Grafting Apples. 3.17.2021

 It seems like just about perfect time for grafting apples.  We are probably done with hard frosts, the understocks have not started blooming yet but budes are starting to swell in some.varieties.  Now three of the espaliers have grafts for new tops - so now the Zestar will have top tiers of Rubinette, Calypso will have top ties of Otterson, and Honeycrisp will have top tiers of Gala.  I chose Gala because it's a good variety that I know I like, Rubinette is a great variety, very delicious, that's  grows well for me but isn't available in stores, and Otterson is supposedly the darkest red apple grown - possibly smaller and less vigorous than others, so it seemed like a nice top for Calypso, which I suspect will also be less vigorous.

I also grafted Duchess of Oldenberg onto Milo GIbson.  I might want to discontinue the Milo if the apples are no more special than last year, in which case I will have a new top of it from the graft of Duchess.

Lastly, I had a graft of a red flesh apple on Geneva 222 rootstock last year, but I don't want it.  So I top grafted that one with Opalescent, a historic apple that I like and have a small graft of on a multigraft tree, but it isn't getting much of a chance.  I'm not sure where this tree will go if it does well, but there are choices.

I also started putting on some new labels, that have the probable harvest dates.

Here are most of the grafts so far.   All except the Otterson are whip and tongue.  The Otterson was too small so I did a cleft graft for that one.

 

 

Planting Onion Seedling. Garlic. 3.17.2020

Today I planted out the rest of the onion seedlings.  I started these seedlings in January.  Onions will survive a little frost or chilly weather.  Planting them out now will get them established before the warm weather starts.   My seed starting book gives a date of March 20th so we are almost there.  It has been very nice outside, in the 60s today.  Lows in 40s.

I needed some extra space, so some went into an area that I was not planning to plant this year.  But that's OK.  That brick circle also contains some rescued garlic, a rescued sprouted onion (for potential seeds), and other alliums.  A kind of hodge podge.

I planted a row of the onion seedlings in what has turned out to the the onion / shallot / rescued garlic raised bed.  This year I can compare Spanish onions with NY Hybrid and with onion sets that I planted in January?.  The main reason to hope the Spanish onions are good, is that they are non hybrid and I can use them to save seeds.

  This is the garlic raised bed.  Most of those on the left were ones that I saved last year.  They look mush larger and sturdier than the ones on the right, which had sprouted on the old rows or raised bed.  I think those are German or Spanish Garlic.  Not bad, but the Music Garlic has larger cloves and I think they have more flavor.  Hard to see here, but there is a row of garlic bulbils for next year, growing nicely.  A second row is less vigorous.  I don't know why.

Dividing and Replanting Rhubarb Divisions. 3.17.2021

 There is a big rhubarb plant a the front of the house.  For all I know, it's 20 or 30 years old.  I think it would be happier if I divide it and fill in that area with new soil, so it isn't so crowded.  Plus, it's not necessarily the best location for a rhubarb plant.  I wanted the divisions in a new location, so they will be harvestible in a year or two.  This is the reddest, sweetest rhubarb I have had, and I don't know the name.

When I dug what I thought was one division, it fell apart into two.  So I planted them separately.  They seem to have pretty good roots.  I planted them in one of the apple mini orchards, where I think they will get enough light.  If they are in the way or don't thrive, I can move them this fall.

Grafting Apples and other Fruits. 3.14.2021

 Yesterday I grafted a few scion.  For the miniature trees, after reading about the old variety "Winter Banana" not being that good, I grafted Fuji Beni Shogun to replace it.  So now, that minitree will be Bud-9 rootstock, Winter Banana interstock, with the Fuji Beni Shogun as the top.  I also grafted Rubinette to make the third and, possibly fourth, tier of Zestar.   The Zestar is rather vigorous, so I think that will do well.  This puts the Rubinette into a location where I can pamper it.

I also grafted some wild black cherry onto the North Star pie cherry tree.  That got knocked over by a falling maple, but there are some graftable branches.  Last summer I tried budding that same black cherry onto that same pie cherry tree, and they didn't take.  But that was 2020 and that year sucked for countless reasons, so maybe it was just 2020 and not the grafts.  

I want to remove the Granite Beauty and, if there is a graftable stub, replace with Jonared which is the base tree for that.  I can also replace Keepsake and Priscilla, which are nothing special.  That will make that a mostly - Jonared tree.

I have been thinking about cutting back on varieties, and decreasing the number of multigrafts.   On the other hand, last winter before I decided that, I ordered some scion from Fedco.  Which came yesterday, so now I need to make some decisions.

So what do I do now?

Since ordering these, I actually replaced another tree with Honeycrisp, for Espalier.  So that scion is redundant.  I might stick it onto something else, if there is a space.

Otterson - reportedly the reddest of red flesh, but more for adding color to cider or sauce or pie, than eating.  Will not need a whole tree.  Add to something else.

Gala - I like Gala.  It's modern,  a very good variety.   I have two extra Bud-9 Rootstocks from last year.  I'll graft Gala onto one of those.

Opalescent - a very good heritage apple.  Use the other spare Bud-9 for this one.

William's Pride - replace something else with this modern, disease resistant variety.

Duchess of Oldenberg - replace Baldwin with Duchess.

Hovey is a winter pear - I can graft onto another pear tree.

So:  removing Winter Banana, Baldwin, Priscilla, Keepsake, Granite Beauty.  Converting Jonared + 4 into Jonared + 1 (Porter).  (Long term, when mini Porter is bearing, remove that from Jonared which will then be all Jonared).  Making 3 minitrees, one already done (Fuji Beni Shogun).  New upper tiers on two or three Espaliers. 

This is a lot of grafting.  We'll see how far I get.

Is There Something Wrong with the Seed Starting Mix? Ropotting Seedlings. 3.13.2021

 I've been noticing that the peppers and eggplants seem to be failing to thrive.   About a week ago, I repotted some of the larger ones into new potting soil, and they have grown quickly and more healthy looking.  So yesterday, I repotted all of the eggplants and most of the peppers.  I need to find more containers in order to repot more.

Pepper that I repotted about a week ago.

Eggplant that I repotted about a week ago.

Here are some that I repotted last night.  Note that the color is not true because the photo is taken with them under LEDs.  Here are some that I repotted last night.  Note that the color is not true because the photo is taken with them under LEDs.