Bareroots 2020

 Early in 2020, some new bareroot fruit trees replaced some failing trees. The Old Blenheim apricot was replaced with an O’Henry peach. An old Granny Smith Apple tree was a mess and replaced with a Craig’s Crimson_ cherry tree. The new trees will be pruned to join in the espalier fence line for the garden. Although the peach has a not-so-straight vertical growth, it might be able to be braced a bit to form a straighter midsection. The neighboring nectarine will be pruned back a bit to allow enough room for the peach to grow horizontally. 

The cherry tree came into the garden as a very tall (6’) whip.  It was cut down to about 4’ to keep the height in line with the rest of the tree fenceline an encourage lateral growth. So far, lateral branches are sparse. I need to learn how to encourage that lateral growth. 

Peaches!

O'Henry peaches are on the menu for fresh, local (my backyard) fruit.  There are blemishes, but it's the price you pay to have tasty peaches at your fingertips and taste buds.  Bird netting was draped over the tree as the fruit started to blush.  It's not tied down and blows in the Sahara-like breeze.  Sorry birds. You lose.  There are some blemishes; but that's the price you pay for delicious, nutritious fruit.

O'Henry Peach

This espalier tree got away from me last summer as I wanted to have a canopy to shade the trunk and avoid scald.  Pruning was very light last summer.  Fruit develops on the growth of the previous summer; so I only pruned lightly to encourage fruit development.  Now I have all this growth and can't decide how to handle the growth.

Leave it and enjoy the fruit. Prune it and enjoy the look. Hmmm. Now that I have those options before me the answer seems pretty obvious.

With this historic drought, has anyone adjusted fertilization along with irrigation?  I've heard both arguments -  Fertilize less to reduce production that need irrigation.  Fertilize well to support stressed vegetation.  I heard the second argument on a radio ad for ag fertilizer so...

Garden Update

Just a quick notation of Spring progress in the garden.

The Pink Lemonade Sunshine Blue blueberries are developing nicely.  These are in a pot so it's much easier to keep the soil acidic.  Netting to combat those thieving birds needs to be put in place this weekend.

Thornless boysenberries (6 plants) are producing well.  Once the petals have matured a bit more, bird netting will be installed here as well.  It's a lot more difficult than with the blueberries.

O'Henry blossoms have faded giving way to developing peaches.  This summer I will try to correct some pruning neglect from last year.  More on that in a later post.

Granny Smith apples are coming along beautifully.  I don't thin out the fruit.  Nature will drop the weak ones in most all cases.

Celebrity tomatoes (6) all have multiple blossoms and are thriving amongst the onions.  I suspect that when the heat turns up this week (95 by Wednesday), these plants will be going bonkers.  In the meantime, I'm loving this cool, overcast Saturday.

I picked up a little lavender plant that needs to be potted. It's already developed buds.  No doubt it will enjoy the heat next week and be in full bloom.

That's a quick peek at what's going on in the garden.