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Showing the Blueberries Some Love

This is a busy time of year on the farm. One of the tasks is getting the blueberries ready for summer. We use pine straw as a mulch. Using pine straw as a mulch is a good example of function stacking. The pine straw helps to lower the soil ph (blueberries like low ph soil), regulate moisture in the soil, supresses the growth of weeds and amends the soil as it breaks down adding nutrients and organic matter. The pine straw settles during the next few months, so we pile it deep.

The iris, comfrey, clover and wildflowers are blooming. This year we created a natural area. This was a previously cultivated area that is now fallow. The wildflowers that came up are great.

The last couple of days have been spent mowing grass (grows amazingly quick this time of year), trimming under fences and around plants. We’ve also been watering new plantings and fertilizing. Sometimes new trees and plants don’t thrive but that is vastly offset by the wonderful growth on the farm right now.

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The Plan, So Far

Our plan with the trees and bushes we planted this fall and spring has 4 elements

  • co-plant with comfrey
  • use metal tag with a plant number, type and variety
  • protect the tender trunk with a plastic cage or tube
  • placing wood chips around the trees and bushes

Metal tags everywhere

We have used the metal tag system from the beginning of our farm. This has been a great way to track trees and bushes on the farm. We also have maps where the individual plant locations are noted.

Spreadsheet where we track planted trees and bushes

One of the tasks for today was installing metal tags on trees that were planted last fall and this spring. The plastic tag that came with the tree is removed and a metal tag is put in place. This gives us a permanent way to identify a plant and know its history.

Using lots of wood chips

We are still in the process of putting woodchips around all the new trees and bushes. The woodchips helps regulate the moisture of the soil, while keep summer temperatures down at the root ball. They also amend the soil with nutrients and organic matter as the wood chips break down. All of these items help to build healthy soil, which greatly improves the conditions for the tree as it grows. The goal is to put at least woods in a circular pattern around the tree to depth of 8-12 inches.

Metal tag with a number, tree type and variety plus a plastic guard against critters
Tree with tree protector, tag and comfrey
Metal tag with unique identifier and tree type and variety
Comfrey at the base of young tree, growing through the mulch

Here are some pictures from today on the farm

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Grow, Grow, Grow and Peace

It is really nice to spend the day surrounded by all of the springtime explosion of blooms and new growth. The weather this time of year is spectacular and it makes the hard work on the farm seem much easier. Being outside and having the privilege of managing this property is wonderful. Watching everything grow is nice. Sometimes things don’t grow and there is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes that lesson is a technical one. Other times, it becomes obvious, once again, that I can’t impose my will on the farm.

Working on the farm also gives me time to think. It is humbling to know that I’m just a caretaker of the farm. There are trees that we have planted that will still be growing and thriving long after our season has passed.

A great feeling comes as standing in the middle of a growing ecosystem. The goal is to build abundance. Part of that abundance goes back to the land as a way to build better soil and strong plants and trees for future abundance. The rest leaves the farm as food.

Standing there and looking at the trees and plants at the end of the day with sun getting lower, there is a peaceful feeling. What is happening in a crazy world, is still important but is in perspective. That is such a blessing. You can’t buy peace. Sure having a farm is a lot of work and expense but having peace in our lives is priceless.

Orchard with young pears, nectarines, peaches and plums
Hugelkultur mound with blueberries, raspberries and goji berries
Driving back across the field at the end of the day, tired but relaxed
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Fruit Trees Blooming Like Crazy

What a beautiful day to plant trees and work in the orchard! We installed medlar, quince and jujube trees. The trees came from Burnt Ridge Nursery as bare root plants.

We are experimenting with using goumi berry bushes as a nitrogen fixer that also produces a crop.

