Thinning Peaches, Berries Developing

   Strawberry harvest should finally start late next week, and run from May 24 to about June 15 this year.  That's a full month later than last year.  2012 was a record early harvest, 3 weeks earlier than average, and 2013 is a record late harvest, 2 weeks later than average.

Strawberries are starting to gain size on April 17, but are still a week away from the start of harvest.

   Strawberries are sold pick-your-own only, by appointment only.  Call 620-597-2450 a few days before you want to come harvest strawberries, and leave a message on the answering machine saying the day and time you want to pick, with your phone number.  I'll call you back to confirm.
   We also have harvested asparagus for sale by order, now till about June 15.  We still have lots of nice 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale, kept in top condition in our cooler.  There are plenty of large apples, both #1's and #2's, plus some smaller #1 'Enterprise' apples that I sorted for schools, which prefer the smaller size as they're perfect for kids' lunches.  With schools winding down for the year, I have a couple boxes of these smaller #1 'Enterprise' apples to sell to those who ask for them.
   We're still open by appointment until May 31, so call at least a few hours ahead and leave a message on the answering machine, saying what day & time you'll be coming to get asparagus and/or apples.  We're very busy thinning peaches now, and can't see the driveway from the peach orchard, and don't always hear people come in if they just drop by.  I'm also busy with weed control in blackberries, and can't hear cars over the sound of the tractor.

'Natchez' thornless balckberries are blooming heavily now, and should start to ripen about June 24 or so.

   We've almost finished limb shaking of peaches to thin them, and have just started on follow-up hand thinning.  Limb shaking took about 34 hours this year, and hand thinning will take about 220 hours total by 5 workers plus myself.  We'll be thinning for the next 3 weeks.

Rachael Triebel, our other workers, and I used pneumatic limb shakers to shake some fruit loose.  Now we're doing follow-up hand thinning.

 

 

Bill applied nitrogen fertilizer to the peach orchard on May 15.

Strawberry Harvest Delayed by Cold Spring

   Strawberry plants are blooming well now.  Some blossoms were killed last week by freezing temperatures, so the crop will be reduced somewhat, and harvest will start a full 4 weeks later than last year.  Estimated strawberry harvest time this year should be about May 18 to June 10 or so.  I've been painting the new highway sign for strawberries on cold, wet days.

Strawberry plants are blooming well now. Some blossoms, such as the ones at far left and bottom right with black centers, were killed last week by freezing temperatures, but most blooms are still alive and will set fruit.

   Strawberries are sold pick-your-own only, by appointment only.  Call 620-597-2450 a few days before you want to come harvest strawberries, and leave a message on the answering machine saying the day and time you want to pick, with your phone number.  I'll call you back to confirm.
   We also have harvested asparagus for sale by order, now till about June 15.  During the 3 days this past week when temperatures reached 85 to 87 F, I harvested asparagus twice a day, and sold a lot.  With highs in the 40's, it doesn't grow much, but it's supposed to get warmer next week.
   We still have lots of nice 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale, kept in top condition in our cooler.  There are plenty of large apples, both #1's and #2's, plus some smaller #1 'Enterprise' apples that I sorted for schools, which prefer the smaller size as they're perfect for kids' lunches.  With schools winding down for the year, I have a couple boxes of these smaller #1 'Enterprise' apples that I can sell to those who ask for them.

I used a paintbrush to pollinate stigmas of flowers I'd emasculated on this 'GoldRush' tree with Coop 27 pollen I'd collected, dried and stored in the vial, to create controlled crosses of  'GoldRush' X Coop 27.

   In between the cold spells and rains, I made controlled crosses of 'Enterprise', 'GoldRush' and Coop 27 blooms for my apple breeding program.  I'll harvest seeds from the fruit that develop from these crosses, stratify the seeds over winter in the fridge, then plant them in pots in spring 2014.  Next week I'll be planting seeds from crosses I made in 2012, then in fall I plant the seedlings out in the field.  Seedling trees from crosses I made 6 or 7 years ago are now blooming, and I'll evaluate the fruit this fall.  Since I use only parents immune to apple scab disease, all the seedlings should be scab-immune, and I'll evaluate for fruit quality and resistance to other diseases, such as fire blight and cedar-apple rust.  It takes many years to develop and test new apple varieties, but that is how 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples were developed.

