https://youtu.be/uIYU0kCyVqU This video provides 10 tips and keys to success for how to grow healthy fruit trees and delicious fruit. Topics covered include, sun, soil, water, climate, cross pollination, size, fertilizer & mulch, pruning, thinning, and integrated pest management, as well as sunscald or southwest winter sun damage as a bonus tip. The video is... Continue Reading →
Understanding microclimates: Almonds in Utah? How to get the most of areas around your foodscape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_KtWKRTUHE In this video we tour our foodscape and talk about how understanding microclimates in your region and around your house can help you grow more food. Elevation and cold air drainage The video features an almond tree in full bloom and starts by discussing how almonds aren't typically grown in Northern Utah but can... Continue Reading →
Video: Grafting fruit trees
https://youtu.be/qZCNsSj2dR0 We show how to graft apple and pear trees using a grafting tool. When grafting apple or pear, this type of grafting tool makes it really easy, because it makes the cut for you when you squeeze it like a hole puncher. Here, we demonstrate grafting a fruiting variety of pear (harrow delight) onto... Continue Reading →
Video: 3 ways to espalier fruit trees
https://youtu.be/R39Ulpsii4k In this video we show three different ways to grow espalier fruit trees starting with a nectarine trained to an informal fan, then an apple as a three-tier horizontal espalier and finally a Belgian fence of nine apple trees in a twenty foot span trained to a lattice design. The video moves from the... Continue Reading →
Video: Bagging fruit for worm free organic apples & pears
https://youtu.be/7h3y_4b2mcQ We show how to use organza bags and Japanese apple bags to protect apples and pears from worms without spraying. We explain how the worms are the larva of the codling moth, which is a major insect pest of apples and pears. The first half of the video demonstrates attaching the bags to the... Continue Reading →
Video: How to trellis grapes: build a trellis, prune a vine
https://youtu.be/PdpjvB5O0oc We show how to build a simple trellis, prune young vines, and train them to the trellis. We then take a look at what pruning looks like on more established vines. To add these trellised grapes to our foodscape, we planted one vine bareroot in March of 2018 and two potted vines in June... Continue Reading →
How to prune fruit trees in the summer to keep them small and healthy: Video & Recorded Class
UPDATE: in 2020, two years after our original video, we recorded the following class Live on YouTube. In this longer videoed class, you can see in depth summer fruit tree pruning on trees of varying sizes with lots tips to keep the trees healthy and producing the best fruit: https://youtu.be/9Tl81oIShBs In the video below we... Continue Reading →
Video: Belgian Fence Espalier Apple Trees
https://youtu.be/N0NA-OkS-Hc Video showing how to build the support structure for espalier fruit trees, how to prune dormant apple trees to set them up for espalier training, and how to train them to a lattice shape, Belgian fence design. June 2018. Read more about Espalier Fruit Trees at https://foodscapingutah.org/2017/12/1... Video update: https://youtu.be/FNSnat7QvaY Photo updates: September 2018... Continue Reading →
Espalier Fruit Trees
Espalier is one of those things that has been around forever (it dates at least to ancient Rome) but has somehow become forgotten over time. It is truly a lost treasure, because it still makes great sense, especially for foodscaping in an urban setting were space is limited. The term espalier is a French word that... Continue Reading →
Little fruit tree, large reward
Know anybody with a giant fruit tree that is so large that it's become a messy nuisance? What if we could keep fruit trees from getting so big? The benefits of a little fruit tree are numerous. A little tree doesn’t require much space, and is easier to care for; pruning, thinning, and harvesting can... Continue Reading →
Grape Arbor Build (Feb 2015), Paver Patio (July 2015), Fresh Grapes (Aug 2016)!
Grape vines are fascinating plants. When our two small vines grew eight feet in their first season, our “grape vines would be cool” approach quickly turned into “uh, ….turns out we need a drastically bigger support structure”. In the fall of 2014, I started researching grape arbors. I found lots of general information online, but... Continue Reading →