|
Origination of Alert |
Item Description |
Other Details |
|
8/26/09 Email from Radine
about
September meeting agenda, which included a seed swap. |
Q: "How Do You Dry Seeds? |
Dump the cleaned seeds onto a glass or ceramic dish, cookie sheet,
window screen, or a piece of plywood. Do not attempt to dry the seeds on
paper, cloth or non-rigid plastic, because it can be extremely difficult
to later remove the seeds from such surfaces. Spread the seeds as thinly
as possible on the drying surface and stir the seeds several times
during the day. Always remember that damage begins to occur whenever the
temperature of the seeds rises above 95F. For that reason never dry
seeds in the oven. Even at the lowest settings, the temperatures in an
oven can vary enough to damage the seeds. Never dry seeds in the direct
sun if there is any chance that the temperature of the seeds will exceed
95F. Always remember that the air temperature is often not the same as
the temperature of the seeds. Even at air temperatures around 85F, dark
colored seeds can sometimes become hot enough to sustain damage. Fans
hasten the drying process; ceiling fans are ideal, and placing seeds on
window screens is best of all as they allow for excellent air
circulation .
|
8/13/09 - Diane Claassen,
IPM Technician, University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Cooperative Extension Service, Fairbanks
Cheryl, Master Gardener |
Q: "When is the best time to pick rosehips in
Alaska?"
Q: "When is the best time to pick rosehips in
Alaska for making jam, etc?" |
/Diane/
A: The best time in Alaska to pick rosehips is also after a first light
frost. Some hips may be ready sooner, but taste is considered better
after the frost. Below are some links for picking rosehips in Alaska.
This is from the Cooking Alaskan cookbook:
http://homecooking.about.com/od/jellyrecipes/r/blfruit15.htm
An article from the Anchorage Daily News on Aug. 10,
2009
http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/894226.html
This is a garden blog that has great recipes, tips
etc.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg0815413815832.html
/Cheryl/
A: I pick them when all blossoms are gone and they are red/orange and
firm. Mid July to mid/end of August. Then I pluck the dried ends off,
and freeze them. When I'm ready, I make up jam, rosehip butter,
whatever I want. You can also put them in a dehydrator after you pick
them. Cheryl |
|
8/12/09 -
Anchorage Horticulture Agent Julie Riley
Integrated Pest Management Technician, Cathy Turner
Tanana District Land Resources Michele Hebert |
Q: "Should you pick off the potato flowers?" |
/Julie/
A. What I've been taught on potatoes is that
flowers have no bearing on production. It would be a waste of time to
pick them off. Some cultivars flower and others never make it before
harvest. Just make sure people don't eat the little fruit that develops
from the flowers. They're toxic and people always seem to want to eat
them.
/Cathy/
A. Don't bother. That's my opinion. Those potatoes are going to form
whether you pinch or not. You gotta remember that the reason for forming
tubers is different from forming flowers and the seeds produced by
potatoes are not very energetically draining as far as I can tell.
/Michele/
A. If you cut them off, it allows for more energy to go to potato
production. Not necessary but I have read research for the lower 48 that
says increase production is the result. Probably not much in AK where
season is short. |
|
8/11/09 - Alaska Division of Agriculture |
Ag grants for teachers, including home school
teachers |
The Alaska Division of Agriculture is offering grants for
teachers and home school teachers to introduce agriculture in your
curriculum. ATSP amounts are for 500 dollars. Requirements can be found
at the following website.
http://www.dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ |
7/14/09 -
James J. Kruse, Ph.D.
Interior Alaska Forest Entomologist |
Dusky Birch Sawfly
 |
Native to AK, Western Canada and
U.S. as far south as Utah. Larvae greenish when small, becoming yellow
when larger - feed gregariously and curl into 'S' shapes when disturbed.
Damage is complete defoliation of one or more branches, depending on the
number of larvae. |
|
6/01/09 - Lisa Saperstein, Wildlife Biologist |
Dragonfly Class |
Interested in learning how to identify dragonflies? We
will be holding dragonfly I.D. training sessions June 18-19 in
Fairbanks. Sessions will be led by John Hudson and Bob Armstrong,
co-authors of a field guide of Alaskan dragonflies and damselflies. We
will start with an indoor session in the Fish and Wildlife Service
conference room followed by collecting trips to ponds around Fairbanks.
There is no charge for the training. Those who attended last year's
training are welcome to come and refresh their memories!
There will be other dragonfly-related activities in Fairbanks as well.
John and Bob will be presenting a slide show at the UAF museum the
evening of June 18. Dragonfly Day will be held June 20 at Creamer's
Field. This event will feature dragonfly walks, children's crafts
activities, and more.
Please contact me if you are interested in the training or other
activities, or are interested in volunteering at Dragonfly Day.
Lisa Saperstein, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, 101
12th Ave., Rm. 262, Fairbanks, AK 99701, (907) 456-0508 |
|
4/17/09 - Karen Jensen |
Garden Calculators Here
are some sites for calculating all kinds of gardening questions, from
how much driveway stone you'll need, to all the different sorts of
fertilizers and quantities you might need for various plots. |
It can be a challenge to convert pots measured in
"inches" to "gallons" of soil and speculating what sorts of vegetables
could feasibly be grown in each. Why do calculus yourself when you can
get an online converter to do it for you?
