Container gardens

Clay pots not great -- look for thick plastic pots or wooden 1/2 barrels and planters.

Companion plant in large pots but avoid plants that spread aggressively; they should be low growing. Consider herbs.

When planting amend compost with a sprinkle if bloodmeal, a handful each of greensand, rock or colloidal phosphate, and bonemeal. After the first year liquid or dry organic fertilizer.

Over wintering – dormant hardy trees can be stored in the garage through the winter; surround containers with bags of leaves; sink pots into ground and mulch.

Cover crops

Vetches, clovers, peas, and beans are good cover crops for our yard

Certain brassicas are gaining popularity as cover crops -- radishes, mustard, and rapeseed. Biofumigation characteristics -- or their ability to reduce disease, weed and nematode pressure in subsequent crops; also do a really good job of breaking up compacted soils, increasing water permeability
We planted hairy vetch in fall 2008 -- should be planted right after summer crop is harvested; tilled under in early spring when the plants begin to flower. Turned-under green manure should be allowed to break down and mellow for a few weeks prior to planting the main summer crop.

Orchard - plant cover crop that includes perennial plants and self-seeding annual to provide living mulch. This feeds and protects the trees while providing an excellent habitat for beneficial insects and reducing weed pressure. White clover is good; include flowering plants like yarrow or tansy.

Manage Fruit Crop Pests and Diseases

Manage Fruit Crop Pests from Hobby Farms magazine

Vegetables - misc

Burr Gherkins

Pole beans will climb vertically but won't interweave horizontally; look for "cornfield beans" if you plan to grow Three Sisters--more tolerant of shade

Grains

Garden grains from Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA

Wheat, spelt, triticale

Amaranth is pretty and popular -- grains good to eat, greens good for eating or composting

Single serving sized veg varities

Honey Bear acorn squash
Pot-O-Gold chard
Little Gem lettuce
Garden Babies lettuce
Small Miracle broccoli

Also good for container gardening

Mother Earth News Find Seeds/Plants

Mother Earth News Find Seeds/Plants - find seed companies that sell the specific seed variety you want

Frost definitions and approx dates

FIRST FROST (FALL):
October 8th according to the NV Coop Ext
September 16th according to the National Weather Service

LIGHT FROST:
A frost where the air temp has dropped below freezing but the ground has not. Many plants can survive a light frost but cannot survive a hard frost.
GardenWeb Glossary of Botanical Terms

Generally when air temperatures fall to less than 33° Fahrenheit but remain above 28° Fahrenheit; typically for only a few hours; See also hard frost

HARD FROST:
Defined as temperatures below 28 degrees for a few hours

May 30th for everything but tomatoes, peppers, and melons

June 20th for tomatoes, peppers, and melons

Potatoes

PRESPROUT for harvest a month earlier (start in late February or March) five weeks before planting spread seeds in a single layer in warm, well-let room, and wait for them to sprout from the eyes. Fragile! Large sprouts that break off of the parent potato will often grown anyway when planted in moist soil

PLANTING:
In climates with short springs and hot summers, plant early and midseason varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date - plant late April or early May

In climates with long springs and hot summers, plant early and mid season varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date; plant late-maturing varieties in early summer so they will mature in cooler fall.

Potatoes like acidic soils (below 6.0) at least 10 inches deep

Prepare beds early April – compost or rotted leaves, along with a half-ration of alfalfa meal, soybean meal or other high nitrogen organic material – do not use manure because it is correlated with an increase in rough patches on the spud skins

Prepare the seeds two days before planting

Cover plants with blankets if a late frost is forecast – they will recover

Mulch heavily

HARVEST:
Begin digging when the foliage starts to yellow and wither; allow the tubers to dry indoors covered with dry towels for a day or two; take care to protect them from sunlight which causes them to turn green and bitter; store most perfect potatoes in a cool 50-60 degree place to be used as seed next year.

Or:

Blooming flowers are a cue that potatoes have reached "new potatoe" size. If you want to harvest new potatoes, dig out a full plant and its tubers, leaving neighboring plants undisturbed. Vines may die back on their own as the potato crop matures, but if they don't show signs of doing so, cugt them off at soil level 2 weeks before you want to dig your crop. This will trigger the potatoes to harden, which helps them LAST LONGER IN STORAGE.

