Introducing myself to Scott's forum

Welcome!

Hello forum members! I have been a member since May of this year, but now feel like I should intro myself and really get to know fellow horticulturists. My focus at this point is apples. I grew up in NE Ohio about a mile from the south shore of Lake Erie( Madison, OH). I graduated from Miami University and immediately went into the Navy. I flew helicopters for twenty years, traveling around much of the world. After retiring from the Navy I came to the PNW and worked as a production supervisor at Hewlett Packard, Corvallis OR. When hp sent all the production lines overseas, I went back to school at the local community college(LBCC), and got a two year degree in Horticulture. Loved itā€¦best thing I ever did! I then embarked on my third careerā€¦I started a small family owned/operated landscaping business with my wife. Along with our love for landscaping is my fascination with plant propagation. I specifically enjoy graftingā€¦mostly applesā€¦but some Japanese maples too. Iā€™ve been grafting now since 2014ā€¦slowly filling up the back acreage with multi grafted apple trees. I hope to see some fruit this next year as the oldest trees move into their fifth leaf in 2018. We feel truly blessed to live on six acres in the heart of the Willamette Valley in beautiful Oregon. Iā€™m looking forward to sharing my grafting exploits with the forum and getting to know you folks better. Paul.

13 Likes

Pleasure to have you here @pboomhower! I went to college at Oregon State University and love Corvallis. I am very jealous that you have 6 acres in the Willamette Valley, the possibilities are endless for fruit production. Have you considered any stone fruit? I grew up in Eugene on what used to be part of an old orchard. We had beautiful old cherry, apple and pear trees. They all did extremely well with little care.

Thank you for the welcome, Phil. I have not attempted any stone fruit yet. Is that where your interest lies?

I would say yes, although if I had more space I would pursue apples and pears. What made you choose Horticulture to begin with?

Welcome aboard Cyclic-Collective Actuator Pilot. From your home state of OH-IOā€¦ Go Buckeyesā€¦ or is it Go Redhawks? Or have you become a Ducks fan? You will find this a great place to meet people, get great info, and share knowledge. Glad to have you here.

Bob
S.E. Ohio

Ahhhhhhhhh . . . Lew-uh-vul. Get ready to grow the best-tastinā€™ tomatoes EVER! I rented a community plot while living there - and have not had a truly decent tomato since. The earth there has just the right nutrients for tomatoes. There is no explaining it . . . youā€™ll have to taste it!
And . . . you might need some heavy-duty allergy meds. I never had allergies till I moved there. And then the worst attacks . . . sneezing and sneezing and sneezing. Miserable. But, maybe you will escape that !
Keep us posted!

1 Like

Well, you need to talk to my tomatoes, for the last few years, theyā€™ve been MEH to meā€¦But, I think thatā€™s more on me than them. I just started to figure out what my soil needs by getting soil tests done. I just sent in some samples last week, and should get the results soon. But, we do get the occasional tasty 'mater, so I guess Iā€™m doing something right. Learn something every season.

Yes, I never really had any allergy problems until this summer. It was the hottest, most humid summer weā€™ve had in 4 years here. I lived in north TX for almost 30 years and never had a problem. But itā€™s so hot there, the weeds prob just burn up. I took a few Claritin this year, but it wasnā€™t too bad for me. I guess Iā€™m a bit more immune to the stuff.

Good luck to yā€™all too.

1 Like

Welcome Mr Boomhower, hope you enjoy your time here.

From choppers to horticulture, thatā€™s quite a change! Sounds like youā€™re in a nice location, six acres is just right. Just donā€™t try to fill up all that empty space!

BTW, my wife calls me Boomhower sometimes, because I often mumble-talk like BH from King of the Hillā€¦

Thanks to ALL for the kind welcome! Iā€™ve always had an interest in gardening, ever since growing up on a 40 acre farm in NE Ohio. With my current endeavors, I hope to have some good information to share with the forum as my apple grafts mature and start fruiting. BTWā€¦Iā€™ve heard of the TV show King of the Hillā€¦but never have made an effort to view it!

1 Like

Oh, I thought you were borrowing the name from KotH, but thatā€™s your actual name! I didnā€™t notice until I clicked on your icon. Sorry! Oh yes, heā€™s quite the character on that show, bit of a low-voiced, mumbling ladies man. But very funny.

