Thursday 2 May 2013

A Fruitful Year

The blossom on my cherry tree is just starting to open. I'm hoping that I manage a better year than I did last year, I didn't get one cherry. The tree's five years old now, so it should really be giving me a decent crop. Last year, I added to my fruit trees and bushes with two apple trees - Gloster and Golden Delicious, a plum tree - Czar, a gooseberry - Uva-Crispa Pax and a tayberry. It will be nice to harvest my own fruit as well as my own veggies.

I've got a bird feeder which attaches to my window with suction pads. It's not a favourite of the birds, but I do occasionally have a taker. This morning, a coal tit was eating from it, other times I've had great tits, blue tits and robins. It's a great photo opportunity when the birds are literally right there on the other side of the glass, but I daren't reach for my camera for fear of frightening them off. I must think of a way round it.

The May Day bank holiday weekend is approaching, and as I've got lots of jobs which need doing, I'm hoping that the gorgeous weather we've got today continues. The sun is shining, the breeze has dropped so it's really quite warm, and the birds are chirruping away. There's sowing, pricking out and potting on to do, so even if the weather isn't so good, there's plenty of things I can be getting on with. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

40 comments:

  1. My fruit trees & bushes are starting to blossom nicely now. I too am hoping for a great crop this year. So much to look forward to now.

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    1. I hope we all get good harvests this year, we deserve it after last year.

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  2. Sounds like you've been very patient waiting for fruit, Jo and let's hope this is the year for a bumper crop! It must be very frustrating to see a great photo in the making and not be able to capture it! It makes me very appreciative of the work that wildlife photographers do.

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    1. It would be nice to have a good growing year. Wildlife photographers must have the patience of saints, they're well rewarded for that patience when they get their fabulous shots.

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  3. I think the rain last year affected cherry tree pollination. It timed itself with the blossom opening and then you have much fewer pollinators in the air. I got lots of blossom and then all the fruitlets dropped off having not been fertilised. My cherry tree is looking like its going to sink under the weight of blossom this year - I only hope that the fruit will be as plentiful!

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    1. I think you're right, my fruitlets did the same thing. Let's hope that conditions are just right this year, I love cherries but they're so expensive in the shops.

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  4. Our cherry is flowering too and like you I am hoping for a better harvest than the zero cherries of last year.

    Bet the birds mess up that window - we had a woodpecker drinking from the bird bath yesterday but like you we daren't move to take its photo.

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    1. I think the sunshine over the last few days is helping everything along now. How lovely to have a woodpecker visiting. I often hear them in the woods when I'm walking Archie but I've never seen one in the garden.

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  5. Have you got a tripod Jo? Or could you put the camera on top of a table and/or pile of books? We got similar shots by standing away from the window and using a long cable attached to the camera.
    http://www.rustyduck.net/2013/03/02/bird-brain/

    I hope you have a great weekend too.

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    1. I don't have a tripod and there's nowhere to stand a camera really, not where the feeder is situated. Perhaps I should think about resiting it.

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  6. Yes, let's hope this warm weather stays and we can have a good old garden. Cherry blossom is so pretty.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. I love cherry blossom. There's some trees nearby which put on a great show, they look great en masse.

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  7. Beautiful cherry blossom, so glad some good waether has found you !

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    1. I love cherry blossom, it's just so pretty. I'm hoping that the nice weather will stay, I've got lots of outside jobs which need doing.

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  8. I hope you get a great harvest this year. I will water our new cherry tree and look forward to a first harvest one day. Enjoy the weekend and don't forget the sun cream!

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    1. I got one cherry from my tree in it's first year, three in it's second year and a great harvest in it's third, so not long to wait really. It would be lovely if we needed sun cream this weekend, but it's a little overcast at the moment.

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  9. AnonymousMay 03, 2013

    I'm hoping we get more than 6 fruits from our apple this year. the blossom has opened yet, like everything it's late. Oh I hope you get some cherries this time 5 years is a long time to wait. ;) We're a patient lot us gardeners. Still at least the blossom is so stunning. Have a great weekend Jo. Hope the sun shines for you. WW x

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    1. I'm not holding out much hope of getting any fruit from my apple trees this year as I only got them last year. I had a good harvest from the cherry tree two years ago, but didn't get one fruit from it last year, I'm putting it down to the weather.

