February 23, 2026

The massive storm that walloped the East Coast mostly skipped central Maine. (Just heard from cousins that they got 32” in Rhode Island.) We did get the impressive winds and about ten hours of snow, though there wasn’t that much accumulation, less than a foot. The vehicles, solar panels and bird feeder hardly have a flake on them. Nothing like Brother Wind to keep things dusted off.

Pulling scionwood orders at SCF, February 23, 2026

Cammy and I spent the day indoors assembling the scionwood orders received to date. We lay out the bundles of scion sticks (twigs) down the dining room table and then pull each order. One of this, two of that. At one point I braved the storm to venture out into the fray to collect a few cultivars we were missing. That was wild. It’s interesting to see what unusual varieties people want to grow. The best seller so far this season? Old Foxwhelp, the original true Foxwhelp cider apple I imported a few years ago from western England. Most of the Foxwhelps out there are not true to type. BEWARE of impostors.

All the while the tiny juncos and chickadees were negotiating the gale-force winds as they flitted back and forth selecting sunflower seeds from the feeder. How do they do it?

There’s still time if you want scionwood. We’ll be pruning trees and cutting scions until about the first of Spring. And don’t forget to join us at MOFGA’s Scionwood Exchange. That delightful event will be on Sunday March 29th. “Last Sunday in March.”