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The exceptionally warm and sunny weather has increased fruit set on some trees, hastened the time in which the fruit will come into bearing, and (unfortunately) has increased the bug activity. Codling moths are flying now. If you are applying foot sox, they should be applied as soon as you see an evident apple upon [...]

Did you know that May is National Strawberry Month? To celebrate we’re posting Betsy Moyer’s delicious recipe for strawberry pie filling. Filling: 2  cups  ripe strawberries 1/2  cup  water 2/3  cup  sugar 2  tablespoons  cornstarch 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice 6  cups  small ripe strawberries 1  cup  whipped cream   Preparation To prepare filling, mash [...]

Check out this delicious recipe from City Fruit’s own Hazel Singer….. Adapted from “Bubby’s Homemade Pies” by Ronald M. Silver and Jen Bervin (John Wiley & Sons, 2007)         Photo by Emily Barney on Flickr   Time: 2 hours Dough for a 9-inch single-crust pie 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup, packed, [...]

Ethan Russo will present the results of his personal experience using an organic spray regimen to prevent apple maggot fly and codling moth on Saturday, March 16, from 10:00 to noon at Seattle University. Don Ricks will join Ethan to discuss his experience with pheremones, traps and GF120.  This event is presented by Seattle University [...]

Excerpt from Cass Turnball’s article published in Plant Amnesty‘s Winter 2013 newsletter. I’ve spent a life-time trying to convince people not to top their fruit trees. Such treatment does not increase the amount of fruit down low–there just won’t be that wasted fruit up high where it can’t be reached. Instead, Plant Amnesty classes demonstrate [...]

Note:  Two weeks after Lori interviewed Barb Burrill for this post, Barb was named a national finalish for Volunteer of the Year, an award organized by the Alliance for Community Trees in Boston.  Barb and I met at Mosaic Coffeehouse in Wallingford, which she recommended. This sprawling space, below a church, has lots of big [...]

Codling moth worm. Photo: David Smith   I work with fruit trees in parks and public places and have made some subjective notes and impressions from this past year. The first of these concern the codling moth (CM). The codling moth is the first pest to attack fruit in the spring.  Basically, the first generation [...]

Three years ago you couldn’t see the fruit trees nestled at the bottom of a hill just west of the old Amazon headquarters on north Beacon Hill.  Looking down, it was blackberries and brambles.  This neglected piece of Dr. Jose Rizal Park caught the eye of Craig Thompson, who was working with the Green Seattle Partnership and others [...]

Hello friends, I’m Lori. You’ve likely seen me asking questions and taking pictures anywhere orchard stewards are gathering. I’m a community story wrangler and a City Fruit volunteer. All the photos I gather live here, a testament to the amazing people who care for Seattle’s fruit and nut trees: http://seattleorchardstewards.tumblr.com/. Gail asked me to start blogging [...]

[Even though this is no longer active, we posted the archive below because we think the information is useful.] These two guys know a lot about fruit, fruit trees, pest prevention, etc, and they’ve graciously agreed to try to answer any questions you have.      Dear Don & John, Not a fruit question, but [...]

 As autumn persists, the urge to be outside pressing fragrant fruit into hearty cider has kept our Correll press busy.  Here Hunt Towler and David Beeman press more than 1,000 pounds of apples at the West Seattle Nursery pressing, where it seemed like half of West Seattle brought in apples to squeeze on Sept 27.  [...]

Three dry months….and now we get the rains….No more watering is necessary unless you have pottted plants and are going to bring them indoors or under eaves for protection. In fact, putting potted fruit plants under something that will provide protection from the overhead  rain is not a bad idea.   Such an endeavor  will reduce peach [...]

City Fruit still has a lot of projects going….the summer is not over. And remember, Asian pears are left on the trees until they ripen…..European pears are picked green and ripen off the tree.        http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/tree003/tree003.htm

     I want to talk about the Piper Harvest Fest, but first a side note on the weather.     We have had weeks and weeks now with no rain….as long as you have been watering the newly planted trees and container trees, then you will have no problem.   In fact, just as there is a [...]

I found this great recipe by Rowley Leigh in the Financial Times of London for this Mirabelle Tart. Not only is it beautiful and delicious, but it will test your metric ability in the kitchen!                   Mirabelle Tart The pastry 100g unsalted butter 100g light brown caster [...]

1. Congrats to Gail Savina and Ingela Wanerstrand who did a good job answering questions on KUOW this past week. Being live ain’t always easy to do, but they fielded questions nicely. 2. Remember to water. Especially newly planted trees and berries, shrubs or trees in containers. The heat will dry things out. Water. 3. [...]

Many of the You-pick farms from Mt. Vernon to Snohomish are having a bumper crop of blueberries this year. Think about having the fun of locating one such farm on the internet, finding out when you should come out and then having a lot of fun. Many folks are also experiencing a very good year [...]

Watering time. Yes, yes, we get an ocassional summer shower here and there in this area.   Don’t count on it as being adequate for your fruit trees.   July and August still don’t produce much in the way of total rainfall.   You need to be careful especially if you have just planted a tree or if [...]

I went to the farmers’ market on Saturday and found cherries, cherries, & more cherries…all local! And local apricots! Here is a recipe combining both of these wonderful fruits.   Cherry Apricot Almond Tart Buttery, crumbly tart crust ¼ cup toasted almonds 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1-⅓ cups all-purpose flour ⅔ cup whole-wheat pastry flour [...]