Only about half of our Apples are blooming. I am hoping the other half bloom together as well otherwise I am going to have to find yet another variety to bridge the gap in bloom times.
My honey bees really seem to prefer Apple blooms over anything else it seems, they will stop working the Plum, Redbud and dandelions and focus almost exclusively on the Apples once they start. Hopefully that will insure more cross pollination as the years progress.
I never noticed even one bloom on the pear trees this year. Then again they are still young and I don't believe I saw any last year either. Perhaps they need to mature some more.
This evening out of all the various fruit tree bloom times is proving much harder than the various lists and expected bloom time lists I referenced suggested. Either a few of them were miss marked or someone had their expected bloom dates out of whack.
Got a little more garden work done today with a raised bed of onions put in and the first planting of the Pole Beans. It maybe a bit early yet but I have plenty for more planting if needs be.
What I really needed to do today was mow the yard but my garden tractor had a flat rear tire which I took in to get repaired and they still do not have it fixed. I couldn't even get the Ford out because I parked the lawn mower (with one tire missing) right in front of the Tractor.... Grrrrr... I should have known better and not done that at least I could have done some of the mowing with the brush hog.
They are forecasting at least an inch of rain for us tomorrow and if we get it you can bet I am gonna feel the lawn mowing squeeze before it dries out. Looks like I will be taking half cuts and twice the time when I can finally get back out there.
Still everything is ahead of schedule so no worries... YET. But it doesn't take much this time of year to get way behind on the grass.
Oh ya and we had two more lambs born this evening right about the time I was calling it a day. A little boy and a girl. I don't even know what we are up to now. All I know is there are lambs running everywhere inside the barn if they were any larger it would be like a giant mixing bowl of sheep swirl or something.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
It is a natural system pp, the dates shift with the weather and the weather has been cold. The only predictable thing is that they will generally all shift together. Where this is really obvous is peaches. The positive or negative number after them is the days off redhaven. E.g. +14 means fourteen days after redhaven.
ReplyDeleteI say generally because if some trees are in a hollow where cold likes to settle, and some are in a protected spot, they will differ, even if they are only 100 or so yards apart.
Best,
Dan
Dan - I try and keep all my varieties close enough that they should have the same overall temps. Basically not hard to do here since the entire place is pretty much the same elevation and pretty flat.
DeleteThe trouble is a couple of varieties of my apples were suppose to bridge the gap and they do not seem to be doing that. The Wolf River apple and my late bloomer aren't even showing signs of blooming this year.
I finally saw bees on the redbud, maybe some moved closer to my place.
ReplyDeleteIn a grid down situation, rubber tires are going to be a real problem. I have half of my wheelbarrows on steel wheels but have no long term solution for anything else so far. Now that is something for you to think about!
Sf - Ya tires would be an issue no doubt. I should stock some tubes in deep storage really.
DeleteI usually have pretty good luck with tires though. The one I needed fixing I actually put the blade from the tractor into it by accident. Seems once I tube em I never have an issue with em again.
PP - i know that we live in completely different climates and whatnot but the bees here love clover - like really love it! white or red it doesn't matter. i would recommend planting a bunch of clover in an area near the bees. and plant those lupin seeds that i sent you - the bees go nuts for them! they also love borage...like really love it. so i always plant borage all around our garden areas because there are always bees in each and every flower. lastly, they love jerusalem artichokes...which i will be spreading all over our garden area. we have several small apple trees and although the bees go there too - it seems they love the clover and lupins more.
ReplyDeletei know that you are the bee king - but these are just my observations from up here. your friend,
kymber
Kymber - Oh there is lots of clover around of many different types. In fact I seeded five acres of clover mixed with some alfalfa last Summer. I find my bees here love the little white Dutch clover most of all but we lost a lot of it back in the drought during 2012. It just started to grow back a bit last year.
DeleteThat rain is supposed to get here by Saturday. Today is clear and very windy.
ReplyDeleteThe woods here are filling out fast with leaves on most of the poplars and maples now. Spring is a really nice time of year.
Harry - We got a good rain about 4pm today. It threatened us all day but didn't actually drop until then. Some wind damage as well.
DeleteWe have had rain on and off for two days. NO SNOW. Most lakes near us are ice free. So are you now known as the lambee king or the beelamb high priest.?? big kymber laugh.
ReplyDeleteRob - Nah I just eat the lambs and help with them occasionally. I am the builder and designer. I build their fences and tell people where to put em after that I let the others do the actual feeding and other stuff. When a fence get's ripped down or the barn roof starts coming up that's when they yell for me :)
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteNice looking blossom, I hope you have more popping out in the next several weeks. It would be disappointing to have only half follow through.
We could use the rain here too but then the grass (or weeds) grow like crazy, and I don't want to have to cut it 3 times a week.
Congrats on the two new babies :-)
So how many more moms are you waiting for on giving birth?
Sandy - Well the real issue is my centrally located Apple tree that was HUGE died in 2012 and it seems to have been the bridge that spanned the gap with all the others. Trouble is that tree was so old no one, not even old guys who were born in this house, can remember what type it was or when it was planted. They all say the same thing "It was always there".
DeleteI need to find a variety that will take the old one's place but it takes years to prove it will do so :(