So I had damage from winter temps but most of my fruit dreams for the year were shattered by the following. May 18 temp reached 28 C. May 23 minimum was -2.4 C. That May 23 frost was brutal. I was on vacation at the time and could take no precautions. It killed all growth on my grapes which at that time had put out 8” shoots, EXCEPT the 2 grapes that were sheltered under a tree. Pretty amazing that with ambient temp of -2.4 C simply being under the canopy of a tree was enough to save them, next year if it happens I will try putting a plastic sheet over my trellis any time it calls for frost and see if that helps. So here is my summary: Note thaw occurred April 10. First miniature Crocus flowering April 15. Giant Crocus and Muscari flowing April 28. Apple – Pristine Bud9- DR (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Apple – Redfree Bud9- DR (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Apple – Crimson crisp Bud9- DR (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Apple – Liberty M26?- DR (Planted Fall 2012 – alive and doing well) Green Barn Apple – Egremont russet Bud9- H (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Apple – MacFree M26?- DR (Planted Fall 2012 – alive and doing well) Green Barn Apple – Goldrush Bud9 – DR (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Apple – Enterprise M7 – DR (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) (M7 is error, should have been Bud9) Liberty and Macfree leafing out May 9. The Liberty and Macfree have had 0 dieback since 2012. Main issue is deer browsing – I am working on a fence. There were flowers but got nailed by frost. Perhaps next year. Pear – Hayatama (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – die back to graft union – sending up shoots) Pear – Shinshiki (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – died. Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – died after winter) Pear – Northbrite (Planted Fall 2012 – always has been struggling – not much dieback but not thriving) Green Barn Pear – Kenko (Planted Spring 2013 – never grew well and keeps dying back to graft union – sending up shoots) – Green Barn Pear – Taylor Apple (Planted Spring 2013 – never grew well and keeps dying back to graft union – sending up shoots) – Green Barn Pear – Moonglow (Planted fall 2014 Whiffletree – died back to graft over winter – sending up shoots) Pear – Olympic (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – died after winter) So either the pears don’t like the weather, don’t like the soil or a combination of both. Some of the younger plants (Kenko, Taylor Apple) put out 4 foot shoots last year but did not harden off and died back to rootstock over winter. Others like Moonglow, Shinshiki which were 2-3 year old trees (4-5 foot) when planted died back fully to rootstock. They are still sending up shoots so I will try another year or two but pull them out if I keep getting dieback. It’s too bad because I really wanted pears. Plum – Toka (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – survived winter) Plum – Superior (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – thriving – 4 feet growth this year – 2015) Plum – Kahinta (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – survived winter) Plum – Black Ice (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Kahinta and Toka flowered May 9. So far seem to be doing pretty well. Superior is super happy, putting on 3-4 feet of growth this year alone. Toka is in 2nd place and Kahinta seems to be struggling a bit. Black Ice was just planted. Of note – these are all planted in the wettest area of my yard. Standing water late fall and sprink, winter can be 1” of frozen water on ground. I am crossing my fingers. Peach – Harrow Diamond (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – died after winter) Peach – Empress (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – died after winter) Kept over winter in unheated garage) Peach – PF24c (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – died after winter) Apricot – Harrow Star – (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – died) Harrow Diamond was not a surprise – it leafed out but never really grew. PF24c I am disappointed with because it grew amazingly with 24+ inches of growth with some branches going from 3-4mm to 15mm in diameter over the summer. It still had leaves until Nov/Dec so I wonder if it did not go dormant before the freeze? Or did it not like my soil? All dead – I was really sad about the PF24c. Empress did not make it. I kept it in an unheated garage but I think it still got too cold. I am going to try PF24c again next year and give up if it does not work. Chum – Kappa (Planted Fall 2012 – growing well – flowered heavily but hit by frost May 2015, no leaf dieback) Green Barn Chum – Convoy (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – died. Planted