What did you do in your orchard today?

[R2elk]

Are they tasty? I've read bitter

The yellow ones are not as astringent as the black ones are. I can eat either with no problems.

Chokecherries aren't for eating from the tree although I do eat some. They can be used to make really good wine, awesome jelly and really good syrup.

 

[Mini Horses]

No orchard here...goats ended that. BUT my friend has picked her figs for me -- an every yr gift -- I got 28# today. Gotta get them in the dehydrator. there'll be more in a few days.

Oh, I gift her eggs all yr!!

 

[CrealCritter]

Thought it would be of some intrest to provide my review of two popular peach varieties from our young orchard.

Redhaven left, Loring right. Both trees are from starkbros. And been in the ground two years when set their first fruits. This is growing season year 3. I let both of these tree ripen and naturally fall to the ground, so I could get a good assessment of each.

Redhaven - vigorous growth, profuse bloom, probably will need to be thinned to produce good quality/sized peaches. Baseball sized peaches, excellent flavor, freestone, juciy, thin skined nearly fuzzless, aromatic (smells like a peach should). Great peach for eating out of hand, skin and all.

Loring - vigorous growth, sparce bloom, doubt it will need to be thinned. Softball sized peaches, great flavor, freestone, juciy, thick skinned fuzzy (thick skin not so pleasant for eating out of hand), non aromatic. Easy to peel with a knife, good for preserves or canned 1/2 peaches.

Redhaven young tree

Loring young tree

Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Starkbros links.

Redhaven Peach Tree - Stark Bro’s

Redhaven peach trees are heavy-bearing and easy to grow and maintain with spreading branches. They bloom late to avoid frosts and are resistant to leaf spot.

www.starkbros.com

Loring Peach Tree - Stark Bro’s

h3. About the Loring Peach Tree Introducing the Loring Peach Tree – a delightful addition to any orchard with a rich heritage dating back to its...

www.starkbros.com

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

This is a may rich peach tree. It has a very odd vertical growth habit. I purchased it potted from the farm store. It's been in the ground for its third growing season and I've yet to see a flower bud. It's very sensitive to water, it's leafs will dry out quickly if the soil is not wet. So basicly thick mulch and lots of water to keep this water hog happy. Look at the crazy zig zag trunk growth. I've topped this tree twice in an attempt to get more horizontal growth, but it simply refuses to cooperate. Instead it wants to grow zig zag to the moon.

Rich may's claim to fame is an early ripening peach, ripens mid to late May and jam made from May rich peaches is said to be some of the best there is.

IDK... in all fairness, the cicadas practically decimated this tree. It's lost several fruiting branches that it doesn't seem to have branching buds to replace. I'll let it go another season and if it doesn't set fruit next spring, I'll decide to replace it, graft over it, or leave it grow. You don't know if a variety is suitable for your location unless you try and grow it

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Here's that little relience peach tree I bought in a 5 gallon pot last year from TSC. This is it's second growing season in the ground. It didn't grow much last year but still flowered this spring and set a few peaches. However the cicadas killed them while they were still small, so we didn't get any The tree has recovered nicely after being ravaged by cicads. It's grown into a nice uniform shape and about 9 foot tall now.

They say this relience peach tree was bred in New Hampshire, will survive -25F and set peaches even if the flowers get hit with a hard frost. IDK about all that... it would seem bees wouldn't be out during a hard freeze to pollinate the flowers, maybe IDK...

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Mini Horses]

I like the "personal" time you have with your orchard partners -- you analyze the tree, vine, bush and the results. You obviously enjoy the fruits of your labor in a good way....not just the consumption
Although consumption is the best part

 

[CrealCritter]

I like the "personal" time you have with your orchard partners -- you analyze the tree, vine, bush and the results. You obviously enjoy the fruits of your labor in a good way....not just the consumption
Although consumption is the best part

Two things...
1) I take growing our own food pretty seriously.
2) I'm easily amused.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Since mother in-laws' peach that I bark grafted last year and set out this spring has grown so well. I decided to start training the first scaffold branches starting about 6 foot. I'll leave the centeral leader to grow to about 9 foot, then I'll prune the tip so it'll produce top scaffolds. I suppose this is one advantage of grafting. You can train the trees the way you want, instead of having them pre pruned to fit in a shipping box.

We don't know the variety of this peach tree, but its early ripening. Ripens around about July 4th and grows yellow skinned red blushed baseball sized peaches. FB and I picked her two trees the beginning of July and FB made some awesome low sugar peach jam with them

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Picked the first tree ripe plum this evening. The variety is called Burgundy but I actually think its really a Black Splendor due to its ripening time plus the plum is a cling stone.

Deep purple, nearly black skin, with random white dots (freckles) and sweet red and purple flesh. The few plums that set on the tree developed scab, so they are far from perfect. I could control scab with a non-organic chemical spray program. But nah... plum scab don't bother me none, the plum was .

Scab defect, this is probably the best (least scab) on the plums still not quite ripe enough on the tree for my liking.

Slight scab on top

Clean side

Deliciously juicy sweet red with a bit of deep purple flesh. Enjoyable to eat out of hand for a plum.

This poor mistreated 5 gallon potted tree from Menards needed some TLC. But dispite knowing better... end of season clearance got the best of me. I need to stay away from garden centers . Fruit trees from home improvement stores, big box and farm stores are sometimes mislabeled and I knew this before I bought it. Its best to buy direct from a nusery with guarantees. But hey atleast I got a tree that produces black plums and they are good

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

FB said its time for a jam fest. So that's what she did.

Fresh picked and washed plums

Plums cooking in crockpot

Waterbathed sealed in jelly jars.

Looking forward to butter biscuits with plum jam over the cold winter months

Jesus is Lord and Christ