I hadn’t read that…nice post!
in the 2nd/ 3rd pic, looks like a weed. the 1st looks like a raspberry shoot. in warm weather they can sprout pretty quick.
That’s what I thought, too. I guess getting down on the ground to take close-ups of a possible berry cane sprout is a bit much, but after only having 2 out of 6 rasps come up last year, I’m happy to see any possible new canes.
Regarding berries, this morning I went to the back yard to check on the strawberries, and a lot of the Earliglow plants have new blossoms on them, while the Jewel row hardly has any. But, what looks like fruit buds are swelling up on them, so I expect them to be in full bloom within a few weeks. That makes sense, as EG is probably the first variety to produce while Jewel comes in a couple weeks later.
Now, if we can just keep the temps above freezing from now on, we’ll be all set.
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I was down in the barn this morning looking for something, and I thought I heard him meowing, but couldn’t figure out where it was. I called out to him again, and looked up and there he was walking across a wood crossbeam about 8ft off the ground! I tried to get him to come down and he got to the manger stall about a foot above me, and I helped him down.
I have seen him in the rafters before, and I think he might have fallen from them about a month ago, because he was very sore, and wouldn’t let you pick him up without making a fuss. We let him come in the house, but he was more docile than usual so something happened. He was on the couch, and we turned on the ceiling fan, and he freaked out and ran under the kitchen table. I’m guessing maybe the fan reminded him of a big bird, like an owl or hawk that tried to cart him off, or he got in a tangle with a mother bird in the barn, and fell and hurt himself. He’s back to normal now.
i just cut off last years strawberry growth and fertlized them. i have earlyglow and evie 2. evie 2 started producing in mid july, just as earlyglow finished and produced thru 2 frost into nov! for a day neutral its a great producer. even after all the -30f weather we had last winter, most of the vegetation was still very green. all the snow we got insulated them well. because theyre in raised beds , i thought id lost them.
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It is a moving day! For my indoor starters I mean:
They have moved to the deck greenhouse I assembled yesterday covered with aluminum shade fabric for first few days.
They will be using space heater with thermostat set at 68 and night coat over greenhouse:
There is also a signal bulb, that shows me when heater is on.
Outside is 59, inside remote thermometer shows 68 and bulb is off. It was on before I installed coat for the night.
In general, I am happy with the set up, but boy, how badly making it affects the skin on your hands - both thumbs cracked, and it hurts!
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Galina,
Very impressive.
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You should see me dancing around this 6X8 structure on my small deck 
. I also have three huge pots of potatoes there and I literally need to jump over one of them to get to the opposite side to install the cover. And you saw me, so you can understand how funny it looks 
. I guess I am entertaining whole neighborhood!
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I thin 1 in every 8-10”. Some people thin one in every 12”.
I thin most fruit esp. apple since some varieties can easily go biennial.
Bought a package of lady bugs today due to an aphid infestation. I get home, and what do I see but 4 lady bugs in the first tree I went to… oh well…
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Granny Smith had been in bloom over 3 weeks…looks like the last three blooms are now open. Can’t verify a single apple was pollinated yet. But, most of the other mature trees are in bloom now. Heavy blooms on some, no blooms on others.
found a rather plain-looking green caterpillar in the garden the other night. now it’s in a plastic cup, voraciously munching away on weed (possibly dandelion) foliage. animal pest meets vegetative pest. glad I took the little guy away from my prime arks.
will be interesting to see what sort of flying creature it becomes.
Went for a walk around in the yard in the drizzling rain. Got few pictures. This is Vision plum that I grafted last year. It grew about two feet and quite a few flowers this year. Hopefully it’ll get pollinated somehow.
This is Elliot Blue berry flowering. I also have Bluecrop but no flowers on it as someone ate most of the plant last year. So I’m guessing no berries for me this year either.
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Today I cooked first fresh sorrel soup of the season. Can’t believe it is end of April this year. Month later than usual.
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My grapes are blooming and doing well in the greenhouse. I hope to have seedless table grapes in the fall, barring any rodents or diseases getting to them first.
This one is Suffolk Seedless.
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I made a pot of sorrel soup on Sunday. First time making this kind of soup. It was very good and even my kids ate a little bit. I had made a sourdough starter a few weeks ago so I baked a sourdough rye bread, which was good, not great, buy acceptable for my first bread loaf not made in a bread machine.
Last night I made a spinach asparagus quiche with garden spinach and asparagus. Today I picked some more spinach along with the first pickings of lettuce, garlic mustard and dandilion greens to make my wife and I our daily salads. Last year I was able to produce and forage enough to have at least two salads a day for about 8 months.
Like you, I’m about a month behind this year but it is nice to have fresh garden veggies again.
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I hope no one minds a few more pictures of my Plum in full bloom. The bees were all over it and the petals are starting to fall as the fruit sets. I’ve been waiting years for the tree to bloom like this.
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I like the way your tree looks with the structures around it, very rustic. Do you have a very tall ladder for getting up into the tree to pick the fruit?
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My little Burgundy Plum now in full bloom.
Look a little closer and you can see the quickly developing fruit that came from the initial bloom in late February
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Thanks, It fills the small court yard nicely and provides shade when I’m smithing in the Summer. I think the tree nearly 35 years old.
Yeah we have a 12 foot ladder that I use to pick the fruit on the outside of the tree and I tend to climb up in the middle of it to pick the inner fruit. The whole inside of the tree is open with big strong limbs so there’s a perfect hole that I can sit in and pick from. I usually have my mom on the ground passing buckets up to me.
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