I used to know an old timer who farmed sustainably long before the term became popular. We used to talk od "laying land by". ley might be the more accepted spelling? What he did and I have done since is to lay some land aside for 1-3 years and not harvest a crop from it. Keeping the laid by land mowed helps to suppress weeds, addition of animal manures if/when available is beneficial as is tilling and returning a green crop for tillage. I use 1/2 my gardens space for production as the remining 1/2 is in green manure production, usually winter rye, oats and buckwheat. My plots are 50 ' wide x 150' in length with the same areas between plots always in rotation. land which may be idled longer may be planted to clover, alfalfa, orchard grass and timothy. I use very minimal amounts of commercial fertilizers and rarely need lime. This year I am going to experiment in a small plot by adding as much chipped wood as I can muster. small branches and such which is not usable in the wood stove. I will distribute it in grassy area which I hope to till in 2-3 years.

Hi Dan, Interesting post, and I must say it is one of my pet peeves also. I've bought a lot on ebay (too much!) and the majority of sellers do not leave feedback, such as the following: 333behappy 5170scottw 99centpinshop african-plants allstardist annette8 bertramsblooms betshoff bmw_boi boughtcheap caldeal cowboyflowerman dmonlinesales evokes 81 exjensen foxproductions garyoverton gemma1535 green*sunshine halfbuiltstars hix406 imperial jammer 1109 jolf-greenham jr-stuff60 julia4537 kitcatgreen koolf34 mayberry_treasures mercury32 mishaguy mom*2*riley nm2nv oldstreet onlinesciencemall patric7024 potato-rock potz100 precious_pastimes prettylinens pudlenut rick34 rockdonkey rows1x rrrjjlamb serious coder spannyeyes sports_plus stardrifting stardrifting susieb6427 the_shoe_guy! twigpen wellspring100 westeng77 westowlwitch widenose-collectibles yesterdaysbeginnings I used to try and email every seller with something along the lines of 'received the xxx, I love it, it's great, thanks', but that didn't help get me any more feedback. Another thing about feedback- don't assume with 100% feedback everything is fine- that is usually a 'blackmail seller' that will only leave feedback after they received a positive. I never trust the 100% seller! You can also go to http://www.toolhaus.org/ to check out feedback- goes right to the negative or neutral feedback without you having to page through hundreds of other feedback. Today I received 3 small plants that had newspaper around their leaves to protect them. Unfortunately newspaper was taped to the stem. I mean the tape was ON the stem! Ouch! Poor widdle plant! Here is a link that might be useful: Toolhaus

No fruit yet konrad They are all only around 8 ft On second year now. I'm just looking for another strain. I'm not worried about pollination I've got a few prunus trees and shrubs . I left one Stella cherry tree out last winter unprotected and it survived but suffered . I want very hardy trees I'm going to see how much of the Stella actually comes back aswell a barlette pair that comes back every year and flowers but suffers more die back than it grows in a single season .the trees are getting smaller every year because of the amount I need. To prune them back. Would you reccomend cutting them down Konrad ? Theirs no point keeping trees that won't produce.... Or will they ? I find every year the new growth dies back and some in winter but the thicker branches survive and bud . Will it get to a point where it may work you guys think or should I cut my losses and grow something that works

2006 Edition of Trees of Seattle says there was a 41 ft. Hiro-ha-katsura at the Arboretum at that time. Its accession number indicates it was acquired in 1946 (without delving further, into Arboretum records it could have been anything from a seed to a tree of some size then). The book also mentions a planting of 3 at 1123 16th Ave E, consisting of two on the street and one 25 ft. tall in the yard. With 2 regular Katsura sharing the planting strip with the 2 C. magnificum. You can find out where other trees you are interested in are located in the Arboretum by looking at their web site. Walking around collections like this, with extensive plantings of trees and shrubs - often with some time behind them - is a good way to get a feeling for the visual character of various kinds. And how much space they may come to occupy. Trees of Seattle - Second Edition http://www.arthurleej.com/tos2.html