Tree People

I just got back from the Wisconsin Arborist Association Winter Conference.  I rejoined the organization last year after being absent for almost two decades.  My job working in the greenhouse and nursery took me in a slightly different direction for awhile.  Being back with WAA fits in well with where my work is taking me again.
Many people can be content with finishing college, getting a job, and never opening another book to learn something new about their field of employment.  I am not one of those people and I like hanging out with people who feel the same way.  The WAA conference was a jam-packed, three day learning event.  You could take away as much as you were willing to put into it.  The speakers were all very knowledgeable with their topics and many were also entertaining.
The main goal of my journey to Green Bay was to take the ISA Arborist Certification test.  I won't know for a few weeks if I am successful, but I am feeling pretty good about most of my answers I put down.  It was pretty intense, so I am glad it is over.
Besides all the information gained and exposure to new equipment and technical skills, the conference is a gathering of some pretty fine people.  They are people passionate about trees and their part in making them part of the urban environment.  Some people are friends I have not seen for many years.  Other people have been more recent acquaintances that are pretty fun to be around.  Many become friends with more time we spend together.  Sharing ideas and information over a drink doesn't hurt.  I look forward to making the conferences on a more regular basis again.

Let the ordering begin!

I have my first order in the envelope and ready to be sent.  I concentrated my early efforts on ordering vegetables and berry plants.  This year I am branching out into fruiting bushes (again).  I had successful raspberry bushes on the south side of the garage.  I also had successful picking by my young daughter and the neighbor boys.  I did not see too many of the raspberries myself once they were aware of the treat.  
The patch was lost to moving of fenced areas for the dog and reallocation of the space to park our trailer.  The plants were diminishing with the increase of shade in this area, so I didn't bother saving any of the stock.  I also had no place to relocate them as the pool was still a large part of our backyard. 
Our nest is empty and my desire to grow more edibles is strong.  I plan on putting in a male and female hardy kiwi as well as a male and female honey berry.  I would also like to reestablish an asparagus patch and possibly get a dwarf fruit tree or two.  I will take it one plant at a time, though.  The literature is promising for the honey berries for our soil pH and heavy clay texture.  They even like a bit of light shade if the summers are hot.  I have all these things going for me.  
The kiwis will replace the spireas that now run on the west side of our fire pit area.  I plan on using the post I am digging out of the old deck area to create a sturdy trellis to grow them on.  My husband will be thrilled to hear I want to dig more post holes. There is still plenty of deck wood to create cross pieces on the horizontal.  I think I will use some strong wire to fill in the center.  More research is needed.
I have the onion seeds on the order and will be trying an Italian onion called Red Marble (which is a red storing onion) as well as Copra for a yellow storing onion.  I really liked the filet type beans last year.  Jung's has a pole filet bean which I am going to try instead of my usual purple trifiano.  I am also getting some pepper seeds to start this year as last year's seeds seemed to be a mixed bag.  The anchos didn't set as well as they did in 2011, so I have a variety which promises better set.
I still have to sit down with my daughter and pick out flowers suitable for a fall wedding.

Jung Seed Company Letter

I just wanted to share this letter sent out by Jung Seed Company based in Randolph, WI.  This information is straight from the owner to their customers.  If GMO seeds are of concern to you and not buying varieties of seeds produced by the same company, I urge you to read on.

Friday, January 18, 2013 Jung Seed Company, Monsanto and Seminis

Some blogs and websites have been stating that J. W. Jung Seed Company is owned by Monsanto. This is not true. J. W. Jung Seed Company has been independent and family owned and operated since its beginnings in 1907. We are being confused with a farm seed company by the name of Jung Seed Genetics that is owned by Monsanto, but there is no affiliation between us.

A little company history may be helpful in clearing up the confusion. J. W. Jung Seed Company and its garden centers are still family owned and operated. My name is Dick Zondag and my grandfather, J. W. Jung, started the business here in Randolph over 106 years ago. For a number of years the Jung family operated both a home garden company known as J. W. Jung Seed Company and a farm seed company called Jung Farms. Over 15 years ago, the 2 companies split, with the Seed Company becoming solely owned by the Zondag family (my mother was J. W. Jung’s daughter). Jung Farms became solely owned by my uncle and cousin, the name was changed to Jung Seed Genetics and several years ago they sold this farm seed company to Monsanto.

