Signs of Spring

    Our resident pair of Canada geese have returned from their winter habitat and are making enough noise to ensure we know Spring has arrived (photo at right). Canada geese mate for life and return year after year to the same nesting site. So far we've seen this pair raise at least six broods of goslings on our farm pond.

   Our pecan trees are still waiting for some warmer temperatures (especially warm night-time temperatures) before bursting out with a new crop of leaves. This year, pecan bud break is proceeding slower than normal. The buds have swollen but leaves have not yet emerged (photo at left). This slow bud development has been a blessing as we have experienced several hard freezes in early April and not suffered any cold injury.
    The pecan grafting season will start late this year. I like to see the first signs of leaf burst on stock trees before making any grafts. At this point, I probably won't carve a single scion until early May.