May in the Orchard
I’m really excited about the promise of a bounteous fruit crop this year.
I’ve got cots on two trees for the first time- not enough for the Farmer’s Market, but maybe enough to can a few, dry a few, or even share a few right of the tree.You’ll see them when you come here for the field day in June.
Besides cots, I’ve got a fair set of Abate Fetel pears, also a first. I shared trees of this cultivar (cv) with some of you a few years ago--anybody else got a
crop?
As for peaches-my leaf-curl sprays in January didn’t do a good job, but with the warm weather we are now having, the new growth is showing recovery.
We now have a leaf-curl test planted at Sunrise Ridge, so I’m hoping we will get some current data on which cvs are resistant and produce a decent crop.
Apples - lots of powdery mildew showing up on susceptible cvs like Williams Pride. You can pick off infected branch tips and gain some control.
Sulfur spray or dust may also help some. Regarding apple scab, until this morning, I saw no scab infections on any trees, including susceptible cvs like
Gravenstein. Even the Jonagolds at Lu-Anne Branch’s orchards (where we pruned earlier) showed no scab. Then I looked at my Pink Lady tree and found it moderately infected. Will give it a sulfur dusting today but that won’t cure the present infection, just reduce future infection. While looking at the apples, I found at least ten small colonies of tent caterpillars—so be on the lookout in your trees, not just apples but many species of trees, especially alders. The more you squish now, the fewer you will have next year, when the infestation is likely to be a major problem. _
Cherries - I got a terrific set and thanks to Emily MacRae, the brown rot strikes are being picked off, especially from the Sweetheart cv. It makes us
wonder if it’s worth growing this cv even though it has good quality and sets a heavy crop. If you are thinking of planting a cherry tree next year, you might consider cvs like Lapins, Tehranive, Vandalay, or Early Burlat.
Figs - several of our members helped “Kiwi Bob” Glazman prune a very large fig tree (cv questionable) at Gene Sherman’s house on Quartermaster a
couple of weeks ago. Bob also took cuttings for his own propagation. I took cuttings from my Desert King last November and so far they have failed to root.
Strawberries -- I now have 31 cvs in the ground, five new ones from back east, planted April 22-24. I’m also picking and eating two cvs of strawberries-- Albion and Mara des Bois. I hope to be in the Farmers Market by mid June.
Finally, I should mention the ceremony coming up this Saturday at 2pm at Sunrise Ridge, dedicating two Founders trees (our fruit basket trees) and a
Rainier view bench to Dorothy Johnson, Opal Montague and Leo Montague. My wife, Carol, is coordinating the event for the Sunrise Ridge board and the community is invited. Various members of the Club will be giving ‘short’ speeches and refreshments will follow.
From Dr. Bob Norton VIFC Diary