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Our wonderful editor, Kelsey, gives all us writers a heads up before each month: themes, dates, deadlines. You know. The checkmarks to keep all of us moving forward and on time.
For July, what caught my eye was National Park and Recreation Month. How fitting for those of us in Ponca City with our exceptional Parks and Rec Department. July 7 is Chocolate Day, lest we forget it in all the Fourth of July hustle and bustle.
An Ode to Parks & Rec
Fourth of July is the BEST in Ponca City because of our Parks & Rec.
If you have ever stopped to admire the flowers and plantings up and down Grand, say Thank you to Parks & Rec.
Ponca City is a Parks kinda town. And, since it’s in their title, just thank Parks & Rec.
Frisbee Golf Courses, Wentz Pool, Recplex, Lake Ponca, Senior Center, programs, classes, dog parks and facility rentals, Unity Gym and the Lake Shelters to name a few. Find the Summer Recreation Guide here: it.ly/45eCWDR and all the other information on Parks & Recreation on their City of Ponca City webpage: Poncacityok.gov/213/Parks-Recreation.
And then there is Chocolate Day on July 7. Since I have never excelled at growing the fabulous cacao bean tree, let’s talk about what is good to eat with chocolate: Fruit.
Eating Seasonally – It’s Time for the Fruit
June through September are the best because of the fruit. Whether you are a strawberry, peach or apple fan, all of these delightful sweets can be found in our neck of the woods. But there are so many more. Blackberries, nectarines, plums, blueberries, persimmons, ground cherries, regular cherries, sand plums and on and on. Birds and critters with opposable thumbs know what they are doing when accessing fruit right before the humans get to picking.
Some things I have learned over the years of growing fruit in the yard.
If you have a compost pile, plant your favorite fruit tree within five feet of it or vice versa. The compost will feed the tree roots and you will get the sweetest fruit. Found this out by accident with my nectarine tree, which is three feet from my outdoor single-container compost bin.
Use the Copper Fungicide. In past years, I have tried to let everything be natural, but fruit trees get rust, rot, bacteria, fire blight or scab and all the leaves fall off. Or heaven forbid you get Japanese beetles (Google Japanese beetle traps). So, I started spraying the copper fungicide on my apple and plum tree leaves (which are not close to the compost container) last year. Every two weeks after the blooms set, spray in the evening, right before dark so you don’t spray all the beneficial insects flitting around the garden. Keep an eye on the weather when spraying, because if it rains during the night on a spray evening, you need to spray again. This spring has been especially tricky on timing sprays correctly.
Pick off bad leaves whenever you see them and throw them in the trash. Do not compost and do not throw them on the ground. All the fruit diseases transfer easily and will stay in the area if the leaves fall to the ground. Same if you put them in your compost. Put diseased leaves in your burn pile or in the trash to ensure those diseases do not spread.
Pick fruit every day; preferably in the morning. Or at least give the trees/plants a good look over to get the fruit off before the critters get to it. Picking in the morning keeps the fruit from spoiling quickly.
Try new recipes. TikTok and YouTube are fabulous for seeking out new recipes for using fruit. I never knew the joy of blackberry pie until a TikTok came across my “for you” last year. Sooooo goooood.
These are some of my best fruit tips: Don’t ask me when to stop spraying the copper fungicide. I stopped in June last year after the fruit was getting bigger and one of my apple trees still lost most of its leaves to apple scab. This year, I will continue to spray until a couple of weeks before the fruit is ripe or I pick off all the leaves that look like they are getting diseased! Porter Peaches should be making the rounds at Farmer’s Market, Saturdays 8 to 11 a.m. and Tuesdays 4 to 6 p.m. Sunny Creek Trading Post Farm Hub store is open Mondays at City Central, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you have extra produce from your backyard garden, Sunny Creek wants to sell your extra for you. Find them on Facebook or just drop into the store next Monday and chat with Liz.
And with that side-hustle tip, I wish you all Happy Gardening.
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