Grow Your Own

It seems that interest in growing more of your own food continues to gain steam. It’s hard to say what is fueling this phenomenon. Concerns about food quality? Trying to save a buck or two? Fretting over the environment? I don’t know. There must be a survey out there somewhere that sheds light on this.

For many years, gardening has been identified as America’s leading hobby. Add to this the growing interest in food and you’ve got something special. Farmers markets are springing up everywhere. Locally grown food is automatically gourmet. Suddenly, every other person you meet wants to keep honey bees…. my introduction to beekeeping course is sold out.

The good news is that Penn State Extension is ready, willing and able to help. We’ve been teaching people how to grow food for about 100 years. Publications are a good example of this. This fall, a brand new guide to vegetable gardening, authored by Elsa Sanchez, Associate Professor of Horticulture and her co-horts at Penn State was published. Fifty eight pages of research-based, (but user-friendly) information on the vegetable crops we love. It is cleverly titled Vegetable Gardening. Hey, if you want the sizzle rather than the steak your local Land Grant University is not the place to go… but we do have the goods.

An equally good publication for fruit growers, Fruit Production for the Home Gardner is 186 pages of powerful information on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and other fruit culture.
These two are good examples but just the tip of the iceberg. Go to the College of Ag Sciences web site and dig for more. We can teach you how to grow just about anything. Livestock, too.

Some folks learn better with a bit classroom instruction. In Bucks County, we’ve been conducting a short course called Living on A Few Acres for about 25 years. Now it is being offered throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. In this course you not only learn how to pick a ripe watermelon, you’ll find out how to tell if that hen is laying eggs, too! Call us at 215-345-3283 for registration information on the Bucks County course or this site in other counties.

Some folks have an urge to go to the next level. Start farming. That’s a big step up from gardening. But it happens all of the time. Penn State recognized this need and is now engaged in a major effort to help those who want to grow food for profit. You can check out the extensive list of course offerings and more at the Start Farming website.

Got kids? Are they between the ages of 8 and 18? If so, they can get a real fine, agricultural, hands-on experience through our 4-H youth program. Sheep, chickens, beef, turkeys, tomatoes, you name it. Ask for Bob Brown when you call our office. Hit this site for a directory of counties in Pennsylvania and their local program. I’m a bit biased, I’ll admit, but observing the impact 4-H has on kids for more than 30 years has convinced me that it is one of the best youth programs available... and about the only one that will get your kid involved in agriculture. Learn by doing… what a concept!

Want to grow your own… just a little or enough to live on? Penn State Extension is a great place to get started.

Grow Your Own Fruit

Interest in home food production is booming. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s an interest in locally produced food. Hey, even the president (or his wife and kids) now has a garden!
Most folks start with a vegetables and then graduate to fruit production. All of the fruit producing plants are perennial. This means more planning and more attention to site details. And complications such as cross pollination and rootstock emerge. Let’s face it… anyone can grow a tomato. It takes dedication and skill to produce your own apples, blueberries and peaches. But it can be done.
Before I get into details about some specific fruiting plants, here’s some good news. Penn State has produced an outstanding publication called Fruit Production for the Home Gardner. You can read the whole thing on line, order a copy from Penn State (814-865-6713) or stop by our office and pick up a copy for twelve dollars. Its 186 pages packed with practical fruit growing information.

If you are itching to try your hand at fruit production, here are some suggestions.

1. Start small. Make your mistakes on a small scale and add more if things are going well.

2. Make a realistic assessment of your site. You’ll need at least 8 hours of sunlight a day and soil that does not retain excess moisture. How can you tell? The sunlight part is easy. As for moisture… if your site has standing water for more than 24 hours after rainfall it’s probably too wet for perennial fruiting plants.

3. Think about deer. Deer will absolutely destroy new fruit plantings. If not in the growing season, then during the winter. Do not underestimate them. There are no shortcuts to deer control. If you have deer pressure only an 8 foot fence or hot lead will stop them. Don’t think about fencing individual plants. Think about fencing the entire fruit planting. Not always a pretty picture. If deer pressure is low to moderate, the odor repellents offer some temporary help.

4. Use dwarfing root stocks to control plant size wherever it make sense. Good size controlling rootstocks exist for apple, pear, and sweet cherry. Not so for peach and other tree fruits. I know, they sell them….but we don’t recommend them. You can control peach size by proper pruning.

5. Consider the brambles (raspberry and blackberry), blueberries, currents and strawberries before the tree fruits. They require less space, yield very well and come into production more quickly. They event tolerate a little shade.

6. Soil test, adjust soil pH and nutrient levels and work in organic matter into the entire planting site prior to planting. Dropping some amendments into the planting hole does not do the job. Spend the time and money to prepare the site well, even if this means delaying your planting one year. In the long run, you’ll be ahead.

7. Our local garden centers are great places to by many kinds of plants and supplies… but in my opinion, they are not the place to buy perennial fruit plants. Buy directly from the best mail-order nurseries (not those listed in the Sunday newspaper). The Penn State fruit publication has an extensive list of good nurseries.

8. Plant as early as possible in spring. Frosts are not a problem for the plants. Frosts will potentially affect bloom … but that’s down the road a bit.

9. Be realistic about pest control. Strawberries, blueberries, currents and the brambles have minimal pest problems and they are generally manageable with organic or low impact pest control measures. The tree fruits and grapes are a different story. Be prepared to make multiple pesticide sprays on these species or you will not be rewarded with anything edible.

10. Pay attention to cross pollination needs. There is not enough room here to go into the details. See references for guidance. Don’t worry about bees. Plant it and they will come.