Postpone Pruning
Apricot Tree
Cut Costs. Where can you cut gardening costs? Postpone professional fruit tree pruning. You may be savvy about the proper way to prune an apricot tree, but I am not. Neither my husband nor I feel comfortable trying because our tree sits on a slope. We don’t climb trees anymore. Nor, do we have the proper tools and truck to haul away clipped branches. We’ve always relied on our gardener here in southern California to do it for us. Our former gardener included annual pruning in our monthly fee for weekly yard upkeep. However, our new gardener priced the job separately at $200 per year!
Postpone Pruning. Our apricot tree had been pruned every year, just after the buds emerged, in February. Under that regimen, the tree produced a large yield every other year. That was okay with us because we couldn’t manage so much fruit! With the economic downturn, however, we have not had our tree pruned for 2 years. Surprisingly to us, our tree has produced a more consistent heavy yield each year! And, we saved ourselves $400! The branches have grown much longer. The tree looks much bigger and fuller for not having been pruned. It may cost $200+ when we finally do have it pruned!
Fruit Dilemmas. It was a mistake to plant our apricot tree on the back slope, because we cannot balance a ladder to either prune or pick the fruit! The fruit is ready the last week of June and the first week of July. So, there’s a mad scramble to pick the ripening fruit to share with family and friends before the birds and squirrel get to it. You can guess who wins this contest! The birds are in giddy rapture, singing and feasting, then swooping down to the birdbath for a sip and a splash! The squirrel twirls and gnaws around one apricot after another, while hanging upside down! The result is a carpet of half eaten apricots under the tree and all over the playhouse deck! My fruit “cage” picker on a long pole just cannot compete! The fruit falls through it or is obscured by the plastic milk jug I tuck inside to try to capture the flying fruit that drops into the middle of my bush below!
In a Jam. We used to make DELICIOUS apricot jam and wished we could sell it. But, that would have taken Health Department approval! We’d such a stockpile of it, even after sharing, that years went by while it sat on the shelf! We had to throw a lot of it out! Before planting a fruit tree in order to make jam, consider the costs and time involved. It takes a huge amount of sugar, expensive pectin, fresh lemons, and lots of sterilized jars. The apricots must be pureed and cooked in a very large pot at a usually hot and busy time of the year. We could have made more than 50 jars of jam/year, but it was too costly.
Apricot and Blueberry Pie. We don’t make jam anymore (must restrict our sugar intake)! I was able to steal enough apricots from the birds this year to make a pie for the 4th of July. Here’s how. Make it a day before your party so juices congeal. Mix 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 c. cornstarch, and ½ tsp. cinnamon together. Divide this mixture between 1 c. berries and 3 c. apricots, mixing each separately before layering the pie, first with berries, then the apricots. Dot with butter. Crimp on top crust, make slits, sprinkle on sugar, cover crimped edge with foil, and bake 45-50 minutes in a preheated 425º oven.
Tags: apricot and blueberry pie, apricot jam, pruning apricot trees, Save Money Gardening, squirrels and birds