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  10. AnonymousMay 03, 2013

    My plot neighbour Joe has a cherry tree that did poorly last year.
    Lucky you seeing a coal tit.
    Enjoy the weekend whatever you do. Flighty xx

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    1. I've heard that many people did poorly with their cherry harvest last year. Coal tits are regular visitors now along with the blue tits. Great tits aren't quite so common but we do still see them. Thank you, I hope you have a good weekend too.

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  11. Fingers crossed you get a good harvest of cherries this year. Hope the weather stays good for you for the weekend and you can get lots of your jobs done.

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    1. Cherries are so expensive in the shops so I really hope I get a decent harvest. The forecast looks good for the weekend, I hope it's right.

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  12. The blossom does seem prolific this year thanks to the late season, Hopefully that means a good fruit harvest later in the year. Something to look forward to :)

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    1. I hope we all get great harvests this year, it would make up for the poor year we had last year.

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  13. Now this is something where you are ahead of me this time! I have some flowers opening on my pear tree, but they are far from full-blown yet. Last year was a bad year for fruit generally. I had no pears at all and only a couple of apples. This year MUST be better, surely? Let's hope the weekend weather lives up to what has been promised!

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    1. I think the cold start to the year has probably helped our fruit trees. Last year, they bloomed so early after the warm days we had in March, only for the blossom to then get caught out with the frosts. That shouldn't happen this year, so I'm hoping that everything will go on to produce well.

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  14. Hope that those beautiful blossoms morph into a crop of juicy cherries this year Jo. I'm all for waiting but five years would be testing my patience severely :) Hope that you and your family enjoy the long weekend.

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    1. I got a decent crop of cherries the year before last, so I'm hoping that it will be the same again this year. The birds seem to enjoy them as much as I do though, so I've got netting at the ready.

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  15. Good luck with the cherries Jo,I have a kiwi which is 4yrs old,it blossomed the first year I had it but hasn't done since so lets both keep fingers crossed.have a good weekend.

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    1. I think we're all due a good fruit year, as well as a good vegggie year. My fingers are firmly crossed.

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  16. I would so love to grow my own cherries but don't really have room for a tree. I really look forward to cherry season here. When I lived in England I found I couldn't eat them because they irritated my throat - something they are usually sprayed with I guess. Not that that will be an issue with yours of course.

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    1. Cherry trees can grow quite big. I bought a tree on dwarf root stock and it's kept in a half barrel to help control it's growth. The great thing about growing your own is that you know exactly what it's been sprayed with, nothing.

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  17. I hope your cherry tree produces some fruit this year. Cherries are such a treat and organic ones much better. We are hoping we will get more pears this year on our young tree. Last year we had six or seven. My husband has been looking at young apple trees in the nursery, but is not sure whether to buy one as the garden is so small.

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    1. I love cherries, they're so tasty. I bought a couple of apple trees last year, but they're going to live in pots. I made sure I got them on dwarf rootstock so that they won't grow so big.

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  18. Oh I do hope you get cherries this year, let's keep our fingers crossed that the winds don't blow the tiny fruits off!

    I have the exact same problems taking pics of birds, every time I get close with the camera they fly off. If you come up with a solution please let me know!!!xxxx

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    1. I'm trying to be optimistic, I do hope it's a good cherry year. I think a tripod might be a good idea for wildlife photography in general, though I'm not really patient enough to wait around waiting for a photo opportunity.

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  19. Cherry trees are lovely this time of year. Its been much warmer weather and I'll be sowing and trying to get jobs done over the long weekend as well.

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    1. Cherry trees really do have so much to give at this time of year, they're so beautiful. I've been doing lots of jobs over the weekend and I've got more to do today.

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  20. Cherries would be lovely wouldn't they! Good luck with your apples too. Last year seemed to be a particularly bad year for them, so I'm hoping for a better year too.

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    1. I do hope I manage to get some cherries this year, last year was such a disappointment. I'm not expecting my apple trees to do much, they're very young and still very small too.

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