Doll's Orchards, LLC

Just a reminder that our business hours have changed somewhat for this season only.  We will open beginning September 4th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at the u-pik location.  There will be signs posted.  We hope to be able to remain open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, thereafter, but please remember these hours are tentative and dependent on the amount of produce we can make available to our customers.  WE HAVE A  LIMITED AMOUNT OF APPLES as we sell ONLY what we grow.  We do not contract buy from other sources and when you buy from our orchard, you buy what has been truly locally grown and harvested by us.  We do love to sell apples but we are dealing with circumstances beyond our control this season.

It most definitely is an understatement to say this year is presenting new challenges for all of us.  We’ve started picking the apples that survived the Mothers’ Day weekend freeze and normally by this time in the season, we are busy, busy, busy, but not this year.  We have picked the Blondees, Gala and Sansa and really not much coming in from the pickers’ efforts in the orchard.  Picking the ripening fruit is quite a challenge this season as most trees have a few apples here and a few there.  Too many to just leave hang and drop to the ground but not enough to justify setting the ladders just to pick one or two at each set.  The flavor of the fruit is good and overall we are satisfied with the appearance as well.

Numerous times we have been asked what we are doing with all our time since the harvest is so small.  Well, I’d like to say sitting on the back porch and watching the sunrises and sunsets but that’s not quite what is happening.  We are working to maintain control of the grasses, weeds, insects, fungus and bacteria.  All of these factors are not dependent on if the trees are producing fruit. They are a part of the natural order of life in the orchard.  While we spend countless hours in our control attempts we are fighting a somewhat loosing battle.  More rain than usual during this past month promoted growth of the weeds and grasses while high humidity created conditions conducive to fungus and bacteria.   So not too much time is spent on the back porch but quite a bit on the mowers, tractors and use of the weed-eaters.

The most difficult aspect of all these challenges this season is not being able to go to the local Farmers’ Markets and meet our customers, both old and new.  We feel that “grower transparency” is a vital link between the grower and the consumer at the local markets.  Again, we personally may not be able to participate this season, but we strongly encourage everyone to support the local grower.  Make the slogan, “Buy Locally,” more than just a slogan but a weekly household routine.

The apples that survived the Mothers’ Day weekend freeze are beginning to ripen and will be harvested in the next several weeks.  There are not many apples and picking will be a challenge but we hope to offer what produce we have to our customers beginning Labor Day weekend.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, namely a smaller harvest, we will be unable to maintain our usual business hours.  We needed to make a change in the hours, namely we will open only Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning on September 4th each day from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm.  All apples will be sold at the u-pik location.  The u-pik will be open for those who want to walk through the orchard but there will also be  apples  which we picked, washed and bagged, available for sale as well, in the sales building.  We will continue to open every weekend thereafter as long as we have produce available.    It’s a different year for us in terms of harvest and sales but we will endeavor to do the best we possibly can for our customers.

Cooler temperatures are needed to add the finishing touches to the Gala.  Cooler temperatures “color” the apples to their enhancing hues of deep pink and red.  Nothing tastes like a Gala and luckily we will have some of this variety available for sale.  This variety will probably be the first apples we pick this season.  The earlier apple varieties, Gingergold, Sansa and Zestar,  fell victims to the freeze.  Apples, in general, are later in development as most of the first bloom apples froze and the fruit on the trees are second bloom fruit which are about 10 days later, thus, our later date for opening.

Farmers’ Markets are active and the vendors have beautiful vegetables to offer to  consumers.  Our area market is robust with sweet corn, tomatoes, zuchini, squash and melons.  Visit your local market and support local growers.  It’s a win, win for everyone.  Remember, “we’re in this together.”

Heavy losses resulted from the late Spring freeze.  Many varieties were entirely wiped out and other varieties have been greatly reduced.  Harvest will be lean.  We are now working to develop a plan to harvest and market what is left.  Tough decisions and difficult times are ahead for the next few weeks.  Our goal, however, is to maintain the u-pik location and bring product to our local area Farmers’ Market.

