Page 15 - Simply Veg 4 2022

Double 30gr fleece blanket protecting espalier pears
Early April 2022
and six peach trees. Last spring (2021) heart-breakingly the embryo fruit on the cots were annihilated by a massive nine degrees F of frost which came in on a north easterly wind, which lived up to its name ‘The Beast From the East.’ Summer just isn’t Summer without some ‘cots.’ I go over the tunnel fruit twice just to make sure as much embryo fruit and blossom is encapsulated as possible. All the other trees are outdoors, pears plums and Japanese plums and are given the treatment. The theory is that the water freezes around the blossom and encapsulates it in ice, this ice is slow to melt, it’s the quick thawing that does the damage. Blossom facing east is the first and fastest to thaw. So blossom facing west stands a better chance of survival. I very often have fruit on the southwest side of a tree and nothing on the north to east side. Fruit farms that have orchards on a slope and face west tend to fare better.
I have a well-earned cuppa and glance at the outdoor thermometer, 29.8 degrees F, I hang around until seven a.m. to see off any woodpigeons going down on to the plum blossom, serious damage means
few if any plums and a wait for another year. As I leave two of the ‘girls’ turn up for breakfast, which is peanuts and corn. I hear Charles in the field next door; he’s keeping a watchful eye on things.
Day Two. April Fool’s Day – no comment. I arrive a bit later as I expect minimal
frost; the outdoor thermometer reads 31.6 degrees F. I decide not to spray. As I am about to leave I see a woody dropping down on the Methley Japanese plum; obviously they don’t expect the landlord at this time in the day.
Day Three. I arrive at 6am; I am expecting similar temperatures to the previous morning, but I am wrong, the outdoor thermometer reads 27.9 and the
tunnel is 30.4. I decide not to bother with the tunnel, I also decide to use the hose pipes and spray guns as it should be a lot faster. The second and third set ups works okay, the one at the top of the orchard wouldn’t have it for love nor money so it was back to the knapsack sprayer.
Day four. Sunday, I normally lie in and have Sunday off. A severe frost was forecast, I arrive on the plot just after 4.30a.m. A glance at the outdoor max-
min shows 26.1 outdoors and 28.8 in the tunnel – not good. I hose down the tunnel fruit just in case the temperature drops further, I go over the trees twice. The walls of the tunnel are now plastered in ice, all this water about may even lift the ambient temperature; there are large pea - sized clusters of ice on the trees, hopefully the blossom and embryo fruit are encapsulated
in this protective coating of ice also. The hosepipe set up in the Lower
Orchard was frozen solid and it took ten minutes dangling the hose gun in front of the van exhaust pipe to get it working. The two set ups in the Upper Orchard were well frozen up with nothing available to thaw them out. Panic was setting in, fortunately there was some water in both knapsack sprayers, just enough to go over the blossom twice. Another year well hopefully not required again this Spring – but who knows, I need a complete set up. Hose/ tap connector, hose pipe and gun stored dry, i.e. without containing water, also the brass taps require cosies.
It’s 06.40 and the outdoor temperature is 27.5 degrees F so the temperature is slowly rising, but there’s still away to go before it gets to 33 degrees F. The sun is up over the horizon and the ‘girls’ turn up for breaky with hoare frost on their rumps and tail feathers, quite amusing; I head off home to cook the Sunday breakfast.
It will be several weeks before I know
if there is a fruit set on the pear and plum blossom that I sprayed with water, in regard to the apricots, probably a few days, the following day I examined the fruitlets and embryo fruit, they are pale green, a good sign, last year they went dark green overnight and ceased growing.
The hardy Beurre Precose Morettini pear
Simply Vegetables 15