flavor supremes start to show

pluots - specifically - flavor supreme is now being harvested in the back-forty.

an interspecific - engineered by zaiger.  no its not gmo.  this guy actually used mother natures way of cross pollination to get a plum/apricot

cross.

it is a green skinned, purple centered fruit.  very juicy, no tartness - but also not overly sweet.

balanced is an apt description.

 this is the first year we got these.  the tree has a good loading of them, so we should see more of these over the next few weeks.

#2 and #3

this year just might be a good year for fruit in my orchard.  pictured to your right are the second and third nectarines i picked.

#1 was eaten the other day - with no thought of taking a picture to show you.

plums, apricots, apriums, pluots, pears and apples are all on tap too.  cherries, however, are a bust. 

as i am a disciple of the ed laivo backyard orchard culture method of pruning, and i do cut them back pretty hard every year - it has been a long haul to get into fruit production.  i will give the cherries a couple more years.  if no production - they will be pulled and other tree varieties be planted.

1 month into it

well - post #2 for 2013 is in the books.  i just doubled last years production.  how's that for setting a low bar?

all is well in the garden - no failures.  tomatoes are finally seeing some sets.  we have had quite a range of weather over the last month - from 37 degree morning temps to 105 this weekend; the fact that all is well, is indeed a miracle.

this years menu is a bit more limited than in previous years.  only ten tomato plants.

yep - thats right only ten.  and that is from the guy who planted 41 plants 4 years ago.  i also did away with beans, radish, corn, melons.  its not that i didnt enjoy them, but rarely got to the garden to pick them when ready.

so this year i decided to be a better judge of what i could do, save some water and effort and hopefully still have a good year.

here she is 1 month into the growing season.