Critical Temperatures for Blossom Buds

Cherry Buds & Wind Machines

According to the dark sweet cherry buds at our Gilbert Orchard, the cherry crop is at the green side stage and moving into the green tip stage. The development of the cherry buds correlates with a Critical Termpertures for Blossom Buds temperature chart from WSU.

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Simple Test for Garden Soil Nutrients

Essential beginning step

A simple test for garden soil nutrients is an essential beginning step to a fabulous gardening experience. I want to share my experience so that you, too, can have a great start in gardening. A test like this is recommended every 3 to 5 years to inform you of your soil’s nutrient-supplying capability so that you can accurately fertilize only what’s needed.

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How to Prune Cool-Season Grasses

How to prune cool-season grasses involves timing, tools, and clean-up. Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass, Calamagrostis acutiflora is a cool-season grass since it likes to grow before temperatures exceed 75°. In our hardiness zone, 7a, here in Chelan, Washington, our cool season is March through May. The best time to prune cool-season grass is at the beginning of the cool season.

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Safe Temperatures for Winter Pruning

This is our Royal Red Honeycrisp block. Originally these trees were Red Delicious. We grafted them to RR Honeycrisp in 2016.

Mild Winter Until This Week

Our crew of pruners has been busy pruning our acres of Honeycrisp trees for the past couple of months. The winter pruning temperatures so far have been fairly mild, allowing few interruptions for adverse weather.

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Birds of Prey On Our Organic Farm

This beautiful red-tailed hawk visited our front yard last week on a bright sunny afternoon. Usually, he’s a welcome sight on the farm because he’s the big guy in our pest management system. This time though, he really pissed me off. I snapped this shot of him after he tried to make Hazel his afternoon feast. If he looks perturbed, he is! We both were! I interrupted his banquet when I found poor Hazel.

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