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Forest edge ecology, mulch options, irrigation, mycorrhizal consciousness, tree root cycles, the great grass debate, and more!
Re: Hornets, Yellow Jackets, and other sweet toothed stingers - 3 months ago
Hi Josh, we only notice the yellow jackets in the orchard very late in the season, and only on damaged fruit. However, I was at a small ranch last fall near Spokane, WA. At times the ground seemed to be moving, there were so many in the grass. I made the mistake of stepping on a few, and immediately many bees came and started eating the dead ones! A friend from MT who was also there told us thisby Karen Brindle - Bug by Bug
Re: inserting images - 3 months ago
Hi David, I have a smug mug account and I uploaded the photo there and copy/pasted the link into the body of the post. I was surprised that it worked but disappointed no one recognized the culprit/cause of the big crack in the bark of my tree. Sorry for the delay in answering, busy times in the orchard now!by Karen Brindle - Making It Better
Is this Anthracnose? - 5 months ago
Hi, I've discovered some alarming damage to some of our trees. It's on apple, plum and asian pears. It seems to start as a long crack, then the bark splits and peels away without the usual stringy look to Anthracnose as I know it. I'm not sure this is "fungal" so pardon if I've posted in the wrong area. I do have a photo uploaded of an affected branch, about 1.5" diameter that I cuby Karen Brindle - Fungal Pathogens
Re: liquid fish sourcing - 5 months ago
I use Pacific Grow since it is "local" but I buy it from a retailer. Expensive and smelly, but does the job well, trees happy! I am intrigued to hear other responses to Tom's idea of processing his own fish! Sounds very cost effective and would make for happy kids too!by Karen Brindle - Spray Nuance
Re: herbal extractions for sprays - 5 months ago
I have a question about this, why would you not just ferment the hops like we do the comfrey, nettle, horsetail, etc? I am intrigued about the hops, will search for more info!by Karen Brindle - Spray Nuance
Re: Pruning in the cold - 6 months ago
Awesome, thank you all for your responses! Claude, I like the idea of snowshoe pruning, but we only got about 12", not enough to make a difference. Because of Anthracnose I haul out all the cuttings and can't get my RTV onto the slope yet. Lowest temps have been around 16F so I'm relieved I won't do damage.by Karen Brindle - Pruning
Pruning in the cold - 6 months ago
This may be a dumb question. We are in the midst of an unusual blast of below freezing temps for the entire month of February. I did not get finished with pruning in the balmy months of Dec and Jan. Can I still prune in this cold, (if I can get into the orchard, still waiting for the snow to melt more) Is there potential harm, especially if I need to take larger branches out? I'm a slow, methodiby Karen Brindle - Pruning
Re: Marechal - 7 months ago
I would love some Marechal scion, $ or trade, this thread has me intrigued to try this variety! Anyone able to share?by Karen Brindle - Cider Apples
Re: Trailer Sprayer rec. for community / backyard orchards? - 7 months ago
We also have a Northstar, I think 25 gallon on wheels but it took a long time to get coverage on each tree. We don't use it anymore, the Rears is so much better, so well made.by Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: Trailer Sprayer rec. for community / backyard orchards? - 7 months ago
I love our Rears 50 gallon sprayer. We tow behind an RTV. It's pretty heavy but does the job well with a very long hose for the wand. Maybe more than you need though, not sure how many trees you are spraying.by Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: encouraging conversation - 7 months ago
Great question! What I think I share with all those who post on this forum is a passion for growing plants, fruit especially, and apples most of all. I discovered "The Apple Grower" in 2009, the year we planted our first 40 trees, a mix of apple, pear, plum, peach, and cherry. It started a holistic journey that is enhanced by the wisdom and experience found in the posts on this forum. Aby Karen Brindle - Making It Better
Re: inserting images - 7 months ago
I would love to see and be able to post orchard photos, is this a dead issue?by Karen Brindle - Making It Better
Re: Inoculants (Skipping the Compost in Compost Tea) - 7 months ago
Harrison Van Meekeren Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ever Since we started brewing compost tea on the > farm it has been a real pleasure to watch how > different brews can be from batch to batch based > on ingredients of food, PH adjustment, time of > brew, and sources of compost, be it worm or > waste. > > ...then comes the applby Karen Brindle - Just Talk
Re: 20% vinegar - 7 months ago
Has anyone used this 30% vinegar with success on thistle or blackberry? Those are our 2 orchard invaders, thistle is especially a problem.by Karen Brindle - Just Talk
Re: Apple trees too tall - 7 months ago
Good advice Michael, Thanks, there will never be an end to learning how to prune! I'm in the 6th year of pruning our 250 cider trees and one thing I have learned, each variety grows differently! Some insist on growing extremely long, skinny limbs, and LOTs of them, such as Golden Russet. Some want to grow straight up to the sky, nothing horizontal, such as Muscadet de Bernay and Harrison. Some prby Karen Brindle - Pruning
Re: Interesting link from the failing NYT! - 8 months ago
That is fascinating, thanks for posting!!!!by Karen Brindle - Just Talk
Re: Slope Sissy Hotline - 8 months ago
I need that phone number too! Yikes, we had a large crop but I could not fill bins completely in the orchard because it is too precarious trying to then transport down the hill and even worse, having to make a turn on that slope with a 900lb bin of our precious apples.by Karen Brindle - Just Talk
