North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david liezen <chandos49@hotmail.com>]

The climate around my back yard is drier than across the river, south of here. Often I see thunderstorms miss my place by a mile to the north (a flat-top hill about 300' higher) and three miles to the south (part of Palouse country leading to higher ground and the Rockies). I had planted what seemed likely cultivars of apples and found Queen Cox unsuited to the dry and hot we get every year. It's being top-worked this spring.
I'm trying several things: some look to be a sure bet and some a shot in the dark; some tried and true in similar conditions elsewhere in the state and others experimental. The plants teach me how to manage. That is part of the charm for me: keeps me in the yard noting how conditions effect growth and fruit.
My yard was a wasteland prior to introduction of some laying ducks. They've done wonders in the past 3 years: dandelions a dim memory; grass green, lush and mowed half as often as before due to ducks grazing; very little insect pressure to the apples because if they get close to the ground ducks snap 'em up and turn 'em into eggs!
My ducks are Welsh Harlequin. They don't have a pool to play in, but buckets low enough to drink from and wash their faces work fine.
You may find other means to improve your conditions. My hope is to make conditions good enough for my fruits to thrive optimally. Some won't make the cut. Good thing there are so many to choose from and, with grafting onto rootstocks (cheap!) or existing stock, the next decades shine with potential.
Have fun,
Dave Liezen E. WA, z6 

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From: kodama@riseup.net
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:16:37 -0500
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] global cooling

I am very interested in hearing folks' strategies for adding resilience to their orchards or adapting to possible future climate scenarios. Planting out of zone expecting a change? Keeping drought tolerant (or maybe wet tolerant) varieties in particular microclimates just in case normal rainfall patterns shift (are shifting)? Building swales for water retention? What are you doing? These sorts of things could make a fertile topic to explore...

But I have no interest in hearing yet another climate change debate, particularly on this list.

cheers,

Evan

Southern Appalachia, Zone 6b

just short of 3000'

On Jan 23, 2011, at 1:57 PM, Justin West wrote:

 I always appreciate when people decided and are willing to get into dialogue about climate destabilzation, because we desperately need to be discussing this issue more.  I also appreciate when those who do decide to register opinions on the subject of climate change actually have some real concrete information to share instead of just throwing around the old 'its a government conspiracy' conspiracy. 
The fact of the matter is that average global temperatures for every single one of the past 36 years have been above the 20th century average.  9 of the 10 hottest years on record have been since 2001.  These are not blips folks.  With business as usual fossil fuel emissions continuing through this century we will induce the planet into a state of heat it has not experienced for 30-100 million years (thats 28-98 million years prior to the existence of our species)  It is highly uncertain whether humans can exist in such a climate as we simply did not evolve with it.  (source: the latest issue of Science, not exactly a tree hugger conspiracy type publication.)  If those of you looking forward to some 'warming' of your frost bitten pocket of the planet can keep in mind that at this extreme rate of change (which is really the most crucial aspect of this all) mass crop failures such as the one seen in Russia this past summer will become commonplace.  As the equator possibly turns into a desert there may be billions of people who come knocking at the door of those air conditioned northern and southern latitudes.  Try to picture that.  As they pointed out in the article in Science, none of the figures I just quoted come from 'modeling'.  They are all derived directly from records of the past.  None of this requires 'belief.'  It is simply a matter of allowing oneself to look at the data without a predetermined emotional response.  It has been determined that the last time the planet had an atmosphere that carbon rich, it took tens of thousands of years to slowly draw it back down to the climate we evolved in.  Also please keep in mind that all of these projections are prefaced with 'business as usual emissions'.  We are all making a choice in this matter.  We are ,of course, all a part of the earth's 'natural' cycles in as much as we are a part of the Earth itself.  However, that does not absolve us from responsibility for acting appropriately see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/science/earth/22kenya.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22 in the NY Times yesterday for more on that ethical responsibility.  And yes, for those of you who want to say that extinction is also a natural cycle...true.  And we won't escape that fate either, but to bring it on ourselves?? silly silly...
I hope this doesn't raise a guttural backlash on the board here, but it is time to be hashing this out (well the time was actually probably in the 70's but we cannot go back)
 
Justin
1 degree F last night, zone 7 and counting...
yep it was cold last night, but that doesn't mean the climate is not heating up rapidly, just like when it gets dark out every evening that doesn't mean the sun was turned off:)

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_______________________________________________ nafex mailing list nafex@lists.ibiblio.org Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed. This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites. Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission! **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!** Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded. No exceptions. ---- To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options): http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex File attachments are NOT stripped by this list. TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES! Please do not send binary files. Use plain text ONLY in emails! NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/