Mine never looked that good. Always were small and got sappy before they dropped.
What's Growing in the Garden
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Once, it hit petal fall, I started a schedule of spraying insecticides and fungicides. Last year I didn't see any blossoms, and didn't spray. Then a few developed, but were like yours small hard, sappy and laying on the ground.
These got about the same spray schedule as the apples and pears.
I finally got to tying up my squash plants (Zuchetta and Butternut) onto the vertical trellis. Way late. Fruit? is setting and I knocked one off. It's been either too wet or scorching hot to be in the garden. My Brother's portion (tomatoes only) looks great. I guess I'm just a wimp. lol Did water when needed.
I don't know if it will work (support) the crop or not. If not, I'll get another panel and make two hoops, one for each variety, like several of you have.
I don't know if it will work (support) the crop or not. If not, I'll get another panel and make two hoops, one for each variety, like several of you have.
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Got the Honey Crisp thinned finally, probably reduced what was on the tree by 2/3. Now I have to start on the Winesap. It at least has the structure for me to climb on to get the center.
Also picked the next batch of apricots. Only about a half dozen left on the tree. Will be enough for about 14 pints of jam total.
Also picked the next batch of apricots. Only about a half dozen left on the tree. Will be enough for about 14 pints of jam total.
I never knew you had to thin down the apples that much. It seems such a waste. I guess that's why I never got very large apples on my trees.
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You don't have to thin this much, but had an extremely high set on this tree to the point that branches were bending over, and still 2.5 months before they are ripe. I've still got a lot of smaller branches on this tree and didn't want damage. I need to do a much better job of pruning small branches next winter.
I've already got deer around the garden.... don't need any bait.
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Not quite yet. Some of these have been on the ground for a couple of weeks and nothing will touch them, deer, coons, skunks, possums...
All they really are at this point is a lot of fiber and pectin. Pretty sour tasting. Of course, there is also plenty of corn, soybeans and alfalfa for the deer to eat, and the other wildlife has been feasting on raspberries, mulberries, and plenty of grubs that are easy to dig with the rains we've had.
I'll take these up and dump them in the woods, but they will mostly just sit there and rot.
Our grandson grew some sweet corn last year and did quite well selling it. This year we had a lot of rain and cold weather early and whatever they used for herbicide didn't work well. The corn is doing pretty good but is full of grass and needed some cultivation and side dressing. I haven't used my 50 year old Troy bilt tiller for 2 years because the motor was tired and difficult to start and keep running. My garden is not large enough to need it anyway. I decided to try to swap engine's so he could use it. I managed to get the old one off without breaking anything so I headed to hobo freight with $150 for a new on. It went on with much problem and is doing the job.
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Nice. Out here in volcano country we have so many rocks you'd be fixing that thing constantly. I can't sink a shovel into the ground without hitting rock.
love sweet corn!
We live on top of a hill and our soil in mainly rock and clay, the past few years I tried tilling but the walk behinds would only break up a few inches bc of the clay. Added soil and organic matter a couple times over the years, some stuff grew a lot didn’t. Decided to change that and build some raised beds this spring. 8, 16’x4’x14” beds, cut up rotten logs on my mill to put in the bottom of the beds then filled with dirt. Used non treated wood and just torched it, even though they say treated wood is safe didn’t feel like risking it. The left half was all planted by seed, right side, blueberry bushes, bed of strawberries, then two beds of tomatoes I started from seed inside(6 weeks between the two pics). Got lucky and electric company were cutting along the lines and they dumped a few truck loads of mulch for free. Behind the beds is my small orchard I’ve planted the past 4 years, 30 fruit trees, all different kinds. Will need to add some soil to some this winter and spruce it up some, next year will have it planned out better as far as what needs to go where.
The corn field is river bottom sandy loam. It would be great for tilling had it not been recently cleared of trees. It's part of some land that my son purchased a few years ago, most of it was hay fields but that portion had been allowed to grow up to trees. When I was a kid there was a sawmill there, when the mill closed up no one bothered to clean up the site. I remember when there were piles of rotting mill waste, eventually the trees took over. The trees and the stumps are gone but lots of roots and other debris remains. It pounds the old tiller pretty hard. If it kills it there's plenty of them for sale cheap with bad engines. 
Is that an electric fence surrounding your raised beds? Our deer would have a field day with that if it wasn't protected somehow.
Yea, goes all the way around my orchard bc of all the deer. It’s 3 lines on the t-post and then one line 18” off of that near the ground, supposed to mess with their depth perceptions and they won’t want to jump over it and won’t go under bc of the 2 lower strands being close together without getting shocked.
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That's a tough situation with that kind of grass pressure on sandy loam soils. Lots of herbicide options, but soil applied residuals don't last and post emergence options get expensive quick and many are only available in large (very expensive) quantities.
Good luck to your grandson getting it cleaned up and getting a crop this year, it's a great learning experience.
The corn the has really popped the last few days. I expect he will get a fair crop despite the grass.
Something is going on with my Lilac bush. It's a very old bush of my Mom and I transplanted it many years ago. It thrived and got as tall as the house. This Winter/Spring I pruned about 2-3 feet off the top. Planned on cutting it back more next Spring. I bloomed a little and had plenty of leaves. Now the leaves are turning brown and dropping. I have bare branches that some of them look dead. Did I prune it too much? Any help for the bush?
I don’t think you pruned too much. I had a Lilac bush once that I hacked on quite a bit to get it in shape, even dug up half of it to transplant. In the years I cared for it, I also became very aware of the fact it grew underground and new shoots would emerge constantly. If I recall, it took a different blend of fertilizer than most other plants in my yard. Looking at your pictures, I might be inclined to cut it back even more. @trc65 will have some ideas, I’m sure. Chuck