April 9-15, 2023

Weather | 4/9, 39°, 69° | 4/10, 40°, 72° | 4/11, 49°, 77° | 4/12, 51°, 79° | 4/13, 47°, 79° | 4/14, 50°, 78° | 4/15, 0.71" rain, 60°, 75° |

• Sunday, 4/9: Easter Sunday
  
  • White pear blossoms started popping out on a sunny day. They are filled with several kinds of native pollinators, including nighttime moths. A strong southeast wind turned to calm after sunset.
  • A huge turkey gobbler fanned out his tail to show off his feathers while standing in the middle of the lane near Bluegill Pond. He was immense. We're guessing he was in the 35-40 pound range. After a couple show off displays, he walked to the pond.
  • I lit an outdoor fire and we roasted slices of pork loin on long wiener roasting sticks, while enjoying a bottle of 2021 autumn olive wine. The second course of our outdoor Easter feast was deviled eggs that Mary fixed earlier this morning. The third course was a cherry crisp, again, that Mary made this morning. An interesting point was how the wine's taste changed with each food item. With the pork, there was more of a raisin flavor. The deviled eggs brought out a citrus, cranberry taste. An alcohol flavor was more distinct with the sweet tasting cherry crisp. All told, autumn olive wine matches well with pork, but not dessert.
    
  • We don't let dogs out while we sit near an open fire, so they don't catch their butts on fire. So, after our outdoor meal, we took them on a walk to Wood Duck Pond. The edges of the pond were filled with bull frog tadpoles. Some had legs. In a couple weeks, they'll all be frogs that will "eep" at you when you walk near them.
    
  • First-of-the-year birds that Mary spotted today included a white-throated sparrow and a Carolina wren.
  • I watered newly-planted items. Some of the radishes I planted last week are emerging.

Roasting pork loin on an open fire.

Easter dinner of pork loin...yummy!

• Monday, 4/10: Pear Blossoms & Whip-poor-wills
  
  • I labeled the persimmon wine bottles, then rearranged all of my wine in various coolers to make room for the persimmon wine.
    
  • Mary gave the garlic and herbs a dose of fish fertilizer. She says the garlic looks better than its ever appeared at this time of the year. Mary attributes it to a double batch of compost and turning the soil well with the first layer of compost in place.
    
  • I installed a new spark plug in lawnmower.
  • I mowed the south end of the near garden and moved three wheelbarrow loads of grass to the three new apple trees and mulched the first layer of grass around them.
    
  • The pear trees are blossoming. Honey bees are in the Kieffer blossoms, while native bees buzz about in the Bartlett tree. The small Bartlett pear tree has one blossom, the first ever for that plant.
    
  • After dark, we heard the first whip-poor-will of the season. When Mary came outside to listen, we heard two calling. They're early in arriving. Now we need to be on the watch for chimney swifts.
    
    
• Tuesday, 4/11: We Freed the Strawberries!
  
  • The weather was beautiful, today. It was not too hot, just nice and warm.
    
  • I finished mowing the middle section of the far garden, then jumped over to the near garden after Mary cleared last year's dead garden plants and row marking sticks. Tall dead grass shattered to make the finest dust. I put two more wheelbarrow loads of grass mulch on each of the three new apple trees.
  • Mary spread compost on the two rows of the near garden.
    
  • Mary and I both moved tubs and buckets of strawberry plants into the near garden. Some plants were showing signs of dryness. We watered them well, then put old lace curtain panels over the strawberry plants to protect the young plants from sun scald.
    
  • We heard the sound of Henslow's sparrows for the first time this year.
  • In the evening, I finished looking up susceptibility of all of our apple trees to common fruit tree diseases.
    
    
• Wednesday, 4/12: New Fruit Sprays & Redbuds
  
  • Each morning, our cats enjoy the view out the north window (see photo, below).
    
  • After looking where to buy it, I ordered a 25-pound bag of Surround WP insecticide. This is a fine kaolin clay that when mixed with water and sprayed on fruit forms a barrier and causes irritation and confusion to feeding and egg-laying insects, thereby repelling them. It's not harmful to pollinators, which is a big plus. Some claim it even hides fruit from birds and squirrels, which I find hard to believe. I'm more interested in keeping bugs off without killing bees.
    
  • A 15-ounce bottle of Captan that I ordered earlier this week arrived in today's mail. This is the top fungicide for knocking out apple scab, cedar apple rust, sooty blotch and flyspeck on apples.
    
  • I took the dogs on a hike to Bobcat Deer Blind. From there, I spotted several Eastern redbud trees in the little valley north of the blind. There's even a little redbud about 10 feet uphill from the blind. When I told Mary, she wanted to see the trees, so I took a second hike with her. Besides blooming spring beauties, we saw bluebells (see photo, below). On a deer trail crossing the west field, we found a new blackberry patch. While walking home, a tree fell with a big crash to the south of us.
    
