The apple trees are budding in Wallingford, and if you want a good harvest you should start tending to them soon. I’m not a fruit tree expert, but I am an avid backyard gardener and a nerd who reads a lot. It took me several years of research and trial and error to finally yield a good harvest from my own apple tree. Hopefully what I’ve learned can help you, too. In my mind, I like to separate apple tree problems…
With the warm weather, local beekeepers should be seeing their hives start to clean house and prep for the Spring. Or, if you're like me, sweep out the dead remnants of your honeybee colonies from the now lifeless hives, and prep for starting fresh. Whichever camp you fall into, you're welcome to come out to the Wally Beek Pint Nite this Wednesday, April 17th at 7:00 PM at Olympia Pizza & Spaghetti House II (4501 Interlake Ave N). Kevin Gow (the…
On Sunday, October 4, visit Seattle's historic orchards throughout the city. Each orchard is planning special activities, including cider pressings, historical tours, and more. Your self-guided tour will take you throughout Seattle's neighborhoods to a hidden orchard, a former homestead, and other beautiful community sites. Two orchards are in Wallingford: Good Shepherd Center / Meridian Playground and the Burke-Gilman Trail. Look for the pink balloons along the Burke-Gilman between the University Bridge and Northlake Place west of Gasworks. Get your map of the…
If you like to eat, tend or learn about plants, this weekend's Wallingford activities should be right up your alley! Invasive Plants Class 10 to 11:30 Saturday: The community gardeners at the Freeway Estates Community Orchard (FECO) invite you to participate in their invasive plants class on Saturday from 10:00- 11:30 am at the Freeway Estates Community Orchard: 6th Ave NE, just north of NE 60th St (on the west side of I-5, next to the sound wall). This class will be taught by a representative…
City Fruit is providing free Pest Prevention Packs to Seattle apple tree owners in Wallingford. What is a Pest Prevention Pack? 25 lightly waxed paper bags, 25 twist ties, and an instruction sheet. As part of their Save Seattle’s Apples campaign, City Fruit wants you to use these organic pest barriers to cover your dime-sized apples this spring so you'll have worm-free apples next fall. Covering apples is an easy and effective way to foil insect pests like codling moth and…
Ah Spring! The season when we can finally lift our eyes from dreary salads of bagged lettuce and styrofoam tomatoes and dream of the tender greens, blushing rhubarb and sweet, all-the-way-ripe strawberries that will soon be heading our way from Washington's farms. I'm not talking about the California-style industrial operations; I'm talking about the 'little guys' all around the Puget Sound region, who farm like they give a damn and go the extra mile to sell their just-harvested produce directly to you. I'm talking…
Jonathan Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, would have been right at home in Wallingford. He was a compassionate vegetarian, supremely focused in his 50-year quest to plant apple seeds from Pennsylvania as far west as possible. With Johnny, it was all about the seeds. The problem with planting apple seeds is that the resulting tree usually produces apples that are nothing like the original. This happens because apples grown from seeds are extreme heterozygotes. These seedling fruits display unpredictable characteristics often only…