Question: When should I start picking Bartlett pears? Moonglow pears? I know they ripen off the tree. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant As you noted, pears do complete their ripening process off the tree–in fact, because they ripen from the inside out, if they are left on the tree they can often have quite […]
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Question: My hazelnuts are only the size of a pea. I’m not sure what the variety is but I got the seedlings 5-6 years ago. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant There are several reasons why your hazelnut harvest is small (meaning small individually, not volume harvested). Hazelnuts do take several years to establish before […]
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Question: I have had a bumper crop of sweet and delicious muskmelons and charantais melons this summer, but I am noticing that some of the later ripening melons have some parts of the flesh that have a bitter taste. This is the first year I have encountered this. There isn’t anything in the look of […]
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Question: I have a flowering crabapple tree that has been losing its leaves all summer. I am wondering if it has a disease that I need to treat? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant I believe what you’re looking at on your flowering crabapple is a disease called apple scab. You can read more about […]
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Question: All of my raspberries have died this summer after six or so years of abundant harvests. I assume that it is because of all the rain this summer as they are in poorly drained soil. Should I rip them out and start over or just cut them back and hope they rebound next year? […]
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Question: What has made holes in my blueberries? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant I believe you are dealing with blueberry maggots, the larval form of the blueberry fruit fly. The female adults lay their eggs just under the skin of the fruit and the emerging maggots tunnel through the blueberry, giving you the tiny […]
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Question: I have a beautiful raspberry garden, but a few years back I planted creeping clover plants in a section of my flower garden near it and the tall creeping clover is all thru my raspberry area. How to I get rid of it without harming my raspberry Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant Because […]
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Question: I have a milkweed question. Some sites I’ve read say all parts of the plant are poisonous. Others say you can eat it. I don’t want to eat it but I have a bunch growing in our raspberry patch. Do I need to worry about milkweed pollen getting on the berries? Answer: Jonathan Foster, […]
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Question: What would be a good late blooming flowering tree for our yard? We currently have two apple trees and have never been able to eat the apples because of a fungus even after we’ve sprayed the tree. It’s time to cut those down and plant a flowering tree that blooms later in the season. […]
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Question: I have an area of approximately 120 square feet that only gets about 3-5 hours of full sunlight a day. Are there any veggies or fruits that will grow in this area? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant Ah, the vegetable-loving shade gardener. I struggle with this particular issue in parts of my own […]
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