Today in the orchard
Tour group at the Maine Heritage Orchard, June 8, 2025
The sun came out, and the trees were happy. So were the people who rushed outside to soak in the rays. I traveled up to the Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity for a tour and picnic. It was a perfect day to share the orchard with an enthusiastic group of supporters.
Back in our orchards the last of the late-bloomers are still flowering. The plum curculios are lurking in the sidelines, ready to attack as the temperatures rise. We’ll spray Surround again in a day or two. Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) is the next threat to the crop, but we won’t need to deal with them for another week or so. Everywhere around the farm one plant is flowering and then another. The Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) is now in full bloom.
With the Merlin app (merlin.allaboutbirds.org), we’re discovering that we’re living in an avian sanctuary. We knew we had a lot of birds that were too shy to come to the feeders, but we didn’t know the extent of who’s nesting on the farm. The app can identify the birds from their calls, even if they’re hiding in the woods and we can’t see them. Today we woke up to a Red-eyed Vireo which announced its arrival at Super Chilly Fartm by serenading us with its complex song all day long. It’s gratifying to think that the farm is so welcoming to birds. We need an app that can ID apples from their calls!