Trees and bushes that we planted

  • Jujube, Li- Ziziphus jujuba
  • Jujube, Qiyue Xian – Zizyphus jujuba
  • Quince Aronmatnaya – Cydonia oblonga
  • Quince Krimskaya – Cydonia oblonga
  • Medlar, Brenda Giant – Mespilus germanica
  • Medlar, Royal – Mespilus germanica
  • Goumi Berry, Carmine – Elaeagnus multiflora

The last plants we needed to prune for the season were the black berries and raspberries on the farm. Connie knocked those out, so they are ready for summer.

Update from the trees planted in November

We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of growth from trees that we planted last November. The picture below shows a tree that has more than doubled in diameter and grown nicely in height. The tree protectors we installed will help keep small critters and deer from damaging the young tree calipers. We already had one plum tree that had damage (maybe 6 inch above the ground) from a critter chewing on it, maybe a rabbit.

Tree protectors help keep the caliper of the tree safe from critters and me with the weed eater
Tree protector in place
Raspberries growing
Raspberries growing
Bare root plants ready to install
Bare root plants ready to install
Blackberries after pruning
Blackberries after pruning
Blackberries after pruning
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Pause Before Spring? No Way, No Pause

Everything is warming up. We have been busy. We have also been using the nice weather to work on cleaning up fallen trees. The bees are loving their new home.

Our garlic is doing well. Garlic is one of the easier crops to grow because it requires so little maintenance until the last few weeks. We sold out of garlic last year, so when it is available in early summer, make sure to get your orders in. We don’t use pesticides or insecticides on the farm.

Sometimes details are important, a toad hopped on my chainsaw box while we were cutting up a tree that fell down in the storm. Connie noticed the small toad and snapped the pic

Tiny toad on chainsaw case
Tiny toad up close
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Planting Pomegranate Trees and More Wood Chips

This time of year is fairly busy on the farm. Activities for this week included:

  • planting pomegranate trees, prickly pear cactus and the last of the goji berries
  • putting out more woodchips (semi composted mulch) around the fruit trees we planted in November
  • clearing a dead tree off the bridge so I could get to the back field
  • moving brush and wood that had been cut a few years ago
  • cutting down more the invasive trifoliate citrus bushes

The weather was spectacular. It was nice to be outside.

Natural Fertilizers for Trees and Bushes

One of the things we have on the farm this time of year is diakon radish (also called field radish). We use it as a cover crop. One of the methods I used when planting trees and bushes was to harvest some of the daikon tuber and put it in the bottom of the hole where the trees and bushes went. The daikon tuber breaks down over time and adds nutrients to the soil near the tree and bush roots. It is especially easy to do when the daikon radish is just a few feet away.

Daikon radish in bottom of hole for tree or bush, a natural fertilizer

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2021 Til Now – the Story So Far

We purchased the land for the farm in 2021. Since then it has been forward plunge into the turbulent waters of agriculture.

The Beginning

Standing at the gate looking across the farm as it looked in the beginning of the journey
Property when we first bought it, mainly fields and forest

Planning and Getting Started

Using GPS data to build CAD models to plan the plantings in field #2
Putting in the deer fence and putting down plastic to solarize the grass in field #2
Putting down plastic to solarize the hugelkultur mound, note the driveway that just went in

State of the Farm Today

Connie and a happy fig tree
Enjoying opportunity to share about our farm
Connie and JonnyLee planting a chestnut tree

I’m proud of the fact that we have planted and tagged over 200 fruit and nut bearing trees and bushes . We have also grown several seasons of row crops.

Trees (Fruit bearing)
Apricot
Mulberry
Nectarine
PawPaw
Peach
Asian Pear
Kieffer Pear
Pecan
Plum
Plumcot
American Persimmon
Figs
Yaupon Holly

Trees (Nut bearing)
Black Walnut
Chestnut
Hazel nut

Bushes (Fruit bearing)
Blueberry
Elderberry
Goji Berry
Blackberry
Aronia / Black Choke Berry
Gold Raspberry
Prickly Pear Cactus

Medicinal
Comfrey
Motherwort
Witch Hazel
St. Johns Wort
Burdock

Row Crops
Garlic

Plan to plant in the spring
Jujube trees
Quince trees
Pomegranate tree
Goumi berry bushes

Who is We?

