One more cold morning (36F) followed by rain, wind, a few hours of overcast followed by more cold and rain. Wow. It’s the end of May. Fortunately the young (and old) apple trees can handle this weather. The tomatoes and corn not so much. They’re looking for heat. Don’t put them in just yet.

I spent time at a neighbor’s orchard taking off tree-guards and doing a bit of pruning on the young trees. We do a work-trade every year. They have a great collection of Maine heirlooms, personally selected! If you haven’t removed your tree-guards, now is the time. While you’re at it, it’s also a good time to trim back the grass from around the trunks and look for borer damage. The borer beetles won’t be laying eggs for another month, but any larvae inside the young tree trunks will become active soon, and you should be able to see the orange-colored sawdust-like frass at the base of the tree. If you see it, get out a short piece of wire and a sharp knife and dig. Borers destroy young trees.

Our “Sikkim” apple (Malus sikkimensis ‘rockii’) with its delicate, small flowers is now in bloom. In a New York Times article from the early 2000’s it was touted as having the most medicinal fruit in the Universe. There followed a rush on trees and scionwood. I obtained scionwood from the Arnold Arboretum. The species is a bit mixed-up, however, and it’s now unclear if we have the apple referred to in the newspaper article. Correct or not, our young tree will have a crop this year. The fruit is about an inch in diameter. We’ll be letting them go for $100 a fruit. A total steal. Supplies are limited. Operators are standing by. Send it your money today!