Today in the orchard
Tree Swallow in the high-rent district. (note very old apple tree background left)
I spent time repairing the sprayer early this morning and then sprayed a second tank of the Holistic Orchard Spray. Normally two of us do the spraying. One drives the tractor and the second person walks along behind and applies the spray with a gun at the end of a long hose. It’s a pretty good set up when the sprayer is working. I can drive the tractor and do the spraying at the same time, but that has its own challenges since in some areas of the farm the “rows” of trees are not really rows. Spraying alone is a bit reminiscent of texting while driving except that the only thing you might hit is your prize Black Oxford tree.
The Tree Swallows have officially moved into their houses for the season. They are a regular fixture in the orchard. Give them the right terrain, the right size house with the right size entrance hole and they will give you hundreds of hours of entertainment. Plus, they are very good at insect reduction.
