I can’t walk through the orchard without stopping once or twice to check a broken twig, a curled leaf or some other little thing I’ve noticed.  I like to catch any problems early and deal with them.  Every week or two, just to make sure I’m not missing something important, I stick a pencil and notebook in my pocket, cross the [...]

Last night we had a hard frost, and it nipped a few tender plants and blossoms. As the sun eased over the horizon, I trudged out to the orchard, camera in hand to document the damage. The warmth of the morning sunlight already was melting the frost crystals from the blooms, so the damage wasn’t [...]

Apparently nobody told this young apple tree it didn’t have to bloom its first spring on site. The variety is William’s Pride. We planted it last November. Precocious, isn’t it?

Last week’s armadillo adventure ended when it dived into this hole. It’s located in a thicket of locust saplings. Between the orchard and the strawberry bed. Now we have holes everywhere. Big holes. Little holes. Something’s going to break a leg stepping into a hole where there wasn’t a hole the day before. So how [...]