bountiful life, vol. 1 issue 1

Volume I, Issue 1 September 2012

Celebrating the Country Lifestyle…the Land, the Food,the Animals, the People and Their Interests

This Month...• Collins Family Success Story• Fall Fruit Tree Pruning• Inland Northwest Small Farms Conference• Noxious Weed Control

Country Living In The Inland Northwest

2 • September 2012 Bountiful Life

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Country Living In The Inland Northwest

Dear Readers,We are so excited to release our first

issue of Bountiful Life and to finally see it in print. This magazine was born from the desire to share information and con-nect with any and all residents of the Inland Northwest that live the country lifestyle, whether they actually live in the country or not. We wanted to explore the different op-tions of growing your own vegetables and livestock, sustainably managing your prop-erty, and find out how locals are using their wide open spaces to improve their homes and families.

To start out this new venture I went in search of a family that had a home garden to grow their own food. We wanted to discover what they grew, what was successful, what wasn’t, and how they managed to find time in our busy culture to make it a productive endeavor. I heard of the Collins’ home garden through the grapevine and went out to see it for myself. The garden itself is quite impressive and they have had a prosperous year. We had a great time chatting about their triumphs and setbacks with the garden, and I learned some valuable bits of advice from their experiences over the years.

Along with a productive garden, we wanted our readers to have fruit trees heavy with produce. So we asked Tim Kohlhauff, the Urban Horticulture Coordinator for WSU’s Master Gardeners, to educate us all on the art of fall tree pruning. He contributed a wealth of information that is simple to understand and was very helpful in explaining what could

quickly become a complicated topic.

One major goal of this issue was to release it during the 2nd Annual Inland N o r t h w e s t Small Farms Conference. The conference will be held on September 28-29, 2012 at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. The conference will host 24 seminars on crop and animal production, farm marketing and business management, cutting edge technology for farming and plenty more. Their key note speaker will be Ken Meter from Crossroads Resource Center giving his presentation, “The Role of Growing Local Food in Economic Recovery”. There will also be a locally sourced dinner on Friday night, September 28, with Ken Meter. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/262964 for $25. The Small Farm Conference covers a wide range of topics that can appeal to the smallest home gardeners to small acreage farmers. It is a great resource to get a new perspective and the latest information on your specialty. We encourage all our readers to make a trip to the fairgrounds for this fantastic opportunity.

Happy harvesting!

Chandra LoganContent [email protected]

CONTENT EDITOR Chandra Logan

SALES & ADMINISTRATION Jan Ryan Steve Nickeson

Ashley Lewan Helen Boyd-Schwartz

PRODUCTIONPatrick McHale

GRAPHIC DESIGNCale Clute, Kenyon Haskins

Deborah SimpsonPUBLISHED BY

Exchange Publishing 304 W. 3rd Avenue, Spokane

Washington 99201CONTACT DETAILS

509-922-3456 • 1-800-326-2223 Fax: 509-455-7940

MAIL: P.O.Box 427, Spokane, WA 99210

[email protected]

Next Issue: November 30, 2012


Table of Contents The Collins Family, Your Neighbor’s Home Grown Success StoryAn interview with Grant & Angie Collins on their vegetable patch and their advice for home grown food ...............................................Page 9

Fruit Tree Pruning in the Inland NorthwestHow and when to prune to get the most generousharvest of produce from your trees .................................................Page 18

The Country Cook’s Kitchen TableSetting and decorating the table for a harvest feast!Making corn husk dolls to celebrate the season ................................Page 24

The Inland Northwest Small Farms ConferenceThe who, what, when, and where: all the information you need to get the most out of the conference ..............................................Page 14

Small Farms Conference ScheduleAll the seminar topics and times to help you plan your day .................Page 16

Weed Them and ReapKnock down noxious weeds on your property this falland make room for desirable growth ...............................................Page 22

Zucchini Tomato Garlic Soup RecipeA warm and healthful soup that is friendly to yourtongue and your bathroom scale .....................................................Page 26


Our Contributors

Small Farms and Acreage Coordinator WSU/SpokaneCounty Extension [email protected]

Urban Horticulture Coordinator WSU/Spokane County Extension [email protected]

Communications & Special Projects Manager, Spokane Conservation District [email protected]

Pat Munts is the small farm and acreage coor-dinator for WSU Spokane County Extension and the Spokane Conservation District. As such she works with urban land owners in both rural and urban areas to help them improve their land, farm business and conservation planning. She has been active for over 35 years in horticulture and gardening as a WSU Master Gardener, landscape and nursery pro-fessional and a nationally published freelance writer. She has gardened on the same piece of property in Spokane Valley for over three decades and has dealt with weeds, bugs, cold, heat, drought and fire at one time or another over the years.

Tim Kohlhauff has been the Urban Horticul-ture Coordinator for the Spokane County Extension since 2008, where he leads the Master Gardener program. He was an adjunct instructor at Spokane Community College and has taught classes on tree care, pruning, diagnosis of plant problems, and pesticide ap-plication. Tim has two degrees in Horticulture from Spokane Community College and a B.A. from Whitman College in Walla Walla, and is a certified arborist through the International Society for Arboriculture. He has gardened in Spokane since 1976, the year the Easter Bun-ny was on her health food kick and put flower bulbs in his Easter basket, instead of candy.

