Last Spray

I sprayed the apple and pear trees for the last time this morning.  I like to do it in the morning, before the wind picks up.  They have all been hit pretty hard with fire blight.  I tried the organic method of getting rid of it.  This involves cutting each and every branch 6 inches below any area with blight.  I lost huge portions of the trees and it still came back each year. 

 

Then I was told, at Southern States, about Fertilome.  The county extension agent didn't tell me about it.  I asked a landscape guy and he told me to tear out the trees. No other store I went to and asked told me.  Only Southern States

 Fire blight is a bacterial infection in the trees and it needs an antibiotic...Fertilome. 

  

Baby apple

I have sprayed every 4 or 5 days since they just started to bud out.  The Fertilome container says I can stop when they develop fruit.  That looks like fruit.  I'm stopping.



Baby pear

The trees look way better.  There are a few branches I intend to cut off, but that will have to wait until Lee brings back the Mule where the tools are in the glove compartment. 

 

He is working on the barn for our new tenant.  I am excited to have horses here, again. Especially when I don't have to scoop up after them and carry heavy bags of grain and shavings.

Spraying Time Again

Well, spring has sprung.  Or at least spring has started to think about springing.  In the starting blocks.

 

For us, this means it is time to start spraying.  We have been plagued with Fire Blight in our apples.  And in our one pear.  At first I didn't know what to do about it.  I went to the county extension agent and learned what it was, but they had no help as to combating it.  All they said I could do was to cut off the infected branches.  I did that.  And pity the poor trees.  We had to cut off whole branches and then burn the cuttings.

 

The next year it came back.  I was all over the internet and no help.  Then I spoke to the person in charge of the plants at Southern States.  She told me about Fertilome. 

 

Fire Blight is a bacterial infection that withers the leaves and branches in the infected trees.  Fertilome is basically an antibiotic that can fight off the infection.  The only time it helps is to spray the tree just when it starts to bloom and all through the blooming season.  You stop spraying when you see the fruit.  You have to spray every 3 to 5 days.

 

Because you are spraying way up into the tops of the trees, if there is any wind, you get the stuff in your face.  The package has dire warnings about washing up with water for 10 to 15 minutes if any comes in contact with your skin or eyes.  I got a bit on my face and washed it off with a wet paper towel.  I guess I should do it again.  And maybe run it over my hair.  I didn't get a lot so I hope that is sufficient.  I'm hoping the warnings are an excess of caution due to our litigious society.

This is our second year of spraying and I hope it does the job.  The trees are getting to the age when we should have a decent crop.  If I hadn't cut off most of the branches on some of them.  And if we don't get another blighted year.  I have been fighting it for about three years and I am getting tired of seeing the poor trees looking so bedraggled.

One of the arborists I called to help me suggested removing the trees.  I'm not ready to give up.  I want some fruit off my trees!!!

Farm Chores

The last few days have been taken up with farm chores

I mentioned previously that we have a fire blight problem with our apple trees.  The last two years I tried to control it by cutting off the infected branches.  I know that you are supposed to spray them with an antibiotic, but could never find it in any of the local Big Box stores.  I even called a landscaper, thinking I could pay them to do it.  Nope.  They recommended the death penalty - tear them out and start over.

 

I decided to give it one more try and went to Southern States..  The lady there was VERY helpful and told me they had the antibiotic.  I bought it and came home to start spraying.

 

You need about 1 1/2 teaspoons in a gallon of water.  That is enough to do our three apples and one pear.  They are not terribly big, partly because of extensive pruning of the affected branches.  I need to mix up a batch and spray every 3 to 4 days. 

 

The worst part is getting it in my face when trying to spray the tallest branches.  Not sure giving myself an extra couple of doses of antibiotics is a good idea.

 

I will spray until they start to develop fruit and then hope for the best.

Lee and I have also been cleaning up the barn.  This is a project we meant to get to before winter, but didn't.  Then is was winter and far too cold for that sort of thing.  Wrecking my sacroiliac slowed any outside chores.

 

But now I have no excuses.  We pulled a lot of stuff out of the barn and tossed it.  I saved a few things for if (when?) we have B&B guests with horses.  You never know when you will need an extra halter or lead.  There are a few things that need to be washed before we store them, like the horse blankets.  We are waiting for a sunny day so they will dry before nightfall.

We also have a lot of saddles and bridles we need to find homes for.  We plan to contact the 4-H to see if they can use them.  Or maybe a local pony club.  If you know of an organization that would use them, contact me.  I can sell them on craigslist if I don't find a worthy spot.