COVER CROP:
After harvest replant space with buckwheat.

SEED SAVING:
Save the most perfect potatoes for seed; need about six pounds of potatoes to plant a 50 foot row – yield will vary from 75-125 pounds

Grape vine - mystery grape

Grape vine early summer '08 Grape vine September '08

Ours is a gift from Leslie--don't know what variety
Two basic classes of table grapes. European varieties have tight skins wine-like flavors, high heat requirements for ripening, and are the most common grapes grown in California. Use fresh, dried, or for juices or wine.

Susceptible to powdery mildew, they require regular dusting or spraying with sulfur or other mildew control. American varieties have Concord-like flavor, moderate heat requirements, and are late blooming and resistant to powdery mildew. Both classes may grow successfully in very warm sites at lower elevations, require deep moderately fertile soils and regular pruning for high quality and production; self fertile.

Perlette - through zone 6; approx harvest date July; American; crisp pale green berry; larger; two weeks earlier, requires less heat to ripen than Thompson

Keep soil on the dryer side after plant has been established (1 or 2 years); apply compost in early spring.

Remove weak fruit clusters while fruit is still small and hard; pinch off the leaves near and surrounding the clusters.

Shriveled fruits are called "mummies".

Peach trees

Apply compost in early spring and again when fruits first form.

See page 94 of Rodale's Fruit for yearly pruning needs.

Cresthaven

Red Haven
Beautiful red-over-yellow fruit, with yellow flesh that’s firm yet melting and delicious. Early season, a favorite in our orchard for eating, canning and freeing. Very productive, needs thinning, has never failed to set a crop for us even in rainy weather. Non-showy flowers. Not for warm winters. (Trees of Antiquity)

Reliance
Best choice for severely cold winters and springs (Trees of Antiquity) --available dwarfed from
Jung Seeds BOUGHT THIS ONE

Harken peach/Lovall rootstock -- This is the best flavored peach in our climate. From Canada, hardy and widely adapted. It is very sweet and bears a regular crop of large freestone peaches. For canning, pick fruit before it is table ripe. Ripens early August. Self fertile. Climate Zones: 5 to 9; pruning required to make it a dwarf

Frost peach -Pumi dwarf rootstock -- A flavorful, yellow fleshed peach good for canning or fresh eating. Semi-freestone. The longest tested curl resistant choice. Ripens mid-August. Self fertile. On the dwarfing pumi select rootstock. Climate Zones: 5 to 9

Mary Jane peach/Pumi dwarf rootstock -- A red skinned, yellow fleshed peach with showy pink flowers and very good flavor, It sets fruit even in frosty springs. It ripens mid August. It is good for fresh eating, drying, canning or freezing, A chance seedling selected by Louie Strahl in Steilacoom, WA. Climate Zones: 5 to 9


Shortest lived of the fruit trees- 10 to 15 years

Prune to an open vase (see Backyard Orchardist); pruning time dependant more on location than other tree types; peach tree pruning typically done in late winter or early spring; prune late (May 4th on my calendar) to allow frost damage assessment of buds and branches; remove wood that was freeze damaged and moderately prune the portion of the tree that still has live wood and buds; or if winter is mild, make thinning out cuts in late winter and possibly a few more after bloom, when the danger for frost damage to the flowers has passed.

Buds typically occur on lateral wood growth from the previous season; fruit buds appear as two plumb surrounding one vegetative bud; peaches and nectarines are typically self fertile; plant a couple of varieties to extent the harvest season

Peach trees produce many more fruit buds than necessary to produce abundant harvest; 10% of buds typically adequate; thin developing peaches about 6 to 8 weeks after bloom if cool, 4 to 6 weeks after bloom if warm.

Each peach needs 35 leaves to support its growth; consider when thinning developing fruits (Cool tidbit).

Split pit caused by insufficient moisture supplied to the developing fruit early in the season, followed by sudden abundant moisture; best remedy is a steady water supply

Light textured, well drained soils; susceptible to nematodes, viruses and bacterial diseases, and cold injury

Clingstone fruit flesh tends to be firm and smooth textured when canned; freestone flesh typically softer and have a slightly stringy texture when canned; no growing or care issues differ between the two types; early ripening varieties tend to be clingstone, while later ripening varieties tend to be freestone

Redhaven ripening date is commonly used as the reference to harvest date; those that mature before and up to a week later than Redhaven are termed early season varieties; midseason varieties mature up to two weeks later than Redhaven; late season varieties follow, ripening up to a month after Redhaven. If catalog provides info that looks like this…Candor (-19)…it means Candor ripens 19 days before Redhaven and would be considered an early season variety.

