Gardening

2018 Fruit Production

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Wow… it’s almost February already! As we have progressed past the harshest part of winter (hopefully), it’s time to think more about fruit production and items necessary to promote good plant growth. Grapes, brambles, blueberries, apples, peaches, pears, etc., all need pruned in the next few weeks if you haven’t already finished them.  I’ve added some pictures below to help determine what the finished product might look like. Good pruning for sunlight, air penetration and spray coverage is a key to good fruit production.

    

Grapes before pruning                             Grapes after pruning

 

      

Blackberries before pruning                    Blackberries after pruning

 

  

Blueberry before pruning                             Blueberry after pruning

 

                     

Apple or Pear pruning cuts              Peach or Cherry pruning for open center

 

Tree fruit producers should also be thinking about dormant oil sprays and/or copper applications if fire blight was severe last year in your trees. Oils…only apply when temperatures are above 40°F, never during freezing weather (read the label). Timely applications of any insecticide or fungicide is necessary if you want to get the full benefit of using them, so plan now and have the correct products ready to use as needed.  Also remember, pesticide resistance management is something we all need to guard against. Read the labels of any pesticides being used and rotate to other products as listed on the labels.

Black Rot in Grapes– I have many homeowners who contact me each year, as fall approaches, saying their grapes are turning black and shriveling up just about the time they start to ripen. This is a problem that must be controlled in the spring as the new vines are growing. The period from immediate pre-bloom through 3 to 4 weeks after bloom is the most critical period for controlling black rot. New growth, no larger than seen in the picture below, is the time to start spraying.  Two fungicides, Mancozeb (ex. Bonide Mancozeb 37%) or Mycobutanil (ex. Immunox Fungicide) are products that control black rot. Be sure to read the label for proper application rate, preharvest interval and timing between sprays. If sprays are not made (missed), an improper rate applied or complete coverage is not obtained, you cannot expect to get satisfactory disease control of black rot.

A great resource for home growing fruit producers is OSU Bulletin 780, Controlling Diseases and Insects in the Home Fruit Plantings. Pick one up from your local OSU Extension Office.

2018 is well underway. Are you ready for a productive fruit growing season? Let’s get ready to prune!

 

 

Ohio Apples Today and Yesterday

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We recently had a get together at the Extension Office to learn more about apples. Most trees in our area are loaded with apples this year. Multiple environmental factors contribute to the massive crop this year.

Some sources say that John Chapman’s favorite apple variety was ‘Rambo’.

One was moisture level. Fruit development has been great, but fungal issues are abundant. Most fungal issues are only aesthetic for home apple growers. All you need to do is wash the apples and cut out problem spots before eating, canning, or freezing the apples. If you are interested in growing the “perfect apple”, it will take dedication, a strict spraying schedule, and perfect weather. If that isn’t appealing to you, pruning at the appropriate time and density will help you along.

In recent years, we have had very warm early springs followed by a cold snap. A late frost event can stunt apple production. If trees are near bloom, in bloom, or in early fruit development, freezing temperatures can cause the flowers or fruit to drop off the tree or rot. Fortunately, this year we did not have a harmful cold snap.

Pollinators must have been busy as well! Cross-pollination is essential for apples. Apple trees are primarily pollinated by insects. It aids in fruit development and overall crop success. This means that at least two different varieties of apples should be grown in an orchard so that cross-pollination can occur. There is no need to fear whether the apples will grow true to type or not. The apple that develops from the pollinated flower will bear the same characteristics as the other apples on the tree. However, if you grew the seeds from one apple and compared them to the seedlings from another apple from the same tree, the resulting trees may be very different!

Think of it this way: If you have a siblings from the same two parents, you probably share many of the same genetic characteristics. If you have a child with your partner and your sibling does the same, your children may share some characteristics, but will also have many additional differences due to the introduction of your partner’s genetics. This can help us understand the vastness of apple varieties. In the 1800s, there were over 17,000 documented varieties of apples in the United States. When grown from seed, each apple tree is genetically unique. Explore the USDA’s collection of historical pomological watercolor paintings to browse over 3,800 watercolor paintings of apples. These paintings were completed between 1886 and 1942.

