Unsurprisingly, after the freaky-warm winter we've had, everything is budding out waaay too early. The plants are weeks ahead of schedule, but they're not listening to me when I tell them this.
Wild roses:
Blackberries:
Peaches:
Blueberries:
Apples:
Plums:
Willows:
And oak:
I just hope a late cold snap won't cause these trees and bushes to regret their decision......
You've gone to a lot of trouble with several other aspects of gardening. You need to bite the bullet and invest in covers for some of your fruit trees. I was rechecking my pear trees yesterday and all their fruiting stuff was black. They are too tall to cover, but. I've read where some growers weight down those branches with bricks or stones for various reasons.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be possible to use a strong sling shot to carry a light weight corner of some kind of cover over the top. Worth a try. Whenever they fruit again, and branches are naturally weighted down, I will probably try and devise a way to keep them down as much as possible. Maybe enough to cover some of them and keep some fruit from freezing.
Good luck.
In my area a lot of people use old orchard heaters if there is a chance of a hard freeze in the late spring. Here they are a dime a dozen, you can always get them from cheap at auctions, like several for $5-10. They are pretty good sized and will burn any type of fuel, even waste oil, which is what most people use. Most people get up in the early AM hours on cold nights and light them, usually just one in a small group of trees will keep the temp warm enough to prevent freezing. Works for berry patches too.
DeleteOld-Fart-Here, again:
ReplyDeleteThis sort of ties into your last post, food pricing and supply
This on how much produce is Annual (trees, Bushes, Root crops)
99% of the time if a Peach Tree blooms, and it get's hit with a frost... No Peaches for the year off that tree.
Here's a What/If, this unseasonable warm weather hits a cold spell, like it will be doing here, and What If the Annual foods get nailed.....
Just Saying.
Blueberries are supposed to be cold hardy, but I lost mine 3 years ago to a cold spell after they bloomed. Actually lost some plants, not just the fruit.
ReplyDeleteYou can cover your blueberries if nothing else. Hope you have plenty of sheets or maybe plastic. The only thing about plastic is if the sun comes out stuff underneath may fry, so there has to be some ventilation particularly during daytime.
Your blueberry setup is perfect for covering