Fruit trees are sprouting new leaves

A couple of shots below. One for the "Victoria" plum tree I have in a tub and the second for the "Jonagold" apple tree that is in an old paint pot.

This is the "Victoria" plum tree (hose pipe and car cleaning brush in the background)

This is the "jonagold" apple tree, This is being trained as an espalier and is still in a 15litre ex paint bucket. I think this year I will upgrade to a larger bucket of some design

Both showing signs of plenty of growth. I have added some bone and blood meal tonight to feed them

The weather in Wakefield today has been pleasant but a little cool

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Winter duties

Happy New Year folks, first blog entry of 2011. Possibly one of few or many... time will tell.

Last few days I have tied up and pruned my apple tree "jonagold". It is still in the 15 litre ex paint bucket and doing well, I have put a new small piece of wood at the top and at the bottom and then tied in the branches, I also trimmed them back.

"Jonagold" is known for being a vigorous tree so it will need more trimming back during the year but hopefully the bucket size should constrain it to a large degree.

The mistake I made last year was leaving to many apples on that all eatable size but not as large as the apples could have been, so this year the apples were will be thinned out with more passion. I left around 20 on last year, this year there will be less left on

 

Last weekend I also planted up my garlic builds. I had them in the greenhouse and they were all starting to show green growth. These are the best of the ones I had grown myself last year.

 

This is a close up, its a beauty in my opinion.

The weather in Wakefield today is cold 5to10 degrees I estimate but fine.

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Spuds for dinner

This is a bit of a late post as I did this on Sunday....

Popped the bucket of spuds out, once the stalks had died off. There was 1.5kg of spuds washed.

Shortly later, they were peeled

Once cooked, they were on the plate

Here is home grown roasted parsnips and roasted beetroot from Dads garden. Roasted spuds and boiled spuds from the bucket. Frozen peas and beans. Smoked ham on the side. Gravy to be added shortly.


These are the new spuds put in for Christmas. This is the first time I have planted them for Christmas, so I am curious how they will fair. When frosts threaten, they will be put in an unheated greenhouse.

Apples look better than they are. They never got very large at all. I believe I left to many fruit on for a small tree to grow. Lesson learnt I hope. They taste good but still need a few more weeks to ripen fully.

Weather here in Wakefield, England today has been pleasant, brigth and quite warm. but nights are now quite cold. Last couple of evenings there has been heavy rain

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fruit salad

Havent posted for a while but here goes...

This is the Malus Jonagold apple tree. It is still in the 15litre ex paint pot and has 20plus apples on it and stands at no more than I guess 4 foot. I am very happy with it as long as the apples develop to full size, the soil is always moist and i have been feeding it bone, blood and fish meal

My grape vine is romping away (unknown variety), this is planted in an old flower bucket from a supermarket. It has 3 bunches on it that were nipped out earlier on in the year so there were not to many grapes in each bunch. I have also cleared away any foliage that covered the bunches so they get maximum exposure to sun. I am also growing two branches out. one on either side on to wires, which are hard to see here

2 bunches here

The raspberries have been doing very well this month. I have had loads of fruit from my bucket of rasps and the front garden, the plants are still yielding fruit

Happy gardening

Weather report - pleasant, sunny most of the day but not to hot ,Wakefield, England

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Fruit trees are fruiting

The fruit trees are growing very well indeed and all have fruit on. The Malus Jonagold apple tree has approx 20 apples on. There was more apples but I have took some off so not to over load the tree

The Victoria plum tree has lots of plums on, and I have thinned some out. As I want to discourage biennial fruiting (not a great shot)

The Dennistons superb although had lots of flowers on has only about 6 plums on. but what is on there, are looking good

Weather report - Really hot and Sunny all day ,Wakefield, England


Of note, checked the beehive tonight with a Pro who will remain nameless. Essentially there was no brood (baby bees), oh shit! So the pro took my hive/colony away and will requeen her for me. I should have the hive back in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed

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Mildew on the apple tree and gooseberry bush

Mildew has appeared on my gooseberry bush "red dessert" and my apple tree "Malus Jonagold"

There are only a few leaves affected by it is still present

Weather report - warm sunny, Wakefield, England

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The trees are showing more potential for bearing fruit

Below is a shot of the "malus jonagold" apple tree starting to show young fruit which has set. The little tree is covered in small apples. I will have to nip a lot off otherwise non will amount to much

The "Denistons Superb" plum tree is also showing fruit. Not a great shot as the sun is extremely bright but you get the idea. There are not as many plums as apples but enough.

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Flowers, buds and fruit

A quick snap shot of what is flower in the garden...


Apple -Malus Jonagold

Ajuga Reptans

Chard Flower

Chives

Grape Flower

Passiflora flower

Victoria Plums

Raspberry - Glen Ample flower

Sorrel Flower

Alpine Strawberry

I look in to the garden and do not see many flowesr, but on closer inspection they are there all around. Which is great.

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As one blossom dies another is just about to appear

The apple tree Malus Jonagold has just about spent all of its blossom

The gooseberries are plumping up lovely

and the strawberry patch is lush and has lots of bloom just beneat the leaves

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Blossoms of Fruit

 The fruit trees are all at various stages of blossom

This is  Dennistons Superb plum. The blossom is just about gone now

Victoria plum which is still well in bloom

and the Malus Jonagold apple is just starting to come out

My only concern with the Jonagold is that it is a triploid and needs another apple tree variety as a pollinator. My neighbours have apples tree so I should be ok. Although I am still nervous it will affect fruit set. Time will tell.

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"Denniston's Superb" in flower and "Victoria" in bud

The Denniston's Superb blossom

The "Victoria" plum in bud

The above top shot is Denniston's Superb plum in flower. It is coming along nicely. these are the first flowers to appear. I have also included another shot of my "victoria" plum tree as this also is now nicely in bud but appears to be at least a week behind Denniston's which should hopefully spread the harvest out a little later on in the year.

Below is a full picture shot of my apple tree "malus Jonagold" on it's frame, I hope to add another bar at the top this year and get a third line on the tree. Jo, I hope this makes my explanation more clear.


It has been a real hough getting this post on today as my computer is putting it mildly playing up!!! Fingers crossed tomorrow goes better

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The Apple Orchard - Malus Jonagold

My apple tree is bursting into life along with the rest of the garden. The variety is Malus Jonagold which is a variety developed in the US. This is its 4th year and was about 12inches high when first purchased. Last year it did not fruit but the previous year I got 4 apples. They were perfect in size, shape and taste. It is grown in a 15litre paint pot painted green. pruned to shape and has good support. There are lots of bud on it this year.

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