  • I mowed the middle of the north side of the far garden and finished mulching around the three new apple trees.
  • Mary turned soil and raked it even in the near garden.
  • We watered the strawberries, new sod, salad veggies in the tubs, herbs and the new blueberry plant. All of the strawberries look good, except for one that dried up.
    
  • While walking the dogs in the evening, a barred owl hooting to the east of us added extra syllables to its normal call, which made us laugh. Toads are signing after dark, now.
    

Mocha (left) & Gandalf (right) enjoying the view.

Bluebells in the southwest woods.

• Thursday, 4/13: Katie's Birthday
  • We enjoyed a nice, sunny day. A light southerly wind blew, then died at sunset.
  • I called Skinny Raven, a sporting goods store in Anchorage that Katie frequents, to line up a birthday gift certificate for her. The woman I talked to said a morning snow just finished falling in Anchorage.
  • I charted specific sprays to use on our 11 apple and two pear trees based on each variety's susceptibility to diseases.
    
  • Mary planted snow peas, lettuce, spinach, and radishes, today. She also turned over more soil in the near garden. Where sweet potatoes grew last year, the soil is nice and friable.
    
  • I mowed the rest of the north end of the far garden and put mulch on the two apple trees we planted last year. I also used rebar to stake up portions of the chicken wire trampled by deer this past winter.
    
  • Mary watered plants and performed the evening chores.
    
  • Around 6 p.m., the wind died, so I started spraying fruit trees, beginning with the McIntosh tree at 7 p.m. Due to specific needs, I had to alter tank mixes throughout the evening/night. Wind picked back up after I ate a couple sandwiches around 9 p.m., but I kept at it, since rain is predicted in a day or so and a 24-hour dry period is required. I finished at midnight. Critters that I noticed included eyes shining back at me from under the cedar trees in the east lawn (I suspect an opossum), a bunny in front of me when I walked to the Bartlett pear trees, a woodcock picking at mulch under the Empire apple tree that flew away when I climbed the ladder, and crashing noise through the brush (sounded like deer) when I climbed the ladder next to the large Bartlett pear.
    
    
• Friday, 4/14: A Quiet Gardening Day
  
  • While walking dogs first thing in the morning, we watched four deer run west from Bluegill Pond.
  • A strong southeast wind blew all day and overnight, taking out most of the pear blossoms.
    
  • Due to spraying trees late last night, I wasn't too active today.
  • Mary planted onions, shallots, and parsnips in the near garden. All of the early spring planting is finished.
  • She also removed the old lace curtain panels off the strawberries. Those plants look great.
  • I weeded the two tubs containing radishes and lettuce. They look great.
  • I walked dogs to Wood Duck Pond and back. I spotted a coyote trotting away from us in Rose Butt Field. It looked chunky and well fed. A deer bolted toward Bass Pond from the same area. On a fence between Rose Butt Field and Bass Pond is a blooming Chickasaw plum tree loaded with native bees.
    
  • On our last walk to Wood Duck, we spotted two Bradford pear trees in the area between Bass and Dove Ponds. I tied bright red surveyor's tape around their trunks, so we know which trees to remove, later. They require an herbicide application immediately after they're cut and a heavy movement of tree sap in spring negates the herbicide, so removing them is best during fall or early winter.
    
  • The bag of Surround arrived via UPS. I heard the rumble of a panel truck and made a quick check online to see that it was delivered, then walked a wheelbarrow down to the end of our lane to pick it up. UPS indicated the package was left at the front door. It was next to the cedar tree at the end of our lane, a quarter mile away from our house, but at least it was on our property. Later in the day, I poured the Surround kaolin clay powder into two cat litter buckets, labeled the buckets, and stored them under the shop bench in the machine shed.
  • Mary fixed a wonderful shrimp dinner that we enjoyed with a bottle of cherry wine (see photo, below).

  

  Shrimp, sauteed in garlic wine, plus cherry wine to drink.

• Saturday, 4/15: Hail & Wind
  
  • Hail hit us again. This time, it was pea and marble size hail from a thunderstorm that arrived from the southwest. It knocked petals and even branch tips off the Sargent crabapple tree. This storm interrupted our evening chores. Very strong nighttime wind gusts took more petals out of fruit trees.
  • I cleaned up and put away winemaking items in the west room while Mary swept throughout the house. I also vacuumed bugs, which we haven't done for several days.
  • Two of my Antonovka rootstock seeds are growing nicely, showing secondary leaves. The first seed that sprouted didn't shed its seed coating and died. I've learned to plant them deeper to help the small plant shed the seed husk upon emerging.
  • We watched the 2012 movie, Lincoln.