Oct. 30: Westside fruit tree care for home, farm topic of workshop

Moulton-workshop-80EVERETT, Wash. – A two-part workshop, Orcharding on the Westside, will be 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension Cougar Auditorium, 600 128th St. SE, McCollum Park, Everett.

Cost is $60 per person and enrollment is limited. Prepaid registration is required. To register online, visit http://www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/438385, download the form at http://www.snohomish.wsu.edu/ag/workshops/Pomology2013 and mail with your check, or contact Karie Christensen at 425-357-6039 or christensen4@wsu.edu.

Western Washington’s wet weather gets a bad rap when it comes to growing healthy tree fruit like apples, pears, peaches and cherries. But “wetside” growers will benefit from the many years of WSU Extension research into variety and growing technique improvements tuned to the milder, wetter climate. New disease-resistant cultivars and updated methods of pruning, pest and fertility management are helping Westside growers establish healthy orchards.

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Gary Moulton conducts a workshop. (Photo by Kate Halstead, WSU Extension)

Westside tree fruit expert Gary Moulton will discuss the basics of tree fruit production, varieties, rootstocks, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation, orchard layout planting, pruning and harvest indices. This will be mostly an inside discussion of best management practices with some time spent exploring the orchards to reinforce the concepts learned.

Moulton started in 1980 in fruit horticulture at the WSU research station in Mount Vernon. In 1991, he took over management, direction and leadership of the program. When the tree fruit program in western Washington was eliminated in 2009 due to budget cuts, he continued the work by hiring out as a consultant and workshop speaker.

He holds a master’s degree from WSU in plant pathology specializing in fruit diseases and a bachelor’s in pomology/fruit science from Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. He has authored several WSU Extension publications and produced a widely regarded video on pruning fruit trees.

 

 

Contact:

Andrew Corbin, WSU Extension educator, corbina@wsu.edu, 425-357-6012