Good luck with your apples. Curious as to what varieties youā€™ve grafted and what might be fruiting for you next year.

I just started our little orchard here last year, so weā€™ll be lucky to get any fruit off any of our trees next year. Although, we do have a big Winesap that we got from Loweā€™s, thatā€™s grown from about 5ft tall to over 10ft. So we might get something off it next season.

@pboomhower, hereā€™s a sampling of some of Boomhauerā€™s greatest hits. You might find this funny, or maybe not.

Have a good night.

Thanks for thinking of meā€¦but not interestedā€¦not worth my time!

Hi everyone great site with lots of interesting information and cool community! A big thanks to Scott for making this awesome platform a reality! Iā€™m relatively new to growing fruit (bought a 1/3 acre in town lot 1 1/2 years ago, it had a couple of old 80 year old + bing? cherries in the back yard from when this area was a huge fruit growing center after the railway arrived) The front yard was a ā€œgreen wastelandā€ of lawn to mow and is being transformed into a fruit orchard/berry patch and vegetable garden. Most of my planting were put in last spring and included: red and black currants, various strawberries, raspberries, thornless blackberries/loganberry, haskaps, 2 apricots (puget gold and hargrand), 2 peaches (frost and suncrest), 2 japanese plums (shiro and methley), an IE mulberry and an orcas pear. Planning to add 2 apple trees, some blueberries, some hardy kiwis and some hazelnuts in the short term as well as add some variety by grafting and leaving a few spaces for the future. Im in zone 6b (also hear 5 and 7aā€¦there is a monkey puzzle tree down the road so?), we average 53in of rain a year. The soil is fertile somewhat heavy soil in the valley bottom (former flood plain) with ph of 6.3. Weā€™re surrounded by the coast mountains with a major river through the middle of town and 6-10 tributaries and world class fishing within 1/2hr drive. Iā€™m super excited about growing more edibles(especially quality fruit) and grafting to increase varietyā€¦look forward to learning more from all of you and continuing to build the knowledge base into new areas!

11 Likes

Welcome aboard Carlin. You will find a good home here. Very informative forum.

Tony

Willamette Valley - Apple Central!

Welcome, Carlin. You certainly have a very diverse collection of fruit plants and trees. And youā€™re in a very unique area, I donā€™t think we have anyone on here from western BC. I can imagine a place like that is very green and beautiful. Plus, all that fresh fish within a short distance.

Is it very cold there in the winter, or does being close to the water moderate the temps? I imagine yā€™all get plenty of rain and snow there as well?

Yes, we want to hear how things turn out for you there. Good luck with that and welcome again. Lots of knowledgeable and friendly folks on here. I just started planting our own fruits trees and plants last year and this site is a very good resource.

1 Like

Yeah weā€™ll see some people grow peaches and apricots with success here but our cooler summers/lots of rain make it difficult and i anticipate having to spray a bit.

Our climate is moderated by the major river and is in a temperate rainforest we get 50in of rain, zon 6/7(prince rupert 1-1/2 hrs west is zone 8 and gets 100in of rain and smithers 21/2 hrs east gets 20 in of rain but is zone 4). Winter is basically a mix of rain and mid 40s to snow to sunny and teens - sometimes down to -4. getting over a foot of snow overnight is not unusual (we had 46in in 24hrs a couple years ago) lots of freeze thaw over the winter (apricots/peaches planted in winter shadow of house). Alsoour longst day is 17hrs and our shortest is 7 which is very noticeable both in growth and in what you can do in a day.

Thanks for the welcome and i will definitly keep you guys posted on this growing season as it progresses.

cheers, Carlin

Hi everyone,

Iā€™m a home-gardner in Miami with way too many figs and a modest, manageable, and reasonably sane amount of specially curated tropical fruits. Iā€™m a member of OurFigs and I was on the F4F forums for a number of years. My interest in fruit growing goes far beyond figs and I feel like itā€™s time I joined you all here.

I also wanna say how much I appreciate the achievement and module system here. I think itā€™s a great way to incentivize good content and positive interactions.

Anyway, thanks for reading and Iā€™ll see you all around.

8 Likes

Welcome! There are a number of us here who also call OurFigs (and F4F at one time) home. Please tell us what other fruit you have and what you are interested in!