Jim Armstrong has been employed with the Spokane County Conservation District since January 1983, working with farmers and land-owners on natural resource management and environmental issues. For the past 20 years he has been the Director of Communications, and Special Projects as well as Policy Liaison. He was the co-author of the first incentive based legislation in Washington State for alternative fuels passed in 2003, as well as authored nu-merous articles on alternative energy, sustain-able farming and land stewardship.

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Bountiful Life went in pursuit of finding an outstanding home garden and the family

who grew it. We discovered the Collins family and their copious garden, and stopped by to find out the secret to great vegetables grown at home. The Collins family homestead is situated a few miles off Highway 195 south of Spokane. It rests on 15 acres along with a handful of turn of the century red barns and outbuildings scattered across the property.

BL-Tell me about yourselves:Angie “I was brought up on a wheat farm

between Steptoe and Colfax. My brother manages the farm now. I grew up driving farm truck ever since I could reach the ped-als. I work for American Family Insurance part time and also sell aprons and bags that I sew through Etsy.com, and we are also con-sidering the idea of using our place as a venue through Etsy.com.”

Grant “Well I’m a transplant to the area. I grew up in central California, in the Si-erra Nevada Mountains, until college when I moved to the Inland Northwest. I became

friends with Angie’s brother at school. That’s how Angie and I met. As far as work goes I am a Fraud Investigation Specialist for Geico and work from home.”

“We have 4 grown children, Megan, An-drea, Katie, and Ross, all in their twenties.”

BL- What do you grow in your garden?“We grow everything we possibly can! On-

ions, peas, spinach, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins (blue, white, orange, and a variety of gourds), lettuce (mul-tiple varieties of green, red, Swiss chard, and others), zucchini, and enough green beans to feed the whole neighborhood. We always take some [green beans] to our elderly neigh-bors. We have had the best crop of corn this

“It’s great when you have a bumper crop,

but failure is a part of life and learning how to deal with that is important.”

year. Lots and lots of water seems to be the secret! We also have a huge pumpkin patch this season. Grant calls it the pumpkin patch ‘from hell’ because it’s gotten so big! The garden has 40-50 foot rows of plants, 3 rows of that are just corn. We planted very early this year, around April 24th, early enough that there was still snow on the mountains. We were a little nervous that it was too soon, but it’s been a good year. It seems that ev-ery year our garden gets bigger. This is the second year to have the garden in this spot. We found that it has worked better because of the level of sun exposure the garden gets here, and the lettuce seems to do better with a little more shade.”

BL- What’s your favorite animal or thing to grow?

Angie “Pumpkins! I love to see how big they can get. Also roses and perennials are favorites.” (Angie has a row of lavender roses in front of their house that are lovely).

Grant “She plants it. I just make sure it doesn’t die.” He says with a smile.

The Collins Family Your Neighbor’s Home Grown Success Story by Chandra Logan

Photos courtesy of Lori Konshuk


BL- I see you have chickens. Do you raise them for meat, eggs, pets, other?

“We have 28 chickens right now, 4 laying hens and 24 chicks. We raise them for meat for ourselves, and have sold them for meat in the past. We also have had in the past: 8

pigs each year, 150 chicks, 20 sheep (An-drea’s), steers, horses, goats, ducks, and turkeys.”

Angie “We haven’t bought hamburger from the store in at least 15 years, we’ve always raised our own or gotten beef from our good friend Jeff Stehr.”

Grant “The cows may come back. It’s always been a personal challenge for us to see how much of the food we put on the table is from what we grow, and not the grocery store.”

BL- Your oldest daughter Megan was married at your home this June. What all did you do to prepare your home for the wedding?

Angie “We changed a lot around our yard. Grant and

Ross put in a back patio with the

fire ring and they also installed a rock forma-tion fountain in the front yard. We built an arch of flowers and greenery that the bride and groom were married under out of hog wire, branches, and white flowers.

Megan and I decided we wanted to try to do as much of the preparations and decorations for the wedding ourselves as possible. So we planned to grow our own flowers for the dé-cor in the neighbor’s greenhouse. We plant-ed the seeds in February and let them grow inside until the seedlings were big enough

“Go out there and get your hands dirty. Gardening is therapeutic! Every once in a while you need to reevalu-ate your life and decide what needs weeded out, and what needs to be nurtured, just like your garden does.”

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and it was warm enough that we could plant at least some of them outside. So we planted the flowers that were ready in the yard, and the rest stayed in the greenhouse. Normally I would cover the flowers at night to protect them from the frost, but one night of course I forgot. Calamity, and frost, struck and the flowers were ruined! I felt so guilty because of all the work that our neighbor had put into them, but when I went to confess what had happened, she told me she also had a confes-sion. She had forgotten to open the green-house door during a warm afternoon and the flowers inside were toasted! The entire flower operation was a bust. So we started over with the whole process, and it did work out in the end.”

BL- Do you have any time for other hobbies? What are they?

“We don’t really ever take vacations to Hawaii or anything like that. We love what we do here at home. Sometimes it’s not fun when it’s 100 degrees outside and you’re in the sun moving rocks, but it is worth it. You really need to have a love for your projects.”

BL- What is the worst thing to happen to your garden?

Grant “FROST!”

Angie “Probably Morning Glory, because it’s so tough to eradicate. We have spent a lot of time trying to dig it out.”

