Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current, October 17, 2018, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextSILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ܂ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018 ܂ 3A How to rid your garden of liverwort Gardening Carol Savonen Guest columnist Question: Carol, I learn much by reading your column in the Statesman Journal. I have liverwort in my com- posted ﬂower beds and ﬁnd it is nearly impossible to kill, especially in shaded areas. How would I get rid of this ugly nuisance? Moss killing products do not have any eﬀect. It is taking over every square inch without other plant life. It looks ugly to me. Answer: Liverworts are bryophytes, which like mosses, are primitive plants, without true leaves or ﬂowers. They reproduce both asexually and by spores. Native in the damp environ- ments of the world, liverworts are a nuisance to the nursery industry, as they thrive in greenhouses and other places that have high humidity, high nutrient levels (especially nitrogen and phosphorus), high soil moisture and shade. Resembling mosses to the untrained eye, most common liverworts are green, ribbon-like, branched plants, usually growing in nature the ground. To the home gardener, they can sometimes be less than desired as well. Liverworts can make paths and lawns slippery, block out light if they grow on greenhouses. They can grow around ponds, borders and the top of contain- ers. To some it is unsightly. I’ve rarely seen them in any garden except in bo- tanical gardens and conservatories, where humidity is high and nutrients are plentiful. If you have a problem with liverworts and want to rid an area of these prim- itive plants you must change the envi- ronmental conditions in which they thrive. Simply put—reduce moisture and nutrients and increase light and air- ﬂow. Is the area where you are shaded? Maybe you can prune back growth to add more sun to the area. This reduces humidity. Pruning can add better airﬂow as well. Consider watering with drip irriga- tion, just where it is needed. Dry soil sur- faces will discourage liverworts. Over- head watering can wash the gemmae cups that spread reproductive propa- gules around. When they land, they will take root if conditions are favorable. With potted plants, water from below. Be judicious when fertilizing. Fertilize individual plants; do not broadcast, top- dress (put fertilizer on the soil surface) or sprinkle fertilizer solution on the soil surface. For annuals, use slow release/ organic fertilizers that can be worked into the soil at the time of planting. Mulch soil surfaces with coarse orga- nic material that dries out. Bark, hazel- nut shells, pumice, perlite, vermiculite can all discourage liverwort establish- ment and growth. If you have a liverwort problem in a greenhouse or hoophouse, open them during the day to decrease humidity. Pull or scrape oﬀ liverworts during your spring and fall garden clean ups. And make their environment as un- friendly as possible - increased light and dryness and decreased fertilizer will go a long way to discourage these primitive weeds. Liverworts are resistant to most herbicides. Horticulturists say that liverworts will not harm plants (except by causing competition for small plants) but their presence indicates compacted, acidic, and/or bare soil. In the wild, there are about 140 kinds of liverworts found in Oregon. Liver- worts play important ecological roles, providing food for animals, helping to break down wood and rocks into soil. They can be a species in cryptogram, or the macrobiotic crusts that were once common in eastern Oregon. Liverworts help protect soil from ero- sion and help moisture penetrate and stay in the soil. They are more widely found in moist, tropical parts of the world. Carol Savonen is a naturalist and writer. She is an associate professor emeritus at OSU and tends a large gar- den in the Coast Range Hills west of Phi- lomath with her husband and dogs. She can be reached at Carol.Savonen@ore- gonstate.edu or c/o: EESC, 422 Kerr Ad- min. Bldg., OSU, Corvallis, OR 97331. Michael Alkire, 2, of Salem, goes down a slide during the Harvest Festival at E.Z. Orchards in Salem on Sept. 29. grows, more people are interested in agritourism, said Kara Kuh, assistant marketing and public relations director for Travel Salem. Guests of Leaping Lamb Farm get to experience farm life — quiet, peaceful and rural — without a long-term com- mitment. During their stay, they have the option to assist with farm chores, help harvest vegetables and participate in other farm activities, which Jones be- lieves helps them leave a better con- sumer. After immersing themselves in farm life, Jones said her guests leave with an appreciation for local food and the care it takes farmers to get food to the table. Agritourism accounts for a large per- centage of these farm’s income, espe- cially in the summer and fall. it got there,” she said. “It is a dangerous assumption.” To farmers — who make up less than 1 percent of the population — helping someone understand