Don't blink, you may miss it, SPRING!!

willow tree
Danjou Pear

Cherry Blossoms just starting to pop
Serious Snoopy
Local Wildlife- Turkey
Cooling Valley Fog blowing over Bear Butte

Fig Bud
Kiwi Budswell
Cresent Moon


The weather has been sweet. It was very warm last week with just a couple days of rain earlier this week. It is hard to believe it has been so many days since I last posted. So much has gotten done, yet it seems the days are moving awfully swift. I've finished pruning the vineyard and hope to erect the end posts and wire very soon. Poor things, they are pruned and ready to hang on the wire, if only there was wire!! No wires without endposts! I am hung up on the exact style I want to incorporate. All of the plums are blooming like mad, like glowing white orbs against the evening sky. My winter vegies have all jumped in the last week. I am watering, weeding and feeding the onions, leeks and garlic. As for the cabbages and other brassicas I am just keeping them wet enough. Up here they tend to want to bloom before they head up, so who knows!?! The north wind is blowing bringing the temps down compared to last week. The cherry trees are starting to bloom and the apples are all starting to showas well. I made a valient attempt to prune them today. I was able to finish all 8 of the semi dwarf that are under 5 years old...easier. I needed the ladder just 2 times. I still have the old Granny Smith, she will take at least 2 hours. At ten years old it is a stately tree with lots of new growth to address each spring. For apples, I remove 40-60% of the new growth. FIRST as in all fruit tree pruning I remove all crossing, broken or dead branches. Next, I tackle inward growing, or sucker like whips that face straight up. Again, spacing 7-9 main scaffold branches 4"-13" apart. Not much pruning on the pears, basically maintaining shape by removing crossing and inward or poorly aligned branches. Pears need lots of branch spreaders. I used nearly 100 for the 8 pear trees I am training right now.