The Collins Family: (from left) Andrea, Ross, Angie, Grant, Megan and Katie. The barn to the left was built in 1896 and the building to the right has hosted several barn dances through the years.

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BL- What is the worst natural disaster you have witnessed?

“We moved into this house during Ice Storm in the 90’s. Our rental house’s power was knocked out for quite a while so we came here and set up camp.”BL- What makes a small farmer success-ful? What has added to your success as a small farmer?

Grant “Time management. When you work a full time job but want to grow your own food, you need to be creative with your scheduling to get all the work done at home that needs to be done. It takes a lot of hard work, but it is worth it.”

Angie “You need a consistent work ethic. We are thrilled that our kids got to live this lifestyle as they grew up because it teaches such a great work ethic and gives them a good dose of reality. They learned through grow-ing crops or raising livestock for 4-H and FFA that you win some and lose some. It’s great when you have a bumper crop, but fail-ure is a part of life and learning how to deal with that is important.”

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BL- What is your best gardening tip? Grant “Learn by doing. Don’t hesitate to

experiment in the garden. With crops, you can’t be afraid to fail, because that’s life. It took me a little while to realize that it’s okay to space out the garden more. It sounds so simple, but we were always trying to use our space as efficiently as possible. This year we thought, ‘Hey, we have 15 acres, why not just use it?’ So we did. Our garden has done bet-ter, and I have more room to get in there and weed.”

Angie “Go out there and get your hands dirty. Gardening is therapeutic! Every once in a while you need to reevaluate your life and decide what needs weeded out, and what needs to be nurtured, just like your garden does.” u

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• 24 Seminars on • Crop & Animal Production • Farm Marketing & Business Management • Cutting Edge Technology for Farming & more!

• Displays of Equipment & Farm Related Resources

• Networking with Like-Minded Farmers

• Keynote Speaker – Ken Meter, Crossroads Resources Center “The Role of Growing Local Food in Economic Recovery”

For registration information:Spokane Conservation District website

www.sccd.orgQuestions?

Contact Pat Munts: 509-477-2173 [email protected]

Spokane CountyFarm Bureau

SPOKANE COUNT EXTENSION

Extension & Conservation District programs are open to all!

Inland NW Small Farms ConferenceFriday-Saturday, Sept. 28-29, 2012

Spokane Interstate Fair & Expo Center

Registration Now Open!


The 2nd Annual Inland Northwest Small Farm Conference will be September 28-29 at the

Spokane Fair and Expo Center. Over the two day conference we will be pre-senting 24 workshops on topics related to animal and crop production, sustain-

able farming practices, and business and mar-keting management. Saturday’s workshops will

have many topics of interest to beginning farmers.

Pat Munts the Small Farms Coordinator for the Conservation District is the driving force behind this conference. When she came to work at the District in 2011, she came with the idea of putting together an informational conference that was aimed specifically at the small acreage landowners and farmers. Those of us that fall into that rather broad category are typi-cally in search of different ideas and ways of maximiz-ing the potential of our property while preserving the “country way of living”. So often when people move

from the city into the country, they are unprepared to deal with the multitude of issues that define “country living”. From having to clear snow several times each winter from a 300’ long driveway, to controlling nox-ious weeds, to doing our best to establish defensible space around our home so it doesn’t burn in the next wildfire, life in the country is vastly different from city life. So when Pat came to the District with the idea of having a conference designed specifically with those

The Inland Northwest Small Farm ConferenceArticle and photos by Jim Armstrong

The Spokane Conservation District is launching a new program

Are You Tired Of Horsing Around With Your Livestock?

Livestock and Land offers assistance to livestock property owners and boarding facilities with implementing Best Management Practices that will help to:

The program offers free site assessments and consultations, workshops and trainings, publications and brochures, and possible funding for land improvements.

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people in mind, the planning for the First Annual Small Farms Conference began immediately and the conference held last October was a success by any measure.

This year’s conference is intended for those people that are using their land ei-ther for the production of crops or live-stock, but many of the topics covered in the 24 seminars will be of interest to people not involved in agriculture other than perhaps a small garden. An impor-tant part of the conference will be a spe-cial dinner sourced from local farms and prepared by Longhorn Catering. The dinner will be keynoted by Ken Meter of the Crossroad Resource Center in Min-neapolis, MN. Meter will be speaking on “The Role Small Scale Agriculture Can Play in Economic Recovery”. Meter has done extensive work on rural food sys-tems and how they impact communities. That dinner will be on Friday evening, September 28th. Please RSVP at www.sccd.org or call 509-535-7274 as soon as you read this if you would like to go. The cost is $25.

Saturday from Noon to 1pm, the Spokane Conservation District will hold their annual meet-ing during lunch in Bay 1. This e v e n t is an oppor-t u n i t y to learn about the C o n s e r v a t i o n District and all of the pro-grams available to help landowners with resource management and envi-ronmental issues. People that do not wish to attend the conference may still at-tend the District Annual Meeting portion without registering.

Registration forms and workshop de-scriptions are available at www.sccd.org. Camping is available at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. Special conference rates are available at the River Inn ($89/night) and the Red Lion Hotel at the Park ($99/night). Ask for the Small Farm Conference rate. u

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Friday, September 288:30 – 10:00am BeekeepingSpeaker: Jim Miller, Master Beekeeper, Miller’s Home-stead Honey, Spokane, WA. Been thinking about adding beehives to help with pollination of crops on your farm or as an added source of income? Jim has been a master bee-keeper and beekeeping instructor since 1995. He keeps his hives west of Medical Lake and provides honey, beekeeping equipment and extraction and diagnosis services from his home. Jim will talk about how to incorporate bees into your operation, and the economic and ecological benefits they can bring to your farm’s viability.

