The ground is cold and covered in white. It looks like it’s hibernating—but don’t be fooled! Healthy soil teems with life year-round. In fact, billions of living and breathing microorganisms are hard at work under the ice and snow. Bacteria, fungi, algae, nematodes and anthropods aren’t visible to the naked eye, but they all contribute…
Until a few years ago, Northwest orchard farmers weren’t even talking about little cherry disease. Yet according to a recent NPR report, this agricultural foe is responsible for the destruction of cherry trees across Washington and Oregon. The disease does what its name suggests: it causes stunted fruit growth resulting in small, unripe cherries with…
Image used with permission by Real Christmas Trees Direct. It’s mid-December, but the Christmas season has been well underway for several weeks already here in Oregon. With about 530 licensed growers, our state is the #1 producer of Christmas trees with tree farmers expecting to harvest and sell just over 7 million trees in 2015….