May 2014 – growing well – flowered heavily but hit by frost May 2015, no leaf dieback) Green Barn Chum – Sapalta (Planted May 2013 – growing super well – flowered heavily but hit by frost May 2015, no leaf dieback) Green Barn Leafing out May 9. Sapalta was leafing out and flowering at the same time on May 9 and in full flower May 14. Frost May 23 got all flowers. No dieback of leaves or shoots due to frost. Haskasp – Tundra (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Haskasp – Aurora (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Haskasp – Honeybee (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Haskasp – Borealis (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Borealis flowered May 9. Frost May 23 got all flowers. No dieback of leaves or shoots due to frost. Saskatoon – Northline (Planted May 2014 from saskatoonfarm.com – survived winter) Saskatoon – Smokey (Planted May 2014 from saskatoonfarm.com – died from poor shipping) Not a real test. Plants were shipped bare root with NO MEDIA/moisture for roots. Arrived bone dry. Not impressed. Elderberry – Wyldwood (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Elderberry – Bob Gordon (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) To early to tell. Deer like these too. Black Raspberry – ? (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – thriving and fruited) Purple Raspberry – ? (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – thriving and fruited) Purple Raspberry – Royalty (Planted May 2014 Purple and black raspberries starting to flower June 4. They are planted next to the house so perhaps were not exposed to frost but anyways they are doing great. The plants on the west side had 50% dieback on about 10% of canes (not a big surprise as western sun against brick wall in winter is a tough condition). These are TOUGH and produce well. Black/Purple raspberries are supposed to stay in clumps and not sucker but these are suckering, at least locally within 3-4 feet of the original plant. Had big problems with earwig damage to fruit last year. Will try bait and only watering in early am. Grape – Sommerset (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter) Grape – Reliance (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Grape – Pink Pearl (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter – thriving) Grape – Polar Green (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter – thriving) Grape – Earliblue (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter, struggling (wet soil?)) Grape – Catawba (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Grape – Concord seedless (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Grape – Montreal Blue (not received) Grape – Mars (not received) Grape – Vanessa (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) Grape – Petite Jewel (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) I stressed the heck out of my Somerset, Polar Green, Pink Pearl and Earliblue so this might not be a true test. They were planted fall 2012. With the spring melt in 2013 I panicked that they were underwater so I dug them up and planted higher in mounds. Then in Fall 2013 my wife wanted a cedar hedge so at dormancy I dug them up again and transplanted to another location. So in first year of life here they were moved 3 times. All have bounced back except Earliblue which has struggled. It however is in an area that has a bit more water than the others so I am wondering if it is drowning a bit. Anyways, Polar Green (Narrators note: This is a Greenbarn special – mislabelled – believe to be Trollhaugen) had grown like crazy and as of Fall 2012 I had 2 x 7 foot canes. I did a cold tolerance test and laid one cane down along the ground and covered with leaves. The other cane I left standing. BOTH canes survived winter but the cane left exposed broke dormancy LATER. May 9th – at the time the protected cane was at “Bud burst/1st leaf separated”, the exposed cane was only at “Wooly Bud” or earlier. This played a role during the deep frost of May 23 when temps fell to -2.4 C with frost as the protected cane had 6-8”+ of growth that all died back while the exposed cane was still breaking buds. On June 10th both the protected cane’s dormant buds as well as the exposed canes primary buds were breaking at about the same time. At June 15 the exposed cane had 3 inch shoots with 5 leaves AND inflorescence while the frost hit protected cane was still at “1st leaf separated”. Today July 4th the cane that was protected, shooted early, got hit by frost, now has 14” shoots with NO grape clusters. The cane that was left exposed now had 24+ inch shoots WITH 3 grape clusters. Of note, I am growing replacement trunks from the base and these canes/shoots have now grown 5-6 feet in the same time the other shoots have gone 12-24 inches.