Another source of confusion is that under the Monsanto umbrella is a very small home-garden division called Seminis Gardens that produces and sells some well-known, time-proven, non-GMO varieties, including many varieties that are All-America Selections Winners. These were developed and introduced long before Monsanto owned Seminis and were originally sold under the Petoseed brand. Many of our customers have grown to love these vegetables and would be very disappointed if we no longer offered them. We recognize there are strong anti-Monsanto sentiments by some consumers, so we have provided below a current list of Seminis varieties we offer in the event they wish to avoid purchasing them.

Tomato Beefmaster Hybrid Tomato Better Boy Hybrid Tomato Big Beef Hybrid Tomato Health Kick Hybrid Tomato Lemon Boy Hybrid Tomato Sunsugar Hybrid Tomato Sweet Baby Girl Hybrid Tomato Viva Italia Hybrid Tomatillo Toma Verde Bean Stringless Blue Lake S-7 Broccoli Coronado Crown Hybrid Broccoli Packman Hybrid Carrot Kuroda PS Carrot Sweetness III Hybrid Cauliflower Cheddar Hybrid Cucumber Cool Breeze Hybrid Cucumber Eureka Hybrid Cucumber Fanfare Hybrid Cucumber Orient Express II Hybrid Cucumber Sweet Slice Hybrid Cucumber Sweet Success Hybrid Cucumber Sweeter Yet Hybrid Cucumber Salad Bush Hybrid Eggplant Epic Hybrid (Formerly Dusky) Eggplant Fairy Tale Hybrid Eggplant Hansel Hybrid Lettuce Red Sails Lettuce Simpson Elite Melon Roadside Hybrid Onion Candy Hybrid (seed) Onion Red Zeppelin Hybrid (seed) Onion Sierra Blanca Hybrid (seed)

Pea Mr. Big Pepper Ancho San Martin Hybrid Pepper Biggie Chile Hybrid Pepper Burning Bush Hybrid Pepper Cherry Bomb Hybrid Pepper Fooled You Jalapeno Hybrid Pepper Garden Salsa Hybrid Pepper Mariachi Hybrid Pepper Mucho Nacho Hybrid Pepper Serrano Del Sol Hybrid Pepper Super Chili Hybrid Pepper Bell Boy Hybrid Pepper Big Bertha Hybrid Pepper Early Sunsation Hybrid Pepper King Arthur Hybrid (formerly Fat 'N Sassy) Pepper Giant Marconi Hybrid Pepper Gypsy Hybrid Pepper Orange Blaze Hybrid Pepper Super Heavyweight Hybrid Pumpkin Prizewinner Hybrid Pumpkin Phantom Hybrid Pumpkin Spirit Hybrid Pumpkin Snack Face Hybrid Squash Commander Hybrid (Formerly Aristocrat) Squash Sunny Delight Hybrid Squash Canesi Hybrid Squash Early Butternut Hybrid Squash/Pumpkin Jamboree Hybrid Squash/Pumpkin Rumbo Hybrid Squash Pasta Hybrid Watermelon Yellow Doll Hybrid

The Holdovers from 2012

I have my holdovers from 2012, also known as my stock plants.  I have rooted, transplanted, pinched, and watered to keep them going so far.  They live under lights in my basement laundry room.
They are ready for transplanting now.  I have been holding them in the 1.5" cell packs as long as I can.  They are crowding each other and starting to stretch.  This is a sign to upgrade them to small pots and allow some space to grow.  They are going to be the first cuttings I make for my 2013 coleus, ibosa vines, Streptocarpela, and rosemary.  It is also time to start fertilizing them.  I also think a bit of bottom heat would help them out a bit. Time to price out growing mats and weigh out the costs vs benefits.
Still studying for the certification test.  I have fallen asleep on the book twice this week so chapter 15 is going very slowly.  Luck for me, we have a long weekend coming up.  I do better reading during the day in natural light.  Kind of like the plants in my basement which are surviving by not really thriving under artificial light.  Oh, to have a greenhouse someday that fits in my little yard.
We have not had a really good snow storm yet this winter.  We have had one or two inches, lots of rain, and freezing rain.  The last batch we got stuck to the sidewalks like glue.  These conditions have kept me busy at work with complaints of slick sidewalks everywhere.  I would trade this for a good 8" snowfall.  At least people feel the motivation to get out there and clean them off without me leaving notes to remind them.  We have single digits in the forecast for the coming week.  This ice is not going to go quietly.  Heavy sigh!

