One Year Later

Here is a photo one year later - to the day - of the quince tree in the backyard. Compared to the picture in the post below, there are no leaves or flowers. The tree is still mostly dormant with only the earliest signs of spring activity. Contrast that to one year ago, when an incredibly odd, incredibly early, warm spring led this tree to being leafed out and flowering. To top it off, it snowed today.

Back Home in Kansas

After five weeks in Oregon, I'm back home in Kansas. I had heard the weather reports, but I didn't believe it would be this warm this early in the spring. The quince tree in the backyard is beginning to bloom. Wow! All across the eastern U.S. I hear that trees are leafing out a full three weeks ahead of average. By 'degree days' - a more accurate measurement used by orchardists to determine spray times - we are a full month ahead of schedule. Unbelievable!

Orders Ready to Ship

Nick is shown here with our first round of customer order scion wood. It is alphabetized to make sorting into the customer orders easier - though it is still a time consuming task. And this is only to fill the first wave of orders. By the end of the season we will have gathered, cut to size, labeled, and sorted well over 2000 individual scion sticks.

Locating Trees

Before going to the orchard, Nick locates trees on the customer orders with the trees' positions in the orchard. By combining orders it allows us to make fewer passes through the orchard. By far, the largest order of the season goes to Rick Godsil of Wagon Wheel Orchard in Gardner Kansas. He ordered well over 250 varieties.

Scion Collection

Rootstock Fields

Went to Treco with Nick Botner and Larry Radke to pick up this years order of rootstocks. What is seen here are the rootstock fields after harvest. The lighter brown material is sawdust. It is mounded up over a row of apple 'stumps'. In the spring, apple shoots will grow up from the stump. Because they grow threw the sawdust, the shoots root at the base. In late winter, the sawdust is removed from the rows of apple shoots. The shoots (with roots) are cut off making a stump once again. Over these apple stumps is mounded the sawdust and the process continues again. The rootstocks are important because this is what scion wood is grafted onto.

Oregon Flight

Flew to Oregon on Wednesday, 2/15. During the flight I was able to capture a picture of some of the magnificent mountains of our western states.