Author Archives: Trent Elwing

The 2023_04_Fall BeeLine issue includes Reviving the BeeLine foreword, damson plums article, picking pears article, pear problems article, recipes, fig tree rescue article, and Grow a Little Fruit Tree book review.

Doors open 10 AM at the Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo. Free entry to all members of WCFS Chapters and the public. Donations accepted and appreciated.

Scion wood and rootstock sales in the FOWLER ROOM starts at 10 AM.

Only accepted payment methods: personal check and cash (ATM nearby).

Scion wood $2 per stick.

Rootstock prices vary; see attached price sheet.

Custom graft $4 per graft (scion wood and rootstock not included).

Tables set up in the FOWLER ROOM for attendee material and information exchange.

Free fruit talks in the ART ROOM from 1 PM to 3 PM.

More details from SCFS’s Jake Jacobson below.

FRUIT TREE GRAFTING CLASS

Saturday March 25^th, 2023 from 10AM to 1:30PM

At Rosehill Community Center.

304 Lincoln Avenue, Mukilteo, WA 98275

The Fruit Tree Grafting and Tree Care Workshop, presented by the Snohomish County Fruit Society (SCFS) & the Seattle Tree Fruit Society (STFS), will take place at Rosehill Community Center this Saturday, March 25, 2023.  Please refer to the link, “Grafting Workshop” for more details. (The Grafting Class is currently SOLD OUT.)

We are fortunate to have additional scion wood for grafting and sale on Saturday. This includes Grape and Persimmon scions, made available by Lori Brakken.  The complete list of the available scion is at link, “New Additions to Lori’s List – March 2023”. You can find the original scion lists, available root stock, and more information on the SCFS webpage 

**NEW** We are pleased to be able to offer custom grafting for folks who would like assistance putting their tree together.  

TREE CARE WORKSHOP – Free! Please see the attached link of “Afternoon Lectures” for more details

1pm   Apple Maggot Defense, Jim Holt. 

Learn how to control and mitigate the damage that can be caused by Apple Maggots (Ragoletis pomonella), a prevalent pest of pome fruits (Apples, Pears, and their relatives).   

1:15 pm  Selection and Care of Fruit Trees in the Home Landscape, Bob Baines.  

Learn what species do well in the Pacific Northwest, and which will be more challenging. Discover species that you didn’t know could be cultivated here. Get helpful hints on managing your fruit trees once you have committed to them. Find out what varieties are favorable in our climate.

2 pm   What’s Buzzing? Supporting Native Pollinators on your Property, Lisa Wasko DeVetter.   

Pollinators are essential for the production of nutritious foods, including fruits. This presentation will cover the essential role of pollinators, why they are in trouble, and what you can do to support them.  

We’ve attached a more complete description of the free afternoon workshop series for you, and updated the overall timeline of the day at Rosehill – please see the attached announcement. 

2:45 pm  Hydro-Mulching (Sprayable Mulch) for Sustainable Agriculture, Ben Weiss

Many Plants benefit from mulches, including fruit crops. Unfortunately, most mulches are made from non-degradable plastics that can pollute terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This presentation will introduce a new mulch technology, biobased and sprayable hydromulches, which are suitable for organic production and could be a more sustainable alternative to non-degradable plastic mulches.   

NOTE:  Bare root strawberries are sold out and will not be offered at the event. 

We hope you can join us on Saturday!

Snohomish County Fruit Society

A Chapter of the Western Cascade Fruit Society
http://snohomishcfs.wordpress.com/

From Airlie to Zlatna Resistenta, with Karmijn de Sonnaville and many more pomes in between, lifetime STFS member Lorine Brakken is bringing scion wood from her compact, extensive home orchard to the 2023 SCFS/STFS fruit grafting event at Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo Sat. Mar. 25th 9:30 AM to 3 PM. For full list of Lori’s scion wood, price per stick and how to pre-order, check out STFS’s newsletter USP 41 02 2023 Feb pages 4-8.

Selecting Fruit for PNW Gardens – What fruits make sense to grow in your own PNW garden rather than paying many dollars at the store? Even in a compact urban backyard, layers of fruit plants from alpine strawberry ground cover to dwarfing multi-cultivar fruit trees can convert sunlight into healthy fresh fruit at arm’s length. Experienced horticulturist and educator Ingela Wanerstrand dba Green Darner Garden Design will cover why you might want to grow your own, plants that consistently fruit in the PNW and ideas for fruit-growing in small spaces. In-stock Sky Nursery fruit plants will be featured during Ingela’s talk.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

When: next Saturday (March 4th) 10 AM to noon; 10:00-10:30 socialize, 10:30-11:00 STFS meeting & 11:00-noon Ingela’s talk. More details in attached handout.

Where: Sky Nursery (18528 Aurora Ave N Shoreline, WA 98133, Store open 9-6 Daily, phone 206.546.4851 email sky@skynursery.com) just north of Seattle.

Venue is a large, airy glass-enclosed greenhouse space with apparent good ventilation and probably will be cooler than comfortable so wear an extra layer. Sky has no COVID-19 PPE requirements, so participants need to take COVID-19 precautions they feel are necessary.

Please DON’T BRING REFRESHMENTS TO SHARE WITH OTHER ATTENDEES; Sorry, Sky has requested that due to public participation and lingering COVID-19 concerns, no refreshments be provided by STFS members to share potluck-style with other participants.