Early seeds

I am not ready to order all my seeds...yet...but I have been looking at some to mail in soon.  Things you need to start early if you really want to do them yourself:

Onions:  I am convinced that the best onions come from seeds. We grow long day onions in Wisconsin, for growing during our long days of summer. Short day is for warmer zones, think winter there when days are shorter. Check the time to maturity, but I put my little onion seedlings out in April after starting them in February

Lisianthus:  This beautiful flower takes a long time to bloom and January is not too early to start it.  It is a very tiny seed, a very tiny seedling and doesn't seem to grow very fast.

Herbs:  If you want some indoor herbs, start them now for an indoor crop.  They will need supplemental light.

Greens:  At least start thinking about them.  If you have a cold frame set up in your garden, you may be putting some seedlings in there the end of February or March, depending on the temperatures.  I still don't have my cold frame, but I am thinking of how to utilize that nice, sunny spot on the south side this year, possibly some straw bales and a Lexan cover. TBA

Pansies and violas:  These are cool season crops and if you want to grow your own, you have to start early.

Look at the seed packs and the days to harvest.  Count back to when you want to harvest to when you need to start.  If it is over 100 days, you are probably looking at an early start.

Mid-Winter Spring

We are experiencing an unusually mild winter (again).  Two small snow storms have melted away with temperatures reaching 50 degrees this past week.  Some of my plants haven't frozen yet.  
I took advantage of the warmth to do some spring chores a little early.  Last week I took down our Christmas tree.  This means cutting all the branches off the trunk and taking them out to the garden.  I lay the evergreen boughs over the pachysandra and other broad-leaf evergreens to shelter them from winter sun and add some acidic mulch as the needles fall off come spring.  I also dismantled the wreath I purchased and laid those boughs in the same areas.  The window box and pot that I had filled with boughs were also thawed, and I was able to put those evergreens into the garden as well.  I love recycling Christmas into the garden.
The job I am really feeling today is digging out the deck posts.  There were seven remaining posts that were remnants from the long gone pool deck/fort/canoe rack (in that order).  I dug, pounded, picked, and shoveled until I could leaver three of the posts out of the unfrozen earth.  Only four more to go.  
I finished the job by hosing off all the tools and cleaning a few windows with the hose I drug out of storage for the job.  I would have never anticipated doing this in the middle of January.  A hot tub and a cold beverage rounded out the day.  Back to studying for my upcoming test.

Apple-Plum Brandy Cake

I have a recipe that came out of Organic Gardening magazine last year.  I have to share it with you because it is so good and an excellent recipe.

Apple Plum Brandy Cake                                   Organic Gardening 2012

1 C canola oil

2 large eggs

1 ½ C sugar

1 ½  t vanilla

2 C flour

½ t salt

1 t baking soda

1 ½ t cinnamon

¼ t freshly ground nutmeg

2/3 C pitted prunes

2 whole cloves

Splash of brandy and orange juice

3 large apples (3-4 C diced)

In small sauce pan, combine prunes, cloves, OJ and brandy (enough liquid to cover the prunes. Gently heat on low until prunes plump. Remove cloves and drain excess liquid from prunes. Cool, dice prunes.

Mix oil and eggs with whisk or beater until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla, mix to combine.

In second bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to egg mixture and mix well.

Mix prunes and apples into batter.  It will be stiff.  Pour into prepared 12 C bundt pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 75 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or fruit compote or it is delicious by the slice.  Serves 10

Certified Arborist

I have been studying quite a bit lately to take an arborist certification exam through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).  Just sending in the application to take the exam was the equivalent of applying for a job in some circles.  I have found the material challenging as well as a refresher to some of the things I learned in college.  I have found that I still am not fond of soil studies.
I do not climb trees or oversee a crew that does.  My experience in such is limited.  I worked for over 20 years with nursery stock and never needed a rope and saddle for that.  What I am learning through the study for this test is that even though I don't spend time in the trees, I do apply this knowledge to decisions I make from the ground.  I need to take the time to look over a tree from my base position and make decisions about the trees condition based on what I am looking at from the ground.  Sometimes the bucket truck needs to take a trip up to confirm or disprove what my diagnosis was from below.
My advice to anyone who asks is to hire a certified arborist.  Now that I have an idea of what it will take to gain that certificate and maintain it, I can say with certainty that hiring a certified arborist is a good decision.  The effort to stay educated and knowledgeable is not small.  The people that are certified take a great deal of time to make sure they are doing their job with the most current information available to them in their field.  The ISA keeps an online list to verify that you have a certified arborist working for you.
Just about anyone can buy a truck and chain saw.  An arborist will give you the best advice on tree care.  Hire a certified arborist.  Don't find out the hard way that you should have hired an certified arborist.