Say Goodbye to Wormy Apples

Wouldn’t it be nice to go out to grandma’s apple tree and bite into a nice crisp juicy apple and not have to worry about worms? Just think of the work it would save when making apple sauce, cider, or pie. Say goodbye to wormy apples! It is a bit of work; it takes planning and careful timing. However, we can achieve worm free apples--without using pesticides-- if we know when to begin.

The nasty worms that inhabit and foul our apples all have a similar life cycle. The stage that bothers us the most, when they chew through our fruit, is their larval stage, the first stage after hatching from eggs. These eggs are laid right after our trees blossom in the spring. The larva that will soon be looking for a spot to spend the winter and turn into flies and moths come autumn. After the apples fall to the ground, depending on exactly which species of pest we are talking about, they spin cocoons or turn into pupas to wait out the winter months. Once spring is upon us, they burst from their hibernation and take to the air, ready to mate and lay eggs on our apple blooms.

The first step to ensuring worm free apples next year, is to get those wormy apples off the ground right now. If necessary, trees can be pruned, just enough so that you can get under them to clean up all the plant litter. Pruning back all branches that touch the ground is a good job for when the tree is completely dormant. Besides easing the job of cleaning up under the tree, it reduces the path ways that pests and disease follow to infect your fruit.

Once you can get under the tree to work, the leaf, fruit, and twig litter should be completely raked up. It can be fed to poultry or other animals, burned, or buried under at least three feet of dirt. Simply composting infested apples and other tree litter allows the worms to complete their life cycle and attack your fruit for another season.

Cleaning up under your apple trees before our rains set in has other benefits. It also helps prevent the tree from developing dry rot and fungus infections. These disease organisms often get their start in the duff and litter beneath trees. Once our weather begins to dry out in the spring, you will want to add a layer of compost or manure and some mulch beneath the trees drip line. This will help with water conservation, it reduces competition from weeds, and it supports the health of our all important soil organisms. Be sure to keep the organic matter at least a few inches away from the trunk to prevent disease organisms from gaining access to the bark and wood. The organic matter will provide nutrition for your trees as it breaks down. Just don’t forget to rake it up and move whatever is left next fall.

If you still have apples on your trees right now, you may want to take another step, after cleaning up the litter. Consider placing tarps under the trees, at least until all the apples fall. Some apple fruit pests burrow into the soil soon after the infected apples hit the ground. If you can block them from burrowing you will be ahead of the game next spring. (Remove the tarp after all the leaves and fruit fall, so the soil and roots can breathe.) Other apple worms climb up onto the trees trunk and hide in the bark. We can take care of these pests with Neem. Neem is natural oil from a tropical tree that is used by many organic gardeners for pest control. It is harmful to many insects, including those that are our friends, so it should be used carefully and in moderation. Certified organic farmers should contact their certifying organization to see if Neem is allowed. If not the organizations can make recommendations on other oils to use. Many horticultural oils, even those allowed by organic standards, can cause a build-up of heavy metals and other toxins in our soils and plants. Neem seems to be the safest, but it is not always allowed.

Neem oil is available from many nurseries, garden catalogs, organic farm suppliers, and natural food stores. Read the label carefully and ask any knowledgeable staff person for help if the label isn’t clear. The packaging should give directions, including dilution rates. (If you have more than one tree, or if your tree is very large, you may need something more than just a spray bottle to do the job.) Once you are ready to go, a dry still day when the bees are not busy is ideal. Consider spraying up to three times. First, after all your fruit is picked and before the rain has started; a second time in December or January, after the tree is fully dormant; and lastly, after the petals have all fallen from the tree and the bees are busy elsewhere. Thoroughly spray the bark and branches, and lightly spray the ground under the tree. Neem will not burn your plants leaves in spring, so go ahead and spray the young leaves too. Neem not only controls insect infestation it also reduces fungal infections, which is a great benefit in very wet winters. If you happen to live far away from anyone else who has apple worms treating your trees one year might be enough. However, the adult insects can fly in from several miles around, so most of us will need to spray every few years at least

If your apple trees are too big, too over grown, and too productive to undertake all this work, ask yourself if you really need trees that big. There are many very good varieties of dwarf apples available. If you are not overly attached to your old trees, you ought to consider replanting. You can keep the old trees for a few years, until the new ones get established. If you time it right, you can take out the old trees before the new ones bloom, so they just don’t hand their pest problems over to their replacements. However, the main advantage to planting new dwarfs is that their smaller size makes them easier to care for. They are just as susceptible to infestation as their larger relatives. If you do take out old trees, don’t let the apple wood go to waste. Let it age a few years and put it to good work on your BBQ or in your smokehouse. Apple wood gives food a nice, sweet, smoky flavor.

