After looking at the trees this weekend, I have a couple more questions...... As Don noted, some of the biggest branches are too vertical to be good fruiting branches. When I examined the tree up close, it seemed that the branches that were the most horizontal were very small and thin. Where the biggest (and most upright) branches are a couple feet long and a half an inch thick, the small, horizontal branches are only a couple inches long and a quarter inch thick. Should I just go ahead and prune the tree to make these tiny branches the future 4 main fruiting branches? I don't mind losing whatever growth I gained last year by hacking off the biggest branches, but I don't want to do something that will be worse than leaving the big branches and trying to spread them. Any thoughts? Thanks, Bart

There are organic sprays available, for example liquid lime sulfer (calcium polysulfide) and spinosad. Bear in mind just because it says "organic" doesn't mean it's safe or environmentally responsible. Spinosad is deadly to bees and pollinators and sulfer is deadly to other beneficial insects like parasitoids. Horticultural oil is a petroleum product -- you old spray it in the winter so it's not a threat to bees, but it does kill any beneficials overwintering in the tree as well. AFAIK, there is no effective organic alternative for streptomycin sulfate to treat fireblight. Organic or not, you will have to develop and maintain a rigorous spray program. Going to the fruit classes at Petals From the Past can be a big help here. Dr. Arlie Powell knows pretty much everything there is to know about fruit growing in our region.

I've found that sauces of any type are so much more flavorful if they are frozen in big batches and then chunked "as needed" than to try to have them bottled on the shelf from which you then have to refrigerate the remaining after opening until the next time - maybe weeks or months, all the while the orange juice gets old and spoils. I concur with the experts - freeze it. It does sound like a really good combo of flavors and the Fourth is coming up with a big family picnic - hmmm. Nancy

The "whys" in canning come from training, from certified classes, and can be a simple or as complex as you want to make them. But pH of the food is only one aspect that must be considered. The simple "why" is because it has never been tested and approved. The complex "why" is without that extensive lab testing you have no way of knowing the actual pH of each ingredient which can vary widely (there is a big difference between a pH of 5.37 and one of 5.85) and the final pH of the product, nor the stability of that pH as it rises during shelf storage, the % of water to be found in each food, how fast or slow the cellular structure of a particular food reacts to osmosis, the density of the finished product and the amount of time required for full heat penetration of that density, etc., etc. For example, celery contains much more water than onions and has a larger cellular structure so its pH is much less stable over time, it dilutes the pH of the mixture, and it reacts very differently under pressure than onions do. So they are not inter-changeable per the guidelines. A trained food scientist can relate to all these important variables but the rest of us lack the training to appreciate or understand their importance. Thus the 2 basic guidelines of home canning safety - (1) you cannot safely can your own made up recipes and (2) cooking and canning recipes are 2 different things and you cannot safely can cooking recipes. It is up to each individual whether they abide by those guidelines or not. Dave