Winter Fruit Tree Care

Jan 26, 2021

By Kristina Fink, Lemuria Nursery

Kristina Fink’s expertise on deciduous fruit tree care comes from being the fourth generation at the family-run Lemuria Nursery in Dixon. Lemuria Nursery is the largest wholesale grower in Solano County that is open to the public. Nursery owners and operators since 1939, the Fink family has carried on four generations of plant knowledge to the industry with the fifth generation right under their wing.  You can watch Kristina’s talk in the video here and read her responses to your questions below.

Find additional winter fruit tree care resources on our Plant Resources page.

Tell us more about Lemuria Nursery.

Not only does our family grow exciting new cultivars, but also the old reliables that have withstood the changing times of our marketplace! From low water, drought tolerant plants to now more edible landscaping, we continue to embrace the challenges that come with each year. During the month of January, our year kicks off with bare root fruit trees from Dave Wilson Nursery. Once spring comes, we create endless possibilities for your garden and yard, supplying perennials, grasses, succulents, shrubs, ground covers, natives, shade trees, Japanese maples, edibles … and the list keeps growing! Next time you’re in need of plant help or just advice, give us a call at Lemuria. Our family is here to serve you Monday-Saturday, 8am-4pm, closed Sundays!

What is a chill hour?

A chill hour is approximated as 1 hour below 45 degrees in late fall-early winter.

Fertilizer: when, how often, which type?

We recommend fertilizing our deciduous fruit trees once a year in the spring to help with new growth. We prefer to use a slow-release, all purpose organic fertilizer. (Any product will do but we sell Down to Earth and G&B Organics)

When do you add compost? And how much?

During the planting of your bare root tree it’s best to use 1/3 amendment, and 2/3 native soil.

How to treat peach leaf curl?

Spray with liquid copper during the dormant season (winter).

I have a six-year-old cherry tree that isnt producing fruit. What could be the problem?

Sounds like she needs a mate for her cherry (most cherrys do) or not enough chill hours depending on what variety!

Hopefully this information is helpful!

 

Enjoy the talk? Take this survey to help us determine future sustainable landscaping classes.

The Solano Sustainable Backyards program and the talk are generously funded by the Solano County Water Agency.

Pomona’s Orange Marmalade

Jan 26, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

Ingredients:

6 medium-size oranges
3 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons calcium water
2-1/2 cups sugar (or 1 to 1-1/2 cups honey)
4-1/2 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder

Before you begin: Prepare calcium water. To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well. Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.

1) Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.

2) Peel 2 of the oranges. Scrape the white from the back of the peel. Thinly slice the peel and cut into strips about 1 to 1½ inches long. Put peel slices into sauce pan and set aside.

3) Peel the remaining oranges. Remove seeds and membrane, and finely chop the pulp of all, retaining as much of the juice as possible. Add chopped pulp and juice to the sauce pan with the peel.

4) Add 3 cups water or juice to the sauce pan. Bring fruit to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and measure out 6 cups of fruit mixture. Save any extra for another use. Return 6 cups of fruit mixture to the sauce pan.

5) Add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.

6) Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.

7) Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the marmalade comes back up to a boil. Once the marmalade returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.

8) Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.

Recipe printed courtesy of Pomona’s Universal Pectin  

Find a printable version of the recipe and more preserving resources here.

Learn how to make this recipe by watching the cooking class below

Central Solano Neighborhoods Affected by Flood or Fire Could Gain Sustainable Landscaping Features Through Community Workshops

Jan 5, 2021

For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel, communications manager

Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Residents in specific areas of Suisun City, Fairfield and Vacaville have a chance to bring sustainable landscaping to their communities through Sustainable Solano’s public workshops this year.

Sustainable Solano, a nonprofit organization that has to date installed more than 40 demonstration gardens around the county through educational community workshops, is seeking public and private sites in each of these cities to demonstrate techniques and design features that can help to address environmental challenges.

In Suisun City and Fairfield, properties that are in designated communities with high flood risk could benefit from features such as rain-capturing in-ground swales — trenches that capture and slow stormwater to prevent runoff and erosion. But there are also opportunities to build upon those features with other ecologically sound design elements that build community resilience, such as food forest gardens and community gardens that provide food and habitat using waterwise garden methods.

In Vacaville, Sustainable Solano is seeking a property that was damaged by the recent wildfires for a demonstration garden. This can provide an opportunity for educational workshops on fire-resistant landscaping as well as bioremediation – the use of plants to regenerate the damaged soil.

