[Grovenet] Garden Irrigation In!

[Walt Wentz]

> Kathy:
The problem with your pear tree may be as simple as the local  
climate. Many varieties of plants and trees sold by big outlets may  
be a strain acclimated to areas where there is more sun, or a higher  
ambient temperature, so the fruit never matures. Or, since all the  
fruit drops off green, the fruit may need thinning at an early stage,  
so more nutrients go to the remaining fruit. Or it may be infected  
with a fungus-- are the leaves spotted or specked with dead spots, or  
partly wilted or distorted? Maybe it gets too much shade from larger  
trees, or not enough water at a critical time. The tree might need  
pruning to let more sunlight into the lower branches and reduce  
deadwood. There are MANY possibilities, and I'd suggest contacting  
the Master Gardener at the County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro.
Walt

> Good Morning
>
> I have a question and am hoping some one can help me with this. I  
> have a
> pear tree, it has been giving very little fruit and the fruit it gives
> falls from the tree way to soon. Any one know what might be wrong with
> my tree?
>
> Thanks and have a good day
>
> Kathy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet- 
> bounces at rdrop.com] On
> Behalf Of Walt Wentz
> Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 11:48 AM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: [Grovenet] Garden Irrigation In!
>
> Hello, All!
> On Saturday, Steve and Tony Matiaco,  along with Josh, members of  
> their
> Scout troop, some international exchange students and many old  
> hands and
> new volunteers, all showed up at the Forest Grove Community Garden  
> site
> on a beautiful cool morning, as a truckload of plastic pipe and
> fittings arrived from HPS Pipe and Supply in Cornelius.
> While Steve, Josh and Shawn operated the monster trenching machine (so
> called from its behavior, not its size), the rest turned to cutting,
> gluing and assembling the plumbing system, then lowering the completed
> sections to their position at the bottom of those trenches.
> After after six hours of anthill  activity, the field bristled with a
> "crop" of 50 white faucet risers, each with a brass faucet on top.
> At that point, Tony's Mom and sisters-- Carole, Annie and Diana--  
> called
> a halt for a delicious home-made lunch, finished off with home- made
> cookies.
> Shortly after that, the final line was installed. Standing at one  
> end of
> the field, looking down the long panorama of faucet risers  
> projecting 18
> inches into the air, the real scale of the project becomes obvious.  
> That
> part of the job is DONE!
> Great work, all!
> Next we have to test the system for water-tightness, which can't be  
> done
> until the city gets the backflow-preventer installed. We don't want  
> any
> sudden geyser erupting in the middle of the Garden!
> Once that's done, we will backfill the trenches-- which will be  
> another
> good team project, and should go quicker with many hands-- and then  
> it's
> time for the first cultivation, to turn over the lush blanket of weeds
> that have flourished in that fertile soil.
> Holly has set up a ribbon-cutting celebration for 11 a.m. on the 26th,
> which will be another workday for Tony and crew, as they install the
> fence around the West end of the field and the raised-bed gardens are
> installed just north of the parking lot.
> But-- as they say on TeeVee-- that's not all, folks! A gracious lady,
> Mary Maxon, has offered us a 12-by-12 gazebo, with openwork metal  
> sides
> and fabric roof, which we can set up as a children's area/ picnic
> site/cooling-off spot for hot summer days. The roof frame was damaged
> during last winter's heavy snow, but that's something that can be  
> easily
> replaced with a few 2x4s.
>
> Still to to:
> * Pressure-test water system (need to have city connect the system) *
> Backfill trenches
> * Get first cultivation done.
> * Set up donated raised-beds, fill bottoms with spoil dirt from the  
> pile
> just inside the northwest corner of the fence line.
>
> (Official ribbon cutting at 11 on Saturday at about this point, as  
> work
> continues)
>
> *  Build west-side fence, start on east-side fence and main gate.
> * Do second cultivation,  stake and string plots (another BIG team
> job) and start letting people plant and cultivate their crops!
>
> Steve Matiaco has suggested a "Garden Barbecue" for some Saturday when
> the Garden is up and running-- for publicity, goodwill and to draw in
> more rentors-- which seems a great idea to me!
>
> We still need fence posts-- Tony has collected 18, I will find some  
> more
> and split 12 cedar posts (for ends and corners), which is a  
> definite 30
> out of the 40-odd required, so we will need some more.
> Any decrepit but usable (or repairable) wheelbarrows will be greatly
> appreciated!
> We'll need 30 or 40 2x4s, for faucet support posts in the garden  
> and to
> replace the roof frame on the gazebo.
> Thanks to everyone, a great public amenity is approaching completion!
>
> Walt
>
>
>
>
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