Sorry,it has been a while since my last post .I managed to lose a post a few weeks back ,so I will try to catch up on what has been going on .We have been very busy !
Due to a very wet Spring, we have fallen behind on all of our plantings .The 300 Elderberry plants we have been able to get in, are going strong . With any luck, we will get the final 100 in by next weekend . We are also behind on our medicinal herb plantings . We lost our Pleurisy root plantings ,the soil was just too wet, but our Echineacia plants are thriving as well as our Elecampane and Blackberry lilly . our seedlings are thriving in nursery trays ,awaiting a permanent home.
We will start picking our first Blueberry crop very soon and it looks like it will be a good one .Prices for Blueberries are as follows :$ 3.00 a pint or 2 pints for$ 5.00 . If you wish to place a large order ,we can arrange a discount . We are unable to offer pick your own pricing at this time . If you wish to place an order,you may do so now and we will contact you as soon as your order is picked so you get the freshest berries possible. These bushes have never been sprayed and have only seen organic fertilizer.
Our Aronia bushes are also doing very well and should produce a small harvest this season . We have promised some of this crop to “Tres Gatos Vineyards” for some vino experimentation .If you wish to procure some of these “Super berries ” contact us and we will try to get you some .
The Winter was very hard on the Bees but we did see a couple of hives survive . Those hives, along with the new ones, are going gangbuster! All but 2 of our 14 hives have honey supers on ,some have as many as 3 . I am awaiting more supers to be built . If we dodge the Bears, we should have a huge Honey crop .
We have added significantly to the Orchard this year with an eye to adding Cider Apples . We grafted a total of 68 Apple trees and 44 Pear trees . It looks like our Apple grafting was about 90% successful ,while our Pears about 30% . While the Pear success was low ,I actually got the number I wanted ,the Apples were much higher than I expected ,so we may have trees to sell next year.The rootstock that survives the Winter will be usable next year ,so nothing is truly lost unless it dies .
I am looking forward to getting more mulch on all the berries tomorrow . A Farmer’s work is never done