First Fruits

Even though we got a late start this year on our planting, and even though I have been spending my time being a tradesman instead of a horticulturalist, we are still beginning to reap the fruits of our labors, at least in our spread out, makeshift orchard.

Blueberries

The property came with a large, well-established Tifblue bush, which is a mid-season variety that produces a lot of fruit. We added three more bushes over Winter, all Powderblue, another mid-season variety that is supposed to be slightly more disease resistant than Tifblue. Well, our new bushes have already given what fruit they will this year, which is not much given their small size, but it was a handful sufficient for making muffins. The Tifblue bush should come in in the next few weeks, and it will provide a nice harvest – enough for fresh eating, jam and maybe a pie or two.

Strawberries

We didn’t put in strawberries this year, having to make some hard decisions about what to plant and what to leave for later, but after a couple of trips to local you-pick strawberry farms, we are convinced that next year we certainly will be putting some in.

Figs

Our fig trees, three of them, are absolutely loaded with fruit. Yesterday we found our first ripe fig, which was a bit of a shock, since they are not supposed to come in until July. One of the trees set fruit really early though, in late March I believe, so we may be looking at an early harvest, which would be just fine with me.

Peaches

May Gold peaches are in, and though I don’t have any in my orchard this year (like strawberries they are on the list for next years planting) I am really happy to be back in the part of the world where peaches come in in May (or can grow at all, as far as that goes).

Cane Berries

Our blackberry and raspberry continue to make progress, with some small signs that some of them will set fruit this year, though I doubt it will be more than one or two berries per cane. Not until next year will they actually start to produce, but it is always nice to see them moving along, headed in the right direction.