A great source of information on pruning and natural pest control can be found in the book Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally by Robert Kourik. It is available by request from many libraries and used book stores.

Sources: If you are unable to find dwarf apple trees in the varieties you would like check out Burgess at http://www.eBurgess.com or call (309) 662-7761 to request a free catalog. Last but not least, if you can’t find Neem oil locally or through your favorite catalog, Territorial seed company has it listed in their winter 2007 catalog along with some spray equipment, garden tools including a pruner for branches up to ¾ inch, and a sharpener for your pruning equipment. http://www.TerritorialSeed.com (800) 626-0866.

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Published in the Hoopa People Paper, October 2007, Copyright Harvest McCampbell, all rights reserved.  Republishing by permission only.

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Added a photo on 11.4.16. Text and photos copyright Harvest McCampbell.  Please feel free to share using the buttons below.  All other rights reserved.

Digging the Dirt / June in the Garden

Previously published in the Hoopa People News, copyright 2008, Harvest McCampbell.

This month may not be quite typical, if La Nina continues to play fickle games with our weather. However, we can be thankful that we aren’t having the record breaking tornadoes being experienced in the Midwest. The end result, for us, may be that our tomatoes won’t ripen up as fast as usual; but if that’s the case, we can keep our eyes peeled for green tomato recipes!

Last Chance for Summer Starts:

Better hurry, if you haven’t got your summer garden in. While it is too late for seeds of many summer favorites, you can still tuck in plants of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, summer squash and melons. Pumpkins and winter squash can be planted from starts or even seeds if you do it this week. The longer you wait to get your starts in, the larger the plants you ought to seek out. This week, any healthy well established plants ought to work out fine. By the middle of the month or later, look for plants in four inch pots. A little extra TLC may be called for, unless you have been working on your soil. Dig in some compost or water with the dilute organic fertilizer of your choice. Keep your plants well mulched and a careful eye on soil moisture, until they get established. These dreary sometimes drizzly days can be deceiving. There is a lot less moisture in the soil than you might think. However, you don’t want to over-water, especially while it is cool and cloudy. That can encourage root rot and blight. Check the soil for moisture and water accordingly, and you will be sure to pick the best tasting produce you can imagine, should the sun take pity on us and burn off these clouds.

Seeds to plant this month:

While it is too late to plant many summer veggies from seed, bush bean seeds can go in right now. There are varieties that make tender snap and string beans, while others are most commonly grown for dry beans. When shopping your favorite seed rack or catalog, be sure to check out all the marvelous colors for snap, string, and shell beans. What we once called “green beans” can be grown in every shade of yellow, purple, and, of course, green. Shell beans are even more varied-- black turtle beans, red Cherokee wax, yellow Indian Woman, and the variegated Jacobs Cattle and Anasazi--among a host of choices. If you aren’t happy with the local choices or those in your favorite catalog, you can shop for bush beans on-line see: www.seedsofchange.com & www.bountifulgardens.org.

Don’t Forget to Pick Your Produce!

Early spring planted greens, peas, and roots are in their prime right now. Take a basket out in the garden and pick yourself the fixings for a nice green salad or a simple stir fry. Radishes should be picked soon after they plump up, when they are tender, sweet, and crisp. If they are left in the ground too long, they may get hot and woody. If you have a radish bumper crop, besides salads, they can be added to soups and stir fries; cooking mellows their flavors. Radish greens, if they are not too prickly, also make good eating. The young tender leaves can be added to salad. The more mature, but not yet tough leaves, can be added to soups and my favorite – an old fashioned mess of greens.

Pick peas frequently to ensure the plants keep producing. Shell peas should be picked as soon as the pods are plump. Sugar peas are best picked just as soon as the peas barely start to develop; snap peas are best a little in between. Once any of your peas produce mature seed, it will quit making pods, having accomplished its life mission. However, if you plants are happy and kept picked, they will continue producing until the weather finally decides to warm.

If you are growing lettuce, be aware that it tends to bet bitter when it starts to bolt. When you notice your plants getting taller instead of fuller, it is time to cut it back near the ground, and remove the leaves; unless you want to experiment with saving seed. If the leaves taste a bit on the bitter side, here is an easy fix. Put them in a large bowl, and slowly fill with cold water. Place the bowl in the fridge and let sit for a few hours. You may need to pour out the water and replace it a few times before your lettuce loses its bitterness. But this really works, so give it a try.