Re: Brix testing on the tree - 8 months ago
Thank you for all the replies! Josh I've been using the taste and seed color so far and I select apples from the North side of the tree as I figure they are going to be a little behind with less sun exposure. The apples do sweat at our place and at the brewery, and we've not had any complaints about under ripe fruit. But I always strive to produce the best product we can and wish to narrow down tby Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: Burgeoning Apple Maggot Issues - 8 months ago
Claude Jolicoeur Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Report from up-North... > As many of you already know, I don't sell apples - > I mostly make cider out of them. But I do notice > it when there are lots of maggots and it seems to > me that the more it goes, and the less maggots > there are. Can't explain why... > > And Karen wasby Karen Brindle - Bug by Bug
Re: Burgeoning Apple Maggot Issues - 8 months ago
Thank you for these thoughts on AMF! We too had the heaviest damage (almost 100% infested) on Honeycrisp this season, even with 2 sticky ball traps in the tree. Other nearby trees, which also had 2 traps each had close to zero maggots. These were Tsuguru, Karmijn d Sonnaville, Enterprise and William's Pride. I am wondering if I put the traps out too late, the apples were about quarter sized. We pby Karen Brindle - Bug by Bug
Re: Proneness to early drop - 9 months ago
Thankyou Mike, very interesting, I guess we did not water enough then, and yes it was a very dry summer for us.by Karen Brindle - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Brix testing on the tree - 9 months ago
How do you all test for ripeness? I've found this on Amazon, Atago 5455 PAL-Hikari 5 (Apple) Brix Meter, but having a hard time justifying $800. It's important that we supply cider apples to the brewery that have maximum sugar. This device looks really handy because it does not require cutting a bunch of apples up and using iodine. Any thoughts?by Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: Proneness to early drop - 9 months ago
I don't have any scientific advice but in our orchard water management changes made a difference in the amount of early drop. Many of our cider varieties seem prone to this and we increased water this year. It seemed to make a difference, although a few varieties (Dabinette in particular) had some water core. Maybe unrelated, but I don't remember this variety having that problem before. This is iby Karen Brindle - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: Apple color advantage re: insect damage? - 9 months ago
Reviving this old thread? We had a lot of maggot damage in many different varieties last summer so I used the sticky red sphere traps this summer. So far, I've not found a single Enterprise and very few Karmijn de Sonnaville with any maggots but Honeycrisp is just as infested as last year. Belmac is improved but still more than I'd like to see. I am thinking either the thinner skin or the lighterby Karen Brindle - Apples
Black Oxford off colored/russet from the holistic sprays? - 9 months ago
Hi, we just got our first crop of Black Oxford this fall. The tree has received the holistic sprays and fermented teas. No copper or sulfur used. The texture and taste are wonderful, but there is light russeting and a greenish tinge like algae on parts of the fruit. The dark purple color that I expected is also present, but not 100% on any apple. Has anyone else experienced this? A few apples alsby Karen Brindle - Apples
How to clean a season's worth of neem/fish from my Rears Sprayer - 9 months ago
Greetings fellow apple growers! I'm wondering what works, is the best cleaner for my Rears 50gal sprayer? Even though I rinse after every spray, the fish and neem and fermented ingredients have built up, I can't read the tank level indicator now, I have to open the tank to see how much spray is left. We just finished our fall spray today and I want to clean and winterize this awesome tool! Thanksby Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: Source of Comfrey? - 1 year ago
Strictly Medicinal seeds has both plants and seeds. I made the "mistake" of getting true comfrey from them, it has grown prolifically and re-seeded hugely. More than enough for my plant tea ferments, and the bumble bees do love the flowers all summer!by Karen Brindle - Ecosystem Connections
Re: Tow-Behind Sprayer (5 acres) - 1 year ago
Hi Paul, we got a Nifty Fifty, tow behind our RTV. We have 1 orchard that I can't drive into but the hose is long enough to reach all the trees. LOVE the hose reel! 100 gallons might have been better, since as our trees grow so well with all the holistic sprays, Im using more. We partially solved that problem with a smaller nozzle, I was spraying too much runoff trying to cover the entire tree. Oby Karen Brindle - Sensible Equipment
Re: Farm Critters in the Orchard - 1 year ago
I think the breed of sheep matters, some are more inclined to browsing, especially hair sheep (such as Khatadin). However, we have had severe damage done by our wool sheep, who got into our orchard in error, to the bark of 3 year old trees on M-111 and B-118 trees in about 2 hours. This was in summer when there was plenty of grass and other forage for them to eat. They eat leaves, twigs, stripby Karen Brindle - Ecosystem Connections
Re: M-111 expected teenage yield - 1 year ago
Hi Ethan, we planted about 60 mostly cider varieties in 2013 on M-111. (bench grafted in 2012) This year we had an amazing crop on most of those trees. There are exceptions that had only moderate crop and one variety (Harrison) had none. Most of these trees are biennial so I don't expect a lot for next year. Up until this year, we had a few apples on most of these but this year was amazing! So, dby Karen Brindle - Healthy Harvest