CREC Northern Hardy Fruit Evaluation Project

10/31/2024

Here's some fall photos from the orchard over the years. Enjoy!!

10/25/2024

Hey Everyone, after 18.5 years and 19 growing seasons, this is it: I am retiring my position as the Fruit Project Manager. My husband, Ron, has been retired for about 5 years now so it was inevitable that I would join him in this new lifestyle! The orchard has been put to bed for the year and I will still be here for a while in a much-reduced capacity, writing up the year's work as reports.

We love North Dakota because we love being outdoors, especially tromping about on the prairie. We have no specific plans at the moment but family concerns are pulling us toward Wisconsin.

If you can make it, come have cake with us on Friday, November 1st. We'll see you at CREC from 2-4 pm.

09/05/2024

Does anyone in the Carrington/Fessenden/Harvey area need some Valiant grapes? A person near Harvey has a row of very productive plants and would like to have people come pick some. I don't have more details, but I have met him and I have his email address if you write me here: kathy . wiederholt at ndsu.edu. (remove the spaces and use the symbol). I'll check back here this evening and the next couple of days.

07/08/2024

Field Day approaches! Next Tuesday, July 16th, to be a bit more specific. Details here: https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/events/carrington-rec-65th-annual-field-day
Our speaker is Dr. Jim Walla, Northern Tree Specialties w/ Jim Walla - Tree Doctor We will discuss black rot in Apple Trees. It seems to be more of a problem now in ND and we have had it at CREC. As always, no registration needed and lunch at noon. See you soon!

07/02/2024

I didn't make any rhubarb desserts this year. Hope you did!

A little sour, a little sweet, a tiny bit vegetal: New rhubarb cultivars could be a significant boon to the state’s wines, beers, distilled spirits and hard ciders.

07/01/2024

Juneberries galore! It's a fabulous crop at CREC and hopefully everywhere else. Ours should be ready next week, at least to start. Are your picking buckets ready?

A shout-out to Diane Schmidt of Diane's Home Creations. I don't know her but we would probably be 'berry good' friends.

A 5-gallon bucket of carrots, “unwashed and dirty,” and three ice cream pails of chokecherries. “That’s how my business got started,” says Diane Schmidt, recalling her first sales attempt at the Mandan Farmers Market nearly 40 years ago. Schmidt was a single mom at the time. She’d haul k...

06/27/2024

Summer is here and the CREC orchard is in full swing. Juneberries are starting to progess!! I thought they'd be a little later since it's been so cool. We will need volunteer help to harvest this huge crop. Contact us at the center or through my email (Wiederholt), leaving your cell number, and I will eventually text you details. Appointments are needed. https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/research-extension-centers-recs/carrington-rec/contact-us

This attractive little guy has been pooping berries and got stuck in a haskaop net! Cedar waxwings eat berries and flowers almost exclusively, even feeding their babies fruit. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cedar_Waxwing/overview

The Russian and Canadian haskaps are exhausted - eaten by the waxwings. But the Japanese haskaps are waiting under the nets. Picking may start today or Friday.

01/18/2024

I wrote this week's Center Points. Maybe you'll find it interesting.
Every week on Monday, someone from CREC writes an article and we put it up. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up here: https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/sign-center-points

Only sour (tart) cherries are hardy in North Dakota. In the past, CREC has grown Carmine Jewel (productive, suckering, mid-season), Crimson Passion (shy bearing, few suckers, mid-season) and an unrelated tree: Evans/Bali (productive+, some suckers, late season). Due to SWD challenges, these were all...

11/28/2023

Just about 2 weeks ago, USDA released the new 2023 Hardiness Zone maps. https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/usda-unveils-updated-plant-hardiness-zone-map/
The maps indicate that we've warmed a bit, but the creators also caution that some of the differences may come from an improvement in data: Over 13,400 weather stations are now providing data vs the 8,000 used in the 2012 maps. Check out all the new maps yourself! https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/map-downloads