North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kevin poland" <kvpoland@midmaine.com>]

you should have tried farming on the coast of maine this summer- no real
rain since early june-
1/2 acre lettuces/greens dried up
after having salable broccoli by june 15, watching 1/2 acres of 2nd and 3rd
crop shrivel and dry up
1/4 acre of cabbages refusing to form heads
apples dropping off trees
2 + acres blue berries turning into raisens
not being able to replant 3rd and 4th crops of beans
planting oats for cover crops and watching as they don't grow and the wild
turkeys feast
good year for drying firewood though
----- Original Message -----
From: Christopher Mauchline <mauch1@aol.com>
To: <nafex@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 3:19 PM
Subject: [nafex] The summer of my discontent (some things off topic)


> Since it's almost the end of summer I'm going to express frustration
> with gardening in general and fruit growing in particular.  Years ago
> I worked for a company that had internal chat groups, one of which
> was called net.whine.  This would have belonged there.
>
> First the things that were good about this year:
> Got a nice first crop from 1/2 of my blueberries.
> Did get enough raspberries and blackberries to enjoy.
> My just now 2 year-old boys loved the "bewies" and "betties" as well
> as helping pick the cherry "maties" (tomatoes).
> The birth of my youngest son this May.
> Many of the plants that my father accidentally sprayed w/ Roundup
> seem that they may survive.
> Did manage to get one apricot.
>
> The whine (not necessarily in chronological or frustration order):
> 1) The spraying of blackberries, honeyberry, and redbud tree with the
> forementioned Roundup
> 2) My attempt to graft Northern Spy failed yet again. (Does anybody
> else out there have a similar problem grafting one variety where
> others work well for them?
> 3) Previously, I had grafted PawPaw with 100% success.  This year I
> had only 3/7 takes (two strong and one weak take). The takes were
> broken off (although the weak take may have expired before being
> broken off), so I ended up being 0 for 7.  My source for most of my
> wood is elderly, so I may not be able to get scion wood when my
> rootstock is ready for grafting again.  Plus I believe one of my 4
> rootstocks (that I had raised from seed) did not survive the grafting
> process.
> 4) Kaki Persimmon grafting was a bust (0 for 4 attempts).
> 5) Cherry trees planted out were first stripped (including small
> branches) by deer.  Then the insects destroyed the leaves that came
> out.  The 3 trees are still alive, but I have concerns about their
> winter survival.
> 6) Stanley plum that I had transplanted from my old place 2 years
> ago, flowered, started to fruit, and then died.
> 7) The deer are keeping my Razor Russet from regrowing
> 8) Even though I got it well mulched, it looks like I again lost the
> nursery bed to weeds.
> 9) 6 ft weeds in the front gardens.
> 10) 4 birds killed by netting on blueberries.
> 11) Stewartia that I paid a significant price for has lost all but
> its outermost leaves.
> 12) Yet again did not get the kiwis transplanted out.
>
>
> There's probably more, but that's an even dozen.
>
> Chris Mauchline
> SE PA, zone 6
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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