Plumcots are pea-sized now, when I started thinning excess fruit.  I thinned off damaged fruit and double fruit, such as the one in the center of the photo, caused by cold temperatures during bloom and fruit set.

   I started thinning plumcots last week, during hot afternoons so I got some shade.  We have a good crop of plumcots this year, and with early thinning they should get good size and ripen in late June.  The peach crop will need a lot of thinning again this year, and it'll be time to start thinning peaches in about 10 days.

Apples and Strawberries Blooming

   Apple trees are now in bloom.  The cold spring has extended the bloom season of all our tree fruits.  Temperatures have dropped to 32 F or below several times during apple bloom, turning some petals brown, but not hurting the pistils, where the apples will develop, at all.  In between the rains, I've been making controlled crosses of 'Enterprise', 'GoldRush' and Coop 27 blooms for my apple breeding program.

Apple bloom is more staggered this year due to the cold spring.

   Strawberries have just begun blooming, and should continue to bloom over the next 3 to 4 weeks.  Strawberry and asparagus harvests have been greatly delayed this year.  Strawberry harvest season should run from about May 18 to June 10.  Strawberries are pick-your-own only, by appointment only, so call 620-597-2450 a couple days ahead to make an appointment.  We finally started harvesting asparagus, and will have limited amounts of harvested asparagus for sale from April 30 to about June 15, for $2.78 per pound + tax.  
   We'll also still have 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale until late May this year.  They're protected from freezes in our sales building, and keep in top condition for 6-8 months in our cooler.  If you want to get asparagus and/or apples, call 620-597-2450 and leave a message saying when you'll be coming.  Thanks.
   In between the rains, our workers and I have been pruning blackberries and raspberries, and I've been applying herbicides to the bramble rows.  There should be good crops of  raspberries and
blackberries this year, but they'll start several weeks later than they did last year.

Our workers helped prune raspberries and blackberries last Sat.  From right to left, Rachael Triebel and Daniel Rennie prune black raspberries and Brandon Ledford prunes purple raspberries.

Cold Spring Delays Fruit Bloom & Strawberry Harvests

   The colder than average temperatures this spring have delayed bloom of many fruits.  Asian pears & European pears are blooming now, and some late-blooming peach varieties are still in bloom.  Apples have not started blooming yet, nor have strawberries.

Asian pears are blooming now, in foreground with white petals, and peach trees of the late-blooming variety 'China Pearl' are still in bloom in background with pink petals. 

   Strawberry harvest season normally starts about 1 month after bloom starts.  So it looks like strawberry harvest will run very late this year, maybe from about May 15 to June 8 or so.  That's quite a contrast with 2012, when strawberry harvest went from April 20 to May 8! 
   Raspberry, blackberry and peach harvests will also start later than last year, but probably won't be much later than most years.
   Asparagus harvest has also been delayed this year.  We should finally have limited amounts of harvested asparagus for sale from about April 25 to June 5, for $2.78 per pound + tax.  We'll also still have 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale until late May this year.  They're protected from freezes in our sales building, and keep in top condition for 6-8 months in our cooler.  If you want to get asparagus and/or apples, call 620-597-2450 to let me know when you'll be coming.  Thanks.

Redbud trees are in beautiful bloom around our sales building, where we still have many great-tasting apples in our cooler.

Peaches in Full Bloom

   Peach trees are beautiful in full bloom now.  Temperatures are predicted to drop to 31 F tonight and the next night, which shouldn't hurt the peach crop at all.  Pears are just about to bloom, and apples will follow next week.

The peach orchard looked beautiful on April 7.

   During these couple days of cold and rain, I'm doing computer work and sorting apples in the sales building.  Then it's back to a very busy time of pruning blackberry and raspberry plants, applying herbicides, and many other spring jobs.

The white peach variety 'China Pearl', right, has large showy blossoms, in full bloom on April 9, while most peach varieties, such as 'Newhaven' at left and 'Challenger' in photo above, have smaller and less showy petals.

   Asparagus harvest should start in a few days.  From about April 15 to May 31, we'll have limited amounts of harvested asparagus for sale for $2.78 per pound + tax.  We'll also still have 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale until late May this year.  They're protected from freezes in our sales building, and keep in top condition for 6-8 months in our cooler.  If you want to get asparagus and/or apples, call 620-597-2450 to let me know when you'll be coming.  Thanks.