Life in East Hardwick

I have been house-sitting and taking care of animals (16, total) for my good sister Julie in East Hardwick, VT for the past 8 days. Going home to Massachusetts tomorrow. God, so much to tell.

WEATHER: in a nutshell, has sucked. Rained almost every day. But I am from Vermont. And we love to complain about the weather. (Or, expect the worse.) I have lived in Massachusetts and Michigan now, and believe me, Vermont weather takes the cake. Hands down. As I write this, it is 56 and drizzling rain in East Hardwick. On July 4 at 7 PM. I still cooked chicken on the grill. Like several unregistered -- dare I say it, junk? -- cars in the yard, a real Northeast Kingdom tradition.

ANIMALS: 16, count them. Sophie the Beagle is a real handful. (P.S. the neighbor, Charles Morrissey thinks her name is 'Josie' -- Google Charles T. Morrissey, and ssshhh!) Quarter horses, Diablo and Cody are easy. Timothy the cat, I love him, and I am allergic to cats. That says a lot. Chickens -- 6 laying hens (barred rocks?) and 6 white meat chickens. (Stupid animals, they deserve to be eaten. Where did humans, as food breeders, go wrong?). Did I miss someone? I hope not!

FISHING. The upper Lamoille River is a renowned Rainbow and Brook Trout head-water. Alas, despite the fact I contributed $30 to Vermont Fish and Wildlife for a 7-day fishing license, the River has been mostly un-fishable because of the high water. I did get out twice, and made out OK. Really, really wish I had been able to fly-fish more of this spectacular stream.

HIKING AND KAYAKING: Caspian Lake, infamous breeder of large and copious amounts of Lake Trout. (Salvelinus namaycush.). Including fireworks from my kayak. Hiked Bald Mountain on 1-July. Totally socked-in and wet. But, I did run into a trail crew form the Northeast Kingdom Youth Conservation Corps, aka 'Kingdom Corps.' I was one of the first 'campers' of a federally funded YCC in the Green Mountain National Forest in 1972 in Danby, Vermont. Trail maintenance, deer exclosure, etc. I appreciated the effort these kids and their crew leader from the NorthWoods Stewardship Center had put into the trail up Bald Mountain, despite the miserable, wet conditions. On 4-July, up Wheeler Mountain. Spectacular views, again, despite largely overcast skies and cool temps. It's like Religion to me hiking these Northeast Kingdom peaks, and I can't imagine any more spectacular scenery. I signed the log book at the terminus of the Wheeler Mountain Trail (Eagle Cliff) 'Alexander Supertramp.' Into the Wild...

P.S. It took me a week to get around to finish this posting, largely because I wanted to include my pictures. JC

Regina/Gisela 6 sweet cherry planting 1st leaf pruning

Time flies

Wow, it's been too long. Very busy. Apple trees have bloomed and that has gone by. In a week or two, we will know how set looks. So, here is what's on my mind.

• Go take my sprayer calculation quiz!
• Organic 'pesticides' with DANGER signal words. Huh?
• Photo album of what I have seen the past two months.
• What is it with those Honeycrisp? Here, lacking return bloom. Very frustrating.
• Twilight meetings this week coming up.

Apple IPM: Saving Early Season Scab Sprays

For more information, see the fact sheet 'Saving Early Season Scab Sprays' on the UMass Fruit Advisor

MFGA winter meeting

A week ago today, the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association (MFGA) and UMass Extension Winter Tree Fruit Education Program was held at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown, MA. Over 100 members of MFGA, interested fruit growers, industry personnel, and Extension/University personnel attended on a cold, but bright, winter day.

