Re: Wood Chips
There are plenty of mills using hardwood, and many chip their residue (typically a hammer mill). The fuel and carbon footprint of trucking this to the site I bet is a good deal less than slaving over...
View ArticleOrganic whitewash for tree trunks
Anybody know of a long lasting whitewash or paint for trunks that would be allowed for certified organic? Something that can be applied with a hand sprayer. I've tried quick lime mixed with an organic...
View ArticleRe: Organic whitewash for tree trunks
Not too familiar with growing apples in zone 5b, but curious if you're talking about stone or pome fruit trees, and how critical whitewashing is in your climate. We used to whitewash our stone fruit...
View ArticleRe: Organic whitewash for tree trunks
Clair thanks for the info. I have 2-4 year old trees; both apples and stone fruit. Not sure if painting is necessary; just trying to do what I can to prevent any problems.
View ArticleRe: Organic whitewash for tree trunks
You certainly don't want to replant, so a "rather safe than sorry" is in order. I'm curious what other organic growers in your region are doing to mitigate this risk. There's been a nice amount of...
View ArticleRe: Organic whitewash for tree trunks
Hi Doug,I heard this same question asked by a new grower just last week.There is a company called ECOS Paints that offers several organic paint solutions.[www.ecospaints.net]Per the ECOS website, it...
View ArticleMulching Options for Semi-Dwarfs
Greetings from the Polaris Project!We are reclaiming a rather poor soil in California's Sierra foothills and it's a slow process. We are heavy in clay, poor in nitrogen and acidic in pH. The first...
View ArticleRe: Mulching Options for Semi-Dwarfs
These Geneva rootstocks deemed semi-dwarf are all in the 40% to 50% vigor class. These are roots able to coexist with taprooted plants nearby. I get that you're in California and water is BIG ISSUE...
View ArticleRe: Mulching Options for Semi-Dwarfs
Thanks for the advice, Michael!I will look into the plants you mentioned to see what might work best here. I'm also in the middle of reading Teaming with Microbes, and I suspect this fascinating book...
View ArticleRe: Mulching Options for Semi-Dwarfs
As I am researching understory plants, I can't help but wonder what the understory looks like in an original, apple-climax forest (if there are any left). Perhaps there are understory plants with...
View ArticleHardening off trees with reduced irrigation
I have been told that it is best to reduce or completely stop irrigating apple trees in september/october to help the trees harden off for winter. However, we have had an unusually dry summer and fall...
View ArticleRe: Hardening off trees with reduced irrigation
Do not allow the trees to go into winter with dry soil. The soils shouldn't be saturated either. Very dry conditions allow soils to freeze much deeper and in a more severe manner than moist soils. The...
View ArticleWood Chip Nuance
All I dream about is chips. I literally fantasize about taking my front end loader around in the night and loading up other peoples' piles I see on the country road we live on (don't tell my...
View ArticleRe: Wood Chip Nuance
White rots break down both sorts of lignin in deciduous wood, and in that process create humic and fulvic acids, the building blocks of humus. Brown rots take on softwood but are not able to fully...
View ArticleRe: Wood Chip Nuance
Thanks, as always, Michael, for the info!We are hoping to get a masonry stove set up by next winter so I'll direct those brown-rot-worthy materials thataway.Fascinating about that soil microbe...
View ArticleBurr knot below the graft union
I've got a fair amount of trees (2nd leaf) with burr knot forming below the graft union--typically right where my pea-stone gravel mulch stops. There are little rootlets trying to make a run for it...
View ArticleRe: Flame Burning and Strip Tilling
I'm very interested in spot torching weeds at this point. I don't want to flame the entire in-row space, just torch in spots where the weeds have gotten out of hand underneath the tree. Has anyone...
View ArticleRe: Burr knot below the graft union
My experience is that an aboveground burrknot kind of dries up and isn't an issue. This is a Zone 4 observation as regards Bud.118 and MM.111 rootstocks. I typically leave graft union from nursery...
View ArticleRe: Wood Chip Nuance
Nick, I also am familiar with Pauls wood chip gardening. When we cleared our land for orchard and pasture, we saved all the unmarketable trees and chipped them. Our soil is very poor, made worse by...
View ArticleUnderstory Species for High Density Plantings
Here's the deal: After three seasons of chipping up our coppice-able hedges, pruning the fruit trees back 1/3 each season, and diminishing chip deliveries from the power utility district; we've...
View Article
