Progress

This is the time of year when you reap the rewards of hard work in the garden!

We used our first two bell peppers for fajitas last week.
 

The strawberries are taking off! We find lots of big juicy ones every day now.

Spiderman and Ella helped me plant some greens for fall harvest--spinach, lettuce mix, and swiss chard.

We ate our first garden carrot--there is nothing like a garden carrot. Well maybe a garden tomato.

We started harvesting our red potatoes. The kids think it is so cool to dig down and find them, and pop them out. They're like hidden treasure! I am sold on making room for them every year... they are so easy!

One of my favorite garden meals is fresh green beans and potatoes, boiled till tender, and mixed with white sauce and seasonings.

The corn is doing fine... just fine. Half of it was under watered so I pulled it up. It's so frustrating when things don't go as well as they did previous years. 

We picked all of our apples this week. They are a little tart, so I was waiting to see if they would ripen, and then all of a sudden they were dropping and getting soft, so I picked the rest. It's amazing that our tiny tree could make so many huge apples!

Speaking of fruit trees, we just acquired a cherry tree (Utah Giant) from a neighbor who was taking it out. It didn't much like getting transplanted, so we'll have to watch and see if it perks up. And we may need to buy a pollinator for it, but I figure it's worth a try to plant a free tree!

The pumpkins are struggling. The giant ones both died from squash bugs. This one is hanging on and developing a few fruits, but I am losing the war. I have killed thousands of squash bugs, not even kidding. Time for a new plan of attack.

So far the butternut squash hasn't been infested as much. They show signs of stress, and yet they are still growing huge vines and developing lots of fruit.

The first sunflower bloomed this morning! The kids have been watching anxiously and were so excited to spot it after swimming lessons. They are such happy flowers. 

Lastly, the tomatoes are taking off. The cherry tomato is sprawling and taking over the world, and the climbers are really progressing. I still don't have any red ones, but soon!

Pruning Trees

It's that time of year! The sun comes out and teases us that spring is on it's way, even though the world is still white and cold. From my years working in the gardens, that combination whispers "Pruning!"

I am no pruning expert, but I do follow a few basics that guide me through most trees successfully.

1. Cut out any dead or diseased branches so the tree can heal over, also preventing further pest/disease problems.

2. Remove branches that are crossing or growing into the tree. I tend to be conservative on this so as not to cut out too much wood. If you can tell that a branch will only ever grow into the canopy and cause trouble, or that branches are already crossing and rubbing, exposing and weakening the bark, remove them.

3. Remove suckers (from the base of the tree) and water sprouts, which are young (you can tell new growth by the color difference) and tend to grow much faster than the other branches. This may be a difficult thing to identify, but some ornamental fruit trees--pears in particular--tend to have tons of water sprouts that take over the tree. They need to be nipped back to a lower, outer bud to keep the canopy open and re-direct growth.  

My young ornamental pear trees haven't water spouted too much, but they did have some crossing and erratic branches that needed guidance.  The idea is to direct all growth of the buds up and out, to keep the trunk open to light and air.

I don't know how well this illustrates, but the second picture is taken after I removed some crossing branches and nipped back a water spout on the left.

My trees are still very young and don't require much attention, but all trees should be examined at least once a year for problems. As mentioned before, pruning is typically done in the winter or early spring before buds swell, as soon as you can get to them with ladder and tools.

I have yet to attack my fruit trees, which are a whole different ball game, and with which I am still unfamiliar! All I know is that pear trees have to be shaped very differently than apple trees! For this information, and basically anything else I don't know, I like to turn to my state extension service website, which is through Utah State. Here are some great guides they put out with lots more detail and information:

Pruning the Orchard: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/HG_363.pdf

Pruning Landscape Trees: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_FF_004.pdf 

Free Gardening Advice!

Here is my first official Q & A session! I know only my mom and sisters read this blog (hi guys!) but in the case that anyone else does, I would love to try to answer your questions about green things.

My friend, Tina in Pennsylvania, asked:

"So we have an apple tree but it, along with the whole yard, has been neglected for years. It did grow apples this year, but they were very small and the cores seemed rotted almost immediately. They almost sounded hollow when I tapped on the cores. So, my question is, can it be fixed, and do I need to call an expert? I'm thinking it's overcrowded. Can that happen? And if I trim it myself, can I ruin it? Could it have some sort of bug or infection? Does that kind of thing happen? And finally, if I call someone, should I do it now or in the spring? I'd love to have apples and make apple sauce next year."

My answer:

From what I have seen, it’s pretty hard to grow apples organically. Most people who have apples trees spray for insects and diseases, because, yes, they do commonly happen! I would say spraying usually happens in the spring. Your best bet would be to contact a professional for the spraying, but you can learn to do the pruning yourself! It's not hard!

Also, most people don’t know about an awesome FREE information source—your local university Cooperative Extension service and Master Gardeners. They are trained volunteers who are familiar with the horticultural region and growing conditions. They have tons of information and resources at their fingertips and they are there just to help you! They may even have a list of professional arborists to get you started.

Here are some links I found just from perusing the Penn State Cooperative Extension website:

Contact a Master Gardener directly (click on your county to get numbers)

Complete guide to growing apples! (click on pome fruits)

Tree Fruit Resources

You may wonder, why such a plug for cooperative extension? Well, I'll toot my own horn for a moment... (although again, mom and sisters already know this! Hi guys! :)

I'm a Master Gardener! Or was, when we lived in Nevada. To be certified in Utah I would have to take a few more classes and start over with my volunteer hours.


In the fall of '07 I began a course through the University of Reno Extension Service to become a Master Gardener. It sounds like a flashy title, but really it's just a name for a person who volunteers to teach and 'extend' education to the community. I took a 70-hour classroom course (mostly a super quick review of my hort education) and then had a year to complete 50 hours of volunteer service to become certified. After graduating from the coursework in December, my volunteer hours were put on hold to prepare for and welcome little Maddie! But starting in April I began participating a couple of times a month on various projects. Most of my time was spent on the Master Gardener help line (call in to get your gardening questions answered today!) and also as a leader for the Junior Master Gardener program that met 2x a month. The kids enjoyed growing pumpkins, planting herbs, and learning about compost. It was a rewarding way to serve the community and stay connected to the green industry.

For those of you living here in Utah, here are the contact numbers for the Utah State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. More info on their website here.

Here is another great cooperative extension website:

"Gardening and landscaping is extremely popular in urban areas and, in many ways, the public's main connection with agriculture and the natural world around them. Extension offers an extensive catalog of publications on every aspect of landscaping and gardening. We have demonstration gardens in several areas around the state where you can see plants and landscaping techniques before you try them at your home. Underlying all of our gardening programs is conserving water - Utah's most precious resource."

Happy gardening!