I continued grafting in the Finley Lane orchard and the old orchard. The bark is slipping perfectly now, and the short topworking season is coming and going quickly. I’ll do a bit more in the next couple of days and then call it quits.

In the afternoon Skylar and I mixed up a test-batch of Bio-dynamic tree paste. It’s my version of a classic Rudolf Steiner-inspired paintable concoction, typically a blend of fresh cow manure and clay, designed to promote tree health and heal the trunks of apple trees. I hope it will also deter apple borers. I’ve been looking for an alternative to painting Neem Oil on the tree trunks. Neem is definitely effective in deterring borers, but it turns the bark black and may damage bark. Neem is also expensive and from far away (SE Asia). Cow poop and clay are definitely local!

According to Biodynamics, clay is a tissue rejuvenator and fresh manure is a rich source of microbes. Some recipes include other materials, such as sand and wood ash. We used fresh cow manure and powdered clay and added zeolites (aluminosilicate lattices derived from volcanic ash) and rock phosphate. We mixed it up with water from the rain barrels and painted it on about 25 apple trees.