Category: Gardening

Categories
Gardening

Trees In Bloom

 

Apples In Bloom
Apples In Bloom

I love it when the trees are in bloom.  Especially the apple trees.  In our backyard we have 17 apples trees.  Most of them are dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties.  Only two of the 17 trees are the same type.  One of the nice things about having bees and trees is that the bees handle the pollination of the trees so you get good fruit set.  I went out into the orchard to see how much pollinator activity there was.  I saw quite a few honey bees along with bumblebees, solitary bees and other nectar gathering flies.  I would say that we should have a pretty good fruit set on the apples this year.  I took a couple of photos of the honey bees in action.

Bee In Blossom
Bee In Blossom

 

Bee In Blossom 2
Bee In Blossom 2
Categories
Gardening Hops

Hops – Another Week

 

Hops on May 16th, 2009
Hops on May 16th, 2009

In looking at the hops today I have several plants that have shoots that over seven feet tall.  I am seriously blown away by how fast they grow.  I swear that you could sit and watch them grow.  I took some of the other shoots and put them onto the trellis.  I am wondering if I need to run some more twine and stake it down to the south side of the plants.  In any case I like what I am seeing this year.

I need to stake out the Avon hops soon.  The shoots are starting to get tall enough to need training.  I do need to get out their and weed and mulch everything.

Categories
Gardening Hops

Update on Hops

Checking in on the hops found the growth to be quite impressive.  My chinook hops that I planted last year are looking quite healthy.  I feel that we should be able to get enough growth off of them to make a pretty good shade block on the south of the house.  I might even be able to get a few pounds of hops as well.

I have started the hops up some strings like most of the hop growing people suggest.  I have not pruned the plants back to two or three shoots per plant like most suggest.  I am not growing for hop production, but for shade.  If I get hops that I can use in my brewing that is just a bonus.

Growth on Chinook Hops
Growth on Chinook Hops

Chinook Detail
Chinook Detail

Avon Sprout
Avon Sprout
The hops that I gathered out of the wild just south of Avon are starting to peek up.  All five rhizome cuttings have come up.  I’m not sure what variety these hops are, but the cones that we found on the mother plant seemed to be quite strong with pine and citrus notes.  It will be interesting to see if they match any of the known varieties.

Avon Shoot
Avon Shoot