Fruit Set

This past Friday I made my way out to West Haven Farm, which is just a mile and a half up the road from me.  When I say up, I mean it in more than one way, especially when the trip is on a bike.  The apples, which are in the "back" of the the 3/4 acre orchard, past the peaches and apricots, were showing a promising crop.  Most of the trees at the local orchards had petal fall a week or two ago.  With fruit that has already set, they were able to pull through the cold nights of this past week that made it down into the high 20s.   Most everyone I have talked to has indicated that bloom was about 2 weeks ahead of "normal" this spring.  This could translate into an earlier harvest for many varieties.  Harvest date seems be dictated much more by when a tree blossoms, than the variable weather conditions of the summer months.  It is encouraging to know that the first apples will be picked in less than 3 months!