Great weekend

Grapes - looking very good.

Apples and pears - need thinning ASAP. 
Thin fruit down to 2 or 1 apple/pear per cluster.
If skeptical, do one branch and watch the results.

Grass and weeds -  still on over drive.

Soil is drying out, so dig into the soil, grab
the soil and see if you need to irrigate.

Seeing rust on garlic.  More aeration.

Red currants - huge crop and they are ripening.
Haskap berries - nice crop this year per
several sources.

Carrots - very slow to emerge and grow.
Table beets - slow to grow also.

Crop Report

Crops are very varied around the county at this
point but on average -
Apple crop - looks down a bit.
Pear crop - medium.
Plum - medium.

Strawberry and blueberry crops - look good.
Garlic - mostly not affected by the December and
February weather.

Expecting codling moth to emerge anytime now
on apples and pears.

Be aware and trap for spotted wing drosophila
around strawberry fields.

Control cherry fruit fly before the cherries turn pink.

Big earwing population this year.

Cole crops doing OK, but warm season plants still not
 growing well due to the cool AM temps.

Spring in review

The 2014 spring has been a whoosie, tectinical
term for really harsh and strange.
Butterfly bush - frozen to the ground, not
 root regrowth.
Fig - frozen except for one foot that is still green,
 so there is hope, kind of.
Rosemary - took heavy damage this December/
February - one plant had 25% recovery.
Bay laurel - heavy damage to some limb damage.
Kiwi - 60% of plant died.
Any plants in pots - had 50% of the plants die
from the freeze.
Many ornamental shrubs - badly burned and still
many shrubs burned bad from the leaf burn.
Strawberries - looks like a good crop.  did see some
 photos of strawberry effaciation - where the strawberry
grows long, or it was poor pollination.
Cool season crops - doing OK.
Warm season crops - most tomato, eggplant cucumbers -
 have stalled and ot grown much.\
My pomegranate in the greenhouse has the best fruit
 set EVER this yer.
Apple and plum crop - medicore so far.
Pear crop - actually looking OK.
Grass - growing wild.
Weeds - super wild growth.

Weather by Rufus

Memorial Day 2014

 Now, for a brief peek at the extended outlook. Very fine, indeed,

 although on the dry side. Model solutions hold the high pressure

 ridge offshore in just a position as to result in two key favorable

factors: 1) basic 'blocking' of surface systems moving into the PNW; 2) 

daily breezes from the NW, keeping temps mild both day and night. 

True, we may experience a run of clouds here and there, spotty 

appearances of the sun at times, but really no organized frontal

 system or notable precip. The earlier solutions hinting at 

thunderstorm development along the mountain.  

Generally, though, for the next 2-3 weeks conditions will be 

excellent for strawberry harvest, farm work, and messing around

 in the garden. For water management programs: irrigation will 

be needed.

 -Rufus

Plant away

Weather getting better, with lows just below 45 and highs in the 70s.
Good weather for the warm season plants, no rain so continue to plant away.

Figs trees - frozen to the ground.

Freeze damage - Tajikistan, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky from the cold weather.

Better weather

The next few days are perfect for planting the warm
season plants, temps in the 47-60 degrees.  This weekends
looks damp, so protect the apples and pears from scab
AGAIN.  Followed by more great weather 47 lows to
77 highs.

Cole (cool season) crops doing well but say some bolting
already.  Bummer. 

Strawberries and blueberries - still looking good and the
weather and lots of bees mean a good crop.  After pollination,
wait for about 2-4 weeks and by then the June drop will happen.
We will then see how good the crops will be.  Tree fruits
seems to lighter this year.

Still lots of bugs and lots of fungus issues on tree fruits,
berries and other plants.  Good aeration or go to:
PNWPEST.org to look up the PNW Plant Disease handbook
what can be used to reduce fungus problems.

Weather

This week: as advertised, SUMMER. Temps will jump

 into the breaking-a-sweat range, especially all  mid-week.

 Overnight lows will cool enough to allow for opening a

window & sleeping well. By the weekend, temps will lower,

 and the chance for some scattered showers increases, as

westerly winds usher in a cooler air mass. Not a total rain-out,

just the normal drip & drab.

 Week of May 19-23 continues to look dry and notably cooler

 than the week ahead. Actually, it will be comfortable, although

a bit breezy, as the onshore flow will pick up by mid-week.

 Rufus

Weekly hints

Weather still weird, but typical
spring weather.
Tree fruits - starting to see some
pollination failures due to the wet wet weather.

Still waiting for good warm season veggie planting temps.

Cole crops doing well.

Strawberries, blueberries - nicely blooming.

Next week

Next week the weather breaks and we have the
right weather for planting warm season veggies
 around Tuesday.  This week end, a bit of rain and
 then good weather for almost a week.

The morning temps stay at or above 50 degrees
which is still a bit cool but OK

Protection of plants by using Remay row cover, walls
of water, filled milk jug  for the warm season plants.

Apple and pear crop - looks down. Coastal cedar rust
is affecting most pears in the valley this year with
orange rust on the fruit or spots on the leaves.

Still waiting for spring

More warm days, cool mornings; some sunny
days and some drippy days for the next 10 days. 
It is time  to plant!  We must be patient.  In 
2009, 2010 and 2011, we didn't even get into
our gardens until the first of July, each of those
years.

The insects really like this weather.

Be aware of ants, termites, aphids, radish root
maggots, bill bugs, asparagus beetles and codling
moth is expected to show up any day now. 
Place pheromone traps out int he orchards ASAP.

The continued wet and warm - increases the scab
on apples and pears.  Protective sprays are import. 
Call your local Master Gardner program for
control options.

Insect - O.u.t-side!!

Insects have gone crazy the last week.  If you
have been reading the Gardening Hints FBook site
 there has been a continual list going on.  Here is
just a partial list of insects to be aware of that have
 "invaded" other gardens so far:

large and small ant flights
termite flights  Ants and termite have flights
         twice a year, spring and fall.
radish maggot - radishes
bill bugs - radishes
asparagus beetles - asparagus plants

First flight of codling moths attacking apples and pears
 is 21 days after full apple and pear bloom, which is  right
about now.  Place store pheromone or home made
pheromone in the orchard ASAP.