Doll's Orchards, LLC

This past week we are having a short respite from the tedious chore of pruning apple trees. A major winter storm dumped ten inches of snow. Deep drifts from the gusty northeastern winds along with single digit temperatures have kept us indoors most of this week. Pruning equipment doesn’t perform well in these weather conditions and neither do we.

We approach pruning as the start of another season. Pruning is the first step in getting a marketable product for our fresh markets. Pruning is a skill acquired through years of experience. It is practically impossible to become a good pruner merely by studying illustrations in a book. Good tools in first-class condition are very important for effective results in pruning fruit trees. We use pneumatic pruners. Using pneumatic pruners gives our workers the ability to do a high quality job with less effort than manual saws and loppers.

The best time to start pruning apple trees will depend upon the size of the job and the amount of the available labor. Most of the tree pruning is done during the dormant season when the trees have dropped their leaves. There are several reasons for this: the branches are easily visible, other orchard operations are less pressing, less danger of pulling bark away from the pruning cut and causing wounds. We try to get a jump start on pruning because of the possible severity of the winter season such as what we’re experiencing now. We started our pruning in early December as soon as our trees were dormant. Our mature trees in the older orchard are pruned first. The young trees, particularly the ones in the u-pik orchard, are pruned last. Young trees are more tender and susceptible to freezing injury when temperatures dip in early and mid winter.

Pruning is essential for producing quality fruit. The principle behind pruning is to open up the tree by removing any sprouts and unproductive branches. Opening up the trees allows them to admit more light, allows the sprays to penetrate the foliage providing better coverage of the fruit, thus protecting it from fungus and insects.

There is probably not a single pruning method that is always perfect. No one is an expert pruner as there is always room for improvement and always something new to learn. The best teacher is first hand experience in an orchard. According to the long range weather forecasts, looks as if we may be getting some more of that “orchard experience” next week.

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Dropping temperatures, snow showers and cold northerly winds have ushered in Old Man Winter. The apple and peach trees have dropped their leaves which signals the trees have entered dormancy. Dormancy is period of rest that fruit trees enter to protect themselves from the cold temperatures and allows the trees to survive the winter. Dormancy is essential for the health and development of fruit trees. It protects the tree’s susceptible organs, like bud meristems (growth structure for the new crop cycle), from temperature injuries.

Fruit trees go through three physiological stages of dormancy: acclimation, endo-and eco-dormancy and deacclimation. For those of us who are not biologists or horticulturalists, it is better to try to keep things simple and not get too technical.

Acclimation is the period of time when the tree stops growing and gets ready for freezing temperatures. This happens after the fruit has ripened and has been harvested. As the days grow shorter there is a gradual period of cooling before the first hard freeze. Full acclimation is usually reached in late October and early November.

Once fruit trees reach full dormancy, they enter the next stage of physiological dormancy which is endo-dormancy or a period of chilling hours accumulation. Chilling temperatures are not freezing temperatures but temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees. Once the amount of chilling temperatures is satisfied, the fruit trees go into the eco-dormancy period. This is the time when the tree is just waiting for warmer temperatures to stimulate spring growth.

As temperatures get warmer and reach above 40 degrees the trees start to wake up and break out of dormancy. This is deacclimation. The flowering buds can tolerate some frost and light freezing at this time but when the flowers are fully open frost and freezing temperatures are not welcome.

As orchardists, dormancy is important to us as this is the time when we pull out the pruning equipment and get started with the annual process of maintaining our trees. When pruning, our objectives are to regulate tree growth, increase yields, improve fruit size and quality and maintain plant health and vigor.

As one season ends and another begins, we again want to thank all those who supported our “growing business.” Wishing everyone the best during the upcoming holidays.

It’s been a blur these past four months. Here it is the middle of November and finally getting back to adding updates. We’ve had a whirlwind of a fruit season, picking fruit every day from the 4th of July until the 26th of October, first, peaches and then following up with apples. It’s definitely been a great harvest season with ample rains and favorable weather conditions for picking and marketing.

There’s now a little “down time” before we begin our annual pruning. During this period, our off season, we repair and store crates, inventory our supplies, maintenance pruning equipment and perform the myriad of other chores that were put on our “back burner” while harvest was underway.

We are also involved in planning next Spring’s planting. All trees have a natural life span and we’re removing some trees that have reached “old age.” We will be planting newer varieties that are in more demand by our customers but we’ll still keep and nurture our heirlooms. Planting trees is the best way to touch the future and keep our business “growing.”