Thanks to everyone that has helped in many different ways. Friendships have formed and deepened. We have so enjoyed teaching hands on classes and giving tours. Thanks so much!

Having the oppotunity to pass down skills and share has been great
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Getting the New Trees Ready for Summer, Really?

Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but we have a lot of trees that need mulch around them so they thrive this summer. The mulch is a great example of function stacking (a permaculture term). Function stacking means to accomplish multiple functions with one element . The element in this case is the woodchips that we are putting around the trees.

After being in the ground for 3 weeks, the trees look like this

Tree with bare soil around the roots

Bare soil is not desireable because

  1. erosion when there is no root structure and plants above ground to help keep the soil in place
  2. lack of roots and organic activity feeding the organisms in the soil and keep the soil robust
  3. encourages “weeds” and grasses that will colonize the bare soil and compete with the tree and will need to be mechanically removed

Mulch Materials

Which materials used for mulch are really driven by econonmics and availability. The most available materials that are local to the farm are:

a. hay – we have pulled hay from our fields and purchased from our neighbors. Hay is easily available in round bales in our local area. As the hay breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil while providing helping to regulate moisture under the soil. This is especially important in the summer. Moist soil is much easier for the tree roots to penetrate which allows for a faster growing and healthier tree. Hay has 2 downsides. One downside is that it composts fairly quickly (which addes nutrients and organic matter to the soil) and this quick composting means we have to reapply it sooner than woodchips. One thing to consider is that hay is easy to move and apply. Much easier than woodchips when it comes to moving and applying it. The other downside is that it has to be fairly thick (thickness of the applied layer) to create enough shade to suppress grass weeds and grass. We use hay around our garlic beds very successfully. We’ve also had good success using hay around young trees as a much

Important note: Many hay fields are sprayed with a broadleaf herbicide to suppress weeds. This chemical application is so common that many farmers don’t mention that these chemicals were sprayed on the hay. Before using any hay in your garden or around plants on your farm, triple check with the farmer managing the field that they sprayed no chemicals on the field. The broadleaf herbicides can be transferred to your garden or farm via the hay and kill your crops.

b. wood chips – Our wood chip piles is about 4 months old (i.e. the trees were chipped at a another location and brought to the farm). It takes a pile of unturned wood chips around a year to compost. This means that they woodchips we just put around the trees are not anywhere near fully composted. As the wood chips compost they will have effects on the soil. The first effect is that they will raise the ph and they will deplete nitrogen from the soil at the interface layer between the wood chips and the soil. Because our farm soil ph is fairly low the effect of the ph going up slightly isn’t a problem. The nitrogen depletion (as the chips compost) isn’t a big deal either because the tree roots are 6 inches to 2 feet from that depleted layer. However, it is important to consider these two items if you used wood chips in your garden. We use a lot of wood chips very successfully in our garden at home.

Most of the time your supply of wood chips is a local company cutting trees for homeowners or clearing power lines. I keep an eye out for arborists working in the area. When I see a tree cutting crew, I usually stop and let them know I would really like to take their chips on our farm. Often we can get them for free. In some locations, you can use www.chipdrop.com and get free wood chips. It is important to note that if you get compost from a municipal or county source that it can contain broadleaf herbicides from grass clippings (where homeowners spray their yards). So be very careful with the source of your compost.

The wood chips do a great job retaining moisture under the wood chips. Over time they will add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. The composting process for wood chips takes a while so the wood chips we are applying now should stay in place throughout the summer. The wood chips also help suppress weeds and grasses that would otherwise compete with the tree as it is getting established. If you want to suppress weeds and grass with wood chips they need to be a minimum of 8 inches thick.

c. comfrey – when we plant a tree or bush we generally plant comfrey root cuttings as well. The comfrey grows through the hay or woodchips and acts a living mulch (helping regulate moisture at the base of the tree or bush) with also add orgranic matter in the fall when the plant dies back in the fall. We usually use comfrey as a companion to wood chips or hay. The comfrey does even more function stacking as a medicinal plant and as a root that we can dig up and sell as a starter plant to homesteads and other farms that want to establish comfrey on their farms.

