Hey Teen! Glad to see you. Sorry about the mealy. What are you doing to rid them? Hey Rhizo. Long story. When you have time check the flip side for explanation. Surviving, barely. :) Saturday's temp was near 40..40 was a heatwave this January. It was 2F when I woke at 7:30am, 9.2 now. Yesterday it snowed..about 4" accumulation. However, it's sunny...still doesn't make up for the freezing temps. In the future, I will pay attention to Farmer's Almanac people. How have you been?

nyRockFarmer, non-distinct is about what my bad ones taste like. Olpea, I pressed enough last year to make wine and that's about it. Getting that wine transfered out of the primary has been an issue, I may have 5 gallons of apple/honey vinegar by now. I did get cherry and raspberry bottled. I'll be amazed if I get much for apples this year. They're not looking good. Part of the problem is this year's bloom was drawn out so I couldn't spray the apples early enough when I had the energy and ran out of energy before curculio was done. ltilton, cheap generic Walmart ziplock sandwich bags. Cut the same as for apples. I tried it with the whole bottom opened but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I was worried about rot but with none rotting in the bag vs many rotting without I'd say in my yard the bags are the safest bet at least with Shiro. I'll probably approach Santa Rosa with almost as much hesitation if it ever starts putting out full sized fruit and go easy the first year. Maybe start out with 50% bagged. Harvestman, my friend's Methely had plums set, but that's all I know about it. I only made it out there for one spray so he may have been wiped out by curculio. They said what they had last year was good. In addition to spraying I've taken to pruning his tree to get it to shape. Hopefully next year I'll get to try some of his. I know my small Santa Rosa last year were as good as I remember from when I tried them as an organic gardener and stumbled on bagging. This year it has one and had very few blooms, perhaps the long cold winter. Overall I'd pick Santa Rosa over Shiro but those Shiro's I've had that jump into the excellent flavor range makes me think there's something I'm missing either in pruning, thinning or picking. I know I have an easier time knowing when a red one is ripe. Half the time I bring a Shiro in and it no longer looks yellow out of the sun. If I could get all the Shiro to taste like the excellent ones it would be a toss up. This year has been wet (I'm not complaining, the grapes need it to get established). Interesting about AU, Scott. Glad I didn't jump on one of those. Definitely not deep south here. I wish I had more room to give to plums but they're not reliable enough here between borers and frost.

Happy Solstice to you too.... I'm going to try to sow at least one type seed today. That wonderful woman from Gardens North sent a backorder of moist packed helleborus seeds to me that just came - I'd forgotten I even had then on order (since last Spring) so perfect timing for something to sow. If I could just get this day to settle down, I've had more interruptions this morning than are usual for the whole week - including drop in company at 8:30 am, before I was dressed and DH was in the shower ;( Normally I love this day, longest night of the year is behind us.... Happy sowing everyone!

Hi there gardnparadise... It does look like it is warming up now and spring is here to stay... Happy gardening!