Organic Gardening Tip of the Week

Choosing the right fruit tree involves a little homework and research to find the best one for your yard or orchard. First you need to know your USDA zone. On our website you can find out your zone by putting in your zip code. Next you should know how many chill hours you have. Chill hours are the number of hours in the winter that are between 32-45°F. You can find out your chill hours by checking out a few web sites or asking your local master gardener. Once you know that information, you can narrow down your selection even further by deciding on the size of tree you want–standard, semi-dwarf or dwarf. You can keep your tree small by pruning and training it over the years. If you are renting a home and do not want to invest in a permanent planting, consider buying a dwarf tree and putting it in a large pot. Another important consideration is whether or not the tree is self-pollinating or needs another tree for pollination. Check out our large list of fruit trees, all the information you need to decide is listed for every tree.

Looking for unique trees to plant this season? Our seasonal bareroot collection features limited-run favorites like the Dapple Dandy pluot tree. Get them while they’re available!

Now is a great time to plant your fall flower bulbs for a dazzling spring display of color. If you live in cold winter zones (1-7), you can plant when the soil has cooled to at least 50°F and your ground is still workable. For areas with warmer winters (zones 8-11) you may not get enough cold temperatures for the bulbs to do well, so the bulbs can be placed in the refrigerator–but not by any fruit that may give off ethylene gas. Bulbs do not need more than about 11-15 weeks of chilling, and the good news is that we store our bulbs in a cooler until they have shipped out, so they have already chilled about 8 weeks! Plant your bulbs in areas that have good drainage, they will not do well sitting in soggy soil. They also like full sun, so since they bloom in the spring when many trees may have not leafed out, you can plant them almost anywhere in your yard!

Follow the planting instructions on the package, and make sure you plant pointy side up. Some bulbs are kind of hard to figure out what is the bottom, so if you can't tell, plant it sideways and the bulb will right itself. No need to fertilize at planting time for new bulbs, but come spring you should give them some quality bulb fertilizer so they will have enough nutrients to return another spring bloom.

If you don’t want to wait until spring for your blooms, many bulbs can be forced to bloom in the winter indoors. For more information on forcing bulbs, read our article “Forcing Flower Bulbs”.

Tip of the Week: Green Tomatoes

Cooler weather is here to stay, but what about the green tomatoes still on the vine. Not to worry, you can ripen them and maybe even try your hand at fried green tomatoes! Fruits stop ripening when temps drop below 50°F, so if you are still warmer than that during the day, leave the fruit on the vine as long as possible. Remove any flowers & small fruit, and decrease the watering. Once daytime temps are consistently below 50°F and before the first frost, harvest all of the fruit. Place it in a single layer in a box lined with newspaper, and store between 55-70°F. To speed up the ripening process, add a couple of apples to the box. Check weekly for ripened tomatoes and remove any rotted fruit. If some just don’t seem to be changing color at all, try some fried green tomatoes.

Check out the recipe we have posted (under Entrées) for all the details.

For more information on growing tomatoes, see our Growing Guide in the Resource Center.  We have many types of tomato seeds for sale!

The air has a fall chill to it and the leaves are starting to turn, but there is still plenty to do in your garden and yard. Harvesting the last veggies and flowers, planting bulbs for a spring bloom and putting in your garlic and onions are just a few things that can be done in October. Here are just a few ideas to add to your "To-Do" List. Tricia talks about some things she is doing in her fall garden in our video, October Gardening Checklist.

Things to Plant in the Fall – Spring flowering bulbs, garlic, shallots, native plants, cover crop, wildflowers, annual flowers like mums, cool weather seeds like lettuce, kale, beets, greens and more! Read the full article, 20 Great Gardening Tips for Your October Garden for more information.