Winter hardy trees:
Belle of Georgia
Jefferson
Madison
Oldmixon Free
Pocahontas
Raritan Rose
Reliance (Trees of Antiquity)

Winter hardy fruit buds:
Belle of Georgia
Earliglo
McKay
Oldmixon Free
Raritan Rose
Reliance (Trees of Antiquity)

Average years to bearing – 4 years
Average yield per tree – 2 to 2 ½ bushels
Space needed per tree – 15 foot circle
Average mature height – 20 feet
Days from bloom to harvest – 60 to 120 days depending on variety
Pollination requirements – self-fruitful
Most common pruning system – open center
Commonly used rootstock – Halford or Lovell (standard tree)
Common insect pests – Oriental fruit moth, tarnished plant bug, curculio (weevil)
Common diseases – Brown rot, leaf curl, valsa canker, brown rot, bacterial spot
Useful life – 12 years
Number of trees for a family of four – 2 to 3 trees
Bears fruit on one year old wood

Plum trees

This Green Gage Bavays plum looks really interesting – consider!

Apricot trees

WE ORDERED (arrived bare root on 2/16/09) :

*Genetic dwarf apricot named 15MA522 (icky), compact tree, estimated required 600 chill hours,

*Nemaguard peach rootstock, vigorous, resistant to root-knot nematode, unpruned tree height of standard varieties 15-25 ft, but trees on this stock can be held to any height with summer pruning.

*Will plant in a used 1/2 wine barrel purchased at Raley's.

Apricots more closely related to plums than peaches; most are self-fertile

Fruit buds are normally produced on spurs that fruit for two to four years and on the tips of last season’s shoot growth; pruning has been shown to be the best way to reduce competition among excess fruit.

Apricot trees are large and sturdy; fruit buds similar in hardiness to peach but quite susceptible to drying by cold winter winds, consequently apricots produce best if grown in a sheltered spot in the landscape.

Earliest fruit tree to flower in the spring; best trained to modified central leader system; trees should be pruned lightly in their early years, just enough to develop a sufficient scaffold structure; in northern regions you may want to postpone pruning until after bloom and spring frosts so you can tailor your pruning severity somewhat to the amount of crop you can anticipate; direct much of the pruning of the mature tree to keep in contained to the height and width practical for your garden

Rootstock
Myrobalan (plum rootstock) is very well adapted to heavy, wet soils; produces well anchored standard size tree.


Varieties adapted to the Pacific coast – Blenheim, Goldbar, Goldrich, Goldstrike, Moorpark, Perfection, Puget Sound, Rival, Tomcot, Wenatchee

Low chill apricots – Earligold, Garden Annie (600), Newcastle (350), Perfection (600)

Average years to bearing – 4-5 years
Average yield per tree – 50 to 100 pounds
Space needed per tree – 20 foot circle
Average mature height – 20+ feet
Days from bloom to harvest – 80 to 90 days
Pollination requirements – many are self-fruitful, but produce better with cross pollination
Most common pruning system – modified central leader
Commonly used rootstock – Apricot seedling or Myrobalan (plum rootstock)
Common insect pests – Curculio, oriental fruit moth
Common diseases – Brown rot
Useful life – 12 + years
Number of trees for a family of four – 1 to 2 trees
Bears fruit on 2 to 4 year old spurs and tips of new growth


Moorpark (England 1760)

Tilton
Resistant to late frost; purportedly one of the best tasting; approximate harvest date July 1 to July 10; 600 chill hours; widely adapted; semi-dwarf stock from Peaceful Valley

Harcot
Approx harvest date June 5 to June 15th; 700 chill hours; frost hardy; late blooming; resists brow rot and perennial canker; very tasty; semi-dwarf stock from Peaceful Valley

Chinese Apricot

Cherry trees - sour

Sour (or tart) cherry trees bear fruit on numerous fruiting spurs and on one year old lateral (or side) branches.