So how do growers produce apples that are so consistent? That consistency is attributed to vegetative reproduction, usually through grafting. In these cases, cuttings (which are called scions) are taken from the desired apple tree and grafted onto root stocks that are compatible with the soil and climate of the orchard. This allows for the distribution of genetically consistent trees that are also adapted for specific regions of growth.

Apple history is deep and fascinating. As Ohioans, we all know of the legacy left by John Chapman or “Johnny Appleseed”, who carried apple seed and planted orchards across the mid-west. Before him, the pilgrims brought apples across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Before the pilgrims, the Spanish conquistadors brought apples to South America. As of today, it is believed that the true origin of apples is Kazakhstan. It wasn’t until the Soviet Republic dissolved that scientists were able to map the lineage of apples that far. It is interesting that Kazakhstan is not too far from the believed location of the Garden of Eden.

As with many pieces of ancient history, the details are hazy. Even in home orchards, it can be incredibly difficult to trace the origin of well-aged apple trees. The best way to know what type of apples you have is to experiment with them. Taste them. Cook with them. Preserve them. Keep notes from year to year. Talk with your neighbors about their orchards. Look up periodicals from the time period that your property was first developed. All of these activities can lead you closer to knowing the history of your favorite apple.

To find out more about how to grow and enjoy apples in Ohio, you can contact OSU Extension by leaving a comment on this blog, visit ohioline.osu.edu and search for “apples”, or consult Ohio Apples, our state apple organization at ohioapples.com.

IPM- Crop Rotations

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In Extension, we often talk about integrated pest management, a way to control a pest from various angles. These angles are cultural, mechanical, and biological options for managing pests.  A pest is simply something unwanted in a particular area.  Pests could be plants, insects, or even mammals at times.  The thought process is that there is no one perfect solution to a problem.  Easy come easy go, some would say.  I guess in this case it would be; easy go, easy come back!

A cultural way to break the cycle of many pests is to plan a crop rotation that involves crops from different plant families. Families in the sense of phylogenies or grouping according to similarities.  For instance, the following plants: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and even potatoes are all in the Solanaceae family.  As you can tell, many of our garden crop favorites share a lot with one another.

One of the biggest mistakes in crop rotations is to rotate between unrelated plants/crops. This is important because pests can share similar crops and over winter in that specific crop residue.  Take for instance the cucumber beetle; this pest will over winter on cucurbit residue and be ready to re-infect that crop, whether it is a cucumber, pumpkin or zucchini.  This bug will also spread bacterial wilt that can cause a loss of an entire crop with a systemic infection.

The cucumber beetle will not damage tomatoes so planting a Solanaceae crop in an area that a Cucurbitaceae was growing would break that pest cycle. Pests can also be fungal.  A fungus called Alternaria tomatophila causes early blight in tomatoes.  The fungus can over winter in certain cultivars of potato and eggplant, both of which are in the Solanaceae family.

A good crop rotation starts with careful planning and can be successful by utilizing crops with complementary planting and harvest dates. A good rotation for May plantings would be to start with sweet corn (Poaceae).  Sweet corn can be harvested around August and into September.  A crop rotation will prevent certain cutworms and corn borers from being problematic in a specific area.  A good follow-up crop in that area would be garlic (Alliaceae) planted in September/October and harvested in July.  Once July comes, planting a legume (Fabaceae) will help remediate the soil and get the soil ready for the following season, hairy vetch for instance.

There are many rotations that work well in a crop rotation system, utilizing soybeans for a food plot can also be done. Just remember to rotate crops that are unrelated and replenish the soil at times.  This can be accomplished through the use of legumes or fertilizers.  A rotation only needs to be more than one crop; two is good, but three is great!  Get your garden plans in place and dig right in.

Try, Try, Again

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This article was also printed in The Journal on October 3, 2016.

