#HomeOrchard
LightNews LightNews
resonanteye.bsky.social
schoolhouse plum! it has a bunch. first year it's had fruit. i really hope it's good

#gardensky #homeorchard #growingfruit #spokanegarden 🌱
a plum tree branch with a hand behind it, the branch has many green plums on it
July 9, 2026 at 12:47 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Liberty apple tree blooming. It's pruned in the "Dr. Seuss" style due to accessibility issues for me and inaccessibility for deer. 🌱 #HomeOrchard #gardeing
Oddly pruned apple tree in bloom
April 20, 2026 at 8:02 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Today I thinned apples. I leave one good apple per cluster, with clusters about 6 inches apart. The trees are mini trees or espalier so no ladders #AccessibleGardening 🌱 #SeniorGardening #VictoryGarden #HomeOrchard
Apple clusters before thinning. About 8 apples. Apples after thinning. Three apples.
May 24, 2026 at 9:13 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
It's a plum nice day! Harvest of Hollywood and Methley plums. Also mulberries. Shiro plums glow on the branches. 🌱 #Gardening #HomeOrchard
Small blue Methley plums, ripe Illinois Everbearing mulberries, and purple / magenta Hollywood plums. Golden Shiro plums on the tree. Sweet and juicy. I love them, but others prefer more fleshy / stronger flavored plums.
August 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Pears are ripe now. I picked a big box of them to take to the food bank. Also a box of apples. #gardening #HomeOrchard
Pear tree with ripe pears
September 2, 2025 at 2:48 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
This Stanley plum tree reached the end of its stability, so I started cutting it down.

Such pretty wood. If I was still a woodworker, I would save the logs and make something.

🌱 #gardening #homeorchard
Cross section of Stanley plum tree log. It shows colors of magenta heartwood, grey transition wood, and yellow sapwood.
February 11, 2026 at 12:30 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Today I pruned the first multigraft Asian pear tree. Its main job now is pollination for its neighbor. It has some good pears. The goal is, flowers and pears stay above deer browsing height, but below what would need a ladder to reach. #gardensky #homeorchard 🌱
Small Asian Pear tree, pruned 5 Feb 26. There are lots of flower buds.
February 6, 2026 at 1:30 AM
resonanteye.bsky.social
when will my peaches be ready
can I beat the squirrel and raccoon to them

I am on high alert daily when I wake
there's only maybe 6 or 7 on this thing

I stare out the window, waiting and watching

#spokanegarden #gardensky #homeorchard
a peach tree branch with 3 peaches on it, furry and green
June 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
resonanteye.bsky.social
things growing:
gooseberry berries, green gage plum, rhubarb from @thekr.bsky.social , pear about to blossom
#zone7a #gardensky #homeorchard
green leaves with tiny flowers, gooseberry a plum branch with white flowers about to open large rhubarb leaves a small pear tree
April 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Interesting bark on my 25 year old, dwarf Liberty apple tree. I don't know why it's so gnarly. Very productive of sweet, flavorful, crisp, juicy red apples. Might be triploid, so needs a pollinator and doesn't reciprocate (in theory. I think it does). #TreeTrunk #HomeOrchard #Gardening 🌱
Trunk of dwarf Liberty apple tree Branch fork of dwarf Liberty apple tree, with lichens and bark malformations.
January 5, 2026 at 12:17 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Today's persimmon harvest. I should have checked weeks ago. Birds got a lot of them. This is Nishimura Wise, sold in the US as "Coffee Cake ". They require pollination to be sweet when crisp. These are very good! #Persimmons #HomeOrchard 🌱 #KitchenGarden
Freshly picked "Coffeecake Persimmons", known in Japan as Nishimura Wise. These require a second variety for pollination. They are crisp and sweet. Coffeecake persimmon on the tree. Fencing is for deer. Birds got about half of the persimmons but there are still some for me.
December 1, 2025 at 12:26 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
2nd Asian pear tree pruned today as usual Fruiting spurs low enough for me to reach w/o ladder, spurs too short to droop to deer height, and too high for deer to be comfortable reaching up to. I think this is Nijiseiki pear but it wasn't labeled. #HomeOrchard #deer #AccessibleGardening 🌱
Asian pear tree pruned to accessible but deer-unfriendly dimensions. Pear tree with half of pruning done.
February 15, 2026 at 8:09 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Today I cut down the 26 year old Jonagold apple tree. It's had, maybe, 3 productive years. It's triploid, so doesn't pollinate others. Delicious, crisp, sweet, juicy, flavorful apples. But I can't justify the burden of caring for it any more. I have other, better, varieties. #HomeOrchard 🌱
Pieces of apple branches lying around, after the tree was cut down.
January 5, 2026 at 12:08 AM
templemom.bsky.social
We have positively gorged on figs this year. Our little fig tree has been full to the brim! This is the last of them... now we'll have to be patient until next year.

