Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm

In this newsletter: Notes on peach hardiness Cold Weather Concerns Cider Apple Pruning Series Upcoming meetings and webinars Winter Meeting of the Maine State Pomological Society Northeast Extension Fruit Consortium Cornell Fruit Winter Webinar Series March Tree Fruit Preseason Meeting Peach Bud Hardiness This Winter We measured flower bud hardiness in mid-December in 20 varieties […]

In this newsletter: Meadow voles Announcements for Upcoming Meetings Protecting Trees from Meadow Voles From the pest management guide: Voles : New England Tree Fruit Management Guide : UMass Amherst Meadow vole injury is large areas of missing bark on the trunk or low branches, with small parallel tooth marks. It becomes evident as the […]

In this newsletter: Maturity Report New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference announcement Fall Herbicide Reminders, excerpted from the CCE-ENYCHP newsletter Maturity Report McIntosh has reached a stage where drop has occurred in orchards not treated with ReTain or Harvista. Trees that have not been harvested yet have 40% drop. Cortland ripening has reached a stage […]

Maturity Report and Storage Reminders Peaches and Plums Peach harvest was completed this week. Long John plums will be ready to pick soon. If you need to store them longer than a few days, they can be picked now. Apples McIntosh has reached a stage where it is ok for short-term storage. If you still […]

Maturity Report and Storage Reminders Peaches Peaches ready this week: 2nd picking for Messina and 1st for Autumnstar. Both are good varieties. We are also picking Castleton plums. I am finding much less brown rot now that the weather has turned dry. The quality of peaches after a week in cold storage is also better […]

Maturity Report Peaches Peaches we are picking now: Blushingstar, PF23 and Messina Apples McIntosh has developed some sweetness and should be good for immediate sales, if you have not already started selling them. At this stage, they should also be good for long-term storage, although susceptible to storage scald. Storage scald is prevented by fogging […]

Maturity Report Peaches Peaches we are picking now: Coralstar, Veteran and Glowingstar Apples McIntosh is beginning to taste ready. However, the dark green peel color indicates it’s too early to pick for storage yet. Honeycrisp is showing signs of ripening in some blocks and has acceptable flavor. It is not ready to harvest for storage, […]

Maturity Report Peaches Peaches we are picking now: Coralstar and PF17 Coralstar is the better of the two varieties we picked this week. We have it in two different orchards where it ripens a week apart, so we will still be picking it next week. Veteran, PF23 and Blushingstar should be ready soon. We also […]

In this newsletter: Maturity Report Observations Announcements Maturity Report Peaches Peaches we are picking now: Raritan Rose, Frost Peaches we will pick next: Coralstar, PF17, Veteran Coralstar is ripening ahead of schedule because our trees have a very light crop load. Apples Paulareds at Highmoor Farm have been harvested. We do not have Gingergold, but […]

In this newsletter: Maturity Report ReTain Instructions Maturity Report Peaches Peaches we are picking now: Lucky 13, PF15A Peaches we will pick next: Blazingstar, Starfire Apples Paulared starch index is 3.5. Ready for a general harvest at Highmoor Farm. Pay attention to preharvest intervals for recently applied materials. Starch index is measured on a scale […]