As of February 2023, Seattle Tree Fruit Society (STFS) no longer is selling maggot barriers (MBs) for funding STFS educational activities.

MBs can now be easily purchased over the internet (search: maggot barriers), through Amazon or at area nurseries. Recently, in the Seattle area, nurseries stocking MBs have included Sky , Swansons , Cloud Mountain (Everson) , West Seattle , Sunnyside (Marysville) , Squak Mountain (Issaquah) , City People’s Sandpoint , & My Garden Nursery (Bellingham). Please contact these reputable nurseries directly to check for MB availability.

The STFS website still provides instructions for covering fruitlets with MBs.

STFS’s limited remaining MB inventory will be available to STFS members at upcoming in-person STFS events.

MBs protect apples, pears and other fruits from apple maggot flies, codling moths and other pests.

Spots & cankers|lesions on your apple trees’ leaves, branches & developing fruits? It may be apple scab &|or anthracnose which longtime STFS|WCFS backyard orchardists report as being really bad in western Washington 2022. More on apple anthracnose @ STFS’s monthly newsletter edition USP 40 07 2022 July

In 2022, STFS Extreme Maggot Barriers from Seattle Tree Fruit Society are again being sold right now to fund educational activities.

Click here to order STFS Extreme Maggot Barriers now.

STFS Extreme Maggot Barriers protect apples, pears and other fruits from apple maggot flies, codling moths and other pests.

Click here for directions on how to cover and protect fruits with STFS Extreme Maggot Barriers.

The HKBP (Hardy Kiwifruit Breeding Project), organized by Kiwibob Glanzman, is intended to be a Worldwide collaborative effort to create a hybrid Kiwiberry with the smooth skin of the Hardy Kiwifruit (Actinidia arguta) that weighs around 50 grams (about the size of a chicken’s egg), by crossing arguta x chinensis var. chinensis (Kiwi Gold). While progress toward the HKBP goal has been hampered for several years by lack of suitable male pollinators and some unforeseen compatibility issues, 2020 efforts to create a large USA pool of potential male chinensis pollinators have yielded a much larger than expected number of seeds. 

We need to find willing growers to germinate some of these seeds and raise them to the point where they can be evaluated as possible breeding parents in the ongoing hybridization efforts.

In the lower elevations of Western Washington we have a climate where we can grow most species of Actinidia outdoors with little concern of Winter damage. 

As of August 2021, Kiwibob now has many seedlings growing as part of his Kiwi hybridization project – F1 hybrids between Actinidia chinensis & Actinidia arguta, as well as other crosses and open-pollinated seedlings.  Kiwibob is still looking for “foster homes” for these seedlings as they grow and develop.

If you are willing to germinate seeds and have the space to raise the seedlings in pots (about 5 gallon size) for 3-5 years until they can be grafted, then several more years when they can be evaluated, please let me know via the comment form on page A1.02 of my website: 

https://kiwifruitsalsa.wordpress.com

When you visit the website, be sure to download the most recent HKBP Report from page A1.02, and review all previous Reports!

Hardy Kiwifruit Breeding Project Update by Kiwibob Glanzman, HKBP organizer

For years, Lori Brakken, Lifetime STFS member, has donated her time traveling to fall fruit shows throughout the Puget Sound area and beyond helping growers identify their treasured mystery apples. As the Covid-19 pandemic lingers, Lori is minimizing in-person activities while maintaining ID outreach.

For apple ID, complete the Apple ID Form (pdf or MS Word document) then follow the attached instructions for contacting then sending apples to Lori. Monetary donations are welcomed which Lori will accept and forward to fund the activities of the Humboldt Preservation Project in Eureka, CA.

Apple ID by Lori Brakken in 2021 Socially Distanced

Lifetime and longtime STFS member Marilyn T. reported this past Friday (5/21/21) a total of 10 adult codling moths caught already during 2021 in a trap located near the Seward Park area of South Seattle. Reminder: adult codling moths lay eggs on or around pome fruit trees; larvae emerging from these eggs chew into developing fruit leaving behind a dark brown excrement-filled path and core. Yuck.

Always thorough and thoughtful towards amateurs, Marilyn took the time to type out that several nearby (Woodinville and Puyallup) WSU AgWeatherNet weather stations had recorded by last Friday “growing degree day (°F) accumulation base temp 50 °F” or “DD base 50” data of slightly less than 175.

175 is the DD base 50 threshold for first emergence of codling moth and was established from WSU research published in Orchard Pest Management. Marilyn mentions that this threshold is based on observations made in central WA, but also appears to be an accurate predictor in western WA.

In short, Marilyn has observed adult codling moth flying already in Seattle, and nearby WSU weather data coupled with pest management protocols predict codling moth first generation emergence as of now in and around King County. So…

Whatever your strategy to protect your pome fruitlets from codling moth, you should implement it now right after thinning fruitlets to one and only one per cluster.

Click on link Pome Thinning and Barrier Protection for pages from recent STFS newsletter covering pome thinning, codling moth, apple maggot and barrier protection options.

Click on link Extreme Maggot Barriers for ordering information on these nylon footies sold by STFS. STFS will have Extreme Maggot Barriers for sale with no shipping costs on Saturday June 5^th 10 AM to noon at STFS demonstration orchard in NE Seattle’s Magnuson Park.

Barrier netting is also available to STFS members but must be pre-ordered. See Pome Thinning … link above for details.