Post-May 2015 meeting notes

Dave Benscoter traces the route of the apple from the old world to the new at the May meeting.

Guest speaker Dave Benscoter would like to hear from anyone in the area with old apple trees, or an old orchard full of apple trees. Questions can be directed to Dave at 509-238-5150 or by e-mail to dbens23@gmail.com. Be sure to check out the Spokesman-Review newspaper article (available online and dated 15Apr15) on Dave's efforts to find and re-establish "extinct" apples. Thanks to Apple Detective Dave for his enlightening and fun, wide-ranging discussion on apples, their journey from Kazakhstan via England to Elk and Deer Park, and those 1900-era Whitman County Fair lists showing hundreds of apple varieties we have never even heard of a century later – amazing. 

Above, Dave shares his "most-wanted list" with the group. Below, he fields questions after the meeting.

Thus far, we're looking at a good apple harvest here at Rancho McGinty, though SOME would say that just having lots of apple blossoms is not the same as having lots of apples.

Dues-paying garden club members may use their club membership cards for discounts at the following local stores, for gardening-related supplies only: Bi-Mart/Deer Park (store manager Steve), Albeni Falls Building Supply/Old Town (gardening department manager Brook), and Garden Springs Garden Center/Deer Park (owner Chris). Be sure to flash your card, and tell them "Thanks!" Club annual dues are $5 for one person, $10 for a family.  

WSU Kalispel Tribal Extension agent Carol Mack provided a website devoted to the problem of herbicide-contaminated garden compost and garden soil: http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/aminopyralid/. 

Remember, it's not paranoia if you suspect your hard-won garden plants are dying from soil/compost contamination, because the problem is very, very real and widespread. Best practice is to suspect all purchased/bartered/recycled compost or "top soil," and try the bioassay test mentioned by Carol. Bioassay test: plant a couple of sacrificial pea or bean seeds in a cup of the suspected compost/soil, and water appropriately. If the resulting sprouts and leaves are yellow and spindly, or deformed, you have a problem.

Pat the wife would like you to know that Northwest Seed and Pet is closing out the "Germination Station" seed starting kit I displayed during the April meeting. End of Season price is $19.88 each, and each station includes a dome-covered base tray and insert, and a heating mat for same. The heating mat if bought separately, costs about twice the price of the whole unit, and is a real bargain; heating mats can improve your seeding success by 50-100 percent, so you might want to check it out.

That's it for now - see you out in the garden.

jim