Its January in Indiana and you are snowed in. What do you do? Well, if you love gardening, it's a great time to study seed catalogs. There are some things to think about when buying seeds: Heirloom vs Hybrid, Organic vs Non-Organic and of course GMO's. Here are some informational tips: 

• Open-pollination is when pollination occurs by insect, bird, wind, humans, or other natural mechanisms. Because there are no restrictions on the flow of pollen between individuals, open-pollinated plants are more genetically diverse. This can cause a greater amount of variation within plant populations, which allows plants to slowly adapt to local growing conditions and climate year-to-year. As long as pollen is not shared between different varieties within the same species, then the seed produced will remain true-to-type year after year.

• An heirloom variety is a plant variety that has a history of being passed down within a family or community, similar to the generational sharing of heirloom jewelry or furniture. An heirloom variety must be open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated plants are heirlooms. While some companies create heirloom labels based on dates (such as a variety that is more than 50 years old), Seed Savers Exchange identifies heirlooms by verifying and documenting the generational history of preserving and passing on the seed.

• Hybridization is a controlled method of pollination in which the pollen of two different species or varieties is crossed by human intervention. Hybridization can occur naturally through random crosses, but commercially available hybridized seed, often labeled as F1, is deliberately created to breed a desired trait. The first generation of a hybridized plant cross also tends to grow better and produce higher yields than the parent varieties due to a phenomenon called 'hybrid vigor'. However, any seed produced by F1 plants is genetically unstable and cannot be saved for use in following years. Not only will the plants not be true-to-type, but they will be considerably less vigorous. Gardeners who use hybrid plant varieties must purchase new seed every year. Hybrid seeds can be stabilized, becoming open-pollinated varieties, by growing, selecting, and saving the seed over many years.

• GMOs or more accurately, varieties created using 'recombinant DNA technology', can be either hybrids or open pollinated varieties. Recombinant DNA technology is the ability to combine DNA molecules from different sources into one molecule in a test tube. The inserted DNA may come from related or unrelated species, or created in a laboratory. GMOs are not permitted in organic farming systems. 
• Organic seeds: Organic seeds are regulated by the USDA and must be grown in accordance with USDA guidelines on and organic farm. Both Heirlooms and Hybrids can be organic. 
• Non-organic seeds can be grown on a farm not using organic methods. And in some cases the seeds can be treated with a fungicide. 

There is quite a bit of information to consider when buying seeds. There are advantages to growing both Heirlooms and Hybrids. Consider saving Heirloom seeds and saving our diverse plant heritage.

Sometimes I find myself doing tasks in the winter that would have been much easier in the summer. Cleaning trays is one of them. It is just like leaving dirty laundry on the floor. You would not have to go back for it if you had put it in the hamper in the first place. 
Ok, back to real life. It is great to recycle old seed starting trays, but they need to be sterile. Old trays can harbor pathogens that can dampen off young seedlings. 
Here is what you "should" do. 
After you use the trays initially and transplant seedlings into your garden, clean your trays using the following steps: 
1. Shake out loose dirt.
2. Rinse off with garden hose. 
3. Wash with 10% bleach solution or soapy water. 
(some gardeners soak trays in a tote or kiddie pool of bleach water) 
4. Rinse 
5. Let trays completely dry in the sun. 
6. Store in plastic garbage bags until ready to use. 

Whenever you choose to clean your trays, your seedlings will be glad you did. 
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​Pruning has never been one of my favorite things. I am always afraid of doing permanent damage. In reality, apple trees are tough and very forgiving. The best start to pruning is good-quality sharp and sterile pruning tools. Hand held bypass pruners, long handle lopping shears, and a pruning saw are some great ones. A good tip: if you have a battery powered reciprocating saw, it will do the job on branches that are too big for the loppers. When cutting, you want a clean cut without smashing the wood.

When to Prune Apple Trees
Summer pruning of apples helps encourage fruiting and flowering, but winter pruning is essential for controlling shape and vigor. Winter pruning starts when the trees go dormant and lasts until early spring before they start to bud.
1. Remove the 3 "D's".
That’s diseased, dying and dead wood. If the wood shows obvious signs of any malady, amputate it. Make the cut into healthy wood to ensure the problem doesn’t spread.
2. Remove crossing branches.
If two branches cross, they will rub away the bark and potentially provide an entry point for disease. They will also make it harder for air to circulate, and make harvesting more awkward. Try to imagine how the branches will look when weighed down with leaves and fruits; will they rub against a branch below? If you spot two branches that are likely to cross in the future, prune one of them out now. It’s an easier job to make these cuts while they’re still small. Think of any inward-pointing branches as crossing ones, and remove.
3. Make the biggest cuts first.
You can spend an awful lot of time removing a small dead twig here and a spindly inward-turning shoot there, but when thinking about removing a small branch it’s a good idea to trace it back to the trunk to see if there are other problems. You might find that it crosses with another further back and that it, therefore, should be cut out closer to the trunk.
4. Make clean cuts.
Use clean, sharp pruning tools. If you’re doing a lot of pruning you may need to stop occasionally and re-sharpen the blade. High-quality tools will retain an edge for much longer. Always cut just-above a healthy outward-facing bud. This is where next year’s growth will spring from. If you need to remove a whole branch, make your cut close to – but not into – the main branch or trunk. Look for the raised ‘collar’ where the branch joins and cut flush with that.
When using a saw to prune larger branches, first make a shallow undercut before sawing through from above. That way if the branch breaks off as you’re cutting it, it won’t rip off a long section of the tree’s protective bark.
Prune very thick or long limbs in sections. It may seem like more work but it’s much safer, and it’s less likely to cause damage if the branch breaks under its own weight as you’re cutting.
5. Take your time.
Keep stepping back and checking the overall shape of the canopy to make sure it looks balanced before making your next cut. A little change in perspective can make a big difference!