Tool suggestions from the past few months included; floating row covers and hori horis. Both new and exciting products that make gardening more productive and successful.
As crazy as it sounds, those little nylons at the shoe store are an excellent organic insect barrier. 100% effective against apple maggot and 96-98% effective against coddling moth; footies can be purchased from homeorchardsociety.org
Dear Kirsten:
I forgot to say that to say that these apple trees were planted in 1982 by my ex-husband and most of them are now infected by apple maggots and coddling moth, except the early pollinating Summerred tree. In the early days I was able to store enough King and Macoun apples so that I could eat 2 each day until March. I used applesauce made with Summerred apples as gifts. At one point (before the apples) we had 14 raised beds and tried to see how much food we could raise to give away, preserve and can. I went back to school and became a park ranger. Since I’ve had knee replacements and reverse shoulder replacements, I’ve had a more difficult time having a lovely garden. From 2000-2010 I had a mini urban flock of hens (who demolished the raspberries). .There is Oxalis ground cover and several historic Maidenhair ferns. Bearded iris transplanted from a garden dating back to a farmhouse garden from the 1930s need to be divided and transplanted. Japanese iris were bought from a Bellevue gardener. People used to stop and admire my garden; now its pretty haphazard/neglected. .