Notes about comfrey – when you purchase comfrey you want to purchase sterile comfrey like the Bokcing #4 Russian comfrey. This of comfrey spreads underground and is very manageable. Varieties of comfrey that aren’t sterile can spread by seeds and become invasive on your property, showing up places that you don’t want it. It is also important to note that comfrey doesn’t thrive in some areas. It is a great plant but it just won’t do well in some areas. Another great source of comfrey cuttings is Perma Pastures Farm in WNC. All of our comfrey plants originally came from them in the form of cuttings that we planted.

Tree with mulch added

Equipment Needed

We have a lot of trees to mulch, so the tractor is a game changer. In your garden, a hand cart is often a great solution.

Peach trees, aronia / chokeberry and goji berry plants with wood chip mulch around them

Next Steps

We still have more trees to mulch, but we are about 1/2 way through. We also have trees I hope to cut this winter. So lots to do.

In March we hope to plant

– jujube trees
– quince trees
– pomegranete trees
– goumi berry bushes (nitrogen fixer)

Other planned activities

– cut trees shading the fruit trees in field #2
– extend the anti-deer fences in field #2 and the cushaw patch to accomodate the new fruit trees as a they grow and allow for room to mow around them
– mulch the latest trees
– put up a trellis for the goji berries we planted in November
– amend the soil in the garlic beds
– extend the water lines in the food forest and field 2 to allow first year irrigation of the fruit trees and bushes

Thanks for coming along the for the ride with us!

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Planting Fruit Trees and Having Fun

We had a good time as a family on the farm planting fruit and nut bearing trees. We planted fruit and nut bearing trees and bushes.

We were able to plant 41 trees and 15 bushes including

Trees (Fruit)
Apricot
Mulberry
Nectarine
PawPaw
Peach
Asian Pear
Kieffer Pear
Pecan
Plum
Plumcot

Trees (Nut)
Black Walnut
Chestnut

Bushes (Fruit)
Blueberry
Elderberry
Goji Berry

Medicinal
Comfrey

The comfrey is planted with trees and bushes as a living mulch and as a medicinal.

It was so nice that it was a family effort with Connie and JonnyLee.

Thanks

Rob K for the walnut trees and the use of his autocross car a few weeks ago (that was fun and we didn’t die)
Rabbit Ridge in Coats, NC for the fruit trees.
Permapastures Farm in WNC for the comfrey

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Getting Ready to Plant Trees

This week we have been working to get everything ready to plant trees next week. First step was a trip to Rabbit Ridge Berry Farm in Coats, NC to pick up trees and bushes.

Fred and Amily are great to do business with. We have been buying trees and bushes from them for more than 2 years and it is a wonderful experience.

We filled up the truck and trailer and headed to the farm. One of the trees we purchased was a pecan that was more then 8 feet tall. It was longer than the 8 foot trailer!

The next step was to take measurements and put flags showing the future location of the trees. The fields are starting to get wet so we transferred the trees to a smaller trailer and towed the trailer (with the tractor) to areas close to the intended locations. You can see me with the lines that we used to measure out the 20 foot grid.

Weather permitting, the plan is to plant 47 trees and bushes next week including:

  • pear
  • plum
  • plumcots
  • nectarine
  • peach
  • black walnut
  • mulberry
  • chestnut
  • goji berry
  • blueberry
  • PawPaw

Next week should be a busy week.

Garlic and Wolly Worms

The garlic is coming up. We had tried something new with the garlic this year. We planted the garlic then rolled out hay from a round bale (instead of manually spreading it). Once we started unrolling the hay we were concerned that the hay would be too thick. However the garlic is growing through the hay so hopefully this approach will work.

We are still seeing wolly worms. We saw a really big one yesterday