Some Equivalents Useful in Floriculture, Univ. of
Vermont
http://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/equivtab.htm
The Gardeners Resource
http://www.thegardenersresource.com/calculators.html
Evergreen of Johnson City
http://www.evergreenofjohnsoncity.com/gardencalculator.htm
And if you ever have time on your hands, try these
Garden Math Sample Problems and Calculations
http://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/gardenmath.htm |
|
3/27/09 - Virginia Damron |
ROSES Answer to someone who inquired
about roses for our zones |
"I have purchased from Holm town Nursery and there is
someone in the Mat Su area. Kevin Irvin, Sundog Orchards, email is
sundog@alaska.com. I bought several Marie Bugnet and a lavenderish one
and they have done wonderfully well. I met him at the Palmer MG
conference a few years ago. You can use my name as referring if you go
there. All of the Bugnets, Canadian Explorer series and William Baffin,
as well as Hansa, have done well for me. We'll see what happens this
year with the borderline Zone 3 ones after the long cold. I do mulch
mine as soon as the ground freezes." |
|
3/26/09 - Tami Seekins, Fairbanks Soil & Water
Conservation District |
IRT Plastic Mulch purchase UPDATED We are purchasing IRT plastic mulch, IRT - stands for Infra Red Transmission;
it allows red light waves to come through & heat the soil but blocks
the blue light rays so that it doesn't allow for vegetative growth
(aka blocks weed growth); |
It comes in very large rolls so we would purchase the
rolls if there is enough interest. At the moment we are considering
selling the following sheet size: 4ft X 20ft @ .40/ft = 8.00/sheet. This
would simply cover the costs of purchasing, shipping the IRT to
Fairbanks and staff time to cut and prepare it. We would be doing this
as a form of backyard conservation practice. Reducing soil erosion and
water run off/waste. If interested in purchasing
IRT, please email Tami Seekins at
education@gci.net with your name, your contact information and
approximately how many sheets you'd be interested in purchasing. The
order should arrive sometime in April.
|
|
3/3/09 - Tami Seekins, Fairbanks Soil & Water
Conservation District |
Compost Swap |
Do you have compost or manure
you want to get rid of?
OR
do you need compost or manure?
Email Darcy at
darcyetcheverry@gmail.com to be put on the compost swap list.
Let her know what type of compost/manure you have or are seeking and how
best to contact you. The list will be compiled and put online to be
updated monthly. |
|
11/18/08 - Rebecca, on the Master Gardeners' List
server |
Where and what to recycle in Fairbanks, Alaska |
Here is a link for a list of all places
to recycle items. It comes from
Interior Alaska Green Star.
FbksRecyclingOptions.pdf
|
7/23/08 - Diane Claassen ,
IPM Technician, UAF/CES
|
Powdery Mildew on peas.
Peas look like some of the outer branchlets have been
stripped and others have turned white |
This is caused by high humidity, warmth during the day and cool nights.
You can use: Wettable sulfur or any garden fungicide that has sulfur
in it. These will be found at the nurseries in town.
Safer Brand makes a fungicide with sulfur, called Garden Fungicide.
Be sure to clean up all detritus from the plants that is on the
ground, especially before winter. That will help keep the powdery
mildew down for next year.
We usually get powdery mildew on plants at this time of year. Check
your product label for directions for using as a preventive measure. |
|
6/23/08 - Ann D. Roberts |
Tiny aphids on delphiniums
These were found on the undersides and stems of
delphinium leaves, which were curled under, hiding them. |
Ann showed these tiny dark aphids to Diane at the Cooperative Extension
Service who examined them under a microscope and said they were similar
to chokecherry aphids. She said there were very aggressive, with even
the immature aphids busily feeding. She suggested Insecticide Soap
spray, followed by Neem II if it was not enough. Ann could not find
Insecticide Soap at the first nursery she visited, so she got Neem II
(which comes as a spray). One heavy spraying was all it took to
drastically reduce the numbers (which by then were totally covering some
parts of the leaf undersides.) A second spraying the next day should
take care of the problem. |
|
6/9/2008, Michelle Hebert, Land Resources Agent,
Cooperative Extension Service, Fairbanks |
Iris Yellow Spot Virus
Since 2004, Iris Yellow Spot Virus (IYSV) has spread
through a number of western states that we Alaskan gardeners rely on for
our onion starts.
IYSV tospovirus affects onions, garlic, leeks, iris, lisianthus and
several weeds. This devastating disease is vectored by the onion thrip (Thrips
tabaci), which are known to occur in Alaska. Plants infected with IYSV
will have yellow- to straw-colored lesions and may appear stippled.
Lesions may be more or less round with or without a necrotic center, or
may be diamond- shaped. Lesions will appear on both the seed stalk and
the leaves. Late in the season, infected plants will fall over. |
The virus is transmitted only by the onion
thrip, and is transmitted by both larvae and adults, but only larvae can
acquire the virus from infected plants. Once a thrip has acquired the
virus, it can transmit the virus for the remainder of its life. The
disease has the potential to spread rapidly and could cause crop failure
if not maintained. The virus is NOT seed-borne and does not appear to be
found in the bulbs (or sets) and does not survive in the soil, but for
those gardeners who purchase onion starts, close inspection is necessary
to stop the spread of this disease by the thrips. Once the plants are
infected, there is no cure; they should be removed and destroyed.
While IYSV has never been found in Alaska to date, it has tremendous
potential to establish here. Most of us who purchase onion starts have
suppliers in the southwest, the source of the recent spread of IYSV
throughout the United States.
Make sure you keep your garden area perimeter weed-free, water your
plants regularly as thrips prefer warm and dry, and inspect them often.
When in doubt, you can always bring a specimen into your local
Cooperative Extension Service office for identification and more
information.
Good pictures and web-related information can be found from Colorado
State University/Extension Tri River area:
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/Plants.
or at Cornell University:
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/Onion |
|
|
|
|
