Days 200 - 213 It Feels Like Spring is Just Around the Corner

The past two weeks have been sunny without a single day of rain (it did rain last night though). One would think that spring is here and it does feel like it in many ways. We have flowers blooming and the rose bushes are pushing out their first buds. The fruit trees have yet to have any bud break...but according to my records, the first trees in our yard that bud out are still about 3 weeks away (Peaches).

Hopefully if you are reading this regularly and applying some ideas you will have all of your trees pruned by this time (in Northern California). I also took advantage of the rain last night and applied my first fertilizer for the year. I try to feed my trees every couple of months in the spring with
EB Stone Citrus and Fruit Tree Food. So far it has not let me down and my trees seem pretty healthy. Feeding and watering (in the summer) are what is needed to have a long-lasting tree and yearly harvest.

Also, if you are reading this and planning on doing some planting of bare-root trees, now is the time. We replaced a Red Delicious apple with a Pink Lady because we really did not like Red Delicious (was here when we moved here) and Pink Lady should give us fruit well into the Fall. We also replaced the Venus grapevine with a Thompson seedless. Our kids like the green grapes better and they are sure good when frozen, a great summer treat.

The past couple of weeks continued to bring us mandarins daily. They are on the end of their season... What we did twice in the past two weeks though was to harvest something from each of our five citrus trees. We generally do not have mandarins when the grapefruit are ready, but with the bumper crop this year we could do it. Our son is a grapefruit fanatic and wants one each night before bed as his fruit snack. The ability to walk out to the backyard and harvest fresh fruit this time of the year cannot be beat!!

As my goal is to harvest each and every day, we have made it past the 200th day!! Pretty cool to have harvested something from the yard for more than 200 days straight. Hope to make it through the 366th day (July 1st) but the difficult times are coming...March and April.

A two-week summary if you do not want to read the details:
Mandarins: 148 ($37.00)
Oranges: 25 ($12.50)
Lemons: 15 ($7.50)
Limes: 8 ($2.00)
Grapefruit: 8 ($6.00)

Day 200
1) 12 mandarins
2) 6 oranges

Day 201
1) 10 mandarins
2) 2 oranges
3) 5 lemons
4) 2 limes

Day 202
1) 10 mandarins
2) 1 lemon
3) 1 lime

Day 203
1) 22 mandarins
2) 2 oranges

Day 204
1) 15 mandarins
2) 1 orange
3) 1 lemon
4) 1 lime
5) 1 grapefruit

Day 205
1) 15 mandarins
2) 1 orange

Day 206
1) 1 mandarin
2) 4 oranges
3) 2 lemons
4) 4 limes
5) 1 grapefruit

Day 207
1) 15 mandarins
2) 1 orange
3) 1 grapefruit

Day 208
1) 4 mandarins
2) 2 oranges
3) 1 grapefruit

Day 209
1) 10 mandarins
2) 4 lemons
3) 1 grapefruit

Day 210
1) 12 mandarins
2) 2 oranges
3) 1 grapefruit

Day 211
1) 12 mandarins
2) 2 oranges
3) 1 grapefruit

Day 212
1) 10 mandarins
2) 1 orange

Day 213
1) 2 oranges
2) 2 lemons
3) 1 grapefruit

Two-Week harvest: $65.00

Total Produce Harvested (Year-to-Date): $1106.25
Total Honey Harvested (Year-to-Date): $360.00
Expenses (Year-to-Date): $105.00

Days 172 - 199 Six Months... A Look Back and a Look Forward

It has been a long time since the last post. Still have continued harvesting daily, mostly citrus at this time, including 479 mandarins!!

We have had a couple milestones. Six months have passed and we have harvested daily since July 1st. Even if I do not succeed for the 1-year target, I have been quite pleased with the accomplishment of more than 6 months. Another milestone is that we have passed the $1000 mark for the value of produce. Our family has benefited, as well as friends who come by and grab a bag of mandarins every once and awhile.

Looking back, we have not only harvested, but I have written about topics including irrigation, planing timing, excess crops, pruning, and even a very inspiring NPR story. Look through the blog now that 6 months have passed.

Looking forward, I need to plant so that I can possibly make it to July 1st, 2011. I can forsee citrus for the next two months (oranges just starting, grapefruits still coming) but the months of April and May will be difficult. I will start my veggies in about a month and hopefully be harvesting by March.

If you are thinking about planting a fruit tree, now is the time to do the bare-root trees. Not very expensive ($20-25) and will provide years of fruit.

A four-week summary if you do not want to read the details:
Mandarins: 479
Oranges: 9
Lemons: 20
Limes: 10
Chard: 2 bunches

Day 172
1) 11 mandarins ($2.75)
2) Two bunches Chard ($6.00)

Day 173
1) 133 mandarins ($33.25)

Day 174
1) 7 mandarins ($1.75)

Day 175
1) 20 mandarins ($5.00)

Day 176 - 179 Gone for Holidays

Day 180
1) 23 mandarins ($5.75)
2) 1 lemon ($0.50)

Day 181
1) 6 mandarins ($1.50)
2) 3 lemons ($1.50)

Day 182
1) 14 mandarins ($3.50)

Day 183
1) 20 mandarins ($5.00)
2) 1 lemon ($0.50)

Day 184
1) 35 mandarins ($8.75)
2) 1 lime ($0.25)
3) 2 lemons ($1.00)

Day 185
1) 5 mandarins ($1.25)
2) 4 lemons ($2.00)
3) 1 lime ($0.25)

Day 186
1) 14 mandarins ($3.50)
2) 3 lemons ($1.50)
3) 1 lime ($0.25)

Day 187
1) 10 mandarins ($2.50)

Day 188
1) 10 mandarins ($2.50)

Day 189
1) 19 mandarins ($4.75)
2) 2 limes ($0.50)
3) 2 lemons ($1.00)

Day 190
1) 10 mandarins ($2.50)

Day 191
1) 14 mandarins ($3.50)

Day 192
1) 5 mandarins ($1.25)
2) 1 orange ($0.50)
3) 1 lemon ($0.50)
4) 1 lime ($0.25)

Day 193
1) 1 orange ($0.50)

Day 194
1) 40 mandarins ($10.00)
2) 2 oranges ($1.00)

Day 195
1) 10 mandarins ($2.50)
2) 2 oranges ($1.00)

Day 196
1) 12 mandarins ($3.00)

Day 197
1) 15 mandarins ($3.75)
2) 3 oranges ($1.50)
3) 3 lemons ($1.50)

Day 198
1) 20 mandarins ($5.00)

Day 199
1) 26 mandarins ($6.50)
2) 4 limes ($1.00)

Four-Week harvest: $138.25

Total Produce Harvested (Year-to-Date): $1042.25
Total Honey Harvested (Year-to-Date): $360.00
Expenses (Year-to-Date): $105.00