Herd Genetics MatterSpeakers: Bill Demer, Producer and Jeremy Howard, Biotracking. Good quality animals don’t just happen. Good genetics make great animals. Jeremy and Bill will discuss how artificial insemination can be a cost effective and

efficient way to improve the health and yield of your herd without gambling on whatever the neighbor’s male has to offer. Biotracking handles services for beef and dairy cattle, goats, sheep, bison, horses and wildlife.

Selling into the Wholesale MarketSpeakers: Megan Humphries, Main Market Co-op, Alex Plummer, Charlie’s Produce. Common business advice says a farm should have three markets for its products just in case one market should take a downturn. Wholesaling some of your production can be a good way to create a steady income stream. Producing for the wholesale market, however, is very different than selling to the farmer’s market crowd. A panel of representatives from the local wholesale trade who buy from local farmers will talk about what is nec-essary to make good in the market.

10:30am - Noon Effective & Efficient IrrigationSpeaker: Leigh Nelson NRCS State Irrigation Engineer. Proper irrigation is essential for good crop development. Getting the water where it needs to go effectively isn’t al-ways easy. Come learn about some of the work the NRCS is doing with cutting edge irrigation tools and technologies that can be cost effectively applied to a small producer.

Rabbit ProductionSpeaker: TBA. Rabbits are an alternative to raising larger animals for meat. Discussions will focus on breed selection, housing, feeding, health care, slaughter and marketing.

Maintaining Good Farm RecordsSpeaker: Wendy Knopp Northwest Farm Credit Servic-es. Sometimes keeping good farm records can be a chal-lenge. However, even when you are busy during the season, keeping up on the records is important. Down the road a well maintained log of expenses, income and how you man-aged your farm can help you expand your production, take advantage of an opportunity when it comes, or even avoid a problem that could cost you money.

1:00 – 2:30pm Permaculture & Biodynamic FarmingSpeaker: Gloria Flora, President of the National Biochar Association. Permaculture is a branch of ecological design and ecological engineering which develops sustainable hu-man settlements and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystem. Few people understand as well as Gloria Flora . She will share her experiences in building an agricultural system that works with natural pro-cesses and minimizes inputs.

Poultry ProcessingSpeaker: TBA. The focal point for this seminar will be the Stevens County Mobile Poultry Processing trailer. You will be able to see how the trailer is set up and how you take a bird or rabbit through the process and come out with a bagged product ready for the freezer. There will be discus-sions on how the trailer construction came about, costs and how the unit is managed.

Alternatives to Going Certified OrganicSpeakers: Representatives of Certified Naturally Grown and Animal Welfare Approved. Don’t need to see the val-ue of going fully certified organic? Still want to have some kind of standards program to market your product under? Check out Certified Naturally Grown and Animal Welfare Ap-proved, two national efforts that allow farmers a way to put a standard on your produce, fruit and animals without going certified organic.

3:00 – 4:30pm Meat Processing PotentialSpeakers: Members of the CAPOW Processing Co-op in Odessa, WA. Do we have enough cattle, pigs, goats and sheep to keep a USDA process facility in operation? The University of Idaho is completing an extensive regional study of the need for better and closer access to USDA pro-cessing facilities. They will discuss their research and what it means for the region to start a conversation about how the producer community can consider expanding process-ing capacity. Members of the CAPOW Processing Co-op in Odessa, WA will discuss how they developed their facility that will open next spring.

2nd Annual Inland Northwest Small Farms Conference Schedule of Events

2nd Annual Inland Northwest Small Farms Conference Schedule of Events


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Goat ProductionSpeaker: Donna R. Ruelas-Semasko, Edelweiss Acres, Olympia, WA.

Value Added Food Processing Regulations & Washington’s New Cottage LawSpeaker: Al Easter, Washington Department of Agri-culture Food Safety. Want to create a value added prod-uct from your farm’s production and add another income stream? Value added products may be a good way to do it. Learn about the rules you need to follow, infrastructure you will need to have in place and where you can legally sell your product. We will focus some of the time to Washing-ton’s new Cottage Law that allows the home kitchen produc-tion of baked goods and jams and jellies which went into effect the summer of 2012.

1:30 – 3:00pm Beginning PoultrySpeakers: Susan and Paul Puhek, S & P Homestead Farm, Otis Orchards, WA. Paul and Susan have been growing chickens for many years and sell their eggs at the Liberty Lake Farmers Market every Saturday during the season. They will talk about the regulations for keeping chickens in urban and rural areas, housing, feeding, breed selection and bird health to give you an idea of how to start a flock the right way.

Starting a Farm BusinessSpeakers: Representatives of the WSU Risk Manage-ment Education Office. This talk won’t tell you how much it costs to start a farm but it will give you the tools to help you determine what you need to pursue your dream. Talk will cover planning for infrastructure, equipment needs, insur-ance, farm management plans, manpower to run the farm and some of the hidden costs that can pop up.