Whatever the consequences of the late freeze, one is not the lack of weeds.  Hot temperatures with abundant sunlight and adequate rainfalls have made perfect growing conditions for many of the invasive weed species of this area.  Weedeaters are used on a daily basis as are the tractors and mowers.  It continues to be a discouraging ride through the orchards and not see much fruit, but we doing the best we can with taking care of what’s on the trees.

With a little more time available, odd and end jobs on the to-do lists are getting completed.  The “trademark” red apple that welcomed our visitors has been repaired and repainted.  It was a unique work of art designed by an artist who used chainsaws to carve it from a one hundred sixty-five year old tree stump of a massive pine tree that stood in the front yard.  Upon the tree’s demise, our idea was to keep a part of this landmark tree for nostalgia purposes.  We  were fortunate to make contact with a gentlemen who designed and carved the apple.  Over the years (fourteen) water seeped into the base and the apple and rotted both from the inside.   Many labor hours were involved to remove the rotted wood, fiberglass, epoxy and paint it. It was remounted this past weekend and again welcomes our visitors to the orchard business.  It stands as a perfect reminder that we are still a “growing business” and we will continue to strive every day to offer the best product we can to all our customers.

We’ve spent the last few weeks going up and down the rows in the orchards mowing, weed-eating and looking for apples on the trees.  We haven’t spotted much fruit thanks to the freezing temperatures during the night of May 8th.  Not many apples survived those freezing temperatures.  This is not isolated to our orchard only, as we’ve made contact with other area orchards and they have experienced the same damage.  In fact the entire state has had some type of freeze damage that has drastically reduced fruit crops.  Our area just has just been hit rather drastically.  As the season progresses we will be able to better determine what we have and what markets we can attend.  Still undetermined at this point, but one thing is sure and that is no peaches for this season.

Even though there is a reduced amount of fruit and thus a reduced harvest, our work does not stop.  We continue to maintain a program of grass mowing, weed control and management of the fruit trees. Diseases still raise their nasty heads and will attack the trees if not properly managed with fungicides and insecticides.  There are scab, fire blight, cedar apple rust, aphids, oriental fruit moths and codling moths, just to name a few.  Disease and insects don’t give us a break just because we have reduced fruit on the trees.  Life goes on for them and so we go on also, contending with what challenges are out there and working to keep things under control.

The new trees that were planted this spring have been growing and a welcome rain last night helped them considerably.  Watering trees with irrigation does not take the place of Mother Nature’s rains.  Irrigation is a good backup but nothing replaces the natural rains.

So far, 2020 has been a most challenging year for all of us, not many breaks at all for anyone, especially for those in the agricultural business.  Agriculture is always a challenge but more so this year contending with COVID-19 and its impact on the farming economy.  Remember, we are all in this together, so whenever you can, buy local and support the grower who regularly comes to the Farmers’ Markets.  These local growers depend on you.

As if the April freeze wasn’t enough with which to contend, the area was hit again with freezing temperatures on May 8th.  The freeze covered a region wide area and this time the apple trees didn’t fare so well.   Recorded temperatures in parts of the orchard were as low as 24 degrees.  Too cold for fruit trees that were in their most vulnerable stage of development, namely fruit set.  Over the next few weeks the damaged fruit will drop off and we will be able to make a better assessment of just what the actual damages are.  At this point, things do not look so good, but we have our fingers crossed and are hoping for the best.

Whatever the outcome of the freeze, work in the orchard needs to continue to be done.  It is necessary to maintain weed control,  keep the trees disease free and protect whatever fruit may have survived from insect infestation and fungus.  Weed eaters, sprayers, mowers and tractors are out and about, as well as the man power using this equipment.  The pandemic sweeping the area has kept all of us close to the orchard and we’ve “sheltered in place” making the daily trips to the orchard  a welcome diversion.

