pollinators busy

Last week (April 21) I was at the top of the hill watering the blueberries when I saw the busy bumblebees and honey bees.

bumblebees not honey bees pollinate my blueberries
bumblebees not honey bees pollinate my blueberries

This year I added sulfur powder to lower the ph and also Starbuck coffee grounds and I am hoping for an even better blueberry yield.

bumblebees with their hairy yellow abdomen, I like. Not so the black abdomen carpenter bees which bore into the wood siding of my house
bumblebees with their hairy yellow abdomen, I like. Not so the black abdomen carpenter bees which bore into the wood siding of my house

I mentioned to my neighbor a Southern saying that came my way – don’t plant before tax day (April 15) and he replied that where we live which is in the foothills of Appalachia the last cold is when the blackberries flower.  And he was right – after tax day we had a cold shiver and my figs were slightly damaged.

some fig leaves turned black but this year, unlike the previous 3 years, the limbs survived
some fig leaves turned black but this year, unlike the previous 3 years, the limbs survived

And here is a blackberry in flower.

during the cold months I weeded and mulched my blackberries. I don't irrigate them and they drink off a contour ditch which snags water sliding down the hill
during the cold months I weeded and mulched my blackberries. I don’t irrigate them and they drink off a contour ditch which snags water sliding down the hill

My bees love the turnip flowers which I have growing everywhere.

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And crimson clover, which I am loathe to cut down.

crimson clover
crimson clover

And a fragrant invasive honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) which appears along the edges of the adjacent woods.

these plants grow naturally in the area
these plants grow naturally in the area

The spittlebug is also hard at work.

a spittlebug deposit on a turnip plant gone to seed
a spittlebug deposit on a turnip plant gone to seed

And I have my annual chore of cutting down the pine saplings and wild trees which compete with my orchard and vines on the hill side.

the small pines thrust for the sky but down they must come
the small pines thrust for the sky but down they must come

And I must continue spraying the pear and apple fruitlets with kaolin clay (Surround) a new measure I have adopted this year to counter the pests which tunnel into my apples.

several applications are necessary and the limbs, leaves and fruit turn white
several applications are necessary and the limbs, leaves and fruit turn white

 

 

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