Changes coming to farmers markets
The Kansan
For the past few years there have been two farmers markets in Newton and that is not going to change this spring and summer as the season inches ever closer, despite actions taken at the city commission Tuesday.
The city commission approved an administrative policy stipulating that only one publicly owned property will be approved for use for farmers market per year, allowing use for up to two days each week. We typically have a lot of groups that want to use public parking lots for events, especially on weekends said Suzanne Loomis, director of public works for the city. . (The commission) asked that any groups wanting to hold a farm and art market try and coexist at the same location on one piece of public property so we were not tying up multipe public properties because there are multiple groups that want to utilize these spaces for specific, big community events.
In the garden: Garden chores are year-round
The Kansan
Garden chores occur throughout the year. One of these chores is pruning. If you planted new fruit trees last year it is time to prune them to begin to shape them for maximum fruit production. Remember fruit tree pruning is drastically different than pruning a shade or ornamental tree.
Young fruit trees should be pruned to begin developing a strong structure of the main or scaffold limbs. This will help prevent limb breakage over the years when the scaffolds carry a heavy fruit load.
Do not prune the year of planting except to cut back the tree to a height of 36 inches. This will cause side branches to develop. If there are already side branches, do not prune the year of planting so the tree has the maximum number of leaves to help with establishment.