 

The biggest problem is the underground excavation going on.  Now that the horses are gone and we aren't there everyday with the dog, some critters have set up housekeeping under the stall mats. 

 

They dug in from the outside and spread the dirt and rocks all over the place.

 

Just so you know, stall mats are heavy. And ours are made from mining belts.  Super heavy duty.  And really long.  We had to use a hay hook to catch an edge and roll them back.  Then I brought in shovels full of the rock and dirt piled up outside and filled the tunnels.  Some went under two mats!  I stamped them down and replaced the mat.  It was a lot of heavy work and the plan is to drive down there everyday and wander around a bit with the dog to keep them out.

I need an owl.

 

On the plus side, the barn looks pretty good and the fields are greening up nicely.  I love this place.

 

Seeds

   

We have a patch on one hill where nothing much grows.  Because of this, and the bowl shape of the hill, every time it rains, we get a mini washout.

   

If Lee doesn't get up there with the tractor to scrape it smooth again, the little washouts get bigger.  But then again, every time he scrapes it smooth, he damages what little vegetation there is on the hill.  A vicious cycle.

The last time I went to Southern States to buy horse food, I asked about grass seed.  I don't want lawn grass.  I don't want a hundred pound bag of grass hay seed.  Guess what?  I can buy it by the pound.  So I did.

   

Lee drove the Mule and I was the seed broadcaster.  We used to have a walk-behind thing that sprayed out seeds or fertilizer. 

   

We also used to have large cup that had a crank you could turn and broadcast seeds, etc.  We no longer have them.  They could still be in California,  Or tossed.  Or in a box somewhere.  Who knows?

   

I have no idea if any will germinate.  It is supposed to rain today and I hope it is a light sprinkle.  At any rate we did SOMETHING.  We have visions of birds eating and rain washing, but there is a chance that some little seeds will survive to hold that hill.  Grow little seed, grow!

   

It's Not As Easy As It Looks

Yesterday we took the day off from working in the yard to go buy the blueberries. I was worried that they would be all sold out by the time I felt like planting them!

We ended up going to three places. We bought a few early ripening blueberries at Lowe's. It was the only place that carried them. Then we bought the rest of them at Southern States. We buy a lot of our horse supplies there and they have recently moved to a new facility and added a large nursery. Two huge bags of peat moss and some pine mulch and Azalea food should be all we need. The Azalea food is because it has a high nitrogen content and it is for acid loving plants, like blueberries.

I started right after breakfast . I paced off the area and figured out how much space I would need between each plant and how many I had to fit in the space! I bought ten plants. One more than I had planned on, so there was a bit of juggling to make them all fit in. The wind was blowing like crazy and you would have to brace yourself. Then it would stop and you would almost fall over.

I ended up using the pick-ax. The first 6 inches was easy to dig with a shovel, due to the earlier tractor work. After that it was all chopping with the pick-ax and cleaning out the hole with the shovel.




Lee had gone to the shop to build the frame for the brick area. By the time he finished and brought it to where I was working I had dug 5 of the holes. I knew they had to be at least twice as big as the root ball and I was trying very hard not to say, "Aw, good enough!" We unloaded the frame and went right back to digging.




It was a good thing Lee came to help because I was running out of steam. All the yard work after 3 years of working on the library has left me with very sore hands. I also forgot to wear my gloves so Lee brought them to me. After I got a blister, but before it popped!

I made a list of the berry varieties I put in which hole and I hope to keep track of which ones do well.

Then Lee brought up a scoop of compost. We put some at each hole and then put an equal amount of peat moss. We mixed this together with the soil from the hole and then started planting. We made the left over soil mixture into a little well to hold the water in and keep it from running off.




I mixed the Miracle Gro Azalea food with water in a bucket and we soaked each plant. The we went back and filled each well with water to make sure it went deep into the hole. You want to deep water plants to make sure the roots go deep and don't stay on the surface.

Last year I had delusions of planting a huge garden of blueberries. Maybe even enough for a commercial venture. After planting just 10 I have decided I am not cut out for being a farmer. Well, we DO grow grass hay, but we just step back and let God do most of the work. We spray for weeds, but that is so the pollen doesn't choke us, not so much for the grass! I guess my commercial venture will have to be limited to what I can make into jam or use for my future B&B guests. With any luck I will have enough to do both. But I will not go into berry farming in the near future!



We are almost done. I need to layer the pine mulch around each plant and then I will cover the whole area with old hay to keep the the weeds down and to hold as much moisture as possible when it gets hot this summer. Berries like a lot of water.