Grafting fruit trees

Today, Sunday 11th March 2018  I grafted about 15 fruit trees. Talk about feeding future generations! I have waited so long to try this out, and it has fulfilled all my expectations. Of course, it will take a couple of weeks to see if they have worked or not, but I have everything crossed and well, why shouldn't they!
So Patrick the local lad mentioned in other posts accompanied Ivor and me to the old farm, where there are plenty of wild cherry trees and almonds that have grown from seed.

One day when we had a load of wwoofers and helpxers I sent them off almond picking and they came home happily showing off a trunk full of almonds (literally). However, I had omitted to remind them of the bitter almond. So we were faced with trying each almond, or throwing the lot out. After poisoning myself with cyanide a few too many times, I threw them onto the garden in several spots thinking to myself that maybe some would grow. And they did. And now I am grafting onto them. So perfect. Lesson to be learned, when picking almonds always try one from each tree as bitter almonds are rightly named.

The cherries have grown from seed too, either from cherries we ate or perhaps wild animals. The two older boys argue over who spat out the seed that grew into the cherry tree next to our old kitchen hut - it bears tasty cherries - and today I grafted from that tree onto one of the wild cherries. It may be our very own variety - we will have to name it! sabien?  fabix? random spit cherry? ha ha.

Patrick has suggested that we leave the rootstock that we have planted this year to establish themselves and then we can graft them next year. I still plan on visiting the apple trees in my mum's back garden to take grafts!

Today we also grafted pear and apple onto hawthorn! Excellent stuff. Oh, and apricot onto almond too.

Most of the photos show the crown graft, but we did try one chip bud graft (at least I think that is what it is called in English, will check):

Doesn't look like much, but apparently they are the most successful grafts!


Wednesday  14th March, son number two's 17th birthday, I grafted all on my own. Well, Alex and Ivor came with me, Alex attacked the clematis and brambles, freed a couple of trees and cleared where the old sheep tunnel was, and Ivor filled the water butts from the source, and 'helped' generally.

I only cut myself twice! I grafted cherry onto wild cherry, and then just for fun, onto one wild cherry with three trunks just behind where the old kitchen used to be, I grafted cherry, almond and apricot (from left to right in the photo)! Makes me shiver.

Never a dull moment

We fast approach the exam period and as quickly as spring starts to make itself felt and the snow melts from the mountain side so my students lose any desire to work they may have nurtured! I hope we make it up to the snow one more time at least this winter.

Photo taken on a day racket walking (snow shoes), Domaine de Choula, Le Roc.

I arrived home last night (Thursday 8th March) to an injured Ivor, who, on hurtling home on his bicycle had a head-on collision with a mother cycling to school to pick up her child. Ivor went flying after having totally bent the front forks of the woman's bike then apparently picked both himself and the bike up and walked home.
He is a lucky boy, since he was cycling on the wrong side of the road (no, nothing to do with the fact that he is 'English', as he has never lived in the UK). He suffered a nasty graze on his chin and his jaw hurts (not enough to refuse chocolate). He got away lightly.
So begins the 'I don't want to go to school tomorrow' story. No chance mate! You have to be in bed with a fever and vomiting before that happens.
Too early the next morning he calls me from his bedroom - just once. As soon as I am within earshot: "Mum, I can't go to school today............. my jaw hurts............ I can't speak....... French."
HA HA HA! Too Funny. I could see realisation dawn on him - that he was speaking to me.

Bless him. He went to school of course.

Today, Saturday 10th March, I did my first practice graft! Thanks a million to Patrick, the local lad that is teaching me. The cherry laurel (I think) hedge has been subjected to scientific experiment. Happy and lucky me.
I am sure it is obligatory - I did cut myself, just the once.

My first ever experimental graft, Patrick called it a crown graft (greffe en couronne)

He showed me two other types of crown graft too. Very exciting. Plus tomorrow we are off to the garden to do some wild grafting on the wild trees - cherries and hawthorn. Any pip onto any pip and any stone onto any stone.

Meanwhile the boys helped create a potato patch

and the chicken palace II is coming along nicely

and the new seed/planting area in the greenhouse too