April Showers
Daffodil in the middle of the apple orchard
Spring
Spring is here, not because the calendar says so, not because the robins are here. Those pesky robins don’t know anything about the seasons. I see them every year about the end of January and that’s nowhere near spring. It is still full-fledged winter here. Spring is here because the red-winged blackbirds and meadow larks have returned for the season. This is when I know it is really spring.
April means it is time to get to work. April eases us into the hectic summer. We are busy on the nice days but we still get the relaxation of the cold rainy April days. Busy here at our place means pruning lots of things and planning for summer. We will pruning the apple trees, cherry trees and bushes, currants, haskaps, etc.
You are right, I did not mention the grapes. We will be pruning them but not until they start to show signs of breaking bud. In the past years, we have pruned them in April, just to have to go back in a month and cut them all down to the ground. Every year they canes die down to the ground and they come up from the root. This year we are waiting to see how they came through the winter, so we only have to work them once.
We are pruning out “old” wood on the currants. We will also cut out some one-year-old wood to save as cuttings. We will plant these cutting and finish out our rows. Currants are easy to propagate, just stick them in the ground and remember to water them. We usually have about a 70% success rate, I know others do better, but I’m content with what we get.
Our friends from Bob Walace Winery in Hankinson, North Dakota sent us some nice elderberry cuttings from their large orchard. We will be planting these to fill out our elderberry row. Bob Wallace Winery makes award winning fruit wines. They are fantastic. If you are ever in the area stop by and have a glass of wine. Hankinson is south of Fargo, not too far off I-29.
Talking about friends and planting, Les McCartney outside of Bozeman (he is a member of the Montana Berry Growers Assn.) has put out a sour/pie cherry cultivar. He has been working on this for several years. You can read the history of it on the HoneyBerry USA website. They are avaible from HoneyBerry USA. We are planting three of them this spring.
Just like every other grower, we are ever optimist the we will have the perfect spring, not too hot not too cool, dry enough to plant, but with enough moisture.
Enjoy this beautiful month!