Fruit tree protection, figs, cherries, peaches, apples, pears

I did some fruit tree maintenance today. Each received a collar of thin stretchable plastic, covered with tanglefoot.

The figs attract ants, which enter the figs. This is a problem for two reasons. First, I suspect they carry fungus, so the figs spoil much faster. Second, they are difficult to extricate from the fig, so I have to wash them out, losing some fig flavor. The collar of tanglefoot was very effective last year, in stopping the ant problem.

Other trees, apple cherry, and pear, develop large aphid infestations. The aphids are tended by ants, so preventing ant traffic on the trees also prevents much of the aphid infestation.

Other tasks for fruits:
I added some more nylon bags, and adjusted others that were about to fall off. They look ugly, almost offensive, but if they do their job, they will be worth it. This is the 5-variety European pear.

I also sprayed all fruit trees with neem. Some of the apples have a lead disease, causing parts of the leaves to blacken and wilt. This is worst on Golden Delicious and Jonagold. I'm hoping that the infestation will stop in the warmer drier weather - 79F today. Peaches have significant leaf curl, all of it seems to have started due to uncovering the trees when they started blooming. The chilly wet weather that followed countered some of my preventive effort, but I still think they are much better off this year than before.

The thinned fruits, peaches and apples, are enlarging quickly. Now dime sized.

I also pinched (removed terminal growth) ends of fig branches that had grown 4 to 5 new leaves. The purpose is to stimulate fig production for the fall crop (main crop), earlier, and to stimulate compact branching structure.

Lattarula breba. Nice!

Brebas are falling off Hardy Chicago, but most look intact on Vancouver/Brunswick, Petite negri, Desert King, and Lattarula. The figs on Lattarula are swelling quickly, bigger than a quarter now.

Ginkgo tree

My favorite tree as always. This tree is now about 14 years from seeds, having been collected by my Dad in Illinois, planted in a flowerpot in Chicago window sill, then brought to Vancouver WA in 2001. It's been in this location for 8 years. Growth for this tree is much more rapid than its siblings, probably partly due to the fact that it's in the middle of the doggie yard. A lot of sentiment in this tree.

Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantastic"

Wow - I'm impressed! Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantastic" didn't drop its buds, it bloomed! Nice flowers! No fragrance, but I have a cold and can't smell anything.
It's more pale than the internet photo. Maybe it will darken, and develop fragrance, in a few days. From what I've read, the first day doesn't always have the fullest color and fragrance.



This cold is miserable. Friday I felt crummy, Saturday I ignored it and did yard work, but not that much and it wore me out. Sunday I slept all day, and still felt crummy. Today I woke up feeling crummy. Maybe not as bad as yesterday. Will the blooming flower heal me?

It rained a little last night. Not a lot. The rain barrel filled up completely! That spout does drain half of the roof, so no surprise. But I was surprised, anyway.

Now I have an easy rainwater source for the orchids, and a quick water source for containers and seedlings. Cool! Now we're talking about getting a second one for increased storage capacity!

Thinning peaches and apples really gave them a boost! It's easy to compare fruit, tiny, on branches where I missed thinning, to fruit 4 times larger already, on the branches that I thinned. Apples not as dramatic as peaches.

Kitchen Garden Log. Time to Start Some Veggies

Today,

1. I pulled several buckets of weeds from the rose bed / peach bed / raspberry patch. A lot of the weeds were young raspberry plants. They are spreading like crazy. Chickens got benefit of all of the weeds. I need to do some research - I don't know what some of the weeds are called.

2. I spread fresh straw for the chickens. Their eggs have been too muddy, I have to wash them. Today's eggs were clean. Since they are eating so much greens, I threw in some shell calcium to keep the eggshells strong.

3. I planted seeds, Cucumber (Early Pride Hybrid and Palaace King Hybrid Asian Cucumber) and Zucchini (Sweet Zuke Hybrid) and summer squash (Butterstick). I blogged on these earlier when I bought the seeds. I planted the seeds in compost-based potting soil.

4. Transplanted a couple more eggplants into the barrels. Im not sure how these will do, they are not thriving. Probably started too early.

Water Barrel

I bought this a month or more ago. We've had lots of rain since then. However, I didn't have either the time, energy, or inclination to install the barrel. This is a 57-gallon unit, so will be good for obtaining small amounts of water, but not for storing large amounts for the entire garden.

It wasn't that much effort. The hardest part was creating a level spot with the blocks. I tried many times before feeling satisfied it was level.

It was amazing, I didn't lose any parts while the barrel sat uninstalled. Well, it took some time to find everything, but there it was.

The diverter unit is simple and clever.

Now we just need some rain. With my impeccable sense of timing, I now have the rain barrel installed at the end of the rainy season.

Water from half of the roof flows via this downspout, so it should fill quickly, once it rains.

This will be especially handy for giving freshwater to the hens, and having freshwater for orchids. According to my reading, orchids don't appreciate buildup of salts from tap water, so will benefit from fresh rainwater.

Once it rains.