Understanding Direct MarketingSpeaker: Colleen Donovan, WA State Farmers Market Association. Want to move beyond the farmers’ market or expand into a new one? Colleen will share her extensive experiences on developing new markets and how each new channel works.

3:30 - 5:00pm Solar & Wind Power for Small Farms Speaker: Brenda Roberts, Business Development Director, PCI Renewables.

Farm Advocacy GroupsSpeakers: Spokane County Farm Bureau and Others. Don’t think your single voice can make a difference in the debates about farm policy, regulation and economic devel-opment? Think again. There are numerous farm advocacy groups out there whose mission is to speak for the small producer and make sure his or her voice is heard at the local, state and national level. Representatives of the Spo-kane County Farm Bureau and other groups will explain each of their organization’s function and how you can get involved to make sure small producers are heard.

Websites & Social MediaSpeaker: Tara Neumann, Assistant Director, Tin Can, Spokane, WA. Websites and social media are fast becom-ing an important way to market to your customers and at-tract new ones. It doesn’t have to be expensive or take a computer science degree to understand. Tin Can has been helping people develop low cost websites and understand how to use social media as a marketing tool for a number of years in Spokane.

Reducing Mud & Manure & WorkSpeaker: Walt Edelen, Spokane Conservation District. Sometimes a few simple changes made in how you manage the manure that collects in your fields and paddocks, and the water that runs off structures can make for healthier ani-mals, less mud and reduced work for you. Walt will introduce you to the Conservation District’s new program Livestock and Land and the cost share programs that might be avail-able to producers to implement some of the changes.

Developing a Co-op & Other Marketing Alternatives:Speaker: Teresa Young, Northwest Co-op Develop-ment Center WCDC. Ever thought about forming a co-op to improve marketing and production? Co-ops may be a good way for farms in outlying areas to pool resources and production to reach markets or expand existing markets or create a “name brand” umbrella to market production under. They do take organizing though. Our speaker will discuss the ins and outs and all the legal stuff needed to establish one.

Saturday, September 298:30 - 10:00am Using the WSU AgWeatherNet to Plan Your FarmingSpeaker: Dr. Gerrit Hoogenboom Director and Profes-sor of Agro-meteorology, WSU AWN. WSU maintains a network of agricultural weather stations all over the state. These stations and the network of agricultural specialists behind them track data that can be used in models that can help track degree days, evaporation rates, frost and other advanced weather information that can be used to help plan spray applications, watering schedules, frost protection, harvesting schedules and more. It takes some of the guess work out of farming.

Beginning Livestock KeepingSpeaker: Maurice Robinette, Lazy R Ranch. You are starting out. What do you need to know to develop a good livestock operation? Maurice Robinette is a fourth genera-tion cattle producer who, with his daughter, raises grass fed beef near Tyler, WA. He will share his experience in devel-oping and managing his herd, what you need to consider for pasture, fencing, water, shelter and animal health. He will also share how he moved away from selling his cattle at auction to marketing them directly to his customers.

Finding Farm LandSpeaker: Sarah Wilcox, Cascade Harvest Coalition and Farm Link. Want to start a farm but can’t find affordable land? There will be discussions of alternative methods to acquiring access to farm land other than a traditional mortgage. Cascade Harvest Coalition and Farm Link have been working with small farmers all over the state to con-nect young and beginning farmers with older farmers and programs that help bring the cost of farmland down to an affordable level.

10:30 - Noon Basic BeekeepingSpeaker: Jim Miller, Master Beekeeper, Miller’s Home-stead Honey, Spokane, WA. What does it take to keep bees? Jim will talk about the life cycle of a honeybee, the equipment needed to maintain a hive, rules on where hives can be placed, harvesting honey and bee health. Jim is a master Beekeeper who maintains his hives using natural methods learned while on visits to the Republic of Georgia


In recent years, interest in growing fruit trees has expanded dra-matically. If you’re a gardener growing your own fruit, you’ve

probably received conflicting information about how to prune your trees properly. Pruning ideas have changed quite a bit over the years, and searching the internet might leave you confused and not know-ing how and when you should work on your trees. You may learn that pruning styles depend on what fruit you are growing. There are however, some consistent rules that should help you no matter what type of tree you have.

Fruit trees require lots of maintenance, which includes annual prun-ing. If you’re growing fruit at home, you will need to prune regularly if you want to have an abundant harvest. So what kind of work should you be doing?

Pruning Goals: Pruning should be done with your end goal in mind. Determine what you are going to cut and then how you’re going to do it. Here are four pruning goals that will work on all types of trees.

Have you ever wondered why the best fruit seems to grow so high in

the tree? The answer is easy: because that’s where the sun is! Fruit trees are solar powered and the parts of the plant that receive the most sun are the parts of the plant that will produce the best fruit. So our first goal is to open the tree to the sun in order to promote fruit growth throughout the tree and not just the top, but not to remove so much that we lose production.

We want a healthy tree and one that can stand up to the weight of all that fruit it is producing. You may have seen branches that have broken under snow load. The same thing can happen to a tree that has produced an abundance of apples, (or peaches, or cherries, or ...). So our second goal is to prune for a healthy tree with a strong, fruit bearing structure.

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Fruit trees, unlike most shade trees, need to be

easy to access. We’re thin-ning, harvesting, spraying, and pruning

all the time. With so much required labor, isn’t it better to prune so we can do our work easily and without

breaking branches? So our third goal is to prune to make the tree easy to care for and harvest.

