Fruit Crops this year in trouble?

[skunkboy]

At least in Michigan 3 weeks of early warm weather are not going to do the fruit industry and favors, especially now that we are getting freezes at night again.

http://michiganradio.org/post/cold-w...s-cherry-crops
http://michpics.wordpress.com/2012/0...tart-cherries/

[mmclean]

Should be a bumper crop here in east Tennessee. We haven't had a frost since Feb.

Most years a late frost wipes out most fruit crops.

[Penguinetti]

I heard Jersey was getting wild fires cause of the lack of rain. And apprently CT is in desperate need of a sprinkle or two.




Come on God, sneeze or something.

[Guinlilly]

We aren't even going to attempt our garden this year because we are already 4" short on rain this year. It is so dry in DE that last week after a rainstorm we still had a red flag warning because the risk of fire is so great. We seriously need major rain.

[Penguinetti]

That's horrible.

Is this a personal garden? What do you grow?

[Guinlilly]

Originally Posted by Penguinetti

That's horrible.

Is this a personal garden? What do you grow?

Yeah, personal. Generally squash (yellow, butternut, cushaw), peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, kohlarabi, basil varieties, chives, dill, lemon balm get planted yearly. We have rhubarb, grapes (wild & cultivated) rosemary, lavender, mint, and berries (red & black raspberries, blackberries, autumn olive berries) that come up every year regardless of us touching them.

We bought a large CSA share this year though that should net us a ton of berries, plus milk, and 10% off pastured meats. Hopefully, we'll be wrong and will catch up on the rain soon.

[Penguinetti]

That sounds like an awesome garden. My wife and I are trying out our first garden right now. The rhubarb was already there from before, but we threw down tomatos, wild strawberries, chives, mint, basil, and parsely. And I'm thinking about getting some beets involved, as well. And I really liked Chevette's idea of creeping thyme.

Hopefully you're wrong indeed. It would be a shame to lose out on all those goodies. The lavender you have... is it the edible kind? (I think i heard there are varieties that are toxic)

[Guinlilly]

Originally Posted by Penguinetti

The lavender you have... is it the edible kind? (I think i heard there are varieties that are toxic)

Yep! The soon-to-be hubby is a pro-brewer so all the herbs, veggies, and just about all the flowers need to be able to be eaten/fermented. We have roses just for rhodomels. lol

(I also forgot the copious amounts of hops we have. Those guys grow through anything I think.)

[Penguinetti]

Originally Posted by Guinlilly

...We have roses just for rhodomels....

[Meadrol]

Being near Lubbock, Texas, I cannot for the life of me find any local berries (plus, we are in the grips of the worst drought in recorded history for this area) so I finally said the heck with it and ordered a couple of blueberry bushes, a couple of raspberry bushes and a couple of blackberry bushes that should be here in about a week. According to the website, these bushes are at least two years old so I should see berries this year!

In case anyone else wants to do the same, here's the link: http://www.brighterblooms.com/

[Chevette Girl]

Originally Posted by Penguinetti

Yeah, what he said

Although if I timed it right, I would probably be able to pick enough rose petals at the condo around the corner and at the barn...