- Author: Steve Radosevich
Most of us who grow fruit trees think of pruning as a winter practice, done when the tree is dormant and leafless, and the tree skeleton can be better observed. Although dormant pruning is called for on most deciduous fruit trees, some additional summer pruning may help you maintain the tree size that you want in your backyard. Unlike dormant pruning, cutting off actively growing shoots and leaves in the spring and summer has a devigorating effect on the tree and will help control its size.
The Fruit Bush system, a method of pruning that keeps standard-size trees or trees on dwarfing rootstock small, relies on periodic summer pruning. The first pruning is done in late April or May when half of the new growth from that season is removed. A second similar pruning is done in June, and if vigorous growth continues, a third pruning is done in late July or early August.
This type of pruning results in a tree that is bushy in appearance, with a dense interior canopy that requires additional pruning so that sunlight can reach the lower fruiting branches. However, it is important to leave enough foliage to protect the tree from sunburn.
Fruit bushes are often kept at a height that allows you to do all your tree care - pruning, thinning, netting, picking, spraying - without using a ladder. With the use of this pruning system, trees can be planted much closer together, allowing you to plant more fruit trees in a small space. For more information on the fruit bush system go to https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8057.pdf . Fruit Trees: Training and Pruning Deciduous Trees.
Summer pruning is particularly recommended for apricots, to avoid a common branch-killing disease called Eutypa dieback, which can develop on pruning wounds that are made during wet weather. Try to do all your pruning on apricot trees in July or August. If some dormant pruning is still needed, wait until late in the dormant season.
For more information on summer pruning, as well as other summer tasks in the home orchard go to https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgplacer/files/171595.pdf for a two page publication Summer Care of Fruit Trees by Master Gardener Mike Kluk. Another free publication on pruning and training fruit trees can be found at https://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/The_Big_Picture/Pruning_&_Training .
- Author: Linda J Forbes
From August 2023 to March 2024, UC Cooperative Extension in San Bernardino County provided interactive classes and demonstrations in English and Spanish for ethnically diverse and limited-resource residents that led to increased food security and reduced food waste.
These efforts were funded by the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Small Grants Program, which supports the development of sustainable community food systems.
Workshops draw on experts from variety of UC ANR programs
The project in San Bernardino County, led by Christine Davidson of UCCE and the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program, mobilized a team of EFNEP, UC Master Gardener Program and UC Master Food Preserver Program staff and volunteers to educate families in underserved communities through a series of hands-on workshops.
Thirty-six mothers attended EFNEP lessons from the “Eating Smart, Being Active” curriculum focusing on improving knowledge and skills in the areas of diet quality, food resource management, food safety, physical activity and food security.
They also attended Master Gardener workshops to learn how to grow vegetables in their home gardens and compost food waste, and Master Food Preserver classes where they made healthy recipes and learned about safe food preservation with a focus on food waste prevention.
Two hundred and twenty children at two schools attended a series of EFNEP lessons and a workshop to learn about composting with worms or composting in a jar. “The students love the hands-on activities, and with this knowledge they can participate in composting food waste at home,” said Davidson. “It was especially rewarding to teach the kindergarteners about composting since it was a new concept for them.”
The SAREP grant provided funding for kits and materials that parents and children took home to apply their new knowledge in making different salads, using scraps to make vegetable broth, growing herb gardens and composting at home. “The kits are great incentives for people to attend the classes and reinforce their learning at home,” Davidson noted.
With better meal planning and proper food storage, families can save food and money. “I have begun saving scraps to make vegetable broth that I use to make rice. My kids love collecting the scraps and it saves money buying the broth,” said a parent at Bradley Elementary School in San Bernardino.
Additionally, families are educated on the organic waste reduction requirements of Senate Bill 1383 and how they can do their part to reduce food waste.
The final product of the SAREP-funded project will be a Food Waste Prevention Workshop Toolkit in Spanish and English that will be shared widely and delivered in UC ANR workshops by staff and volunteers in other counties. “Our goal beyond providing these materials to support our community is to help grow their use across UC ANR so more families can benefit from them,” said Davidson.
Small grants, big impacts
Funding priorities for the Small Grants Program include supporting California farmers, ranchers and land stewards in the adoption of environmentally regenerative practices and partnering with rural, urban and tribal communities to expand access to healthy, sustainably produced food and promote community well-being.
“The Small Grants Program is an important part of our mission,” said Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, interim director of UC SAREP, a program of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Program outcomes show that a small financial investment can have a large impact in improving the lives of Californians.”
This article is part of a series on the impact of the UC SAREP Small Grants Program. To support this program, please donate here. Choose SAREP Small Grants Program for the designation.