Apples in Bloom. 4.21.21

Going around the yard, I think most of the apple varieties are blooming now.  It's interesting - sometimes such a big deal is made about having the same bloom times for pollination.  Right now, only a few are not in full bloom.  Some flowers might not get pollinated.   Then again, thinning the set fruit is a pretty big chore, so that's probably a good thing.  

Finished blooming - only Dolgo Crabapple.

More or less full bloom:

Gravenstein, Airlie Red Flesh, Rubinette, Northpole columnar, TastyRed Columnar, Golden Treat Columnar, Jonathan, Jonared, Priscilla, Prima, Queen Cox, King David, Jonagold, WineCrisp, Zestar, Sweet-16, Redlove Era, Akane, Sutton's Beauty, and probably some I've missed.

First Apple Blossoms. Redlove Era and Urban Apple Tasty Red

 These are the earliest apple blossoms so far.  I have not checked down the hill.  Maybe there are some there too.

Urban Apple Tasty Red

Redlove Calypso.  Almost blooming.

Redlove Era.  These surprised me.

Irrigation System Project. 4.18.2021

 Here is the start of my new irrigation system.  There is still a lot of work to be done, and more parts to buy.

I buried the stretch of 1/2 inch tubing that goes from the tap to the garden.  It's easily depressable, and I don't want to trip over it or mow it, so it's buried in 3/4 inch vinyl pipe that was lying around for years.

Here is the splitter.  We still have access to the regular garden hose.  The irrigation system side also has an anti-siphen valve. 

This drone view shows most of the area I want to irrigate.  I think I need four separate lines, each with its own shut-off valve.  One for sweet corn area, and strawberries.  Corn requires a higher volume output.  One for miniature fruit trees, which I think I'll set up with soakers.  The tomatoes will also get soakers, I think, which is good to prevent soil borne diseases from contaminating the leaves.  The raised beds will get 1/4 inch drippers, which I think will be easier to judge the output.  It will all depend on how I feel about each arm of the system.  Maybe tomorrow or the next day, the section for raised beds will be completed and ready for testing.  There are various complications in each area, which I will work out as I go.

Seedling Update. 4.18.2021

 Here are the current seedlings.  Some of the tomatoes, all of the potatoes, a few of the peppers, the marigolds, and early started lettuce are all planted outside.  Today I up-potted the seedlings of dwarf tomato varieties and kept a few extras.

All that's left to start are some squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers.  If I'm in the mood for it, I might plant some Swiss chard and a few other veggies directly in the garden now, and of course corn and beans in May and June.

Daffodils are Still Blooming. 4.15.2021

It's nice to see that some of the daffodils are still blooming.

 

Grafts Progress Notes. Apples and Chestnuts. 4.16.2021

 Grafts look OK so far.  It's early to see much growth, but the buds are swelling.  These are the top tiers for the espaliers.

These are the new chestnut grafts..  So far so good.

 

Planting Tomato Plants and Potato Tubers. 4.16.21

 It's an unusually warm, even hot Spring.  Days into the 80s, but nights into high 30s to low 40s.  I decided to plant out the rest of the first group of tomato plants.  I am covering them on the coldest nights.

No photos of the potatoes.   They were from Fedco in Maine.  Varieties Algonquin (Early variety), Envol ("The earliest of the early"), Kennebec (my favorite, a very good baker) mid season, and Russet Burbank (Always good) late season.  

This is about the earliest that I have planted tomatoes, and the latest I have planted potatoes.

The Clancy potato seedlings have been doing OK.  There were some freezes, and there are a few frosted leaves, but they seem to be growing well.  I covered them on those freezing nights for protection.

Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt. Progress Notes. 4.10.2021

 All of the squares are cut now.  I started sewing together the nine patches.  It will take a while to complete them, and there is no hurry.

This photo is from when I started cutting them.  There are now about 49 piles of each color pair, 12 squares per color.

Here are some of the second hand men's shirts that will go into the spare bed quilt.  They are shades of blue and grey.  I want to add some brown, tan, khaki type colors.  A few more should do it.   My current thought is either 5 X 5 squares or 5 X 10 squares.  Maybe do the latter and if there are not enough, change to 5 X 5.

Tomato Seedlings. 4.10.2021

 Here are the slicing and cherry tomato seedlings now.  They are all growing nicely.  In order to slow them down a little, I'm not fertilizing, and I move them outside where it's cooler, during the day.  They just need to hold on a couple more weeks for better weather.

The varieties include favorite hybrids (Better Boy and Lemon Boy), hybrids I haven't tried before (Braveheart, Early Goliath), Russian heirloom types (Golden King of Siberia, Moscovich, Purple Russian),  heirloom Classic Beefsteak, a cherries Braveheart, Sugar Rush, and Unicorn, and a yellow volunteer cherry tomato that came up volunteer from last year, probably descended from Sungold.hybrid.

Now that I have the Water Tube plant enclosures set up, I can plant six of these outside in a few days.  That will give the soil inside time to warm up.  I measured the soil temp, it's about 46 in am and 50s in afternoon, maybe 10 or more degrees warmer than ambient temperature.  I'm thinking, maybe the three Russian varieties and  classic Beefsteak, Better Boy and Lemon boy.

These were formerly called "Wall'o'Water" but now called "Season Starter".  I bought three more via Amazon and set them up yesterday.  They hold about 4 gallons of water.

Here they are this morning.  No plants in them yet.

Apple Seedlings. 4.6.2021

 So far these apple seedlings are continuing to look pretty happy.  The green leaf seedling has about the same number of leaves as the burgundy leaf seedlings.  It's the interstems that are longer, making for a taller plant.