Sites selected in Suisun City will supported through Sustainable Solano’s growing Resilient Neighborhoods program, which seeks to build community connection and resilience through sustainable landscaping projects with funding from the PG&E Corporation Foundation. Sites selected in Fairfield and Vacaville will be supported through the Solano Sustainable Backyards program, which brings waterwise demonstration food forest gardens to public and private properties around the county with funding from the Solano County Water Agency. These programs build upon Sustainable Solano’s more than 20 years of bringing together neighbors to improve the environment, strengthen their communities and build resilience.

Homeowners can apply to have their property considered for these projects or suggest community sites, such as at schools or places of worship, by filling out an interest form here: https://sustainablesolano.typeform.com/to/Aac6Ih

See attached map for the selected neighborhoods for the Suisun City and Fairfield projects.

Learn more here:

Seeking Suisun City, Fairfield & Vacaville Residents Interested in Yard Transformation

https://sustainablesolano.org/seeking-suisun-city-fairfield-vacaville-residents-interested-in-yard-transformation/

Grant Expands Resilient Neighborhoods Program to Suisun City & Helps Address Flood Risk

https://sustainablesolano.org/grant-expands-resilient-neighborhoods-program-to-suisun-city-helps-address-flood-risk/

 

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org

Image of map and photos from sustainable garden installations below may be used with credit to Sustainable Solano. (Click on images for full size. Larger sizes available upon request.)

Seeds of Hope

Jan 5, 2021

By Lisa Murray, SkyGirl Productions

Lisa Murray wears many hats as a visual storyteller through SkyGirl Productions, her work with the Pleasants Valley Agriculture Association, and the role she took on in helping Sustainable Solano connect with farms hurt by the LNU Lightning Fire in 2020. She offers an update on those farms in this blog.

Courtesy of Lisa Murray

The weekend of Dec. 19 was just past the four month mark from the LNU Lightning Complex Fire that ripped through Vacaville’s rural area. Instead of looking at the destruction and blackened hills with a feeling of loss and overwhelming grief, the weekend offered the first glimmers of hope.

There were two events happening in Pleasants Valley that promised healing for all involved. The first, Sow Beautiful, a native wildflower & native bunchgrass reseeding project, headed up by Karen Lee Ford and Clay Ford of Pleasants Valley Honey Company (a.k.a. “Clay’s Bees”) and partners including the Pleasants Valley Agriculture Association (PVAA), Morningsun Herb Farm, and Solano RCD.

Karen reached out to landowners and then collected volunteers via the PVAA website. With an initial training session by Solano RCD, the volunteers were off and seeding. The plan is to reseed select areas to be a draw for pollinators come spring.

Kristina Young paints at Girl on the Hill during the From Ashes to Springtime event. (courtesy of Lisa Murray)
Children play at Joyful Ranch during the Sow Beautiful reseeding event. (courtesy of Lisa Murray)

The second event was the first day of From Ashes to Springtime, an outdoor art event documenting the regeneration after the fire. Artists — painters, drawers, photographers — were invited onto private properties for the day to paint what they see now and then they will be invited back in the spring to paint what they see then. On April 17, there will be an art show/sale at Joyful Ranch to show off all of the amazing art that was created and the art will also be for sale. A portion of the sales will go to the landowners to help with their further recovery efforts.

I live in these areas, and I’m an artist myself, and even I saw these places with new eyes on that day. I took off my “regular life glasses” and put on my “artist glasses” and was really amazed by what I was seeing. First, to just see my friends’ blackened properties now teeming with artists who were honored and humbled to be there to witness what their fellow Vacaville residents and farmers had survived was an important step in the healing for all of us. And, at the same time as the sadness and shock at the now burned landscape, the artists were also inspired by the unique beauty that the landscape presented and excited to come back in the spring. My “artist eyes” saw the colors and lines differently on that day as well. I now saw the black ground as a great backdrop to all of the beauty that is nature. We also saw green! In some places, just blades of green grass poking through the blackened topsoil, in other places, bunches of
green!

Lake Curry is visible from Samuels Ranch Sustainable (courtesy of Lisa Murray)

Girl on the Hill is a lavender farm and vineyard located on top of Mount Vaca and was hit hard by the fire. Denise and Dan (owners/famers) lost all of their lavender plants as well as their lavender workshop, their still, and several other buildings. Kristina Young, a Napa-based plein air painter who was painting at Girl on the Hill, was mesmerized by the beauty all around her.

