A Chestnut crab tree grafted in April and now in the nursery with the newly installed irrigation drip tape running by.

TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

This morning we weeded 2023 nursery apple trees and a row of dwarf trees. Later I re-mowed all the paths through the orchard, set up irrigation to the newly grafted trees with Cammy and watered all the newly planted trees. Everything seems to be growing faster than is “humanly” possible. The young seedlings scattered along the rows that we topworked in May are being buried in the grasses that are already nearly waist-high. It is time to begin weeding the younger trees (1-12 years old) in hopes of reducing competition and finding any borers that snuck in last year. First step is to scythe back the tall grass and perennials from around the trees. Then we weed around the base of each tree, all the while looking for the saw-dust frass—the sign of borer activity. Around July 4th we’ll paint all the trunks with pure Neem oil. The Neem will smother the new eggs of the adult borer beetle. We hope.