Blueberries – Chandler (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Blueberries – Northsky (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Blueberries – Toro (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Blueberries – Patriot (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Blueberries – Pinklimonade (Planted fall 2013 from local – dieback over winter, sending shoots) Blueberries – Duke (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter/frost – fruiting) The blueberries are struggling. I know I don’t have the soil for them so they are planted in raised mounds. I don’t have the acidity. I also probably don’t water them enough. I am giving them a try as a test. I will try acid fertilizer next year and I am in the process of installing irrigation. Most are starting to fruit (a bit) so I hope to taste some this summer. Cherry – Romeo (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Cherry – Cupid (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Cherry – Juliet (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Cherry – Crimson Passion (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com – survived winter) Cherry – Evans (Planted May 2014 from saskatoonfarm.com – died from poor shipping) Still growing. The deer LOVE these so they keep getting haircuts which is not helping them much. Going to try and fence them better. Blackberry – Prime Arc 45 (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – roots survived winter) Blackberry – Prime Arc Freedom (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – roots survived winter) Prime Arc Freedom starting sending up shoots May 13. The frost of Sept 19 stopped the blackberries from ripening. They were planted as 2” plugs in May so I am hoping that with a decent root base that they can shoot and flower fast enough to give enough time to ripen the berries on the primacanes. I moved the Prime Arc 45 to a country lot as I did not want thorns in my garden. The Freedomes I left, I did a half assed job of burying canes last fall. I just tossed a couple inches of leaves on them. Honestly with snow compression and wind, they were not covered well and no surprise most canes were dead. BUT, some canes near the base where they were well protected did survive and I saw 2-3 floricane flowers and I have a couple berries now! This fall I will try a better job covering them. For people trying these under high tunnels, this could be an interesting cultivar. Seaberries – (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – Survived winter) Appear to be males. Planted in a rural area on heavy clay with no irrigation. Growing like crazy. Kiwi – Kolomitka (Planted pots May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – late fall transplant – did not survive winter) Kiwi – Kens Red (Planted pots May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – late fall transplant – did not survive winter) Kiwi – Arguta Anna (Planted pots May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – late fall transplant – did not survive winter) Kiwi – Arguta (Planted pots May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – late fall transplant – did not survive winter) I think the failures are my fault. I bought them but then did not have place to plant them so left in pots all summer with sub-optimal watering. I think they were severely stressed. I planted them in the bush last fall but this spring they were all dead. Mulberry – Seedling (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter) Very late to leaf out (June 4). Now growing great. No fruit yet. Plumcot – Taylors Gold (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Got a haircut from deer. Now fenced. Strawberry – Albion – Everbearing (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter) Strawberry – All Star – June bearing (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter) These plants were overwintered under straw. First Albion strawberries eaten June 17. First All Star berries eaten June 27. All Star have a nicer taste than Albion but ever bearing has a big advantage to my mind for length of season. I am having a HUGE problem with birds eating my strawberries. I am loosing 95% to birds, I need to net them. Rubarb – Victoria? (crown has been propagated in family for +80 years over 4 different moves!) Rubarb – Strawberry Red (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter) Rhubarb breaking ground May 1. First harvest of 1.6kg from 2 plants on May 31. Another 2.6kg from 4 plants on June 29th. Heartnut – Imshu (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – did not survive winter) Heartnut – Campbell CW-3 (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – did not survive winter) Medlar – Giant Breda (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – did not survive winter) Medlar – Royal (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – did not survive winter) These are all planted on a rural property in quite sandy soil. They got heavily eaten by deer in the fall. Some mice damage over winter. So far appears that all are dead though I might see some shoots. Gooseberry – Black Velvet (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Gooseberry – Tixia (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Gooseberry – Poorman (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Tixia had leafed out April 28. Tixia flowered May 9. One (apparently semi ripe) tixia gooseberry eaten June 26th. Currant – Ben Cowan (Planted Fall 2013 from local – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Currant – Ben Sarek (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Currant – Titania (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter/frost – fruiting) Ben Sarek leafed out April 28. Ben Cowan has lots of berries. As of July 4 about 70-80% are black – will probably harvest around July 10th. Titania had tons of berries – all still green. Ben Sarek has 3-4 berries, seems about 5-7 days behind Ben Cowan but too few berries to really say. Josta Berry – (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Bud break April 28. Paw Paw – Seedling (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree –survived winter) Paw Paw – Campbell NC-1 (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) NC-1 starting leafing out June 15 while the seedling had 4-5 mid size leaves at that date. Deer are my current battle: In order of preference they love to eat: #1 Apple shoots #2 Saskatchewan sour cherries #3 European pear shoots #4 Plum shoots = Asian pear shoots = Chum shoots I now have all short trees/bushes wrapped in hardware cloth. I am in the process of wrapping larger trees with plastic deer fencing (http://www.duboisag.com/en/deer-fence.html) I am installing various irrigation options from http://www.duboisag.com. They have the best prices I have found in Canada and have free shipping on orders over $200 which is amazing considering I bought a roll of 330 feet x 7’ deer fencing as well as a ton of irrigation hose. 1000 feet of 15mil soaker hose for a bit over $100. Ect.

