With the incoming heatwave in California, we will filter out direct sunlight to help keep these little avocado trees from scorching to death. Also: save the U.S. Postal Service. ✉️
Orchard
Mantis on the cherry tree.
… and peppers! Though ants are trying to farm aphids on them.
Today’s harvest. Brown turkey figs and a small ripe jalapeño.
Orange Grove Update
Friday, July 24, 2020
This year, our Mandarin orange will provide plenty to eat in January. We’re lucky it’s not alternate bearing (this year, anyway). Meanwhile, this is the first year our Meyer lemon has produced more than a couple fruit. Super exciting! It did lose a lot of leaves earlier this summer, though. I attribute that to overwatering. Oops. Finally, our Valencia is also producing more than a couple fruit:The lemon grass coming in strong. It came back from last year’s planting and a cutting we took.
Here’s a drooping Brown Turkey fig — means it’s perfectly sweet & tender for eating. Don’t wait too long after a Brown Turkey fig reaches this stage else it may start to ferment and/or critters will get to it first.
Brown Turkey figs are rapidly ripening. Patiently waiting for them to start drooping as a sign of ripeness.
110°F yesterday and today. The avocados we planted 2-3 years ago transpire water more than they can replenish from the ground and so their leaves desiccate and die. Especially the young leaves on the Bacon (1) variety and random adult leaves on the Mexicola (2) variety. ☹️
So many Brown Turkey Figs!
Lunchtime snack: Sweet Cherries fresh from the backyard tree.
Cherry tree update: almost dark red! (and then they’re hopefully ripe and sweet; had two today and they were not there yet: tasted like early season supermarket cherries.)
Metallic flagging and a fake hawk to discourage birds from the cherries. The blue jays are smart and eventually don’t care but smaller birds stay away. Just say no to critter killing netting.
Our sweet cherries are looking tastier everyday.
Pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) flowers.
Cherries on the bark beetle-caused malnourished, unshaded branches (to right) are blushing fast (May not be very good cherries). The resident blue jays should stick to those branches.... they ignore the metallic tape with malice in their dinosaur eyes...
Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana) flower bud. These flowers are going to be huge.
Fruit Tree Irrigation: an Experiment
Sunday, April 26, 2020
For several years I’ve watered my fruit trees using a Generation 2 Rachio controller and their irrigation method called “Flex Daily”. This method relies on many variables, a few of which I can only make good guesses at. For example, my soil’s Available Water Capacity from the U.S. Soil Survey. Flex Daily on Rachio is really designed for watering lawns, and I don’t care about lawns. I water fruit trees with unevenly spaced emitters.For Earth Day, bees on the elderberry and the avocado.
Got to pay attention to notice avocado flowers. Our “Bacon” Avocado tree is flowering. Our “Mexicola” variety is not— too bad because they’re type A and B so would have pollinated each other.
Think we might get cherries in mid to late May! A few tree branches have extremely undersized leaves because of bark beetle damage starving the branches of resources. Mainly from metallic bark beetles. Two branches completely died last year so they got lopped.
Got a few Apricot fruits to set... in a few weeks they may drop as the tree balances its energy.
It’s high time we start taking photos behind the flowers. Apricot flower.
Cherry tree in full bloom.
This morning’s view out the backyard window. The California Lilacs (purple!) are out of control. Mandarin in the foreground. Elderberry to the far left.
A successful section of our vegetative fence line screen. Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), California Lilac (Ceanothus), and a Mandarin tree. A few years in the making.
Our apricot had its first bloom today. A few weeks ahead last year. This tree has rarely yielded fruit. 🤞🌳
Our cherry tree had its first bloom today.
2020 Spring: Blooms to Come
Friday, February 28, 2020
Here in the Northern Sacramento Valley of California, the blooming seems to be happening all at once with the unusually dry and warm late winter. Apricot is about to start blooming: The cherry will be blooming soon too: Western Red Bud (Cercis occidentalis) is about to bloom: California lilacs (Ceanothus ) “Ray Hartman” are about to bloom:We love this red curry paste. Fortify it with fresh lemon grass! 🌶🌶🌶🥵
Glad I’m not below that cherry picker.
