New from Extension Publications: Protecting tree fruit, gardens and communities

Cover aerial image of red, white and blue netting on a fruit orchard.WSU Extension scientists work with Northwest growers, gardeners, and communities, sharing discoveries that protect tree fruit crops, build community consensus, and garden successfully and sustainably.

Extension faculty are also authors, who every month share the results of their work through peer-reviewed online publications. Newly published WSU Extension guides include:

  • Timeless Traditions: Conducting Council Circles in a Modern World (FS320E), by Mike Wallace, WSU Regional Specialist for youth and families, shares how communities and groups can benefit from council circles, long been valued by indigenous cultures as the practice for building community and consensus.
  • Use of Protective Netting in Washington State Apple Production (TB60E), a guide by Giverson Mupambi, postdoctoral researcher with WSU Tree Fruit Research & Extension, WSU Horticulture scientists Stefano Musacchi and Sara Serra, former WSU scientist Des Layne, and Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission scientists Tory Schmidt and Ines Hanrahan.
  • Phytophthora Crown, Collar and Root Rot of Apple and Cherry (FS322E), by WSU Tree Fruit Extension Specialist Tianna DuPont, Cal-Poly researcher Shashika Hewavitharana, and USDA-ARS plant pathologist Mark Mazzola. Learn about three different strategies to control damaging diseases.
  • Do Black Walnut Trees Have Allelopathic Effects on Other Plants? (FS325E, Home Garden Series), by Extension Horticulturist Linda Chalker-Scott. Learn about current research into whether black walnut harms other plants, and discuss the practical significance of gardening in the presence of black walnut trees.
  • The 2019 Crop Protection Guide for Tree Fruits in Washington (EB0419), outlining controls orchard insect, disease, and weed pests in Washington state. Contributors include Tianna DuPont, Elizabeth H. Beers, Louis Nottingham, Gary Grove, Achour Amiri, Catherine Daniels, Tory Schmidt, Joel Kangiser, Michael Klaus, Lagene Taylor, Gerald Steffen, and Wendy Jones.
  • Cornmeal and corn gluten meal applications in gardens and landscapes (FS326E, Home Garden Series). Linda Chalker-Scott reviews whether cornmeal and corn gluten meal have legal, practical uses in home gardens and landscapes.
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems in Agriculture: Part 3, (FS321E), by Lav Khot, Assistant Professor, WSU Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems; Gwen-Alyn Hoheisel, WSU Regional Extension Specialist, and Jianfeng Zhou, Agricultural Systems Management, University of Missouri. Learn about mid-sized Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), or drones, in agriculture and what they can do for your crop production.
  • A guide to Apple Replant Disease (FS323E), by Hewavitharana, Dupont and Mazzola. Learn about the symptoms, cause and management of a disease that costs growers thousands of dollars in lost productivity.