Have: Strawberries, Black raspberries, rootstocks, paw paw, more. G
ndev0524 Nick
7 years ago
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shp123
7 years ago
ndev0524 Nick
7 years agoRelated Discussions
It's Been Quite A Year!
Comments (33)Geraldo, yes, squash were $1.99 a LB at the local Kroger's here in the suburbs of Detroit last weekend -- easily making an average butternut $5 to $8. Food prices are REALLY rising here -- a whole chicken that might have been $0.59 a lb a few years ago is now $1.29 to $1.89 a lb unless on sale. So, that is one reason I grow a lot of stuff. There are many more reasons -- enjoyment/fulfillment, hobby/something to do, etc. What is really sad is that so much good food is STILL being thrown out, as you mentioned with the less-than-perfect squash. Alas, when will we, as a society or as a species, learn no to waste? Allenwrench, you asked about my land, and about what I do with all of the things I grow. I have about 2.1 acres, in an "L" shaped lot that is largely flat, but it does have a bit of a gentle slope in the back, and a low spot at one edge that floods a bit a few times a year for a day or two. Soils -- well, I have everything from very heavy clay to sandy loam, and it changes very abruptly in places. I can, freeze, and dry produce. I've gone extra heavy into it this year because of my concerns over the economy, the "global food crisis," peak oil/energy, etc. Since I can do it, why not? I am feeding not only my immediate household, but putting up a lot for my two sisters and their husbands, my niece with 3 kids, and giving a lot away to friends and other family. I'm trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, because I CAN be. I figure everything that I don't have to buy from the store is that much less oil that was burnt shipping food thousands of miles. My limitation here is that I'm not legally allowed to have animals -- so, this means that protein is harder to do -- I'm trying to grow a lot of beans, quinoa, etc., that are vegetable protein sources. I'll try to post some other garden photos tomorrow. Dennis SE Michigan...See MoreBlueberry/Berry Hedge Permaculture concept design
Comments (4)Like you, I wanted a berry hedge. I decided to plant them along a road shoulder, so that I could just walk along the road and pick berries without getting bitten by copperheads or rattlesnakes. Twice, copperheads have crawled over my boots or snapped at me while I was picking berries in the fields. The road shoulder was an ugly miux of rubble, rocks and clay, so I dumped leaves and brush over the rocky mess and made dirt. Then I planted currants, blueberries, raspberries and gooseberries, and I let wild blackberries stay. Turns out, the red currants LIKED the ugly rocky clay mess and did not do so well in the black humus dirt I made. All the berry plants are doing "okay", but not thriving. Also, I made three mistakes with the raspberries: I moved wild raspberries out from under a giant walnut tree because I thought they were trying to ramble their way into the sun. Later I read that raspberries LIKE being under trees, if it shades them from hot afternoon sun. I tried to weed all of the yellow coneflower (Rudbeckia lacinata) out of the raspberry patch. It turns out, they are perfect for each other. The coneflowers don't even start to grow until after the raspberries have berries. When the coneflowers bloom, honey bees go crazy, so that's a plus for them. Also, they have a marvelously strong stalk with a fork, and this FORK becomes a perfect support for the raspberry canes! Last fall, I broke the tops out of the dead weed stalks, and helped the raspberry canes into the forks. Right now, the canes are loaded, since I pruned them back in winter to force them to make berries instead of ramble. I moved some wild raspberries to part of the road that caught water draining down the mountain. Water stood in the road in winter, and it drowned the berries: They do not like wet feet. I question whether or not your servicebery will grow under the tree canopy. When I saw wild serviceberry, it was growing all alone on top of a cliff! I haven't heard about these irrigation ditch hedges before. Is this a common practise in permaculture? Areyou trying to imitate the seep on a cliff or something? (I read that sandstone cliffs hold water, and that's why water seeps out of the base of these cliffs. Blueberries grow on top of them here, even though they appear to be "dry" cliffs.) If not, why are you irrigating? Isn't that a really artificial practise? I mean, irrigation has drained the aquifers in the midwest , so why are you interested in irrigating? Are you diverting water or it there naturally? I guess you can tell I haven't read much about permaculture. [I read Holmgren's book, that's all.] But I am really, cincerely curious why you would irrigate and call it permaculture. It seems artificial to me, any irrigation. I don't water anything. If it won't grow where I plant it, I move it. Instead, I am tryiung to add humus to the soil to make it hold water better. But ifyou are trying to imitate a sandstone seep, then it makes a little sense. I do collect rainwater, but I keep it covered so the mice and bugs don't drown in it, and I only use it rarely....See MoreMy Backyard planting experience (Part 2) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Canada
Comments (55)Mat, yeah I have 2018 and 2019 to write up. I have all my notes. Just have to find time. I checked out Pepiniere casse noisette website. They do not list their rootstocks anywhere that I can find. What rootstocks are your pears, peaches, apricots on? Honestly, a lot of what they are selling, at least in apricots, peach, nectarines seem to me to be VERY marginal for their climate. In many case they mention useful for growing in pots but if that is the case how are they propagating for sale? I don't want to disparage them without information but my impression is they might be reselling . You absolutely need to be buying based upon root-stock. For apples I am not only buying on Bud118 as it has best cold hardiness and is vigorus for our short seasons - Bud9 is just too slow. Train and prune to keep the size you want. Pears on OHxF87 or 97 and prune/train. I have found PAW-PAWs to be marginal in 4b - still 3' tall after 5+ years. Blueberries don't like my soil so Haskasps and Currants are much better. You have better options than Indigo Gem, Aurora is good though. Pink Lemonade is like a zone 5/6 plant, I see little chance of it surviving. Both Whiffletree and vigneschezsoi are good options. Be aware that a 1-2 year old bare root grape vine will bear fruit 1-2 years faster than the same year rooted cuttings you will get from vigneschezsoi. If you are only buying a couple might want to spend a couple extra $$ to get fruit a whole year or 2 earlier. Somerset and Trolhaugen are good. Had a couple Brianna this year, not enough to really say. Get Bluebell as well. I suggest 10-15' between vines. Can go closer but I am of the hack back 90% every year and then let grow. Trollhaugen can put out 12-15' of growth in 1 year alone - plant closer and you have to keep on top of canopy thinning to avoid overgrowth. Apples and pears will benefit from bagging with ziplocs. Grapes I bag with Organza bags when starting to turn color. So far I am loosing 99% of stone fruit (plums) to plum curlico and the rest to birds/racoons (can't bag plums - they rot). All peaches die. Trying apricots but no fruit yet. Don't get too caught up on types of fruit. Buy something disease resistant on a hardy, vigorus rootstock then topwork as you get enough branch structure. You will then be able to test fruit to see what you like or not within 3 years of grafting. My crabapple is now up to 65+ different apples grafted to it....See MoreVegetable seed for vegetable plants
Comments (5)UPDATE: I have collected the following varieties of blueberry, raspberries and strawberries: By Next summer (2018) and anytime after I would be happy to offer plants & rooted cuttings to others on trade. Strawberry: Albion, Ozark Beauty, Seascape, and Jewel, more on the way. Raspberry: Prelude, Nova, Encore, Polana, Joan J, Himbo Top, Black Hawk, Cumberland, and Dundee. Also more on the way. Blueberry: Patriot, Bluecrop, Elliot, Duke, Blueray, Chandler, Hardiblue, and Toro....See Morendev0524 Nick
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