what they do is just as important as selling a product. At E.Z. Orchard’s Harvest Festival, Zielinski and his brothers try to make everything a learning opportunity for their guests. Through the fall activities they oﬀer, they also show kids the pet- ting zoo and teach them how to pick ap- ples and pumpkins. “People care about the things and people they know,” Zielinski said. “If they don’t know a farmer or two, they may not care as much about the farm- ers.” Abby Luschei is the entertainment re- porter for the Statesman Journal; she can be reached at aluschei@statesman- journal.com or 503-399-6747. Follow her on Twitter @abbyluschei or facebook.com/luscheiabby. Interested in telling a story at one of the upcoming Salem Storytellers Project events? Submit a story here: storytellersproject.com/salem/speak. Learn more here. Agritourism Continued from Page 1A ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL A mutually beneﬁcial relationship A societal disconnect KUBOTA TAC KL AN B! Y JO Although he grew up on E.Z. Or- chards, Zielinski decided to follow his dream of ﬁlmmaking and moved to Los Angeles in 1985. While he loved studying ﬁlmmaking, he was discouraged by the uncertainty of his future in the business. “If you made it to the big leagues then you might get a great home in the hills of LA, but if you did not have that luck, then you lived a normal life in LA,” he said. “Which to me, growing up on a farm, was not appealing.” He moved home to be a farmer in 1986 and has been there ever since. According to Travel Oregon oﬃcials, 96 percent of farms in Oregon are fam- ily-owned. Scottie Jones, the author of “Country Grit“ and executive director of the U.S. Farm Stay Association, and her hus- band, Greg, opened a farm stay near Al- sea in 2006. After leaving suburban life in Phoe- nix for a rural life on 60-acres in Oregon, it didn’t take them long to realize they had bit oﬀ more than they could chew. “I was shocked at how disconnected we were when we ﬁrst got there and what we didn’t know,” she said.” Hon- estly, it was appalling. Both of us are col- lege educated and there were an awful lot of basic things we did not know.” Making the transition to agritourism kept them from having to sell Leaping Lamb Farm. As the demand for experiential travel When shopping at a grocery store, consumers rarely think about how cere- al got into the box or how lettuce got into a bag, Jones said. “People just assume that it is going to be there and have no connection to how ES Operators have to like people and be open to having strangers on their land and be at easy-to-ﬁnd locations and ready for visitors at all times. These spots aren’t always farms. Agritourism is much broader — think value-added production like wineries and distilleries. These businesses, along with farms, typically fall into one or more of ﬁve core categories: ܂ Direct-sales: Where a consumer goes to a farm to buy a product, this in- cludes farm stands and U-Pick farms ܂ Education: When consumers go to a farm for an activity or an educational purpose including tours, learning to make jam or tasting wine ܂ Hospitality: When consumers stay on the farm or go to a farm for a service, which includes a farm stay and farm to table dinners ܂ Outdoor recreation: When guests go to a farm to do an outdoor activity in- cluding horseback rides, hikes or to view wildlife ܂ Entertainment: When guests go to a farm to do something fun like a heri- tage game, corn maze, hay ride or listen to live music Farms often fall into more than one core category, according to Stewart. Farm-direct sales go way back but agritourism has been evolving in Ore- gon since the late 1990s, she said. “What we are seeing more and more today is an increase and enhancement of the on-farm experience,” Stewart said. “(People) don’t just come to buy blueberries, but may also take a tour.” One example is E.Z. Orchards, which has been in operation since 1929. It’s owned by three Zielinski brothers. E.Z. Orchards became an agritourism farm in the 1990s when they opened a market and Harvest Festival. Eight years ago, they started to host farm to fork dinners during the summer. The transition came organically to E.Z. Orchards, slowly developing since the 1950s. “Agritourism, or even just coming to a farm direct market, provides an oppor- tunity for education,” said John Zielin- ski. “With each passing generation, there is less knowledge from people of where food comes from.” RTV-X900WL-H • 21.6 Gross HP † , 3-Cylinder Kubota Diesel Engine • Variable Hydro Transmission (VHT-X) • Standard 4WD $0 DOWN, 0% A.P.R. FINANCING FOR UP TO 60* MONTHS ON SELECT NEW KUBOTAS! SVL75-2 B2601HSD WITH LA434 LOADER & LANDPRIDE RCR1260 ROTARY CUTTER † • 25.5 Gross HP , 3-Cylinder Kubota Diesel Engine • Semi-Flat Deck • Slanted Hood • Easy to Read Backlit Dash Panel OVS MCMINNVILLE 2700 ST. JOSEPH RD. MCMINNVILLE, OR (503) 435-2700 • 74.3 Gross HP † , 4-Cylinder Turbocharged Kubota Diesel Engine • Powerful Breakout Force • 360º Visibility in Cab OVS AURORA 19658 HWY. 99 E. 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