Each cut was chosen with care, thank you to the Fine Line’s Landscape company that came out to do our over 50 plus hard fruit trees this year for us! With so many young trees, it was just awesome to get such a pro in to make sure they get off to the right start and shaping.

I am pleased to report that all the fruit trees that made it though the winter and are live are thriving and have good fruiting spurs on them at this time, so we are looking good that way, only had a tiny bit of winter die back on one tree noted and it was very minor indeed. We had very minor losses to report so far on anything planted five, four and three years ago in the Fruity Boogaloo, Walk on the wild side food forest, Park garden including the dog park..

We did lose the king hawthorn, and one cherry and one peach tree in the park garden, the peach was not one of my Sib C but i got took again being promised i had a peach that would produce in my zone but once again within two years it died.. I am staying with my cold hardy sib c until they better a much better one then they have on the market at this time. The cherries died from wet two years ago and drought last year, so those spots will need drainage, build up before they get replanted.

My oldest sour cherry tree with is 25 years is reaching its end life, this year will be its final one and this fall, we will cut it down and put the wood to dry for smoking and spoon making i think as well. It seems highly fitting that a tree that has made so many amazing pie fillings, tart fillings, juice and more should live on as a hand carved beautiful wooden spoon in my kitchen.. Cherry wood is a excellent smoking wood, not only for its flavor but also for its rich color finish on a low and slow smoke

Thankfully we have a lovely med aged sour cherry tree that is coming into its productive years and i will order in a new Montmorency Cherry tree to plant in 2027. It is one of the perks of the farm is that you can plan years ahead for keeping a steady productive food forest or fruit production.

The weather is perfect for pruning this week, as well as getting the dormant oil spaying done, today there is little to no wind to speak off, it was overcast but sunny at the same time. Are you pruning this week or next? Have you already finished your pruning? We still need more snow melt out in order to have access to fruit bushes in a many places, but the haskaps and josta berry bushes in the one pear guild is clear and accessible, so they will be pruned and cleaned up first and foremost.

The best fruit will get bagged this year during the right time in the growing stage, and i am hoping that a skunk will come soon and start digging for grubs, but if not, i will soon be raking under and around the plums and be setting up a mobile cover to scatter seed and get my chicken at the job, they love to dig, and they like grubs and i need to get as many eaten as i can.