Fall 2015 Report

We had a good growing year with the exception of a -2.4 C frost on May 23 which killed my apple, plum, sour cherry, grape and haskasp flowers. The remainder of the growing season was good with warm temperatures and sufficient rain to keep everything well watered but not soaking wet.

All the Bud9 apples planted this spring from Whiffletree survived and put on between 6-12” of growth. It was supposed to be on antonovka rootstock +/- Bud9 interstems but signals got crossed and everything arrived on Bud9 so due to my wet soil I have planted numerous antonovka seeds next to each tree and will try to grow my own rootstock in place to graft over in spring 2017.

Pear – Hayatama (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – died back to graft union – has sent up 2 x 3 foot shoots which I will see how they do this winter)

Pear – Northbrite (Planted Fall 2012 – always has been struggling – not much dieback but this year put up 2 feet of growth so hoping roots are taking hold) Green Barn

Pear – Kenko (Planted Spring 2013 – never grew well and keeps dying back to graft union – this year put up 5 feet of growth so hoping roots are taking hold) – Green Barn

Pear – Taylor Apple (Planted Spring 2013 – never grew well and keeps dying back to graft union – this year put up 3 feet of growth so hoping roots are taking hold) – Green Barn

Pear – Taylor Apple (Planted Spring 2013 – never grew well and keeps dying back to graft union – this year put up 3 feet of growth so hoping roots are taking hold) – Green Barn Pear – Moonglow (Planted fall 2014 Whiffletree – died back to graft over winter – sending up shoots but looks like shoots are from rootstock and are very weak. I will probably pull this one out) Plum – Toka (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – survived winter) Put on 3-4 feet of growth. Plum – Superior (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – thriving – 7 feet growth this year – 2015) Plum – Kahinta (Planted May 2014 from pepiniere ancestrale – survived winter) Put on 3-4 feet of growth. Plum – Black Ice (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree). Just getting established, put on perhaps 1 foot of growth. All my chums (Kappa, Convoy, Sapalta) are continuing to grow and do well. Hopefully fruit next year. All haskaps are continuing to grow and do well. I had 1 Borealis planted in the frost shadow of my house and I got 4 tiny berries! First time ever tasting haskap fruit! Hard to say at that size/number but previous descriptions of a flavour mixture of raspberry/blueberry seem to be dead on. Looking forward to more next year.

Elderberry – Wyldwood (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) This was in 2” pots and grew about 2 feet this year. Elderberry – Bob Gordon (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree) These were bare root and grew about 6 feet this year! Huge difference from the potted Wyldwood. Not sure if this is variety difference I am seeing or potted vs bare root. Black Raspberry – ? (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – thriving and fruited) Purple Raspberry – ? (Planted Fall 2012 from Green barn – thriving and fruited) Purple Raspberry – Royalty (Planted May 2014 Huge crop of Raspberries this year. Approximately 14 lbs! Next year will be my first full production year so I am hoping for even more. Earwigs were way fewer this year too. Majority of fruit I preserved into fruit jam although I use way less sugar than called for. Delicious – better than any raspberry jam I have ever bought. Some of the berries are HUGE – some 6-7 grams.

Grape – Sommerset (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter). Moderate vigor. Put on 6-7 feet of growth. Grape – Reliance (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree). Moderate vigor – put on 7 feet of growth in first year. Made it to top wire. Grape – Pink Pearl (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter – thriving) Fairly vigorous. Put on about 8-10 feet of growth. Grape – Polar Green (Trollhaugen?) (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter – thriving). Very vigorous – I got about 12 feet of growth from new canes and 6 feet from the trunks that were left up from last year. Between the late frost and the attack of the Japanese beetles I only had 2 (TWO) grapes that survived to maturity! My first grapes from my vines! They were tasty but PURPLE. Dammit, looks like GreenBarn screwed me again and mislabelled the plants. I think this grape is actually Trollhaugen.

Grape – Earliblue (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter, struggling (wet soil?)) – This had a very slow start to the year but finally put on 6 feet of growth and made it to my top wire. It is defiantly in the wettest part of my 2 rows so it has been struggling a bit but it has survived 3 winters so far with their wet soil so I am crossing my fingers. Grape – Catawba (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree). Moderate vigor – about 7 feet of growth in first year. Grape – Concord seedless (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter) Vigorous. Put on about 12+ feet of growth. Grape – Vanessa (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree).Very vigorous – put on 12+ feet of growth in first year. Grape – Petite Jewel (Planted May 2015 from Whiffletree). Moderate vigor – put on 8-9 feet of growth in first year. Blueberries all struggling without much growth. I don’t think my soil is great for them. Did get some berries from Chandler and Duke as well as a couple TINY berries from Northsky.