This spring I had an idea to start a research project by planting some grass seed. I shared the idea with some of my mentors and colleagues and we got to work. It seemed simple enough, but I didn’t get the results that I hoped for. Despite my efforts to create good conditions for the seed, the grass did not establish. Instead, I grew a great big patch of weeds. Oh, how disappointing it was to see so many cocklebur plants and foxtail stems where my grass was supposed to be. I looked at it and wanted to throw in the towel. I had plans for that grass, but it wasn’t there. Now what do I do? Can I fight off these weeds? Do I give up on my project idea? Do I start all over? After thinking all this over and asking for advice, we decided that the project idea is still good. Just because the grass didn’t establish this spring, doesn’t mean it is a lost cause. One thing is for sure, it certainly won’t work if we don’t try. So far, it seems like this project has been a failure, but the only way it can really fail is if we give up. So, I am trying again.

My friend Doug had a similar experience this summer. Doug has specific plans in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to put in a strip of pollinator friendly plants along a section of his property. In order to follow the developed plan, he would have to wait until Spring 2017 to get started. Doug wanted to get a head start and do something beneficial this year. He had an idea to plant buckwheat this summer in the location where his pollinator plants would go in 2017. Buckwheat is a short-season annual plant that is versatile and low maintenance. Bees, butterflies, deer, and turkeys find it attractive, the grain can be used to make flour for human consumption, and it is very useful as a cover crop and green manure. After investigating his options and talking to people who had success growing buckwheat he decided to plant some.

Doug followed the directions for planting the seed, but the buckwheat didn’t come up within the time frame he expected. He inspected the field and the only remnants of the seed he found were damaged or dead. He called me concerned that he had done something wrong. We kicked around ideas, but were unable to pinpoint exactly what happened. Despite the setback, Doug didn’t give up. He replanted the strip of land with a fresh supply of seed. At the beginning of September, I got a message from Doug with photos of a long strip of white flowers that read, “Hi Christine, So…What do you think of my buckwheat?” “Wow! It’s beautiful!”, I responded.

It truly was beautiful, not just the image of the gorgeous spicebush swallowtail butterfly that sat gracefully perched on a cluster of flowers, but the reassurance that what may appear to be failure on the first try, can blossom into success. Let’s face it, no one is an expert at something they’ve only tried once. We’ve heard the saying a hundred or more times, but let’s keep saying it so we don’t forget, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.”


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The Urban Farm – fall harvest has started

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The Urban Farm is now actually a farm.   The paperwork has been processed and we have gotten permission to proceed through the Ohio Senior Farmer’s Market voucher program.  Harvest started on some herbs from our own beds with some fresh fruit from the Chesterhill produce auction.  Sam will come up with some recipes based on what we have to sell seasonally.  We have apples, seckel pears and an assortment of fresh herbs including rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano right now.   I am thinking pork chops with sage and apples myself.

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While there is only one more week left in the voucher program,  these are also available for sale to the public.  Stop by The Southeast Ohio Regional Kitchen but do not dawdle,  once they are gone, they are gone.  Each box costs 5 dollars.  To order a box as well as some other great produce deals CLICK HERE FOR THE ORDER FORM FROM THE KITCHEN

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Soil Sampling – Now is a Great Time to Start

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It’s that time of year again, and I’m not talking about football or the changing of the seasons. It is soil testing time! Right now is the best time to test your soil. According to the former director of West Virginia University’s state soil testing laboratory, soil samples taken in late summer and fall are better than those taken in winter through spring because they come closer to representing the soil’s nutrient level as it affects plants.

Why test soil? Proper fertility is the foundation for successful crops, gardens, and lawns. Soil testing provides information about the nutrient level of the soil and the amounts of lime and fertilizer needed to maximize production.

To obtain proper lime and fertilizer recommendations for your soil, it is important to send a high quality soil sample to the lab for analysis. The soil sample collected needs to be representative of the area being tested. For small areas and lawns, take 7 to 10 randomly selected soil borings. For a large field, subdivide into 10 acre plots and take 20 – 30 borings for each 10 acre plot. Avoid taking borings from abnormal areas (wet spots, bare spots, eroded areas, etc.); for it will not be representative of the sampling area.

Most OSU extension offices have a soil probe to loan out so call ahead to check the availability of the probe – it really makes taking a soil boring much easier and quicker. Using an auger, shovel, spade, or soil probe and a clean plastic pail or container, remove vegetation and take small uniform cores or thin slices from the soil surface to the recommended depth (contact OSU Extension office for depth recommendation).