Fresh Produce in the Kitchen

Fresh barely braised vegetables make a tasty side dish. Start by collecting a basket of veggies from your garden. Here are some suggestions of things you could include, but your recipe will be based on what you have available. Try to choose veggies in a variety of colors, especially if you are cooking for guests. Check for roots to pull--carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips, or rutebegas, for instance. Next check your peas and fava beans. Whole young pods or green shelled peas or favas work equally well. Next, if you have any early peppers or squash, grab a couple. (I have just started picking squash, but my peppers are a long way off.) Or perhaps you have broccoli or cauliflower ready to eat. Last but not least, pick some greens, if you have them. Beet tops or tender radish leaves will work great, and leaves from cabbage or broccoli are tasty too.

Carefully wash your leaves, pods, broccoli, or cauliflower, and scrub up your roots. While warming a bit of olive oil on medium, begin slicing your veggies into bite sized pieces. Keep the pieces a little on the large size, for the most visual pizzaz. Keep an eye on your olive oil, and as soon as it is warm, gently add the veggies, a few at a time. Your roots may take the longest to cook, so start with them, then the pods, peas, or favas. Next add the broccoli and cauliflower, followed by peppers and squash, and last add the chopped greens. Allow each addition a minute or two of cooking time, before adding the next ingredient. Stir between each addition, and after you add the greens, add ½ cup of water or broth and turn heat to low. Your veggies will only need another five minutes, max. You can stir them every minute or so, to check for wilting and tenderness. As soon as the greens are wilted, it’s ready to serve.

To make this simple dish a full meal, you can add tofu, boneless chicken, or savory sausage and cook thoroughly, before you start adding your veggies. Serve with pasta, rice, or a whole grain pilaf, a bit of bread or salad, and garden fresh strawberries for desert. Yumm!

Small Buildings, Small Gardens - Creating Gardens around Structures:

If you are thinking of updating or expanding your landscaping, do yourself a favor and check out this book. I learned more about landscape philosophy and design from Small Buildings, Small Gardens than I did from college horticulture classes and the UC Davis Master Gardener’s Program. The ideas presented here are easy to understand, make sense, and are applicable to all we do in our yards and gardens, whether or not we have small buildings. If you are thinking of adding any small buildings, arbors, trellises, or other garden structures--you will find tons of tips on placement and design. These tips could make the difference between ho-hum and spectacular. Author, Gordon Hayward, trains your eye--through easy to understand text and the inclusion of pictures that are worth a thousand words. The very best designs are not the result of spending more money; but rather the result of developing a careful level of observation. Small Buildings, Small Gardens - Creating Gardens around Structures, by Gordon Hayward, published by Gibbs Smith, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58685-705-9

Digging the Dirt / May in the Garden

Previously published in the Hoopa People News, copyright 2008, Harvest McCampbell.

When Food Prices Rise, Planting a Garden is Wise

Sticker shock increasingly hounds our food shopping decisions. Unfortunately, this trend is set to continue, at least through next winter, as both fuel and food prices continue to rise. Several factors are at play, forcing staple supplies to dwindle while demand increases. First, looking at the supply side, climate change and other forces have brought agricultural woes to nearly every continent. Australia, Africa, Asia, and Europe have all had major crop failures affecting grains and other staples; more crop failures are predicted for this year--including right here in the US. Meanwhile, less land has been devoted to growing food; because of urbanization, industrialization, and demand for agricultural crops to produce ethanol and bio-diesel.

Demand for bio-fuels ties food prices to fuel prices, and fuel is still going up. (Meanwhile, most of our food is planted, tended, harvested, stored, and transported using large amounts of fuel, further tying the costs of food to petroleum.) Other factors contributing to demand include our growing planetary population and the increasing middle class in China and India-- who now consume more grain and more grain fed animal products than ever before. In the world-wide economy, there are many demands on the available food. Prices are expected to continue going up until the supply meets or exceeds the demand. (For more information and documentation see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/harvests_thoughts/)

It’s Time to Get Growing!

Whether you want to help keep your families food budget in bounds, or are thinking of growing a market garden to make a little cash, there has never been a better time to get growing. While tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash are part of the pleasures of summer, with food prices on the rise, I would like to encourage everyone to plant some crops that can be saved for winter. Here are some ideas.

Jerusalem Artichokes are at the top of the list for productivity. Plant them now, and dig their delicious tubers beginning this fall. Each plant produces between five and fifteen pounds of food! (They can be very expensive in catalogs; however, they are available at reasonable prices locally.)

