Apple trees / blue berry's

[coyotewhisperer]

well im feeling better after this week we planted a dwarf crimson crisp apple tree yesterday in the backyard. I don't really understand the pruning deal though. I mulched it heavy with grass clippings put a fruit tree fertilizer spike in the ground about 2 ft out. put chicken wire around it so rabbits dont munch it this winter. its about 6ft tall on sale at home depot for 21 bucks. probably gonna get another one. any tips.

found soil acidifier at home depot for the blueberry bushes that i ordered from burpee. pluse miracle grow peat moss. ready for them to get here.

dehydrated 6 summer squash and bought o2 absorbers. all six fit in a canning jar.

on top of all this talked to a neighbor that has a ton of bee hives and i never knew. hes going to take me out with him soon and if i like it and buy two sets of bees he will sell me the equipment used and cheap so looks like i may be having my own honey soon. ive always wanted bees but didnt know anyone that did it.

[1Admin]

It's always nice to work with someone in person at least once when getting started with bees.

You are going to want to get at least another apple tree for a pollinator. Check with your LOCAL nursery about what produces in your area. Often times sLowes and Home Despot sells the same trees throughout the whole country.

We lost a couple years of fruit production with a handful of trees early on not heeding this advice.

[coyotewhisperer]

I'll check with a nursery. this is kind of like the blueberry deal LOL I ordered three blue crop for my planting zone then a day later realized i needed a seperate kind for pollination so ordered a fourth bush of a different variety. Oh well im learning. Im really excited about the bees. he said i would need to do two hives at minimum. he has all the extracting stuff and said i could use it so ill have a low input cost as opposed to buying everything new. he said about $180 bucks for two bee hives ordered in December and he would sell me two used hive equipment for cheap.

[coyotewhisperer]

Ill get some pics and see if you can help me with the pruning part

[miked2345]

Watch out with that bee business.... You could really get stung on that deal!

(Sorry, I just COULDN'T resist!!!)

(10,000 comedians out of work, and I think I'm funny... Oh well...)

[eeyore]

You might want to check this utube channel out. It has a 12 part bee raising series and a 4 part series on how to raise fruit tree, plus a lot of other info as well.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SurvivalReport

[coyotewhisperer]

thanks for tip

[adoy]

I dont know about that particular channel.
That guy is awful funny looking :)

I am not sure that he knows what he is talking about.
(says the guy who watched the very same vids and just recently had his first honey harvest (had a couple years of learning experience) The fruit trees are dong well, and about to do another bucket packing this week)

[Lowdown3]

Yeah, he's a hack!!! ;)

[adoy]

The nerve of some people,, they get a youtube channel and just start pontificating for their own benefit.

[610Alpha]

Bee kung fu...too funny.

Better watch out for PETA, gettin those poor bees drunk!! LOL

[sjhopkins]

Blueberry bushes and bees are a wonderful combination! Years ago I attended "Bug Bowl Day" at Purdue University. They offered samples of honey from their farm and each kind had come from bees pollinating a different type of flower or plant. I distinctly remember the blueberry as amazing. Good luck!

[adoy]

6 months ago, I asked a local master gardener to mentally note any native edibles for our area with the understanding that I would enquirer from time to time.
I was pleasantly surprised when she provided a huge list, many of which I have never heard of before. Getting to be that time of year for me to start bringing in and planting,,, and learning how to prepare some of these natives.