Every harvest season, there are apple varieties that really “strut their stuff.” This was the case this year for our Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Crimson Crisp and Fuji apples. Customers’ comments were very favorable. Guessing that our weather conditions were just what those particular varieties needed as Mother Nature gives the flavor, we just are caretakers. Of the peach varieties, the Canadian Harmony peach was the ribbon winner for flavor.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we want to thank all our customers, both old and new, that have shown such support to our local business. As we always say, we don’t profess to be perfect and do everything right, BUT there’s not one day we don’t go out and try our best.

Happy Thanksgiving, keep eating those apples!

Everything here at the orchard seems to be off to a great start of fruit development. The blackberries had a heavy bloom and with continued rainfall, there will be an abundant crop of berries. Peaches are in the stage of “cell growth” now and some varieties are starting to color. Although the squirrels have begun their picking of the peaches, our picking won’t begin for about two or three weeks. Apples continue their “cell growth” as well and production looks rather good. Gingergold apples will be the first variety that we’ll offer to our customers, probably the first week of August.

Fire Blight had reared it’s ugly head earlier this season but with the continued heat and dry weather conditions, it seems to have been halted and brought under control. Fire blight is a very destructive disease caused by bacterium that is carried by rain, bees, aphids or other insects. Once the tree is infected with fire blight the branches, especially the growing tips, begin to blacken as if scorched by a fire. Thus the name, fire blight.

It is a season long battle with insect pests in an orchard. We have noticed some aphids in the apple trees. Aphids affect the leaves and first appear at green bud. Aphids can stunt the leaves of the trees and leave messy secretions on the twigs. Aphids multiply fast. There can be twelve (12) generations per year, producing 50 babies each and so if left undisturbed, aphids can be a monumental challenge to the grower. “Nipping them in the bud” is the best way to control an infestation. There are numerous species of aphids such as Rosy, Wooly and Green Apple.

Weed control remains on our list of “to-dos” as does mowing the orchards on a weekly basis. When rainfall is minimal, the less competition there is in the orchard for water, the better it is for the trees and the fruit.

It’s been somewhat hot and dry these past few weeks but maybe with the good shower of rainfall last evening, this dry weather pattern will be broken. We are at the stage of fruit development that rainfall is necessary for good production.

As we celebrate the 4th of July, enjoy being with your friends and family, never forgetting how great it is to be able to celebrate our freedoms.

According to German folklore there is always a danger of frost until the “Iceman Days” have passed. The “Iceman Days” are May 11th, 12th and 13th and even though the temperatures did become somewhat cooler during those three days we were spared any real cold temperatures. Now as we wrap up the last days of this month of May, we’re feeling good about the orchard overall. The temperatures are warm and steady and rainfall has been adequate. Our main concern at this point is serious wind storms and hail of which we need neither. Hail is the orchardists” nemesis.

Condition of the apples look good at this point. The warm spring with early bloom and no weather set backs from Mother Nature will make harvest at least ten days earlier than normal. The fruit is still in “cell division.”

Apple fruits grow first by cell division and cell division begins during fruit set (bloom) and lasts for approximately 35-45 days after pollination. This is a critical time for the growth of the apples. The size of an apple is determined by its cell make up. The number of cells, the size of each cell and the air space between the cells are factors that determine fruit size. An average size apple has approximately 50 million cells. Warm sunny weather in early spring help to increase fruit size by providing conditions that increase the cell size of the fruit. Cell size is affected not only by mild temperatures but also proper pruning which allows good penetration of sunlight. The genetics of the cultivar also plays a major role in its size. A crab apple will always be small and a Honeycrisp or Mutsu will be larger. A grower can’t change the genetics of the cultivar. It is what it is.

For those who wonder about the availability of peaches this season, the answer is yes, there will be peaches. The peaches are not in the baskets yet, but so far so good. Quite a few challenges to overcome before the fruit can be harvested but basically, things look promising in the peach orchard.

Sunlight + Moisture + Warm Temperatures = WEEDS. No escaping it, weeds are prolific and we have our share of weeds with which to contend. Thanks to a new weed eater as a birthday gift, we’ll be out tomorrow tackling weeds, grasses and invasive vines with lots of gusto as we limit the use of herbicides in the orchards. The season is underway.

There is nothing more beautiful than an apple orchard in full bloom. Our orchard did not disappoint this year as it was outstandingly beautiful with the vibrancy of the blossoms, a blue sky as its backdrop and brilliant sunshine. Full bloom was on the 17th of April, which was about ten days earlier than in past years. Earlier bloom results in an earlier harvest. However, an early bloom also creates the possibility of crop loss due to cold temperatures. Our overnight low was 31 degrees last night and that’s not exactly what we like to see at this point.