Mix the borings together by gently crushing the soil. Discard any roots, stones or any other organic matter; like grass, leaves, worms, etc. Then take a sample of all the mixed borings; about one cup of soil. A wet soil sample must be air-dried in in a shady clean spot before mailing.  Never heat the sample or put it in direct sunlight.

Place the sample into in a plastic zip-lock bag and label it. Lastly, deliver the soil sample to a soil testing service center or the local extension office. Allow up to three weeks for the samples to be processed and results made available. The soil sample results will make recommendations on how much lime and fertilizer to add. Just remember, lime is typically added in the fall and fertilizer is typical added in the season it is needed.

For more information about soil testing, please contact your local OSU Extension office or click the link to OSU’s factsheet, “Soil Testing for Ohio Lawns, Landscapes, Fruit Crops, and Vegetable Gardens”: http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1132

Oak Leaf Itch Mite

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A couple weeks ago a story was circulating on social media about oak mites in the Cleveland area. Reports indicated that people were being bitten by the mites and that the bites could cause startling skin reactions. It sparked quite a bit of discussion and concern in social circles, giving me the inspiration to write about the tiny critters.

The oak leaf itch mite (pictured below), Pyemotes herfsi, is a mite that primarily feeds on midge flies. Midge flies create galls (also pictured below) on the margins of oak leaves, where their larvae feed and grow. The mites colonize the galls and feed on the larvae. This feeding pattern makes the oak mite preferential to oak trees, particularly pin oaks and red oaks. The mites are so tiny that they cannot be seen by the naked eye. The interaction between oak mites and humans occurs when a person comes near an infested oak tree. The mites may fall from the tree’s canopy or be blown from the tree by the wind, inadvertently landing on a passerby. Then mites may accidently bite the person. Humans are not a host for these mites. They will not colonize in homes or cars or on pets.

The oak mite’s bite can produce an itchy, swollen, and red rash that may be accompanied by small raised bumps. The bites themselves do not leave lasting damage, but itching the irritating rash could lead to a secondary bacterial infection. Therefore, calamine lotions and hydrocortisone creams are often recommended to reduce inflammation and itching.

The mites are most active in late summer and into the fall. Most people encounter them while raking leaves. Controlling the mite population is difficult and rarely accomplished, because the mites find protection within the leaf galls created by the midge flies. The best way to avoid the mites is to limit time near infested trees, launder clothes, and shower promptly after working near the tree.

There have been reports of the oak leaf itch mites in the Southeastern Ohio region, but there is no need to panic. They mite populations will begin to die off with the first frost. In addition, the midge flies and the mites rarely have a detrimental impact on the overall health of oak trees in the landscape.OakItchMiteUSDA_2016
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Container Gardening class at Hocking Valley Community Hospital Wednesday September 7th at 6pm

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I am working on a really neat project right now that I am excited about.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Latricia Johnston, Director of HVCH Foundation and Community Relations for the Hocking Valley Community Hospital about helping them design a project to celebrate their upcoming 50th anniversary.  They have an event upcoming and wanted to show off the hospital which they are rightfully proud of.   We bounced some ideas on the phone to come up with something cool.

They have a really neat courtyard in the middle of the hospital.

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The plan is to plant a container vegetable and herb garden with 5 different stations of containers that will be used as a display of healthy produce with a collaboration from HVCH Nutrition and Food Services.  The timeline was to have this done by the end of September.  That was not a ton of time to get a veggie garden fully planted, but with some awesome donations from Rick Webb of Webb’s Perennials and two runs to get dirt in my truck I got the herbs, tomatoes, and peppers in.  More veggies will follow in late summer.

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The garden is coming along nicely and should make a great display for their 50th anniversary event.  I wish it would rain so the Master Gardener Volunteers and myself did not have to make so many watering trips but what can you do about that?  I will be teaching a class on container gardening in concert with Denise Kiamy, Director of Nutrition and Food Services in September.   Info is below courtesy of the HVCH weekly newsletter.  It is free and open to the public and will showcase how anyone can have a garden even if you do not have a yard.