Our last goal is to make proper pruning cuts in order to keep your trees healthy. Prune branches back to a side shoot, so that the pruning wound will

seal properly. You want to prune to a side shoot that is at least half the diameter or more, of the branch you are cutting. So if you are trimming a branch about an inch in diameter, you don’t want to cut back to a branch smaller than about ½”.

You can always trim back to a branch that is larger than the one you are cutting.

Timing: With the exception of pruning for disease, you’ll want to prune when your fruit trees are dormant. This means waiting until the leaves have dropped in the Fall, and before buds start to swell in the Spring. Pruning can expose the trees to greater risk of injury from low winter temperatures, so some growers wait for warmer temperatures in late February and March. Sweet cherry growers often prune in late summer, to reduce the risk of disease enter-ing the trunk.

Tools: There are many different tools you can use for pruning, but the most important quality for any of them is to have a sharp blade. Pruning with dull blades means rips and tears instead of clean cuts. With a pruning hand saw, bypass pruners and an orchard ladder, you should be able to tackle any tree. It’s hard to make good cuts with pole saws and pole clippers, but some growers have learned to use them well. Ask yourself if you really need these tools, and their required upkeep, before you purchase them.

Thinning Cuts: Thinning cuts are when you remove a branch all the way back to where it starts. Most of your pruning will be thinning cuts, because you are opening up the tree to more sunlight, and building a few strong branches, rather than lots of weak ones. Thin out branches that are crossing or rubbing against each other. Remove all root suckers, which are those fast growing stems that grow straight up from the base of the tree. These will take en-ergy away from producing fruit. The orchardist motto is: “When in doubt, thin it out.”

Reducing Cuts: Re-ducing cuts are those where you cut the length of the branch but do not remove it entirely. This is done to

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redirect a branch by cutting to a side shoot growing in the direction you want. It is also done to slow down the overall growth of the tree, by keeping the height and width under control. When pruning fruit trees, most of your cuts will be of the thinning type, but reducing cuts are an important tool in your tool box.

Younger Trees: Young trees are those that have been in the ground less than three years. They do not have as much reserve energy as old-er trees, so make smaller cuts on these plants. Your goal with young trees is to build a strong scaffold for fruit to grow. Choose healthy branches to be your permanent structure. Make sure you choose scaffold limbs on all sides of the tree for even weight distribution. Do this work now, and you’ll have a productive tree for much longer.

Central Leader Training: Trees like apple, pear and cherry trees on dwarf rootstock do best with a strong central stem and an overall shape like a triangle that is narrow at the top. This pruning style calls for selecting a strong central leader, and for keeping upper branches shorter, to keep them from shading lower branches. You want about 60 percent of the leaf canopy in the lower half of the tree. Over time, you may have to reduce the leader back, to keep the tree a manageable height, but most of your work will be to train side branches. The low-est permanent limb should be trained to an angle about 45 degrees from the main stem, and the second lowest limb trained to about 60 degrees. After that you will be removing any branches other than the leader that are growing straight up. Thin the branches that are too vigorous and keep the slower growing ones.

Open Center Training: Peaches, cherries (non-dwarf), apricots and

plums produce best with what is called open center pruning. This style is almost the reverse of central leader training. Open center trees have the main stem severely reduced. Four to five side branches are trained as the permanent scaffold limbs; these are at least eight inches apart on the stem and on all sides of the tree. They are allowed to grow more vertically, instead of horizontally as with central leader training.

Questions? The WSU Master Gardeners are happy to help home fruit growers with questions about everything from pruning to spraying. You can contact them at [email protected] or call 509-477-2181. Free fact sheets are posted at www.spokane-county.wsu.edu/spokane/eastside u

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As it cools this fall and the rains return, the noxious weeds will again emerge and wreak havoc across

the region. Now is a good time to go after some of them to make room for fall plantings.

By legal definition in Washington, a noxious weed is a non-native plant that has been introduced to the state by human action and is deemed a hazard to the environ-mental, economic and social environments. Idaho de-fines a noxious weed as any plant having the potential to cause injury to public health, crops, livestock, land or other property and that has been designated a noxious weed.

In Washington, noxious weed control is under the purvey of the state-level Noxious Weed Control Board and county weed boards. In Idaho, the Idaho State De-partment of Agriculture oversees the Noxious Weed Program as well as the county level Noxious Weed Man-agement Supervisors. Knapweed


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In both states, these agencies establish the lists of designated plants and have the legal authority to establish and enforce their con-trol or management. The enforcement of weed controls is graduated depending on the class the weed falls in and the severity of the infestation. These agencies have the author-ity to require landowners to control the nox-ious weeds on their property

Noxious weeds take over because they out compete other plants for water, light and nutrients or make an agricultural crop unus-able. In the case of knapweed, research has found that the plant has the ability to disrupt nutrient use in other plants around it thus dis-rupting their ability to function and produce food. This weakens the native and desirable plants and allows the knapweed to move in.

There is no quick fix or one shot herbicide application that will control noxious weeds. It may take two to three years and repeated ap-plication of control methods to get a handle on them. It will also take restoring desirable grasses on overgrazed or bare land so there is something to compete with the weeds.

If you have thin pastures infested with weeds in them, now is a great time to get a jump on next year’s weeds. Fall rains will al-low grasses to start growing again and keep growing into early November.

