Apple blossom time

The apple trees -- especially the early varieties -- are in full bloom.  I was sitting under them on Thursday morning, trying something called bridge grafting, and the bees were buzzing in and out of the blossoms: hundreds of blossoms.  The trees are definitely trying to make up for last year's poor crop by producing a large crop this year.

The apple orchard is my favorite part of the farm, I think.  I really like to eat apples, and I really like all of the varieties we grow -- for different reasons.  I even like to sell the apples -- but don't tell Farmer Bill I said that!  I'm not so fond of strawberries or raspberries -- although I like the jams I make, and I like sweetened fruit on angel food cake, and fruit pies, and fruit breads (I'm sure you're seeing the trend here).

Our Minnieska trees -- which will produce an apple called SweeTango -- are also covered with blossoms.  Because they're so young -- only planted last year -- we'll have to carefully thin them down to almost no apples per tree.  It's hard to do that, but important for the health and future growth of the trees.

I enjoy most of the work involved with the apples -- pruning (which Farmer Bill doesn't really like), shaping, mowing, harvesting; I just don't have much 'spare' time to give to those activities.  Farmer Bill takes care of the bug and disease treatments when necessary, but I check the traps & data logger each week and keep the tally that indicates which pests are at a threshold where we need to do something about them.  I've learned more about apple orchards than I ever imagined, and there's always more to learn.  I can't walk through the orchard and spot things from yards away, but then I don't walk through every day either.  Maybe if it quits raining this afternoon, I'll walk through the orchard today.  I noticed that the tent caterpillars are starting to hatch out, so I could knock down whatever nests I can find along my walk... lots cheaper and almost as easy as spraying.  I'll take the camera along and try to get some pictures.  I'm not a great photographer, and it's very hard to capture the loveliness of an apple orchard in bloom.  You really need to stand in the middle of one yourself.  Especially on a sunny, warm day, when the bees buzz, the birds flit, and the scent wafts around you.  But it's a short, fleeting time before the blossoms fall, so don't let it slip past without notice... apple blossom time.