Pumpkins and Winter Squash store well, are easy to grow, nutritious, and yummy. Seeds and starts are widely available at nurseries and generally reasonably priced.

Potatoes thrive in cool moist weather. Anytime you find yourself in possession of sprouting potatoes you can plant them in the home garden. Mulch them well for the best crops. I have been teaming up potatoes with squash. If we don’t have a hot summer, at least the potatoes should produce; and if the sun decides to warm things up, the squash will help shade the potatoes.

Painted Mountain Flour Corn (not the related Painted Mountain Sweet Corn) was bred to withstand both drought and cool soils. Flour corn is easy to grow, dry, and can then be stored to use with beans in soup. You can also grind it for grits and corn meal.

Consider growing some small grains for nutrition and food security, here are some suggestions for both hot weather and cool wet weather. (The La Nina weather pattern is predicted to continue; keeping our weather cool and moist. I don’t really trust the predictions. I say be prepared for anything.)

Amaranth generally produces well whether the weather is hot or cool. Choose large grained varieties.

Buckwheat likes cool damp weather. Purchase it from bulk bins at health food store or larger grocery stores. Be sure you get raw buckwheat and not roasted buckwheat grouts.

Millet, pair Japanese millet which can stand waterlogged soils with Proso millet which can take the heat and is easy to thresh.

Quinoa can take cool damp weather, choose a large seeded variety.

Last but not least, add some legumes. Legumes (beans and peas) fix nitrogen and improve the soil, and they form a complete protein when paired with grains. Most beans can be eaten green as a vegetable or let mature to dry for soup beans. Here are a few of suggestions for soup beans that will improve your family’s food security:

Anasazi beans can take the drought, and can be purchased from bins at the health food store.

Runner Beans like cool moist weather and are commonly available in many catalogs.

Fava Beans are easy to grow and all parts are edible including the leaves, flowers, green beans, and dry beans. Available in many catalogs and also in bulk bins.

You can also do your own research on other varieties. In fact, the more diverse the seed bank we can create in our gardens, the more secure our food supply will be. Try to choose two varieties of each crop you want to grow; one adapted to drought, and one adapted to cool or damp climates. That way, no matter what the weather does, you are prepared.

If you can get your seed started by the first of June, at the very latest, and if the weather co-operates, you should be able to harvest a bountiful crop this fall. All the seed varieties mentioned above can be ordered from “Bountiful Gardens,” if you can’t find them locally. Their catalog and web site is very informative. You can order seeds or request a catalog on-line: http://www.BountifulGardens.org or by phone: (707) 459-1925.

What, Me Garden?

The Klamath Trinity (zone 8 in the river valleys) area is truly the Garden of Eden, and yes, even you can grow a garden! Right now local gardens are bursting with greens—giant red Japanese mustard, collards, kale, arugula, lettuce, and garlic chives. Spring signals the beginning of the seed setting season. Many greens are blooming with edible flowers. The early garlic and chives have fat buds, and the top setting onions provide some comedic relief with their crazy curly not quite flowering tops. Potato plants are surging upwards and seedling squash are getting their start. Winter parsnips are ready to be dug, while last spring’s parsnips are shooting juicy edible bolts upward to burst into bloom. Peppers and tomatoes are waiting their turn to sink their roots into deep earthworm rich soil. Meanwhile, the beneficial insects and pollinators make a happy buzz among the flowers; promising pest control this season and an ample supply of seeds for next year’s garden. If you are not sure where to start, search on line or ask for advice at your local nursery.

Not Only Can You Garden – You Can Farm!

Every economic down turn or crises offers opportunities; the next big winners are projected to be small, local, organic farms and market gardens. If you ever thought of trying your hand at farming, now would be a great time to explore the idea further. “You Can Farm, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Enterprise,” offers great advice. Author, Joel Salatin, shares the ten most profitable ventures for start-ups, as well as how to grow and diversify. He encourages everyone, even those who do not own land, to not only farm, but to make good money at it. His best advice is to gain experience before investing or borrowing. He encourages all would be farmers to volunteer with local producers to learn the ropes. Hopefully, our local farmers will be increasing production (sustainably of course) and will need all the help they can get. If you’re interested, consider starting as a volunteer--perhaps in trade for produce; but you have also got to read this book. You Can Farm, by Joel Salatin, published by Polyface, Inc., ISBN 0-9638109-2-8. Available by request from book stores, libraries, and on-line.