Updates From The Farm
Multi-Variety Trees & Watching for Bud Stages
Last month, we wrote about root stocks, and how they influence the way a fruit tree grows. Why don't you graft several varieties onto the same root stock and save space? It sounds great, doesn’t it? 4 or 5 varieties of apple, all on one tree! Both pie and sweet...
We’re Looking For A Post-Harvest Coordinator/Nursery Assistant!
We are hiring for a Post-Harvest Coordinator/Nursery Assistant to join our team as soon as possible in the New Year.
Food to Bank On Program
One of the many programs that help train new farmers in our community is Food to Bank On, part of Sustainable Connections' Food and Farming Program. Food to Bank On is a 3-year business training program for aspiring farmers. Farmers learn business skills through a...
Rootstock, defined
"What the heck is a rootstock? " It is not uncommon for us to hear this from our customers buying fruit trees. Deciding which rootstock to use is one of the complexities of planting fruit trees. In simple terms, fruit trees are produced by joining the wood of a...
Peach Leaf Curl
Peach Leaf curl is caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans. The spores of the fungus lodge in the bud scales of peach and nectarine trees in the summer, overwintering there until the tree begins to break dormancy. At that time, the new leaf tissues are infected,...
Winter Scouting Fruit Trees
Scouting, or looking for pest and disease problems on plants, is an important part of good orchard management. Winter is a good time to look at your fruit trees without their leafy clothing hiding problems. In our rainy climate, all manner of fungal and bacterial...
Winter Garden Joy
We have been blessed in Whatcom County this fall and early winter with more sunshine and less rain than normal. But even in the dreariest November and Decembers, you can find hummingbirds warring over winter blooming plants. Plants that bloom in the fall and winter do...
Harvest is upon us
With the warm, dry summer we've had, fruit is ripening up to three weeks ahead of "normal". For the last three years, our accumulated heat units are well above the historical average. Since many fruits ripen when they've experienced the right amount of heat, it is to...
Permaculture Plants
“Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems, which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems” -Bill Mollison The permaculture concept has gained quite a bit of popularity in recent years. From...
Cover Crops for Home Gardeners
Thanks to Chris Benedict at WSU Whatcom Extension and his reminder to plan for cover crops in the recent edition of Whatcom Ag Monthly. This time of year, farmers face decisions on which cover crops to plant for fall. Cover crops are frequently used to improve and...
Fruit Fly Maggots in Berries
It's summer fruit time, with strawberries at their peak, cherries just starting to ripen, currants and gooseberries turning color and raspberries on the horizon. I've had a couple of calls lately about worms in various berries last summer and how to prevent them this...
Mildew Explosion!
The past couple of weeks, people are really starting to see powdery mildew raise its ugly head. Powdery mildew is caused by fungus in the genus Podosphaera. Powdery mildew spores overwinter in the leaf buds of plants, and germinate just as the new shoots are emerging....