Apr. 9th, 2023

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Having somewhat desultorily decided to try doing a garden diary to track when things come ripe (but having decided to do it during a year when the extended winter rains make it an unusual schedule) I took some notes for a "check-in" after mowing the lawn yesterday. So here is a snapshot of what my yard is doing at the moment, focusing primarily on food plants.

Crandall (red) currants all blooming.
Black currants leafed out but no blooms yet.
Blueberries mostly blooming but at different stages (as intended when I got lots of different varieties). The "Top Hat" (planted this year) as produced its second berry, securing its place as the early producer this year. (The description says it ripens "mid-season" which other descriptions seem to equate with "summer/fall" so who knows.)
Persimmon is finally leafing out, but it's only in its second year so I don’t expect fruit or even likely blooms.
Gooseberries are leafing but no blooms yet.
Artichokes are very energetic but no buds yet.
Kumquats are starting to fall from the tree, so I should pick them and preserve. (Got a suggested pickled kumquat recipe a few days ago that I may try, since I still have oodles of candied kumquats.)
Picked the Buddha's hand citron (half a dozen) as one had dropped. I think I'll try the pickle recipe out on this first.
Black Tartarian cherry is blooming a lot but it isn’t coordinated with its designated pollinator yet. The designated pollinator is a Bing, but it's only in its second year, so I'll give it some slack. Last year I did get a few Tartarian cherries, so there's something in the neighborhood that it's compatible with.
The Morello cherry is starting an abundant bloom. I hope all the rain will make this a good year. It's my best producer among the cherries so far. (The Montmorency hasn't started blooming yet. They're both self-fertile so the timing is less important. I got half a dozen Montmorencies last year.)
Quince blooms are very abundant and I need to remember to thin the fruit this year.
All the apples are just starting to leaf out and not blooming yet.
The apricot is starting to bloom but looks sparse. I don't know what's up with the apricot. At this point it's a large, vigorous tree. (My pruning goal is to keep the branches within easy reach.) But so far I haven't gotten more than half a dozen fruit in any year.
One medlar is finishing blooming and the other hasn’t started yet. Very strange.
The Pre-existing Plum (I just invented this nickname. I think it may be a damson type, but who knows?) has set fruit and it looks like it may be a great year.
The new Santa Rosa Plum is thinking about whether it wants to set fruit but it’s still a baby, so that's ok.
The strawberries are blooming but no fruit yet.
And, of course, both lemon trees are doing their continuous year-round thing.
The two newish juice oranges aren't showing any signs of flowering, but I'm getting used to the idea that citrus will take a few years to settle in and get happy.
The onion sets that I got in the ground a couple weeks ago are poking up green but I'll need to keep a close eye on moisture so I'll know when to start irrigation. And it's probably time to plant the tomatoes. Maybe I'll go off to my favorite nursery this afternoon and see what they have.

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