Springing into 2020

Happy Spring everyone! Slowly but surely it’s starting to warm up, the nettles are sprouting, and it looks like the sun has returned. It’s still early though, and now is the time for pruning your fruit trees!Fruit Tree PruningPruning is an integral part of caring for your trees, and it can seem like an intimidating task if you’ve never done it before. Fear not though - it’s not as hard as it sounds! The goal is to have a stronger tree with healthy growth and a good harvest. The main tasks are:

• Removing dead, diseased, or damaged wood
• Thinning to avoid overlapping branches that will compete for light and space
• Trimming back a portion of last year’s growth to keep your tree at a manageable size

If you’re looking for hands-on practice, Tilth is offering a class on Saturday, February 29th. www.southwhidbeytilth.orgThere are also several online resources, books, and videos you can turn to for help and encouragement, including:

• The Fruit Tree Handbook, by Ben Pike (this is what our Garden Manager keeps handy as a reference)
• The Modern Farmer has a simple guide to winter pruning with some good illustrations (http://modernfarmer.com/2015/02/right-cut/)
• City Fruit, a non-profit that works to make the most of Seattle’s urban orchard, has a great page of resources on all aspects of fruit tree care, including pruning (https://www.cityfruit.org/fruit-tree-care/resources), along with a collection of videos (https://www.cityfruit.org/learn/videos )

Along with pruning, it’s time to think about the bees - early flowers will start blooming soon and wild native bees will be venturing out to start pollinating. There are several species of native bees here in the PNW, all of them great pollinators. The rapid decline in bee populations worldwide threatens our food supply as well as the health of the ecosystem. Encouraging and aiding wild and native bees helps ensure that we’ll have food to eat…and flowers to enjoy!Bees need flowers – they provide food, as well as pollen and nectar for a baby bee’s first meal when it hatches. You can plant a variety of flowers in your garden so that bees have easy access to food all season long. Some of the best plants for pollinators include: Lupine, Meadowfoam, Clarkia, Borage, Milkweed, Aster, and Oregon Grape. You can find seeds, including pollinator mixes, locally (check out Deep Harvest’s seed catalog or find their seeds at Bayview Nursery) or order here from Northwest Meadowscapes, located here on Whidbey Island. How to make a mason bee hotel, and where to rent bees for the seasonIf you want to attract and keep mason bees, you can make or buy a mason bee house. Making your own isn’t too tricky - the Xerces society has great information on caring for native bees here.Or, you can skip arts and crafts class and order a bee house here.Bayview Farm & Garden also carries mason bee houses, and bees. You can order from Crown Bees here, as mason bees fly through May. They ship bees & bee houses directly to you. And this is a perfect time to plant some flowers for bees that already live in your neighborhood. There are also summer flying leafcutter bees. Check out mason and leafcutter bee rentals and kits here.Island beekeeping resourcesWhidbey Island has its own beekeeping association – the Whidbees, which meets the first Wednesday of the month at the Freeland Library, 7:00 pm. Check them out on Facebook hereFarmer’s Market Gleaning starts April 25th at the first Bayview Market!We’re super excited for the start of market season – fresh veggies and all the usual music, fun, and food at the local markets! Every Saturday, the gleaners head over to Bayview at the close of the market to pick up donations from our wonderful farm partners. We’d love to have you join us!This year, we’re setting up our market gleaning a little differently. We’re looking for:

• Volunteers who can pick bins up from Good Cheer in the morning and drop them off with our farm partners. You can do this any time after the market opens.

• Volunteers to pick up the veggie-filled bins when the market closes and bring them back to Good Cheer. The bins are generally ready to go at 2pm when the market closes, or just a few minutes after closing as the farmers are packing up their stalls.

 It’s quick and easy, and a great way to help out if the market is one of your regular stops on Saturday!If you’re interested in helping out with the farmer’s market gleaning this season, please email the Gleaning Coordinator at gleefulgleaners@goodcheer.org.And if you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate leap year - we have one! The first ever Good Cheer Winter SocialCome one, come all, and shake off those winter blues! Join us for a night of dancing to the sweet sounds of Doug Roraback and the Double Diamonds, enjoy some of Karen’s Famous Chili, and enter to win fabulous raffle prizes from around South Whidbey.Saturday, February 29 from 5:30-9:00 p.m. at Bayview Hall. We’ll have food, beer, & wine available for purchase (and water for free, because hydration is important when you’re dancing).Tickets are just $10 – available at either of our thrift stores (2nd & Anthes in Langley or Ken’s Korner in Clinton), online through Eventbrite: goodcheerwintersocial.eventbrite.com, or at the door.So come dance with us - help support the Food Bank and celebrate our amazing community at the same time!