Farmers’ Markets have opened in our area as our state considers these markets as essential businesses.  Customers are supporting the markets, looking for fresh produce and the transparency that local growers contribute to the local food chain.  It is truly an advantage to know where your food products are grown and who is growing them.  Again, please support local growers whenever you can.  We are all “in this together.”

The bloom was beautiful.  Peaches and apples had prolific blossoms.  The outcome of an orchardist’s crop, however,  always hangs in the balance of one or two degrees on the thermometer.  This year the 14th and 15th of April brought freezing temperatures overnight; 26 degrees on Tuesday night, the 14th, and 25 degrees on Wednesday night, the 15th.  The peach crop was destroyed on Tuesday night and the apple crop was damaged on Wednesday night.  To what extent the freeze damaged the apples is still to be assessed.  Not all varieties were in full bloom so those trees look like some fruit survived but there is considerable damage to the trees that were in full bloom.  The “king blooms” in these blooming varieties were killed but we are hopeful that some of the “secondary blooms” escaped the cold.  Over the next week or so, we will be able to determine to what extent the losses are.

Since those two nights of freezing temperatures the weather has warmed up and the bees have been on pollination detail.  Bees are interesting creatures.  Watching their flight from the hives, the bees will not bother to “work” any trees in the orchard that has no live fruit bud.  We can almost ascertain by watching the bees what varieties have survived and what varieties are completely destroyed.  While the trees are still abloom with flowers, the embryos are dead and thus no pollen for the bees to collect.  The bees’ keen sense of smell keep them moving on to where there is pollen for them to collect and take back to the hive.

Somewhat discouraged by the freeze damage, we however did not let it keep us from replanting parts of the peach and apple orchards.  We  replaced trees in the peach orchard that died from last year’s wet spring and we added several new varieties to the apple orchard that our customers have been requesting.  Just have to keep moving forward and can’t let Mother Nature get the best of us.

The stages of growth progression in apple trees are consistent every year.  The timing and appearance of each stage may be different because of the weather conditions,  but once the trees come out of dormancy they display the same stages of growth progression every season.

The last post discussed the “silver tip” stage of development in the progression of the apple tree as it comes out of dormancy and prepares itself for the new fruit year.  Following “silver tip” is what is commonly known as “green tip.”  “Green tip” is basically self explanatory.  The buds are broken at the tip and about 1/16th of an inch of green tissue becomes visible.  The next stage is “half inch green” or “centimeter green.”  Again pretty simple to explain as the bud has about 1/2 inch of green tissue emerging.  Following “half inch green” is noted as “tight cluster.”  The blossom buds are mostly exposed in the “tight cluster” stage.  The buds are closely grouped (tight) together and have short stems.  Following “tight cluster” the trees are considered “pink.”  Sometimes this stage is also referred to as “open cluster.”  The fruit buds open into bloom and the clusters of blooms are pink in color.  The stems of the buds are lengthened.

“Full pink” or “open cluster” is when the King Bloom appears.   Usually there is a cluster of six buds.  Five of these buds are centered around a central blossom known as the King Blossom.  The King Bloom is the first to open and good fruit set is insured if this King Bloom is pollinated.  The fruit of this pollinated King Blossom is often larger than the others in the cluster.

When the apple trees are in the stage of the “King Bloom” the weather plays a vital role in the outcome of the fruit and thus, the future harvest.  Pollination of the blossoms is dependent on favorable conditions.  Bees need sunny days and warm temperatures to go about their work in pollinating.  Also the blooms are very susceptible to cold temperatures.  Frost and below freezing temperatures can heavily damage or destroy the blooms.  This week the prediction calls for frost and lower then freezing temperatures in our region.  Thus, we plan to keep a close watch on our thermometers.

It was with satisfaction and a great sense of accomplishment that last week we pulled the equipment from the orchard for the last time this pruning season and into the storage building.  The trees have all been individually pruned, the orchards mulched, raked and debris picked up.  While it took quite a bit of effort, we are now ready for another season.  To date the fruit bud looks good but as always, we need favorable Spring weather conditions when the trees actually bloom and the fruit is set.  So far, this winter has been mild and wet and the Spring long term forecasts look favorable, but a lot can happen as we move forward into the months of April and early May.

