our maine home – zone 5b
Sam wanted to graft the good Meyer Lemon tree onto the root stock left from the previous failed Meyer Lemon tree. It was quite a complicated operation. He used this website for guidance.
Grafting Lemon Trees – How to Graft a Lemon Tree with the T-Bud
This blackberry variety is both productive and a bit invasive. Robust canes are popping up all around the area where it is planted. I should probably have given it more space, yes?
Anyway, we dug up a cane to give to a friend. It was quite an ordeal as the root seemed very tenacious. The root ball was huge and we tried to jam it into a tub.
On its way to a new home.
Beat the birds to pick this handful of strawberries! This patch has managed to come back from a serious leaf blight. It didn’t do much last year. But this year, it’s looking fresh and green, although a little patchy, and producing fruit!
It’s exciting to see little baby fruits formed in the orchard. There is a long hazardous road between now and eating the harvest, but we can have hope looking at these babies. The pears and tart cherries are most photogenic, although there may be others.
While I was harvesting rhubarb, Jeff and Roberta were out foraging oyster mushrooms. Quite a combination of spring foods! We grilled the oysters, which were pristine. They apparently found the rain over Memorial Day weekend enough to encourage them to flush.
A rainy, chilly weekend. But the side yard looked like a blueberry jungle emerging out of a light mist. The kiwi vine on the arbor is very robust this year too.
It’s so much fun to observe the new growth springing up. Here’s a gallery.
My order from Fedco Trees arrived. There is urgency to get these bare-root trees planted.
Finished with the first three and one hazelnut. We still have four hazelnuts to plant. It’s taking some time. Scraping the hole with the tractor. Removing the rocks. Replacing the soil (very sandy fill) and supplementing with leaf mulch to ensure the hole is full. Topping off with pieces of sod upside down. Thoroughly watering in. It’s satisfying to see them in the ground.
The lemon tree made it through the winter indoors, but it is not exactly thriving. We had to remove scale insects. And give it some alfalfa meal tea. Many leaves are yellowing, and eventually dropping off.
But mostly I think it needs more sunshine and some warm rain. Sam has been lugging it outside regularly, sometimes on to the deck and sometimes into the hoophouse.
We are eagerly looking for signs of new growth.
