The bloom is almost over.  We have a few late apples (Rome Beauty) planted in the low spots that are still blooming, but for the most part, bloom is over and the bees have done their work.  We were worried about the number of native bees in the orchard this year, but once again, we see a pretty good “set.”  Now we turn our attention to thinning.

Thinning is the process of selectively removing all but a few of the tiny fruits so that the remaining fruit will achieve good size and color.  The earlier we complete the thinning process, the more time that the tree can focus its growth on the remaining fruit, resulting in higher quality.

Apples that need to be thinned.

For example, in the picture, taken today in our Gala block, you can see the results of that beautiful bloom.  Each ‘spur’ on the tree usually results in 4-6 blooms.  The center bloom is the “king” bloom and will have the largest fruit.  With even a 50% pollination rate, there are so many apples on the tree that if left untreated, the fruit would be small, and likely not develop uniform color because it would be shaded by its neighbors touching it.  In extreme cases, the growing process could even knock the apples off the tree as neighboring fruit jockeys for space.

In peaches, we start the thinning process even before the blossoms are pollinated.  The process is called blossom thinning and has only recently become mainstream.  Basically, the process involves knocking off about half of the blooms before they ever have a chance to develop.  Growers have developed some creative ways to blossom thin: from cordless drill-mounted wirlygigs, to tractor mounted whips that knock off blossoms, to the more manual hand-work.  No matter which method is used, the timing is critical as the blossoms only last a short while.  If the job is not done well, hand thinning will be necessary later in the season, with decreased quality and increased cost.  If thinning is not done at all, the grower is almost guaranteed an unsaleable crop.

In apples, the thinning process is more automated, but nearly an art form.  Almost all apples are thinned using sprays that are applied at exactly the right time at exactly the right quantity.  The calculus used in the decision process includes a lot of notes as to how those trees have reacted in the past to thinning, and also includes careful consideration of not only the current weather, but the weather forecasted over the next several days.  It turns out that more apples will drop if the weather will be cloudy and warm, and fewer will drop if the weather will be sunny and cool.  Scientists at Cornell have developed a model to codify these observations, but there is still a lot of room for error.

All these variables make apple thinning a pretty stressful time around the orchard.  This week’s forecast seems to have a lot of uncertainty with a forecasted easterly flow off the ocean that could lead to nearly constant cloudy weather with showers, or perhaps partly sunny skies with warm temperatures.  The difference could be significant for thinning.  Only time will tell.

It goes without saying that farming of any sort involves a lot of risk.  Those of us growers in the fruit industry incur a little more risk than normal.  We have the same commodity and market risk as other growers, but I’d contend that we have a higher risk of weather related events.

First, there’s drought which can affect all farmers.  2012 will long be remembered by those in the midwest for the record setting drought there.  It drove grain prices sky high as the markets gradually realized that despite a record-setting acreage for corn, the yields would be mediocre at best.  (It actually turned out to be the 7th highest total yield.)  Many of our neighbors here in the East will forget that we also had a short drought here.  It caused us a great deal of mortality in a newly planted field of strawberries, which will probably take us an extra year to recover.

On the flip side of drought, is too much rain.  You’ll rarely hear a grain farmer complain about too much rain, but fruit growers fret over it.  Rain brings conditions favorable for disease that can disfigure fruit or even kill a tree.  We work hard to use varieties and methods that prevent disease, but the most effective tool is timely application of fungicides.  Which means that fruit growers are constantly watching the weather to try to prevent disease before it starts to rain.

Our most dreaded weather foe is undoubtedly hail.  Two minutes of hail in a violent thunderstorm can completely destroy a crop.  And not just one fruit type – but everything in every orchard.  And since thunderstorms strike in the summertime, it means that all of the costs are already sunk and there is no way to retrieve them.  If you’re already in debt, a hailstorm can knock you out of the game for good.

Finally, there is the spring freeze.  All fruit trees go through a blooming phase, where they are especially vulnerable to cold weather.  If we experience freezing temperatures for more than a few hours during bloom, we begin losing the crop.  Chances are good you didn’t realize that after the big front brought us needed rain last Friday, that the resulting northly winds on Saturday ushered in freezing conditions for much of Pennsylvania.  I awoke this morning and checked my thermometer right away: 32.9.  I later took a look at the climate conditions page for PA, and watched an animated map of Pennsylvania temperatures Saturday night.  By 4:00 AM the freezing temperatures were nearing Adams County and by 6:00 AM they were in York County, but just as they neared us…  the sun rose.

Today, we were saved by the dawn.  Hopefully, our luck with the weather will continue for oh, another seven months!

I’ve just completed my first full week of work on the farm.  This is the time of the year when there is a lot of…  hurry up and wait.  As I mentioned before, our pruning is a little behind schedule, but so is spring.  In fact, it was 19 at my house earlier this week.  So we aren’t too stressed about the pruning progress.  It looks like all will be done in time.

As I was out in the field this week catching up on the pruning progress, I noticed something white down at the big pond.  Many of you hunters out there know the sensation…  there is something down there that isn’t always there: it must be an animal.  White at the top, white at the bottom, brown in between and standing at the edge of the pond.  Sure enough it was a big eagle.  I continued on my path which came close to the pond and the eagle rose up into a locust tree as if to show off.  He was immense, and unafraid.  Hopefully he found one of those muskrats that have been digging in the bank. This is exactly the kind of thing you don’t get to see while working in an office.

There are a lot of things I know I’m going to love about this new adventure.  And the best part is that I don’t even know what all those things will be.  Because every day is different.