Whatcha Up To???

[Waite]

Waite : I just looked up Stella Cherry..Those are beautiful trees !

Mine is a semi-dwarf. It's supposed to give up a bushel plus of cherries each year once established.

LMAO!!!

Truth be told, that would something you couldn't unsee.

 

[RLwhaler]

Mine is a semi-dwarf. It's supposed to give up a bushel plus of cherries each year once established.



Truth be told, that would something you couldn't unsee.

Doing a little research on those cheery trees. I would love to plant a few here in Texas. Don't know how this heat would effect them.

 

[Waite]

There are cherry trees that are heat tolerant, the problem you have where you're at is 'chill hours'. In order for the tree to reset and produce fruit each year, it needs a minimum amount of time below 45 degrees. The Stella will produce after 400 chill hours, which is only about 17 days. Its also good to zone 9. Not sure if it gets that cool every year along the coast. I'll bet there are some varieties you could grow down there with little trouble.

Factoid:
The state of Michigan boasts a whopping 4 million sour cherry trees, taking up 35,000 acres that produce around 75% of tart cherries for the United States. The state of Michigan also hosts an annual festival called the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City and is ranked among the top 10 festivals in the United States.

The vast majority of those are Montmorency, which is what my other tree is.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Factoid:
The state of Michigan boasts a whopping 4 million sour cherry trees, taking up 35,000 acres that produce around 75% of tart cherries for the United States. The state of Michigan also hosts an annual festival called the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City and is ranked among the top 10 festivals in the United States.

The vast majority of those are Montmorency, which is what my other tree is.

I worked for 2 years on a cherry farm just north of Traverse City on Old Mission Peninsula. It was a small farm at about 100 acres - that was 20+ years ago during high school so I don't fully remember the acreage. They grew about 6 varieties of cherries, about 2/3 tart, 1/3 sweet. In a typical day we would harvest about 30 tanks - a tank is 3' x 3' x 3'. Harvest season was about 5 weeks long.

 

[Waite]

That's a lot of cherries! Do you know what steps they took to protect the cherries from pests?

 

[Mr_Yan]

Deer were a problem with the irrigation system. The deer would step on the hoses to break them and get a drink. There were also automatic bird cannons (forgot the actual name) that would shoot a 12 ga blank every 5 to 20 minutes to scare the birds out of the trees. Beyond that I don't know - I was just grunt labor pulling tarps for the roll-out machine so the shaker could grab and shake the tree. The farmer had the old machienery where 1 person drove the shaker, 2 people hand to pull tarps, 1 person was at the tank to scoop leafs out, and 1 person drove the tractor pulling the roll-out.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I live in the middle of a medium-large city and have only had trouble with birds on my small fruit crops (blueberry, cherry, raspberry, grape). For that size netting is fine. I've not had a pest problem on my peach (just fungus).

I think my crab apple is dead now. If it is dead I'll yank it and replace with a self-fertile pear.

 

[Waite]

Last cherry (Montmorency) planted, got them all wrapped, fertilized, edging installed, and mulched.

Had a great omelette made with leftover bratwurst and pepper jack.

Corned beef in the oven low-n-slow for corned beef and cabbage. Yum!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Finished cleaning & forming the rows in the garden. I started installing the tomato stakes but I still need to finish. Then i burned the garden trash. Time to start planting...

I harvested more asparagus because I forgot about the gal that cuts our hair. Her & her daughter are nice people that we like to share with!!!

Seasoned up the chicken fajitas that I'll grill for supper.

Made a pot of pinto beans.

Made our version of Spanish rice.

Made stuffed jalapenos.

Very busy spring day here...

 

[wolffman]

Started hilling up some of the potatoes that are tall enough. I'm going to try piling up a bunch of shredded leaves around the potatoes this year too and see what happens. Planted another bush along the property line. Wife is out in the garden planting all kinds of seeds. Gotta get all the stuff in the garden this week, except for okra.

 

[ksk]

Watered the garden and pulled weeds.Put out ant killer on some mounds that are near the house.Sprayed weeds around house and barn.Fighting a cold.

 

[RLwhaler]

After a year indoor..

 

[RLwhaler]

Watered the garden and pulled weeds.Put out ant killer on some mounds that are near the house.Sprayed weeds around house and barn.Fighting a cold.

I'am fixin' to follow your lead on the chores. Accept for fighting the cold part. Hope you feel better ksk.

 

[Waite]

Went to a (crappy) home and garden show. Too many gutter guards and chiropractors.

Relocated the squash arbor, got it mostly filled.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Planted the spaghetti squash, cucumbers, peas & lima beans.

Watered the garden & the seed flats in the greenhouse.

Sat on the porch drinking margaritas & playing tug-of-war with Dieter.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Failed at roasting a chicken. Partially blame the meat thermometer - don't trust it anymore, will replace it tomorrow.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Moved 10 more rolls of hay from the hay barn to the home site. Put out 2 rolls for the cattle.

Watered the porch pots & the hanging baskets.

Clean & refilled the wasp traps.

 

[Waite]

Failed at roasting a chicken. Partially blame the meat thermometer - don't trust it anymore, will replace it tomorrow.

If you're not using one of these or its big brother for an instant-read, you're doing yourself a disservice. All thermometers are not created equal. If you do buy, get it directly from them. People buy these, mark them up, and sell them on Amazon. ThermoWorks won't warranty them.

https://www.thermoworks.com/ThermoP..._term=thermopop&utm_content=thermopop - exact

For a dual probe, Maverick is about as good as it gets. I use this one:

http://www.maverickhousewares.com/d...meters#/et-733-wireless-food-thermometer-set/

 

[wolffman]

Steven Raichlen peddles that Maverick probe. I won't buy it for that reason alone. He uses wet wood to make "BBQ". LOL!

https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermap..._term=thermapen&utm_content=thermapen - exact

 

[wolffman]

Going to have a bunch of onions in about 6 weeks.

 

[Waite]

Steven Raichlen peddles that Maverick probe. I won't buy it for that reason alone. He uses wet wood to make "BBQ". LOL!

I don't watch that guy. I call him "MR. 123" from his description of how to tell when your fire is ready. Piffle. I got the recommendation for the Maverick from Amazing Ribs. Easily the best dual probe I've owned.

RE: the Thermopop V. Thermopen, go check out the upgraded Pop. There's almost nothing it doesn't do as well as the original Pen now, they even improved response time. The $50 difference in price doesn't justify the few features anymore. I suppose there might be an advantage to the mk4, but now it's $70 difference!

 

[wolffman]

I just wish Raichlen would stop calling his show "BBQ University". I have yet to see him make real BBQ.

 

[Waite]

Yeah, but most people have no idea the BBQ and grilling are two different things.

When I was a kid, we just had a "cookout"!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Failed at roasting a chicken. Partially blame the meat thermometer - don't trust it anymore, will replace it tomorrow.

Just twist the drumstick bone, it it pops out of the socket, the bird is done. I've done that for years & have yet to make anyone sick.

 

[w_r_ranch]

We went to town to get our haircuts & to give the gal a bag of asparagus.

Made bread.

Put out 2 hummingbird feeders as they should be here any day now.

Decided to cut the grass today as my back still hurts.