cornfield update

I spent some time today in the cornfield.  It was really too muddy to do much planting but I was able to spread the grass clippings that I had collected between a few rows and lay out some stakes to mark planned rows.  I did plant about half of the sweet potato slips.  They were looking pretty wilted, as the directions said they might.  I decided to chance putting them in the too wet soil and have the rest standing in water hoping to revive them and plant them when the ground dries out a bit.  Hopefully both groups will do well.

Two of the three rows of potatoes that were planted on May 7 are up nicely.  The third is coming but a little slower.  These were gift potatoes from my sister and were of a couple different varieties that were mixed up and they were planted without sorting for variety.  It is possible that there is a difference between varieties.  The potatoes in the potager are also up in both towers and some of those came up earlier than the others as well.  I have more to plant.

Our apple trees our blossoming.  Both are full of blooms.  This is the first year that we have had blossoms and I am hoping that means we will get some fruit.  Last year we lost our blossoms to a later frost and had no fruit.  I have got my fingers crossed that come fall we will be having some of our own apples. Here are some pictures of the trees in bloom.  the full size apple continues to lean.  It was staked for the first year but last summer I took the stake away.  Looks like I need to put it back.

The dwarf apple

the full size apple

Here is the new pear tree.

And last years pear tree.

And the plum trees.

The plums have had some very tiny white flowers, so maybe they will produce fruit this year as well. In the background you can see my scruffy lawn.  It needs to be cut again at a shorter setting.  I had to raise the deck up because it was just to long to cut but it did leave me with some grass clippings to collect and