Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The mascot likes the product!

It's so good for my ethical side (hopefully the majority share) that our mascot likes the product. 

Nothing exciting to report today. It's dreary weather, but good for working on establishing the business side of LDO. I'm also following an enticing lead about possibly getting some technical assistance from the USDA/NRCS on organic transition planning. Having regular access to someone who can give me advice on what the heck I'm doing would be so great! (As would not having to wear out my welcome with my farmer-neighbors...) 

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

So Many Lessons

Being a new farmer means learning. All the time. Some lessons are big and some not so big. Today I learned that spending more than than five hours weed whacking is probably not a good idea. It might not be the biggest lesson, but I'm sure it will serve me well in times to come. 

Monday, May 18, 2009

Things are moving quickly around here!

Man, let me tell you - Mother Nature does not waste time. We went from tight cluster to pink to blossom overnight. Well, it felt like it went that quickly anyway. I have pictures of blossom time that I'll post shortly. And I promise I'll get better about posting photos. I think Jody might have a few of the bees that were brought in to pollinate (I'm still a bit bee-shy.)

The learning curve continues: A few days ago I went to the annual Thinning and Pest Management Meeting that the good people at Cornell put on. The majority of the conversation revolved around chemicals that I won't use in our orchard, but it's still good to know what the standards are. It's also fun to meet the guys who have been growing apples around here for a lot longer than I have!

About a week before that meeting, I went to a workshop on sprayers for small growers. That was REALLY interesting. It turns out that I really only have one option for our orchard because of the spacing between the rows and trees. So now I'm looking for a 50- or 100-gallon air blast sprayer. If you know of anyone with a spare, let me know!