It is important to keep a tart cherry tree growing vigorously – studies have shown that if less than seven inches of new branch grown is made in a season, that wood will bear almost all fruit buds and the next year the wood will become nonproductive since no vegetative buds were borne to continue renewal of one-year wood. Moderate annual pruning will encourage continued production of fruiting wood.

Natural open and spreading growth habit benefits from being trained to a central leader. Central leader training for cherry different than other trees so refer to Backyard Orchardist for details.


Mahaleb rootstock produces slightly more compact tree than Mazzard rootstock; also more productive, has better winter hardiness, tolerant of drought conditions.

Colt semi-dwarf rootstock is a possible choice for limited spaces.


"All cherry trees are self-fruitful so need to plant only one." Backyard Orchardist;
"Most require a pollinator." Peaceful Valley
SO WHICH ONE IS IT -- POLLINATOR OR NO POLLINATOR? Answer: Both -- it looks like the Backyard Orchardist author mentioned only self-pollinators, while Peaceful Valley catalog includes both self-pollinators and those that need another pollinator.

Average years to bearing – 4-5 years
Average yield per tree – 30 pounds at around 7 years; 50-100 pounds at maturity
Space needed per tree – 15-20 foot circle
Average mature height – 20+ feet
Days from bloom to harvest – 60 days
Pollination requirements – self fertile, only Morello benefits from cross pollination
Most common pruning system – modified central leader
Commonly used rootstock – Mahaleb
Common insect pests – Curculio, cherry fruit fly
Common diseases – Brown rot, leaf spot
Useful life – 15 years
Number of trees for a family of four – 1 tree
Bears fruit on spurs and one year old wood

English Morello Cherry - sour; commonly grown in Europe; matures just before the Montmorency and is able to hang on the tree longer without losing quality. It is quite susceptible to cherry leaf spot fungus; not necessary but benefits from cross-pollination

Early Richmond -sour, early ripening variety that is harvested about ten days ahead on Montmorency; fruit is smaller and flavor is more acidic; typically yields less than the same size Montmorency tree.

Lapin Cherry - sweet but consider because it's interesting and seems to be something we could grow here; self-pollinator

Montmorency - most common variety so not unique, but is reliable; ripens in mid to late July in the major Great Lakes cherry producing regions. ripens in late-July; requires 900 to 1000 chill hours; self pollinator


North Star - The Dwarf North Star is a medium sized bright red to mahogany skinned cherry, with yellow, juicy tender flesh. This attractive small tree, naturally, only grows 8 to 10 feet; highly productive sour cherry that is extremely cold hardy and disease resistant; prolonged ripening period from late June to late July; 1000 chill hours and self-fertile

Meteor - ORDERED THIS VARIETY FROM JUNG -- COULDN'T FIND WEST COAST VENDOR. cold hardy, late blooming; compact size; available also from Jung Seed (Randolph, WI - not from the region recommended by Co-op),Zones 4-8 A hardy red cherry with large, tart, juicy and completely freestone fruits. Ripens in late July. The tree is vigorous, moderately spreading and grows only 10 to 12 feet tall. Resistant to leaf spot, the most common disease of cherry foliage. Annually productive. Highly recommended for gardeners and small orchards. Also an attractive ornamental. 3 to 5 ft bareroot trees.

Carmin Jewel Cherry

Pear trees

Make take as much as eight to ten years before bearing a substantial crop but may produce for up to 100 years.

Train to a modified central leader; once six or seven lateral scaffold branches have developed and the tree is a manageable height, say 10 feet, head the leader off to a strong lateral branch.

Self-unfruitful so need another variety to pollinate. Pear blossoms oddly unattractive to bees.

Bartlett and Seckel will not cross pollinate each other.
Nice to have three varieties for staggered harvest and distinct tastes.

Susceptible to fireblight so it is best to minimize heading back cuts that encourage profuse lateral growth; it is more desirable to encourage side branching by spreading the scaffolds with wooden or plastic spreaders or tying them down with twine. Light annual thinning out cuts can be used to eliminate unwanted shoots. Once the tree starts producing fruit the weight will also help spread the branches.

Pears ripen from the core out so pick when skin begins to change from dull green to yellowish green, then store them under cool conditions (34 degrees), bringing out needed quantities and allowing them to ripen at room temperature.