Time to Prune

It is time to prune!  That includes fruit trees, raspberries, blackberries and grapes.
 

As a general rule for fruit trees, you want to open up the center to get light and you also want to prevent branches from criss-crossing.  Apples and pears produce fruit on last year's growth so you'll need to leave enough new growth for next year's crop.  Fruits like peaches and almonds produce fruit on this year's growth which usually results in more to cut back.  When determining what height you'd like the branches to start, keep in mind whatever height the branch is from the ground it will never get higher.  The growth of a tree is all from the top.  When deciding how tall to let your tree grow, just determine how high you want to harvest fruit.  It is important to prune every year.  If you wait too many years and try to make up for it, it may shock your tree into not producing fruit. 

For raspberries you need to determine if you have June-bearing or ever-bearing.  For ever-bearing you get fruit off this year's growth so cut all stalks about 3 inches from the ground.  For June-bearing raspberries, fruit is produced on last year's stalks so you need to cut out any stalks that produced berries last year.  

For blackberries, cut out all stalks that produced berries last year.

Good-luck on grapes.  I have no sage advice.  I just hack ours back every year and they seem to thrive.

For me, it works well to use 3 pruning tools.  A small hand held pruner is the handiest to use for most of the pruning, especially if pruning is maintained yearly.  A two-handed lopper works well for branches up to an inch and a quarter.  A pruning saw is used for anything bigger.  

For more information, check out the pruning videos done by the USU Extension Service by clicking HERE.

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Any pruning tips or pruning frustrations to share?

Preparing for Winter & Dehydrating Peppers

Fall feels officially over now that we have snow on the ground.  Were you able to get everything ready for winter?  If not, look for some nice days ahead and give your yard some TLC.  Next spring you'll sure be glad you did!  

This is what we (ok, mostly Todd) did to prepare for winter.  Are any of these things also needed in your yard?

VEGETABLE GARDEN

• Picked remaining produce.
• Removed dying plants and vines.
• Rota-tilled in fallen produce and fertilizer/compost from chicken yard.

  

CHICKENS

• Removed all wood chips and chicken pooh from chicken yard and coop to put in garden.
• Added new wood chips.
• Added warmer under waterer to keep water from freezing.
• Set light to automatically turn on in the early morning so the chickens have enough hours of light (14) to continue laying eggs.

FRUIT TREES

• Anchored trees that needed help growing straight.
• Cut off fire blight from pear tree.
• Planted another pear tree.

GENERAL

• Turned off automatic sprinkler system  and water valve so sprinklers can drain.
• Removed hoses from hose bibs.
• Winterized small engines (lawn mower, rota-tiller, weed whacker) by adding fuel stabilizer to gas tank.  After running engine for a few minutes, dumped out fuel.  Then ran until dry.
• Applied last fertilizer treatment on grass so grass will green up quicker in the spring.

With the final garden picking, we had a LOT of peppers.  Since I've already frozen quite a few peppers, I need to follow my mom's example and dehydrate this final batch.  

To dehydrate peppers, they just need to be chopped beforehand.  A food processor makes this step easy.  Be sure to wear gloves when working with hot peppers.  Otherwise, your hands will sting for quite awhile after you are done handling the hot peppers.

 Peppers ready for the dehydrator.

  Stacks of peppers on trays drying.

 

From the dehydrator to the freezer in plastic bags separated by variety - bells, sweet bananas, jalapenos, salsa, and red peppers.  Keeping them in the freezer retains better color and pungency.

Thanks to my mom for sharing her pictures.  Don't the dehydrated peppers look pretty?  Now if only my peppers were also already dehydrated and in my freezer!

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WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR WINTER?  ARE YOU READY?