Doll's Orchards, LLC

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.

While we have begun the Christmas countdown, we also have started plans to begin pruning.   Most people would think our season begins with bloom and harvest, but we actually feel that the start of our new seasonal year begins when we begin pruning. It is necessary that the trees be dormant to begin this process.  Typically the winter months, anywhere from November to March are a suitable time.  Trees should have shed their leaves, active shoot growth should be finished and green tissue should be hardened.  Since pruning stimulates growth, the tree will be prompted to grow again if the tree is not in dormancy and tissue will be susceptible to damage by the cold weather.

Our trees are in dormancy now, but plans were put on hold for the first part of this week due to snow, ice and below freezing temperatures.  It is not recommended to prune branches with ice or snow build up.  The milder weather we are now experiencing, however,  has given us an opportunity to get the equipment out and allowed us to move forward.

Probably the most frequently asked questions by our customers are those that involve pruning fruit trees.  In horticulture the one area that seems to bring the most anxiousness for the backyard orchardist is pruning.  However, once the grower understands the basic principles of pruning, he/she will experience favorable results.  The goal to pruning a fruit tree is to maintain an established shape and height while allowing enough sunlight into the interior of the tree.  There are also times when it is necessary to remove broken or diseased branches and open up the tree to access the interior canopy so all the fruit can be picked.

Pruning does not require a degree in horticulture but it is necessary to learn the basic principles to have successful results.  That information can be obtained from literature distributed by a grower’s county extension service, publications from the land grant universities’ horticultural departments, landscaping companies.  A book that we found particular informative for the backyard grower is “The BackYard Orchardist” by Stella Otto.  This publication has great information and written in laymen’s terms; not only informative but an interesting read.

Season Greetings to All!

The great holiday of Thanksgiving is now history and onward we go to the Christmas season.  Not really too much going on here at the orchard.  It is a lull time for us; very much needed to say the least.  Although a slower pace, we have still been busy with putting away the ladders, picking bags, crates and doing general after harvest cleanup.

We will be attending the first trade show of the season and that is the Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Exposition in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It is held at the DeVos Center and has hundreds of exhibitors.  Along with the latest and greatest in equipment and products, there are seminars hosted by the University of Michigan.  The seminars deal with problems in the orchards such as fungus, insects and diseases that affect the trees and root systems.

It is always a very interesting and informative three days for us in Michigan.  We say we go to this show to learn how to grow apples.  That comment usually brings a chuckle but in fact that is exactly what we do.  We make an effort to attend so we learn new techniques that allow us to make our product better for our customers.  Never too old to learn new things.

Wishing all a happy holiday season.  Best wishes to all.

An old adage says, “all good things must come to an end.”  We will miss seeing our customers, both old and new, at the markets and at our orchard locations but the CLOSED sign was put up this past Monday.  Thank you to all for making this season a successful one for us.  Hope to see all of you again next season.