First get your weeds you want to treat iden-tified properly by someone at your local Ex-tension Office or county weed office. You will then be able to select the most effective herbicide. Different chemicals have differing effects on some weeds. By choosing the most effective chemical, you save yourself money and don’t put too much of the wrong chemi-cals into the environment. If you want to use

For more information on the impact and control of noxious weeds, check these websites: Spokane County Weed Boardwww.spokanecounty.org/weedboard/

Washington Noxious Weed Boardwww.nwcb.wa.gov/

Idaho Noxious Weed Program www.agri.state.id.us

biocontrols, you will have to wait until next spring.

Apply the herbicide to the actively growing weeds according to label instructions paying special attention to the daytime tempera-tures. Most herbicides don’t work well below the mid 60 degree range. Apply spray in the morning so the plants have the warm after-noon to absorb it.

Once the weeds have started dying and it is safe to replant (check the label) lightly harrow the field and reseed with a good pasture grass. Run the harrow over the ground again to get the seed in contact with the soil. The ground will still be warm enough to ger-minate the seed. It isn’t necessary to plow up the ground as that merely brings up more dormant weed seed. Grass seed can even be applied into

early November. It will stay dormant through the winter and start growing in the spring be-fore you can work the ground.

For more information on the management, identification and control options for nox-ious weeds, contact your county weed au-thority. u

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as a table runner. To make it prettier gather and tie the ends hanging off with brown twine, raffia

bows, or eyelet lace.

Hurricane glasses can be a great tool to display your outside artifacts. The glass g i v e s a clean and simple look to the

table and is more unique than a plain bowl of acorns.

Your favorite vase can carry over into fall as well by filling it with a

branch arrange-ment rather than flow-ers to match the season.

Neutral colored candles could be accented with any of the details al-ready mentioned to make a table top that your diners will not forget.

A meal made from your harvest yield deserves a spe-cial setting on the table to honor your hard work.

A great way to decorate the table and to give a natural rustic feel to it is to go outside and find seasonal el-ements to use. Bring the outdoors in by decorat-ing with fall leaves, gourds, acorns, pine cones, branches, bird feathers, or apples. Look for items that can add visual interest to the table and vary in shape, size, color, or texture.

A gourd gath-ering is a funky way to use the little gourds from the garden. Clus-ter a bunch of them together and tuck in corn husk dolls to make it the focus point of the table. Try using a long piece of burlap

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How to Make Corn Husk DollsCorn husk dolls are a craft that is easy enough that you can include

the little ones for a fun afternoon activity. You can collect husks from the garden, or if you do not already have a corn field out your back-door corn husks can be purchased inexpensively at most craft stores or grocery stores. For one doll you will need approximately 20 husks, a tub of warm water, towels to lay down on your workspace, string, and scissors. Soak the husks in warm water for 10-15 minutes or un-til they are pliable. Keep them wet or damp throughout the process so they stay pliable while you work. Always place the husks with the smooth side turned out.

Lay 6-7 husks together in the same direction and tie 3/4 of the 1. way from the top

Turn down the husks over the tie with the shorter pieces inside2.

Tie husks down again to create the head and neck3.

Roll a smaller piece of husk into a ball and tuck in the middle 4. below the neck to create a chest

Roll one husk tightly into a cylinder and tie at each end and in the 5. middle. This will be the arms

Push the arms up in between the husks and tie underneath to 6. create a waist

Wrap a husk around the shoulders, cross over the chest and se-7. cure in back to create the look of shoulders and a torso

Add more husks to the skirt if you like or cut the skirt vertically 8. in half to make pants, and tie at the ankles and knees. Or use some scraps of cloth to make clothes. u

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Corn husk dolls are a fun and seasonal crafting activity that you and your kids can create together.


Zucchini Tomato Garlic SoupRansack your garden for the ingredients in this fresh and fulfilling soup. It is made up of

simple vegetables but has a burst of flavor, and is a great way to use up a surplus of zuc-chini gone wild. This soup can be a wonderful addition to a weeknight meal, or make a light lunch accompanying a Panini sandwich. The cooler evenings will be a welcomed pleasure if

you have a hot bowl of Zuc-chini Tomato Garlic Soup to rest in your belly.

Directions

Sauté the onion and garlic in a stock pot with the olive

oil until tender. Add squash and tomatoes and cook until tender. Add the stock, Italian seasoning and tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes. Ad-just flavors as needed. Should serve 4-6 people

Serve with warm, crusty bread and fresh fruit for dessert.

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Fall Crops


Fall Festival Fun at Green BluffWhether you’re trying to figure out the perfect apple for

making pies, applesauce, jarring or just snacking on through the fall and winter months, the Green Bluff Growers have an entire festival dedicated to this versatile fruit. Begin-ning the 22nd of September and continuing on through the end of October, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to stock up. Even if you don’t have fruit trees at home, you can still pick your own produce and know exactly where it comes from: lo-cal farmers doing their best to bring you the juiciest and healthiest fruit they can. Green Bluff offers over two dozen orchards that have been busily working together to make the Apple Festival an exciting adventure for the entire family. Each orchard is like its own cozy commu-nity offering live music, food, games and so much more! Make sure you don’t forget to sip on some of Green Bluff’s famous fresh pressed apple cider or get lost in one of the corn or straw mazes. Another trademark of the Green Bluff Growers is their fantastical pumpkin patches. There’s nothing more enjoyable than a brisk day picking out the perfect jack-o-lantern shape, pie pumpkins and autumn gourds to feature on your table this season. Bundle up the whole family for this seasonal fun and you’ll be sure to enjoy watching the toddlers roll their picks triumphantly across the fields. Each farm is run independently, but the grower map and driv-ing directions can be found at www.greenbluffgrowers.com.

