Things grow rapidly in the summer in southern Ontario. The weather is generally warm and there is usually more moisture than those of us from the West are used to in July and August. Those are some reasons why Ontario has always been, and still is, Canada’s top province in terms of total value of agricultural production.
This seems to have been a particularly good summer for growth. The rains have been regular most of the time (with the exception of a recent 3 week period which contributed to the incident described in Fire!) and the weather has been fairly warm for the most part. I was mowing in the orchard this morning and amazed at the gain in height of the fruit and nut trees over the past while.
This Bittenfelder apple seedling, at over 6 feet in height, is currently the tallest in the orchard. It was planted as a new little seedling just 15 months ago.
Close behind is this Ekos pear tree which is nearly 6 feet in height.It is not just the super stars above that are doing well. I was amazed to see today how many of the little trees are starting to emerge from their tubes, most of which are nearly 5 feet in height. These were planted out in the orchard of June of last year as little seedlings that had been sprouted in Jonathan’s basement only about 6 or 7 months before that.
Many of the Chinese chestnuts, which seemed to struggle to get established last summer, have put on a good flush of growth this summer. See Jonathan’s comments re Chinese Chestnuts in Farming plans #1
Likewise, the Burenglish oaks have developed big strong leaves this summer.
One Response
Jonathan
I think I need to free that chestnut from its cage! Really exciting to see all the growth. Thanks for mowing.