Apple trees progress in stages.  Overwinter the trees are in a “dormant” growth stage.  During this time the trees experience very little growth activity and this is when pruning is done.  As warmer temperatures occur and the days become longer,  the apple tree breaks dormancy and enter what is known as the “silver tip stage.”  It is during this “silver tip”  stage that the fruit bud scales separate at their tips and you notice a gray or silver tissue.  Currently, our trees are at “silver tip.”

Delivery of our new trees will be arriving in a few weeks.  We will be replacing trees lost through rodent damage, disease, breakage, drought and just plain age.  There is quite a bit of damage from deer in this area also.  It seems the deer like our orchard almost as much as we do.  We notice more deer damage to the peach trees than the apples, however.  We usually request our tree order to be delivered approximately the first week of April.  This gives us time to get the trees planted so they get a good “start” before the heat of the summer.  There is something therapeutic about planting trees for there is no better way to touch the future.  When asked what is the best time to plant a tree, “yesterday;” when is the second best time, “today.”

Most of our efforts in the orchard continue to concentrate on pruning the apple trees.  We are now about two-thirds finished.  It takes time to make an assessment of each tree and then prune accordingly.

In pruning it is likely that one of two types of cuts are made.  Cutting shoots and young branches with diameters of less than an inch is one type of cut.  This is a “thinning out” cut.  The second type is used to cut more substantial size wood.  It is a “heading back” cut.  Cuts on most small diameter wood can be made with hand clippers, limb loppers or a small hand saw.  Larger wood will need to be cut with a saw of some sort.

If you look closely where a branch grows out of the trunk, you will notice an area at the base of the branch that is somewhat thicker than the branch itself.  This area is the collar.  A basic point to remember in all pruning is that any cut should be as close to the collar as possible without cutting into it.  The collar contains a natural chemical barrier that stops decay and has cells that will grow scar tissue to heal the area where the branch is removed.  The scar tissue will heal more easily when it has a clean smooth surface to grow over.  This is the reason it is important to make clean, flush pruning cuts.  It is not good to leave stubs.  Good, clean, smooth cuts are easily made with good, sharp tools.  A person never goes wrong by spending a little more to acquire good pruning tools.  Look at it as an investment not only for care of fruit trees but other areas of landscaping as well.

So far, January has been unseasonably warm and pruning has progressed at a good pace.  Not near finished but a good start and on we go, moving forward through the orchards.

It is an understatement to say that fruit tree pruning is a tough job.  Probably, it is the least favorite of the all the work that we do in the orchard.  Tough job or not, it is vitally important.  The amount of pruning done to each tree is determined by the what happened the previous season.  Dry, drought like conditions of the previous summer and the amount of apples produced and harvested directly impact the amount of growth on the fruit trees.  Besides trimming the broken and dead branches, pruning is necessary to reduce the amount of “suckers” that each tree produces.  Wet summers and falls with few apples produce more “suckers” than in dry summers and heavy fruit crops.  Fruit trees need to be thinned out and not look like shrubs or bushes.

Pruning also provides some insight of what to expect in the coming year.  The short, sturdy fruiting spurs on the dormant limbs are where the flowers will open in the spring.   This is where the potential fruit crop for the coming year will develop.  It is important to take care and leave these “buds”unharmed.  We find fruit buds for the coming year look promising at this point.

Besides pruning, this time of year is good for meetings, conferences and training workshops.  We try to attend local conferences to network and get new ideas on marketing, production, food safety and good agricultural practices.  There is an abundance of information available and everyone can learn something new, interesting and truly beneficial by attendance at any of the programs sponsored by the local extension services, county agencies or farm organizations.  Our local Food and Growers’ Association will be sponsoring a workshop on February 1st and it is one of the many presentations that we make an effort to attend.  Master Gardeners’ Seminars are another example of hands-on learning.