Apples are pollinated during their bloom period by bees and other insects. These insects transfer pollen from the flowers of one apple tree to those of another. This is known as cross pollination. We have a local apiary that brings hives of bees into our orchards strictly for pollination purposes. When the pollination period is over, the bees are removed to prevent any damage to their hives by the use of chemicals and equipment in the orchard.

The trees have now gone through “petal fall.” Petal fall or petal drop is when petals fall off the flowers of the apple trees. At this stage, apples are starting to develop. This is a critical time for disease control of the developing fruit. The trees are generating new leaves which are highly susceptible to disease and the fruitlets are also susceptible to infection from fungi that cause scab, rust, moldy core, blossom rot and powdery mildew. At this time fire blight infection remains a constant threat as well. A grower needs to be on constant alert during this time frame and have management strategies in place. Controlling diseases during bloom through petal fall is critical to prevent serious damage to the developing fruit.

We’ve planted new trees in the orchards these past few weeks. Some were replacements for the trees destroyed by the straight line winds of last summer. Others were new varieties that we wanted to be able to offer to our customers. These trees were all dwarf root stock so with a little luck the trees should be producing fruit in about 2 to 3 years.

We can attempt to control insects and diseases that cause damage to the fruit as it develops but we can’t do much about what Mother Nature throws at us. We can only keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best as another season is underway!

It’s been a long pruning season but finally after hundreds of labor hours spent pruning the fruit trees, we have been able to put the equipment away for another year. With limited fruit production last year, the trees put their energies into limb and branch growth. We had to spend extra hours pruning this year to get the trees back into shape for this season’s production. Extra pruning created extra brush and we are now in the final stages of orchard clean up. The brush and smaller prunings were mulched twice, debris was raked from under the trees, mulched again and now we’re picking up what was missed by the flail mulcher or too large for the mulcher to grind,

After the orchards are cleared of brush and cuttings, we begin applying pre-emergence herbicides for early weed control under the trees. If pre-emergence herbicides are properly applied, there is a major reduction in weeds, grasses and vines under the trees. Some species of vines are becoming quite invasive and the earlier these vines can be controlled in their growth patterns, the better the outcome.

The first chemical application of the season is dormant oil. The name itself identifies what type of spray it is and the timing of its application. The timing of this chemical is when the trees are dormant and not running sap, prior to bud swell but after pruning is completed. This product is oil based, typically petroleum, containing surfactants that enable the oil to be mixed with water. Mixing the oil with water enables it to more adequately provide a complete coverage of the plant’s leaf and limb surfaces. After dormant oil is applied the trees look oily for a few days. After several rains, however, the “oily” look disappears.

Fruit trees harbor pests and these pests “overwinter.” Dormant oil is used to provide effective control of insects such as aphids, mealybugs, thrips, whiteflies, caterpillar eggs, leafhoppers, scale and mites. Application of dormant oil eliminates most of the pest population by suffocating insects and their eggs which are nesting in the branches and also interferes with insect feeding. The spray if properly applied covers and penetrates the surfaces of the insects’ outer shells and thus suffocates it by not allowing oxygen to get through.

The actual date of the dormant oil’s application changes every year but the conditions for its application are always the same. Apply when daily temps are between 40 degrees and 70 degrees and temperatures need to stay in this range for at least 24 hours as emulsifiers aren’t effective in low temperatures and coverage becomes uneven. Apply during a period when no rain or high winds are predicted. Trees should be dry.

Dormant oils do not leave a toxic residue and dissipate quickly making them a good and safe product. For fruit trees, the application of dormant oil is one of the most important sprays of the season. The product can be purchased from nursery stores and horticultural centers. As with all chemical products ALWAYS read and follow the label directions. The product’s label is provided so you, as the consumer, can get maximum benefit from its use.

The brief glimmer of sunshine on February 2nd, Ground Hog’s Day, wasn’t quite enough for Punxsutawney Phil to see his shadow. So, according to folk lore, we’re supposed to have an early Spring. No one living in Indiana would have any complaints about the arrival of an early Spring.

Customers have repeatedly asked about the prospects of a peach crop this year. We’re keeping our fingers crossed but so far, so good for peaches. We’ve had mild daytime temperatures but the night time temperatures have fallen back into the twenties. This is good as cold overnights keep the ground temperatures cold. When ground temperatures remain cold, the trees stay dormant. The longer the trees stay dormant, the better the chances of a peach harvest.

