http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/ Growing Good Fruit at Home. Visit the HOS website for articles, news, discussion forums & more en-us http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/syndication/recent_articles.xml www.homeorchardsociety.org http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/images/hos_rss.gif http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/ 88 31 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/50/ Surround®, a white, odorless kaolin clay, is used as a deterrent for pests and diseases on fruit trees. Kaolin acts as a physical barrier preventing insects from reaching vulnerable plant tissue. It acts as a repellent by creating an unsuitable surface for feeding or egg-laying. The... 2010-02-06 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/49/ Each subject has it's own vocabulary and pruning is no different from the others. The following is a list of terms used in pruning. You may wish to print these out or bookmark it for future reference. Have more questions about pruning? You can ask experts and other HOS members on the HOS Forums!... 2009-02-03 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/48/ Many people have heard of paw-paws, especially from a children's song. It is considered an exotic fruit, but I don't think it should be. It is in fact the largest native North American fruit. They grow easily without diseases, bugs, or heavy predation from local animals. The fruit is extremely... 2007-10-29 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/47/ The results are in; Nylon Footies are 100% effective against apple maggots & 96-98% effective against coddling moths. The environmentally effective way to protect your fruit without spraying is easy to apply. The key to the effective barrier is time of application. Nylon Footies must be... 2007-04-21 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/46/ At this year's All About Fruit Show, many home growers had bitter pit problems in apples and Asian pears. Bitter pit can affect all apple and Asian pear varieties but some are more prone than others. The main cause is a mineral imbalance, low levels of calcium. A Little Information on Calcium:... 2006-12-31 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/45/ As my girl friend was trying on shoes and I was doing my impersonation of a pink flamingo, standing on one leg then the other, I noticed something. She was putting on disposable nylon foot sox. I thought, if it could cover feet, why not an apple. I asked the clerk if I could have some of the... 2006-09-03 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/44/ Mystery surrounds this apple, for no one knew or remembered when it originated but "Coxe" reported in 1817 "The original tree at Burlington, N. J. was large and old." There is no doubt that it was an old colonial fruit. The ‘Yellow Bellflower' was always called ‘Belle Fleur' by the French... 2006-07-06 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/43/ One nice thing about growing fruit in your backyard (or any part of your yard) is that you can select varieties that will ripen over a period of time. This will let you and the birds enjoy an extended harvest. The following is a cherry harvest chart patterned after one developed by Lynn E.... 2006-06-01 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/42/ Haskap berries are native to Hokkaido, the northern Island of Japan. Historically, wild-growing plants provided one of the few fruits available to the Aniu people, the indigenous population on this island. They appreciated their taste and also recognized their high nutritional value. In 1967,... 1753-05-22 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/41/ The practice of grafting is an ancient one. Theophrastus, the Greek plantsman credited as the founder of botany who died ca. 288 BC, described the joining of a root and branch, as distinguished from the rooting of cuttings, and catalogued the feasible combinations of fruit trees. It was he... 2006-04-01 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/40/ Of all cultivated fruits, blueberries are one of the best for the home garden. The beautiful bushes blend well into landscaping, growing four to eight feet tall with small, white urn-shaped flowers in spring followed by big crops of blue berries and lovely autumn foliage. Nutritional research has... 2006-02-28 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/39/ It's good to have black currants growing in your back garden because they are so versatile for desserts and meat sauces, jams, jellies, juice and liqueur. The fruit has great color and tangy flavor and is an excellent source of vitamin C (4 times that of citrus or blueberries) and antioxidants.... 2006-01-31 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/38/ This is my "short list" of American varieties which do well in most parts of the Pacific Northwest. There are many others not covered here that are worth growing, so don't stop with these if you have room for more. In cooler parts of the NW, it's best to confine your selections to early ripening... 2005-12-29 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/37/ Is a Persimmon or Medlar in your future? Or have you thought them too exotic for your yard or possibly too difficult to grow? Well, neither situation is true and the HOS spring event holds the opportunity for this wonderful fruit adventure Some of you may have seen persimmons in the grocery... 2005-11-29 http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/36/ I know you've seen them, and have likely used one, but do you own a Tripod Orchard Ladder? My first memory of such a ladder is that of my Father climbing a tall 3-legged Wooden Monster at a U-pick cherry orchard. He'd toss down fat black Bings to us kids scrambling below. My frst climbing... 2005-10-31