6
2010
Fruit Blossoms and How I Care for Them
An article by 
No flower is more welcomed in my garden than the first buds of our fruit trees and bushes. With the warmth of the past few days, the peach trees in the treeyard bloomed.
I spotted a strawberry flower in the bed yesterday. These beautiful flowers will soon develop into sweet nutritious fruit.
The dwarf cherry has buds just waiting to burst. I have no idea what to expect out of these knee high trees. They are purported to produce edible fruit and time will tell whether that is true.
Leaves on the plum tree are unfurling. Because this is the first year for the plum, with a heavy heart I will pinch off any blossoms before they go to fruit. Allowing the tree to grow with no fruit for at least one full season helps it establish roots, branches, and height.
Raspberry vines are growing and leafed out. I buried several vines to establish some new plants. The blueberry bushes are just starting to sent out leaflets.
A part of me lives in terror this time of year. A good hard frost can ruin the growing season for all of these fruits. I follow forecasts looking for evening temperatures below 32 degrees.
The beauty of living on a tiny urban homestead is that I can cover these trees and plants if there is a frost warning. I pull out sheets and tarps, anchor them with rocks, and give a little protective insulation to my precious fruit blossoms.
Once past May 15, the frost free date for central Ohio, I let down my frost guard. The fruits slowly grow. I keep an eye out for pests that might be invading and will treat accordingly, though I’ve never had any problems.
When fruits are just barely mature, changing from chartreuse to full color, my blood pressure rises again. I want the juicy sweet berries and fruit for myself and my family. Squirrels and birds have the same desire. To reap the full harvest, I cover the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries with bird netting. We reuse netting from year to year, getting our money’s worth out of the $7 investment. When I am ready for berries, I lift the netting or pick right through it.
This will be our first year allowing the peach and cherry trees to fruit. I hope that pests will not be a problem either during development or harvest time. I am armed with information from Mother Earth News and Back to Basics
Keeping fruit trees is an emotional process for me. I love fruit so very much that I take special, some might say obsessive, care of my plants.
Do you have fruit trees? How do you care for them?
Momo Sake {Recipe for Peach Week}
Expanding the Urban Orchard
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Hi! I am Rachel Tayse Baillieul, a home-cooking, backyard-gardening, unschooling, earthy homemaker in Columbus Ohio. Hounds in the Kitchen is where I share my family's adventures. Thanks for joining us!
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Very nice post!
I’m in the process of filling in my 1/10 acre urban lot with food-bearing plants. After focusing on vegetables last year, I’m adding in fruit this year. I ordered three trees (dwarf cherry, pixie cot apricot and hardy Chicago fig – all self-pollinating) and three black currant bushes from Raintree Nursery, and they should be arriving this week!
I’m also building two new 8′x4′ raised beds for the cherry tree, currant bushes, strawberries, rhubarb and two blueberry bushes I bought late last season and have miraculously come back strong despite leaving them in their nursery pots all winter.
I’m excited to hear more, as it looks like you’re a few years ahead of me.
I love this post… because I know that feeling of being so worried about the weather, and how it can wreck havoc on plants — especially fruits. I’m dying to know — does the bird netting prevent pollination? Probably not, because once the flowering is done, there is no more pollination? But, our blueberry bush blooms at different times, so one part of the bush has berries while the other has flowers. Will netting interfere with that?
I laugh too — because at our lake house in we are surrounded by blackberry bushes — in the woods… and they simply go to waste. Except for the ones I pick, of course. They even dry up before the birds can get to them, because they are so abundant. I pick more than we need, because I cannot bear to see them go to waste. They are very hard to pick — I must be covered head to toe, as they are covered in thick briars, and the mosquitoes are so bad. But, there will be a freezer bag full with your name on it when I return next fall.
.-= Susiej´s last blog ..When a monster shows up in your picture book =-.