“I have plein air painted all over the world and there is no other time in my life that I could paint this scene. I couldn’t get into a plane and go to paint this. Even in Napa after the fires there, I couldn’t paint something like this. This is so beautiful and unique. My heart breaks for all that was lost but as an artist, I see the beauty too. The shapes of the branches, the colors, with the black, it’s stunning. As a plein air artist, I capture nature and this is nature.”

Dan was visibly happy as he walked around delivering chai tea and gingerbread snap cookies to the artists. (And the artists were delighted by the hospitality they are not used to experiencing as plein air painters – usually they’re all alone!)

Jasmine Westbrook and her sister Whitney of Samuels Ranch Sustainable — also located on top of Mount Vaca — were both sad and inspired hosting their first “guests” since the fire that took out all three of their homes and half of their herd of sheep. The family barely escaped with their lives that horrible night. And now they were hosting artists to paint/draw/photograph the scenes from their burned land. There are so many spots on their property that have breathtaking views. By the gate, you can see Lake Curry through the burned branches. On the other side, a spectacular view of Lake Berryessa glistened in the sun. Artists had a hard time choosing which view spoked to them strongest.

The Sow Beautiful reseeding at Soul Food Farm (courtesy of Lisa Murray)

Other properties that hosted artists were Brazelton Ranch, Zinger Ranch and Wingate Trainers.

On other properties, the clean-ups continue. At La Borgata, Gerry & David were able to put a downpayment down on a new tractor — they lost two in the fire — to clear out some of the burned areas. Most of the rubbish has been taken away, leaving only the two tractors and a forklift — all three too heavy for the company that came to help haul them away. They are awaiting the company’s return with stronger and bigger equipment.

You wouldn’t believe how long everything takes to just clear away the burned stuff. But in a farmer’s life, nature doesn’t wait, so there were plantings and December sales for Soul Food Farm and Morningsun Herb Farm.

With the holidays, everybody could look forward to a well-deserved rest. The work as a farmer doesn’t stop, but it slows down considerably. Nature is resting and receiving the much-needed early winter rains. And the farmers are taking this well-deserved time to regenerate themselves, take stock of what they have been through, and visualize where they see themselves and their farms going in 2021. The healing continues for everyone, and I am excited to see how everyone emerges in early spring.

Sustainable Solano continues to work with farms, ranches and wineries that were damaged by the fires. Learn more here about how you can help or how affected farms can apply for project-based disaster relief funding.

Seeking Suisun City, Fairfield & Vacaville Residents Interested in Yard Transformation

Dec 28, 2020

By Gabriela Estrada & Nicole Newell, Program Managers

Do you live in Suisun City, Fairfield or Vacaville? Are you interested in working with your neighbors and community to install a demonstration food forest garden or other sustainable landscaping elements in the coming months at your home or a community site, like a place of worship or school?

Sustainable Solano is currently looking for private or public sites and residents that are interested in working with their neighbors to transform these properties to grow food, create habitat and build healthy soil, while using water efficiently. The search for these sites is targeted in specific neighborhoods that are vulnerable to flood and fire.

We envision neighborhoods better equipped to adapt and thrive in the face of environmental, social and economic changes. The need for strong communities where people know and care for their neighbors is more apparent than ever, and projects such as these through our Resilient Neighborhoods and Solano Sustainable Backyards programs can help to build resilience in our neighborhoods as we connect with one another.

Suisun City and Fairfield

We are looking for residents in Suisun City and Fairfield (in the areas outlined in red in the map below) that are interested in working collaboratively to transform their neighborhoods into robust regenerative urban ecosystems that mimic nature in performing valuable functions like producing food, filtering air and cycling water. We are looking for sites to create beautiful and productive gardens that build healthy soil while using water wisely.

Vacaville

In August 2020, the LNU Lightning Complex Fire affected many Vacaville residents. We are looking to identify a private property in Vacaville that was damaged by the fires to begin to restore the ecological health of the land through the installation of a demonstration garden that would incorporate best practices for designing in a fire zone.

All of these projects will be done through public, educational installations that share knowledge and techniques used to address flooding or fire risk as well as sustainable landscaping principles. If you live within the highlighted areas of the map of Fairfield and Suisun City or your yard was damaged in the LNU Fire and you are interested in creating waterwise, edible food forest gardens, please fill out the Sustainable Landscape Interest Form or contact nicole@sustainablesolano.org. Once we receive the form, we will be looking to schedule site assessments for properties that suit the programs. By February, we hope to select multiple sites for yard transformations.

We are looking forward to hearing about your vision for your neighborhood!