July 10, 2024

First Bee Balm flowers (Monarda fistulosa) with young apple tree in the background, July 10, 2024

TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

Today I again beat the heat and went up to Finley Lane in the early morning to weed apple trees for a few hours. Later I returned and painted neem on another 80 trees. The scything, weeding and neeming apples at Finley is now complete. The pears still require scything and weeding, but that can wait for now. The heat was mitigated somewhat today by a light breeze and overcast skies; however, it was still very hot. Today the first Bee Balm flowers opened. We planted a few Bee Balm plants several years ago and now we have thousands; it has seeded itself throughout the entire orchard. The five hives of bees are in heaven.