“I tell you, all politics is apple sauce.” Will Rogers

LAMB • PORK CHICKEN •BEEF

Homegrown... No Chemicals, No Hormones.

Select your own MeatWe will cut it and wrap it for you.

Half or Whole $395 lb509-953-9444

See us at The Spokane Public Market

Vinyl 2, 3 or 4 Rail Split Rail Cedar

Dog Kennels

Let Us ProfessionallyMeasure and Install Your Fence

— or Do-It-Yourselfers — Bring us Your Measurements

& Diagram… We have Loaner Tools!

1-800-FENCEMAN

Before You Buy Fencing or Materials… Call The Fenceman!

16516 E. Temple Rd. Spokane, WA 99217

(Cell) 993-2678 (509) 927-9744www.VermillionPump.com

¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


20 Acres

50%Discountfor cash

– STONELODGE PROJECT –We have seven, twenty acre tracts at Stonelodge. Stonelodge is 4 miles down river from Suncrest. Each tract has been surveyed with all corners and lines well marked. There is a 60 foot easement private road with gravel. Every tract is accessible by 2 wheel drive. The property is gated.

PUD has installed a water line into the area, but these tracts are above the reservoir. PUD water may be available soon. For now each tract must drill their own well.There are covenants. No mobile homes are allowed, each home must be frame or “A” frame construction. As you can see each tract has a fabulous view.There is a large merchantable timber on each tract with zillions of smaller reproduction. There is considerable wildlife including deer, moose, turkeys, and many others.

We will offer a 50% discount for cash, otherwise an owner contract.For more pictures and/or a tour of the property contact

Bob & Kay Summerlin at 509-276-6540

Asking price is$125,000 - $195,000per 20 acre tract.


No Bad Apples in this Bunch

End-of-the-road seclusion on 10+ acres with fabulous view! New 3 bedroom home features classic coun-try feel with wrap-around covered porches, custom country kitchen with baking center, hardwood floors, stone hearth and woodstove, fenced pasture with small barn. Bungalow is perfect guest house or in-law setup. Deer Park area $349,000

JimPalmerJr.com

Jim Palmer, Jr. 509-953-1666

Owner/ BrokerReal Estate Marketplace

The Walton’s would have loved this classic 2 story farm house! Multiple barns & outbuildings on 35 acres. Includes water right & irrigation equipment. Large seasonal pond, level to rolling farm land, all fenced & cross fenced. Think of the opportunity for the use of all that water! Raise fish or run a green house or nursery? Mini golf course? Endless possi-bilities! Adjoining acreage is also available with large pond. North of Deer Park $249,000

Heaven on Earth! 80 acres close to the highway yet ultimate privacy. Beautiful mix of pasture & trees. Remodeled 3 bedroom home, heated bunk house for guests and additional two bedroom apartment in the shop with its own legal septic. View of Jump Off Joe Mountain with access to timber company lands. RV storage barn, separate heated office building, shop and barn with corrals. Wildlife galore! Pond and sub-irrigated pasture land. Deer Park area $325,000

DREAMPROPERTIES

CUSTOM BUILDINGS. OUR SPECIALTYPOLE BUILDINGS OR STICK FRAME

BARNS-ARENAS-HAY STORAGE-SHOPS-GARAGES

Financing Available OAC

STIMSC1930MQ

SERVING WASHINGTON STATE SINCE 199911515 W. SUNSET HWY. AIRWAY HEIGHTS, WA 99001 WWW.STIMSONCO.COM

509-244-2636

No Hidden Costs Not a Thing to “Fix or Finish”


509-926-1800

www.TruckLandSpokane.comWinter’s Coming… We Have Your

4-Wheel Drive Vehicles! Over 140 Choices!

$ 19,999

2004 CHEVY AVALANCHE1500 4x4 5.3 L V-8

$22,957

2006 CADILLAC ESCALADEESV 4x4

$20,995

2006 GMC SIERRA 2500Crew 4x4 6.0 Gas

$23,961

2005 H2 HUMMER Adventure Package

$36,999

SOLD

2007 CHEVY SILVERADOCrew Dually Diesel

$34,765

2008 FORD F350King Ranch 4x4 Diesel

2007 FORD EDGE SEAWD, 3.5L V6 DOHC 24V, 6-sp Automatic

$23,871

2011 DODGE RAM 1500Sport Crew 4x4

$ 19,981

2001 DODGE RAM 2500Cummins Turbo Diesel 4x4

$23,781

2007 FORD EXPLOREREddie Bauer 32,000 Miles 4x4

Prices + tax, title, license and up to $150 negotiable documentary service may be applied. All vehicles subject to prior sale. All vins posted at dealership. Ad Expires 10/3/12

[email protected] PO Box 1117, Mead, WA 99021www.GreenBluffGrowers.com

35+ FAMILY OWNED FARMS

Green

Bluff…110 Years of Sustainability Growing Strong

bountiful life, vol. 1 issue 1

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