#gardening #HomeOrchard #fruit #figs #GrowYourFood
A blue-rimmed plate is piled high with ripe kadota figs. They are plump and round, in shades of brown and brownish-green. The plate sits on a blond wood table.
September 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
autumnthoyre.bsky.social
Spotted on an apple leaf from pretty far away bc it is massive! Best guess: swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Check out those fake eyes 👀 #gardening #appletree #caterpillar #homeorchard #swallowtail
Large green caterpillar with fake eyes on leaf
August 11, 2025 at 9:55 PM
jseymournovelist.bsky.social
Creating an orchard from heirloom fruits and exotic varieties takes a ton of time and work but it'll be worth it very soon #appletree #homeorchard
April 9, 2025 at 2:23 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
European pears are blooming now (SW WA State). These are the varieties Orcas and Rescue, plus some grafts for pollination. Not seeing any honeybees, mason bees, or bumblebees 🙁 but maybe some native tiny pollinators. 🌱 #Gardening #HomeOrchard
Rescue pear tree in bloom. I usually have to do a lot of fruit thinning. We'll see about this year. Not many bees out there so far. Orcas Pear tree in bloom, with Rescue Pear nearby.
April 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
Winter pruning has started. Today I pruned this "dwarf' Liberty Apple tree that way-outgrew its dwarfing rootstock. I keep the branches above deer munching height but still within human (me) reach without ladder. Power pruners help. Be VERY CAREFUL - they can cut off a finger! #HomeOrchard 🌱
Liberty apple tree after pruning. Deer don't munch as high as those branches & spurs. Another view, same apple tree after pruning Power pruners. Great help! Extended reach, instant cut through inch - thick branches. Be very careful - they can do that to fingers too. My helper. He stands out of the way until pruning is finished and I'm cleaning up.
January 3, 2026 at 12:27 AM
distortions.net
Drat. Our tree rejected these two avocados. To the compost they go. Seven remain on the tree. #HomeOrchard #Yarden
Two palm length, green avocados rest in an open hand against a blurred outdoor background. One has a yellowed stem.
July 24, 2026 at 2:27 AM
danielrufus.bsky.social
I removed 2-3 feet of top growth from this Methley+Shiro+Hollywood Asian plum multigraft tree. Buds are swelling! So prolific - hundreds of potential plums. I thin a LOT. Pruning philosophy: short enough so no ladder needed. Too high for deer. 🌱 #HomeOrchard #AccessibleGardening
Multigraft Asian plum tree after pruning. This tree started as Methley. I added on Shiro and Hollywood about ten years ago. My fruit tree shaping philosophy: no branches easily reached by deer. That includes long slender willowy branches that will droop with weight of fruit. But, as someone who isn't as able as I used to be, keep all branches low enough to reach without a ladder. So, there's a "Goldilocks Zone". I try to keep fruiting spurs 6" to a foot long. I don't worry too much about keeping the center open. it has sort of a flat top, so sun reaches all of the leaves and fruit.
February 11, 2026 at 7:55 PM
autumnthoyre.bsky.social
I still can't believe it worked! We grew peaches! They don't look perfect and the raccoons got too many, but they're juicy, complex, and delicious ♥️ #peaches #byoc #gardening #homeorchard
Yellow and orange-blushed peaches sitting on a black surface
August 28, 2025 at 10:13 PM
distortions.net
The California Scrub Jay family were pecking our Hosui Asian pears, for food/water and/or to attract ants for food, so here’s our harvest. Fortunately, they’re sweet for Asian pears and they’re a reasonable size #HomeOrchard #AsianPears #Yarden
Eight brown, speckled brown Asian pears are on a countertop with a few fingers in the frame for scale. They’re each maybe smaller than a tennis ball.
August 5, 2026 at 1:22 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
The micro-mini apple trees are blooming. These are from varieties I liked, and grafted onto extremely dwarfing Budagovsky-9 (Bud-9) rootstocks. They stay 4 to 5 feet tall with a small amount of pruning. Perfect for #AccessibleGardening. Mostly heritage varieties. #HomeOrchard 🌱 #Gardening
Gravenstein Apple micromini dwarf apple tree, grafted onto Bud-9 rootstock. Almost finished blooming, with petals starting to brown. Columnar apple variety "North Pole", grafted onto highly dwarfing Bud-9 roostock. This tree is only about 4 feet tall. Apple variety 'SummerRed", grown on Bud-9 rootstock. SummerRed is a Canadian variety. In my climate, the flesh is tinged red under the skin. Heritage apple variety "Macoun", which has dark red, almost black apples. The flesh has a hint of berry flavor. I'm growing it on Bud-9 rootstock. Macoun seems especially susceptible to the dwarfing trait, only about 3 feet tall in 6 years. In the background is a mislabeled columnar apple tree in bloom. I think it's Blushing Delight. I bought it as Tasty Red, but it isn't that variety.
April 20, 2026 at 11:25 PM
danielrufus.bsky.social
My final legacy from my old garden. I started this fig tree 2 or 3 years ago by air layer. Lattarula or White Marseilles fig. Most productive and reliable in my yard. I also grew its parent from a cutting, two houses ago. A bit droopy after replanting. Fingers crossed. 🌱 #homeorchard #figs
Fig tree out of the ground for transplanting. It was out of the ground a few hours for transplant and digging. I think 90% of the roots are intact. I pruned a few broken ones. I cut the top 2 feet or so, leaving about 3.5 feet. Cut to decrease transpiration. Despite the bad transplanting season and sone wilting, I hope that with sone TLC it will survive and grow. Transplanted Lattarula fig tree, late August 2926. There is some first- day wilting but I think it will recover with plenty of watering and some TLC and good luck.
August 23, 2026 at 11:43 PM
ucanrpubs.bsky.social
Home Orchard, 2nd Edition is here!🍎
Nearly two decades of University of CA research updates.
From rootstocks to rainfall, pests to pruning—this is the guide for serious backyard fruit growers.
Get the guide, grow the dream.
Buy now: bit.ly/HomeOrchard2
#HomeOrchard #FruitTrees #UCANR
Cover of The Home Orchard Second Edition showing a fruit tree.
December 6, 2025 at 2:04 AM