My tip of the day, if you attempt to use a sprinkler like this for frost protection, bungee cord it to the top of a step ladder ( that way you get unblocked coverage of the whole area), and, this is the main tip; cover both of the ends with plastic so they don’t get wet on the outside and freeze. That happened to me the first night I attempted it and the sprinkler froze in one place. . .
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A vegetable gardening tip: to avoid cutworm damage after putting transplants in the ground, water them in with a solution of Neem
I think spinosad would work as well, need to try that one day
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Plants we should recognize while working in our orchard and yard.
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I wanted to go out and stare at the things I’m growing for my morning therapy w/o raising suspicions from the neighbors of GOS (grower’s obsession syndrome). It occurred to me that having the wrong prop in your hands could be a total giveaway. So here is the tip: instead of a cup of coffee or tea, I brought a pair of pruners and stared as much as I wanted while brandishing the pruners, making real or pretend cuts. So pleased with myself, LOL. 
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I like the way you think.
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My coffee goes with me at least for my first walk around. Of course my box cutter is always in my pocket and ready if needed. Neighbors need a hobby to absorb their time.
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Neighbor problems? Great lounge topic!!
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I found it is difficult to use peanut butter bait in live trap, as ants finish peanut butter in few hours. So today I used this:
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Isn’t that one of the funnest things of growing anything? Going out and looking for changes in growth, or just policing to make sure it’s ok. If I’m off work I do it several times a day. Normally I do it right when I get home. In the morning with coffee is the best part of waking up! I usually take my dog for a walk while I stare at trees and he growls at me sometimes wondering why I am be so slow and not paying attention to him.
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A dog is a great prop - when he cooperates - little more training there.
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I waxed my scions yesterday (and I sure appreciate those who recommended and wrote about their experiences with that–so quick and easy!) and was wanting a quick way to label all the individual scions I had to re-label when done waxing. I thought of these little clips I had and they made easy work of the labeling. Wrote the variety (with a Sharpie) on sturdy paper, fold over scion, clip on. They’re sturdy, small, fit both the tiny and the large scions, and will be easy to re-clip in the field when I want to use the scion for several grafts. The originals were called Clover WonderClips, but the ones I have are Evergreen Sewing and Quilting Craft Clips. I think there are a number of brands now.
Our temps are getting into the 60’s now (this is warm weather to us), plums are in full bloom, and it’s finally time to graft up here.
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Great tip. Thanks for sharing it.
LOL Anne, And this morning I just popped out in my PJ’s to confirm a name on a scion I thought I missed. I got side tracked and ended up with my grafting kit and grafted 6 more scions I thought I should quickly put onto an apple tree rather than throw them out.
Tip- only do this when you live where neighbours are not near. My daughter came out to walk the dogs and caught me in the act. When I explained that I just needed to get these done, waving my knife at the trees, she smiled glanced down at my slippers and said " Of Course you did."
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Be careful with Sharpies, they fade. They sell Sharpie Extreme that are claimed not to fade. Annoying since the originals are called “permenant”.
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Not all bending limbs are fireblight. Many of us are on edge looking for signs of fb and so am I. After several days of off and on rain the shoots are growing rapidly. Along comes the sun and several of these limbs bent over but I was still thinking fb. Luckily it was just a combination of fast growth and hot sun. Life is good again at least for now.
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When you plant a young Morus nigra tree, be diligent to regularly check on growth from the rootstock. Morus alba rootstocks on young trees tend to push out a lot of new shoots, and these can rapidly overrun the scion since M. alba is much more vigorous than M. nigra.
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Would you know if this could be a root stock, looks like the main tree died and now young canes growing? The label just says Issai Mulberry?
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Issai is Morus alba. Since some M. alba cultivars root well, there is a chance that your tree was not grafted and the growth is Issai, but no way to know for sure (at least until it starts fruiting). You might want to contact your seller and ask them whether your tree was grafted or not.
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Great tip. I would not have thought about that.
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Staying safe. In my area it is getting hot with a heavy dose of humidity. Ticks are also on the prowl looking for a blood source. I have started doing most of my orchard task early in the morning before the temperature goes up. This time of the year it can be hot and humid by 10 am. Ticks tend to crawl up on higher shoots of grass or weeds so I’m attempting to keep the grass cut low. Probably not for everyones taste but I also stuff my pants leg into my socks. I will occasionally see a tick attempting to climb up my leg if lighter pants are worn like tan. Staying hydrated and dressing for the occasion is important.
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