TOPIC: opening day...

Hate that you guys had such cold late in the spring.

Happened to me last year... April 15, wiped out all my peaches apples, etc..

But this year I squeaked by... we had some cold nights, but not hardly bad enough to affect my peaches or apples or most of the other stuff I have growing. I am going to thin my older peach trees this evening... they both have gobs of peaches on... and really need thinned to 1 every 8 inch or so. My younger peach tree, set fruit but not too much... very minimal thinning on it.

My apple is loaded, and one of my new (2 yr) apples (a Gold Rush) bloomed, but it's pollinators near by (Akane and Hudson Golden Gem) did not bloom in their 2nd year, not yet anyway... They are leafed out nicely, so I think they just did not bloom in their 2nd year, where the Gold Rush did.

I have been taking some blooms off my older Mac apple (about 100 yeards away), and rubbing them on the blooms of the Gold Rush... so hopefully a little hand pollination may get me a few Gold Rush apples this year.

I planted Tomatoes in the garden yesterday evening... 5 Big Beef, 2 Rutkers, and have a nice bed of greens going... leaf lettuces, some butter crunch and some snap peas too.

Hope to plant my corn first chance I get, was hoping to this evening... broke it up yesterday... but it rained today, may have to wait a bit.

I am going to have berries galore this year... blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, goumi berries, loganberries, blueberries, honeyberries...
They are all looking really good.

I hope it turns out better at your place than it was looking... it is a real bummer to not have peaches, and fresh fruit for a year or even two.

I think that berries may be the way to go... very dependable. My wild blackberries and my ilinni tame blackberries have never failed to fruit. Even with the worst late frosts.. I can remember. I have only been growing raspberries and blueberries a short while now but from what I hear they are very reliable too, not affected much by late frost. I have had a fig tree for 2 years now and it has fruited each year... first year 25 figs, second year 75 figs, this year ? not sure but I bet we will get a bunch this year.

If you all have not tried raspberries yet... you should...

I bought and planted 6 last year... and this spring I propagated 24 more... they spread like crazy (especially the red heritage) and you can just dig up the root shoots, and plant them somewhere else. Or pot them and baby them a bit then plant somewhere else.

Last fall our raspberries started ripening berries early Sept, and we picked our last on Dec 3. This year those same raspberry plants will produce in June, perhaps mid May... they have small fruit on now. Mine are everbearing types... and in the fall they produce a crop on the top 1/3 of the canes, then the next spring/summer they produce a crop on the bottom part of the canes. 2 crops a year.... so after you get past year one you get a spring/summer crop and a fall crop. Now that is nice.

This fall, I will have 24 plants producing raspberries... Sept to Dec... and I only bought 6 last spring.

I have Reds, Golds and Blacks now.. and everyone like them much.

TNHunter

OK, here's what I've been doing the last 2 months or so. I finally finished the kitchen/dining room and told my wife I need to focus outside for awhile.

Last spring we had some danger trees near the house cut down and I observed lots of sunlight throughout the summer where they were. I decided to make that area my berry garden. I cleared brush, set posts, and fenced in the area. This took well over a month. I transplanted from other gardens blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and a couple of blackberries. We'll see how they do. Last year I planted 5 strawberry plants and this year transplanted 19 and let my neighbor have 5 or 6. The blueberry and raspberries I smuggled from OR 3+ years ago and the raspberries (5) have multiplied. One blueberry died out of about 10 so not too bad.

I'm finishing up fencing additional vegetable garden space...we have major deer issues here.

I think the cherries survived on my two trees as I saw some very little fruits today. I may have already posted this but in haste I framed and covered enclosures around the cherry trees and strawberries. My wife was helping me install the plastic around the cherry trees in snow, hail and wind, she was put out a bit by that. lol

My strawberries are blossomed like crazy. I'm not sure if it got cold enough here to kill fruit or not.

Ginseng is coming up nicely, spent an hour or so checking one area this evening. Spring is cool.

at least my persimmon trees are just now leafing out,so it should be warm enough when it blooms I should get some fruit this oct.

Chief...

You grown any berries ? In most locations berries are pretty dependable... late frost may come but they usually still produce fruit... where stone fruits, apples, etc often fail.

My hardi Ilinni blackberries have produced a nice crop since I planted them in 2003. The are very cold hardy plants to - I know some guys that grow them up north, because they are so hardy.

They taste much like wild blackberries but sweeter and much larger too. Very upright canes... they do have thorns just like wild, but are very good.

Figs... you do have to winter protect... but they fruit every year too. If a late frost does get them, they will come out again later, and still produce fruit.
The first year i planted mine, it produced 25 figs Sept thru late Nov. I failed to protect it that winter and it died to the ground (did not know)... but despite that it came back from the roots and grew like crazy and we got 75 figs off it last year, mid Aug thru Dec 3. This past winter Protected it niecly, and let it out in the spring... and it has some really good growth on it already and already has some early season figs on it. So it is going to produce some early figs, then will produce agian this fall.

Then everbearing raspberries sure seem to be dependable to me... and produce two crops a year once established. I know people grow those up north and have success with them.

Another berry i have had very good luck with is a Goumi Berry bush. Very easy to grow, produces a bunch of berries (year 2) and forward, and they are pretty early too.

And I hear that Blueberries are quite dependable, even thru late frosts... they are much like Blackberries... late frost don't bother them all that much. Mine are are Loaded this year.

And who does not love Strawberries... they seem to be quite frost hard too.. I had 50+ plants to survive the winter and are looking pretty good now. Have some small fruit set already. I bought 20 more of a variety called Seascape... heard a lot of good about them, had to give them a try.

Man I love peaches, plums, apples, cherries... but you just never know if those are going to make it.
they are a lot more work than berries too.

Good Luck to you all !

TNHunter

TN..i used to have blackberry and raspberry canes.. red and gold raspberry....I had mine in rows stretched between post with 3 wires running the 30 feet on the rows so I could tie them up..had two grape arbores with the same set up...I had a blight get into all of them .I fought it for 4 years and finally gave up and tore them all out...

Little trick to fight blight..if you burn wood in the winter..spread the ashes on your garden during the winter months.
My mother did that when i was a kid, and she never had blight

what a spring..they are calling for a hard frost for the next 3 nights...oh boy...

35 for the low temp. last night...yep had frost...

frost again this morning..

Hate those late frost..

Lots of nice land down here in TN Chief.

Our late frost happen mid April... then it is usually over.

TNhunter