Highlighting the Education Program was Dr. Terence Robinson of New York's Cornell/Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station. Robinson is a worldwide authority on intensive apple production systems and crop load management. Hence, he gave two excellent talks in the morning -- one on the tall-spindle apple production system, and one on new technology being developed to better manage apple crop load with chemical thinners. In the afternoon, however, was the real treat, a trip out into the UMass Orchard to demonstrate pruning of mostly young super-spindle, tall-spindle, and vertical-axis apple trees by Robinson. In a nutshell, he espoused 4 rules for annual pruning tall-spindle (or other intensely planted) apple trees:

1. limit tree height to 0.9 times row width
2. remove 2 to 3 of the largest branches on the tree
3. "columnarize" all remaining branches
4. on 'Gala' in particular, cut pendant or weak branches back to pencil-size wood

Here is a slide from his talk further illustrating these rules.

We were extremely fortunate to have Robinson give the pruning demo, and all in attendance gained significant pruning and production savvy during the daylong Program.

Cherry study trip

To start the New Year I traveled to New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania with Mo and Andre Tougas of Tougas Family Farm to specifically look at Haygrove Tunnel technology for producing dwarf sweet cherries. The Tougas's are contemplating adopting high-tunnel sweet cherry culture and thought an up-close and personal look at some existing high-tunnel sweet cherry orchards would be worthwhile. They were right, and I learned a lot about the 'highs' and lows of cherry production under high-tunnels on the humid Eastern seaboard.

In New Jersey, we met up with Win Cowgill, Hunterdon County Extension Ag Agent and Rutgers North Jersey fruit specialist to first visit Melick's Town Farm in Oldwick, NJ. There, John Melick gave us a quick run-down on Haygrove hi-Tunnels they are using for tomatoes, cut flowers, and raspberries. These tunnels have 4-foot sides only and are not suited for cherries, but John talked about the season-extending and disease-prevention benefits, as well as allowing workers to be productive when it is raining outside. Video.

Next we went to Terhune Orchard in Princeton. Owner Gary Mount showed us an existing cherry planting of about one acre that he covered with Haygrove Tunnels after enduring a nearly total crop loss to fruit cracking one year. Gary says that he can't afford to lose a hi-value crop such as cherries that he sells for $5 per pound pick-your-own. He says the tunnels are insurance against frost and cracking, despite their high cost ($35,000 per acre give or take). But his optimism was a bit tempered by a significantly reduced crop in 2008, a result he thinks, of poor pollination. Despite using purchased bumblebees, it is a problem that is not acceptable until it is fully resolved. Video. Others have expressed similar concern over pollination of sweet cherries in tunnels. For a little more on Gary's thoughts, read a short article he wrote -- 'Haygrove High Tunnels - Control of Nature?' -- for Terhune Orchards newsletter.

Next, on to Elkton, Maryland to visit with Molly Brumbley of Walnut Springs (Strawberry) Farm. Molly has been a serious study of dwarf sweet cherry production and it showed. A newbie to tree fruit growing, she has pursued sweet cherry production under tunnels with no preconceived notions but with a lot of research, travel, and consultation with the experts. Her two acres of 28 ft. wide Haygrove Tunnels were nicely done -- three rows of three- or four-year-old cherries planted in a bed, with one travel row. She has planted mostly Black York and Cavalier, all on Gisela 5 rootstock, and has been very pleased with the early production to date on Black York although the Cavalier have been a little shy-bearing. She is shooting for just a two-week open-to-close pick-your-own cherry season, and the response so far to her cherries -- which sold for $2.95 per lb. in 2008 -- has been very good. Molly is using 'smart ends' to help stabilize the Tunnels on a very windy and exposed location. Her research has paid off and it was very evident with the attention to detail she has put into her tunnel-covered sweet cherry production system. For more information see a recent article on Molly and her cherries in the Fruit Growers News titled 'High-Value Crops Perfect for High-Value Land.' And, watch this short video where Molly discusses erecting the Tunnels after planting the cherry trees, and the benefits of a 28 ft. wide Tunnel vs. 24 ft.

