the fruit of the original sport. The fruit matures about two weeks before the Red Delicious, and when mature, it has a very attractive appearance and spicy delicious flavor with color not quite so intense as the Red Delicious.
The tree was found as a bud sport on a Jonathan Tree growing in a cultivated orchard with mostly Red Delicious Trees. The limb sport differed from the remainder of the tree by a slight difference in color of the leaves and a difference in the color and flavor of the fruit in that it was generally bright red in comparision to a darker duller color of the Jonathan and more delicious than the fruit of the parent tree. The bearing habit of the tree is regular and the growth habit is not spur type and the pollination is self-pollinating. The blossoms are larger and white compared to a smaller pink blossom of the Jonathan. The Loriglo apple of the present tree is more conical than the Jonathan which is a flat apple.
Loriglo has a much better flavor than Jonared. The color pattern is different and more attractive in that it is a brighter red and the blush fades into the ground color making it an attractive yellow with hints of pink. The Loriglo does not resemble Jonared, Blackjon and Jonnee having different color patterns and flavor. Blackjon and Jonnee resemble Jonared but not Loriglo.
THE TREE
The tree was grown and observed at Whitesville, Ky. The date of the first picking was August 25th and the last picking was September 8th, ripening about two weeks earlier than the Red Delicious.
Tree: Medium size; vigorous; productive; spreading; globular in shapes; regular bearer.
Trunk.–Medium and smooth, light brown.
Branches.–Medium smooth and moderate branching. Color 10RP5/2; lenticels gray numerous and elongated.
Leaves.–Medium to large; medium width; medium length, oval, tip-pointed; medium serration; Petiole medium. Length – 4 inches. Width – 23/4 inches. Leaf color, underside R.H.S. Yellow – Green group 148 C, topside Green Group 137 A.
Flowers:
Dates of first and full bloom.–April 28th to May 5th, respectively; slightly earlier than Red Delicious.
Color.–Light pink petals with darker pink calyx.
Fruit:
Maturity when described.–Firm ripe.
Size.–Uniform. Axial diameter – 21/2 inches. Transverse diameter – 3 inches.
Form.–Round, oblong. The fruit is round when viewed from above.
Stem cavity.–Symmetrical. Depth – 5/8th inches. Breadth – 1 inch. Markings: color-greenish yellow.
Basin.–Symmetrical; rounded; smooth, basin open sepals; pubescent and yellowish green. Depth – 1/2 inch.
Stem.–3/4 inch, medium, larger at tip.
Skin.–Medium thickness, tough and smooth. Lenticels numerous slightly raised dots, oblong and yellowish, more numerous towards blossom end. Ground color-pink. Markings – striped; bright red color.
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I noticed that Monday…guess I didn’t get nearly all the cedars turned into posts or ashes…
but I’ll find out by trial and error if any of my young apple trees can’t take cedar apple rust, lol!
Granny, Fuji, Braeburn, Ark. Black, Niez. have and do come through the test…but some recent grafts might not.