Fruit Growing Articles

• Plant a Paw-Paw Patch
  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... More
• Nylon Footies: Excellent Insect Barrier
  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... More
• Bitter Pit: Cause and Control
  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... More
• Insect Barrier
  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... More
• All About the Apple Called Yellow Bellflower
  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... More
• Cherry Harvesting Dates
  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.... More
• Haskap Arrives in North America
  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... More
• The Practice of Grafting
  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... More