A visit to Elkton mean't we also had to see American Fruit Grower's Apple Grower of the Year Even Milburn and his son Nate of Milburn Orchards. Milburn has grown cherries -- nearly 2o acres at last count -- successfully for many years in the 'open,' although Nate admits not every year is a winner because of frost and fruit cracking. Still, they attract large crowds of u-pick customers seeking sweet cherries every year and are planning to phase out an older cherry orchard in a cold site and distant from the 'home farm' and plant to a more favorably location close by. Milburns represent a classic Eastern sweet cherry orchard (if there is one?), and despite the challenges presented by frost and cracking, seem to be quite successful in their cherry production practices.

Finally we stopped at Weaver's Orchard in Morgantown, PA. Although owner Ed Weaver was not available, there was plenty to look at on our own, including: young and mature cherry plantings covered with Haygrove Tunnels; effective use of Promalin 'paint' with notching to promote branching; and perpendicular-V peaches. A phone conversation with Weaver indicates he has mixed feelings about the covered cherries, hence the hesitation on covering another young cherry planting. (He may have had enough?)

Weaver's is clearly a large, diversified orchard with a lot going on. Hence, my summary thoughts on cherry production under hi-Tunnels:

1. Tunnel production of sweet cherries is not for everyone. Management skill, extra time, and attention to detail are required.
2. There are some unresolved issues, including ability to provide frost protection and adequate pollenation that need to be considered.
3. The cost of entry is very high, however, as long as you can get good money for your cherries, the potential to pay back the cost of a Tunnel is high. Plus there is no doubt it reduces your exposure to weather issues, particularly rain-induced fruit cracking, and will result in higher-quality, larger, and sweeter (more mature) cherries.
   
4. The Tunnel needs to be 'skinned' with new plastic after 3-4 years, at additional cost.
5. Cherries can be grown without hi-Tunnels, but expect to lose a crop to frost and/or fruit cracking 20% or more of the time.
   

GLEXPO

I am at the Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Expo in Grand Rapids, MI for a couple days. Today, the Art Mitchell Symposium on Fruit Thinning and Return Bloom. Speaker highlights:

Dr. Terence Robinson, Cornell University

• apple fruit thinning should be driven primarily be economic considerations
• the carbohydrate balance of trees from bloom through about 15-20 mm fruit size is important to understand the potential effect of a chemical thinning spray
• temperature and light during the same period described above primarily determines carbohydrate balance
• carbohydrate balance can be modeled, and thus some form of numerical 'thinning index' can be developed as a tool to assist growers in making chemical thinning decisions

Dr. Jim Schupp, Penn State University

• the 'Darwin' mechanical thinner has proven useful (with modification) in bloom thinning peaches to consistently reduce amount of time hand thinning and improving peach fruit size. More...
  
• the Darwin thinner was also used in apples, and may have particular utility in organic apple orchards; but, there is increased risk of transmitting fire blight because of it shreds foliage; more research is needed in apples

Duane Greene, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Greene covered timing (bloom to 25 mm), chemicals (NAA, NAD, carbaryl, 6-BA, and ethrel) and the impact of light and temperature on the activity of chemical thinners
  

Phil Schwallier, Michigan State University

• Honeycrisp has a strong capacity to overset
• crop load of Honeycrisp should be no more than 4 to 6 apples per sq. cm. trunk/limb cross-sectional area to get adequate return bloom
• young Honeycrisp trees should probably be hand-thinned only to achieve desired results (chemical thining too risky because of ease of over-thinning)
• mature trees can be thinned with a combination of carbary (1 pt) + BA (100 ppm) or NAA (8-10 ppm) to reduce crop load to <>
• summer NAA treatments can improve return bloom

Dr. Gregory Clark, Valent Biosciences

• Clarke gave an excellent overview of the theory behind fruit thinning and talked about how Valent is looking at ABA (abscissic acid) and AVG (ReTain) as potential additions to the thinning/crop load management toolbox