My sour cherries (Romeo, Cupid, Juliet, Crimson passion) continue to grow. Had to fence them because the deer come after these first. Blackberry – Prime Arc 45 (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – roots survived winter) Blackberry – Prime Arc Freedom (Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree – roots survived winter) We do not have the season for these to ripen. I pulled out the Prime arc 45’s last fall due to the thorns (I was sold them as thornless). The Freedome fruited on primacaines but were just starting to change color when first frost hit in October. I pulled them out because we just don’t have the growing season to ripen them. I’m not crying because I will replace them with Black Currants which have been doing AWESOME. This photo was from Oct 11. Last year first frost was Sept 19.

Seaberries – (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – Survived winter) Appear to be males. Planted in a rural area on heavy clay with no irrigation. Growing like crazy with 0 care and 0 irrigation despite being in an extremely dry/drought area in full sun. Mulberry – Seedling (Planted Fall 2012 Greenbarn – survived winter). Growing like crazy. Trunk is now about 3” in cross section. Hope to get fruit next year. Plumcot – Taylors Gold (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree – survived winter). Got a haircut from deer. Now fenced. Put on 2 feet of growth. Strawberry – Albion – Everbearing (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter) Strawberry – All Star – June bearing (Planted May 2014 from Costco – survived winter) I don’t think they like my soil. Berries were very small. Bird pressure took 95% of them. Too much work for too little yield so I am pulling them out.

Rubarb – Victoria? (crown has been propagated in family for +80 years over 4 different moves!) 17 lbs harvested from 4 plants between May 31 and Sept 29! And I am not in full production yet. What a great plant! Delicious and a crazy long growing season. Rhubarb crisp is the best.

Gooseberries (Black velvet, Tixia, Poorman) are growing and I got 3 berries from Tixia. What a great fruit! Crisp, semi-sweet with nice acidity. First time I ate a gooseberry. Looking forward to more next year.

Currants (Ben Cowan, Ben Sarek, Titania) are growing like gangbusters. Titania is awesome, very straight growing and tall, about 4 feet. Tested if ripness increases if left on bush and nope, once they turn purple just pick them before the birds. Found a journal article that said the same. First image Titania, second image Ben Cowan.

Paw Paw (NC1, seedling) – Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree. Planted in old compost pile so high nutrient but tendance to be dry. Also FULL sun. These have struggled a bit, only putting on a few inches of growth over the past 2 growing seasons. This fall I installed an irrigation system on the compost pile to water my Paw Pay, goose berries, currants and josta berries. We will see if this helps in 2016. They are still alive though. Heartnut (Imshu, CW-3) – Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree. Planted in a rural property with no irrigation and sandy soil. They grew very well but the deer do like them. Survived winter 2014 ok. Medlar (Giant Breda, Royal) – Planted May 2014 from Whiffletree. Planted in a rural property with no irrigation and sandy soil. They grew slowly and had some mouse damage last winter. Bad die-back during winter 2014 with some re-growth above graft this year but nothing great, not sure if will survive. Conclusion: So all in all a reasonable year. Disapointing a bit due to the late frost taking out all my larger fruits but did ok with berries and rhubarb. Really it was my Raspberries, Rhubarb and Currants that kept me happy. That said I am happy to still find healthy plants and good growth despite my soil being heavy clay and WET/Underwater in spots during late fall/early spring. I am hopeful for a more productive next year. I hope to get some of my first apples, chums, cherries, jostaberries and some more haskasps. Currents should start ramping up production. My grapes I am continuing to test their hardiness on my Geneva Double Curtain trellis. The majority have made it to the top wire with several extending 8 feet along the wire. I decided to go with 4 trunks from each plant with each trunk being permitted to grow 4’ along the trellis. So 2 trunks will be on west wire and 1 will grow 4’ north and the other 4’ south. 2 trunks will be on east wire and 1 will grow 4’ north and the other 4’ south. I have left 50% of the trunks of each vine attached to the wire and the other 50% I have laid down where they will be covered by snow. This past winter I only did this with the Polar Green (sommerset?) and the trunk left up survived and simply broke buds 2 weeks later than the trunk laid down. I will also be testing each vine with cane pruning vs spur pruning.