Gardening class at HVCH Sept. 7

 

Hocking Valley Community Hospital in partnership with Ohio State University Extension presents: Successful Strategies & Healthful Benefits for Growing Herbs and Vegetables in Containers.

Growing in containers can let the home gardener have a successful gardening season even if they have limited space and time. Come learn the basics of container gardening with a presentation as well as hands-on display of a container herb and vegetable garden. Gardeners of all skill levels are welcome to attend this free class taught by Tim McDermott, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Ohio State Extension.

Denise Kiamy, Director of Nutrition & Food Services will share the nutritional benefits of eating the fruits of your own labor! Join our guest speakers in the HVCH Courtyard on Wednesday, September 7th at 6 p.m. Please call 740-380-8336 to register for this FREE event. Limited seating is available. Snacks to be served made from the container produce.

Ohio Local Foods week at the Logan Community Garden

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Ohio Local Foods week is August 7th- 13th.   We live in one of the finest of agricultural states as well as a outstanding region for fresh meat, vegetables and fruit.  I try to source local food as much as possible to feed my family as I like to see where it comes from and know its story.

To celebrate Local Foods Week in Hocking county I will be at the Logan Community Garden off Radio Lane behind the City of Logan’s maintenance facility on Tuesday August 9th at 7pm for a free event open to anyone in the community for a garden walk to see different ways folks like to grow and to answer any questions people have.

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To me the best local food you can eat is the food you grow yourself, be it in your backyard or your community garden.  I can grow a significant amount of my family’s produce and I am happy to show you how to do that for your family if you want to learn.

The buckwheat cover crop experiment at the Logan Community Garden had a good growing season.

 

Hope to see you at the garden.  Take a walk around and see how amazing it is.  The Logan Community garden will have open plots for the 2017 season so you can start your planning now and get your name on the list to reserve a spot.

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July Blooms

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It always feels like July 4th is the peak of summer and when those hot summer days seem to kick off.  In fact the longest day of the year is the summer solstice which falls in late June, and the days gradually get shorter from there.  Many long day flowering plants will flower or “bolt” around this time.  One that I saw most recently was lettuce.  Lettuce is a long day plant that when exposed to darkness for periods of eleven hours or less will flower or bolt.  Unfortunately lettuce was never bred for its flower and the bolting causes chemical changes in the plant and it is accompanied by a bitter taste in the leaves.  I know that read kind of funny.  Even though the plant is called a “long day plant” the transition to flowering is dictated by the shortened period of darkness that comes with the longer days.  So that’s how the long day plants work, they need eleven hours of darkness or less.  So when the days become thirteen hours or longer these plants will start flowering due to the shortened dark periods.

Weeds are also tied to the day lengths and temperatures to transition to flower. There is a reason why allergies fall at certain times of the year.  As stated earlier some long day plants are flowering now.  One of these examples is the Giant Ragweed.

 

Giant Ragweed Giant Ragweed is a summer annual that can grow up to seven feet tall or greater.  Giant ragweed is a monoecious plant, much like corn.  Giant Ragweed produces separate male and female flowers on the same plant.  It flowers in racemes that hold a cluster of small flowers.  The male flowers that produce pollen are on top while the female flowers are located at the base of the raceme.  This is a strategy that many monoecious plants take.  Corn tassels are also the male flowers which are located on top to increase the chances of pollination.

 

Common Burdock is another weed that is flowering now. Common Burdock

The Burdock flower looks a lot like the thistle flower but the plant has a very large broad leaves at the base.  The leaves can grow to be almost 2 feet long and can be over a foot wide.  When this flower is fertilized it produces a bur type fruit that will attach to clothes and hair.

Wild carrot is also flowering at this time; this plant is sometimes known as Queen Anne’s lace.

Wild Carrot

The flowers are white and set up as an umbel.  An umbel is a cluster of flowers that have a single attachment point.  It produces a round flat cluster of flowers that are known to attract butterflies.  I have heard it being referred to as a “helicopter pad” for butterflies…

One of the best ways to identify plants is to do it during flowering times. When a plant flowers will give you a lot of information as to its identity, and many plant keys will require the flower to be utilized in its identification.