Pre bud break

So, its early march in Missouri. (zone 6a) We have fertilized the orchard and done our extensive trimming. Now comes the fun part, waiting for the swollen buds to break open with flowers or leaves. The peaches are first followed closely by the cherries. This is the most exciting time in the orchard business because we have endured cold temps and a bleak and colorless landscape for nigh on six months. The emotional reward is hard to describe. Walking through the orchard and seeing all the peach trees waking up is exhilarating. Watching their progress on a daily basis is very fulfilling. Couple that with OUR bees doing what they do best, pollenate! Now we get to watch our labor come to fruition get fruition, ok sorry. I'm taking this whole stay-at-home thing and taking full advantage. We were able to, at the last minute have a neem and copper-sulfate treatment. Mostly for their anti-fungal properties. Well, I'll keep in touch and keep farming. Thanks for reading.

Tanzania Peaberry - The Lone Wolf of COFFEE

Most coffee beans are born twins. Within each cherry on the coffee tree, two beans are grown side by side, resulting in the flat face of most beans. Peaberries, however, occur when only one of the two seeds is fertilized, growing on its own without anything to flatten it. Only between 1% and 9% of the beans from a harvest are classified as peaberry. They are individualists, the lone wolves of the coffee world. As a result of their independence, many coffee connoisseurs have suggested that each peaberry is infused with all the assets normally reserved for two beans.

Coffee plants first came to Tanzania from Ethiopia, sometime in the 16th century and immediately felt at home in the volcanic soils, warm humid climate and high altitudes of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Tanzanian coffee has a bright, vibrant acidity just like Kenyan coffee (which borders Tanzania) but with a smooth, creamy and buttery body and a lingering aftertaste. The

beans are twice as vibrant and with more developed flavors – you can expect more pronounced chocolate notes and even hints of grapefruit.

In our humble opinion, these beans are most certainly unique.

#tanzania #peaberry #uniquecoffees #individualist #lonewolf

Trimming Tree part 2

So, you're ready to trim your fruit trees huh? You've got everything you need. Sharp trimmers, check. Alcohol spray to disinfect your trimmers, check. Pruning spray, check. A gung ho resolve, check. Ten trees in, you're doing great, you've had to make some tough cuts but you know it's all for the better. Twenty trees in, you just happen to look back at the trees you've cut and then look forward to the trees that need to be cut, and you start questioning your methods. Thirty trees in, you're trying to recall the videos that you watched four times straight before you came out here in the first place. Enter lesson* ONLY TRIM TREES FOR AN HOUR!

Pear tree predicament. The planting of the pear trees was in phase 2 (year 2) of our planting schedule. We got bigger trees in phase 2 because we wanted relative size and age. The problem was that NONE of our labor showed up! Thanks to a neighbor and some new people I now call friends, we were able to get all the fruit trees in the ground just in time but it took longer than I had anticipated, so I ran out of time to prune. Most trees were fine, they have a natural propensity to spread out their bran

ches and missing a prune here and there early was just fine. However, the pear trees if not cut the first year, will branch out in very tightly grouped branches. I trimmed last year, however, I was in the above stages of doubt. So, the important cuts did not get made. Fast forward to this year, the tough cuts can't be avoided anymore. Cut ten trees. Go inside. Watch a video. Cut ten trees. Go inside. Watch a video, and so on, till all 100 pears are cut. Lesson* DON'T LOOK BACK!

OK, well, I've got to get back at it. See you in ten trees. JK. Happy farming.