We’ve been taking advantage of the somewhat mild temperatures of these past several weeks and have continued to prune the apple trees. It is baffling to some individuals to watch our progress and discover that we still prune each tree individually. Hand pruning is a labor intensive job. There’s just nothing else to say about the process. Our older, more established orchard, takes the majority of our efforts as the trees are larger in size and more difficult to thin out and reach the tops.

The U-Pik location has been planted with dwarf varieties of apple trees. Smaller trees do not demand such an all out physical effort to prune. We do plan to plant more dwarf size trees as we replace parts of the old orchard in the future. With labor costs, chemical costs and fertilizer costs on the rise, it is just a matter of good economics to replace larger size trees with dwarf root stock.

It’s been cold and we’ve put in hundreds of labor hours so far, but pruning is absolutely necessary for good apple production. We’ve been told our method of pruning is outdated and we should perhaps look into “hedging” our trees. Hand pruning is what we do, though, and guess we will continue doing it for as long as we can. Despite the difficultly of the job and the number of labor hours involved to get it done, there’s really nothing more satisfying than looking up at a perfectly clear, blue sky, feel the warm sunshine on your back and knowing you’re a part of something pretty awesome.

It’s been a good break in routine but the holidays are now over and it’s that time of year to get back into the orchard and start the annual pruning. If there is one particular question that we are often asked, it usually is concerned with the pruning process. Other than a few basics, it is difficult to advise how to prune a tree without seeing it, as all trees are different and need individual assessment.

Pruning shouldn’t be thought of as a deep, dark mystery and no one should be fearful about pruning fruit trees. After learning basic principles and a step by step process to follow the end results will be “fruitful.” It is good to keep in mind that light pruning will not harm your fruit tree but a tree that is neglected will over time become a poorly shaped tree with too much overgrowth and will not produce a good fruit.

Pruning is most commonly done during the winter. This is the time of season that we pull out the pruning equipment and set it up in the orchards to begin. We still prune by hand, meaning we assess each tree and use pneumatic hand pruners to remove excess growth, broken limbs and unwanted branches. Our purpose is to shape the tree properly, allow sunlight, air and chemical applications to reach the fruit. We try to “open up” the tree. Fruit trees can not be shaped like a shrub for if it is, fruit production will suffer.

There are three systems of pruning, the central leader system, the modified central leader system and the open center system. We use the central leader system in our orchard. When we plant our new trees is the time we actually initiate this system. We maintain one “leader” to provide good balance and form. This system provides one main “leader” which becomes the largest, and strongest part of the tree from the trunk to the tip of the tree. The horizontal branches coming out from the trunk are left to grow and these become the branches on which the fruit grows. Sometimes these horizontal branches are referred to as “scaffolding” branches

We prune in the winter months because the trees become dormant. Trees store carbohydrates and other nutrients in their wood and root systems during the winter. With the arrival of warmer temperatures in spring, the carbohydrates become activated and they move to the growing points of the trees. When trees have been pruned in winter, excess growing points have been removed. So with less buds on the tree, there is more stored energy available to the remaining buds. Winter pruning, consequently, promotes more vigorous tree growth and fruit production.

Well, another harvest season has come and gone. The twelve and fifteen hour days of picking, washing and sorting fruit, selling product, loading trucks for markets have now ended. We now will enjoy a little respite before the pruning season begins. Quite nice to take a break from the fast paced life of apple harvest.

We were quite happy with the support and the feedback from our customers in regards to the U-Pik location. Our overall goal was to have families enjoy the orchard setting and for children to have hands-on experience in seeing the development and harvest of apples. There is far more to supplying food than just going to the grocery store and filling the grocery cart. We wanted the U-Pik to be a source for this learning and create an awareness of the complexities of agriculture.

Overall a we experienced a good harvest season. Although we had challenges from Mother Nature in terms of weather during the summer, she compensated with excellent weather for apple picking. The freezing temperatures of late April and the straight line winds and hail in July created more damage to the apples than we had first thought. We had considerable freeze damage to the Gala, Blondie, Gingergold, McIntosh, Mutsu, Jonagold and Red Delicious. We had limited quantities of these customer favorites. As we continued to pick, hail damage was evident in almost all of the other apple varieties. Pea size hail does no favors to an apple orchard.

The past week was spent bringing in the ladders from the orchard, storing crates, winterizing the equipment and finishing sales. Next on our “to-do” list is to repair the crates damaged during picking, fertilize the orchard and then to get the equipment ready for pruning which will begin as cold temperatures set in and the trees go into dormancy.

If there is any need to make contact with us during the harvest season or in the “down” time, please find us on Facebook under Doll’s Orchards and direct your questions and concerns there. We will make every effort to respond. Sorry to say, we don’t respond so well from this post.