Before we even moved onto our land, when our tiny house, garden, and orchard were just plans on scraps of paper, we planted over 100 fruiting bushes, trees, and shrubs to create a native edibles food forest. Inspired by the quote, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now," we decided it was best to get our food forest started before our shelter was complete. Living in Missouri, we have access to an amazing resource, the George O. White State Nursery, which sells bare root trees and shrubs to Missouri residents to plant as wind breaks, erosion control, soil improvement, and wildlife habitat and food sources. Many of the plants offered by the nursery are … [Read more...]
Planning a Fruit Tree Guild
My vision for planting our fruit tree orchard was to eventually fill in the entire area with perennials to create a huge food forest. The first fall after planting the fruit trees, I dutifully planted daffodils in a circle around the trunk and mulched with wood chips, planning a fruit tree guild for each fruit. Soon, I realized this plan was not going to work. Why? Free-range chickens. The chickens (and ducks) gobbled up daffodils, scratched wood chips everywhere, and generally made a big old mess. We decided to fence out the poultry, which worked well, so with new excitement, I planted a few more bulbs, shoveled some more wood chips, and selected a few trees under which … [Read more...]
Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist :: Book Review
Maybe you've heard about Permaculture, but you're not really sure what it is. Or perhaps the words Edible Landscaping make you drool, but you don't know how to start creating one. The book Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist by Michael Judd is a user-friendly, project packed introduction to these topics that will leave you inspired to create your own edible backyard! Chapters focus on subjects including: Herb Spiral, The Ultimate Raised Bed Fungi!! Growing Specialty Mushrooms Hugelkultur, Mounds of Fertility Earthen Ovens My own family has been creating Permaculture systems here on our homestead. For instance, we've begun to experiment with building swales and … [Read more...]
Spring on the Homestead
Like so many homesteaders I talk with these days, we are in the midst of our busiest season. Summer harvest days can also be full, but there is nothing like the surge of spring energy to tackle lists of tasks that have accumulated all winter long! Here's a glimpse into what's happening on our homestead. Canning Black Walnut Syrup We took the many cups and pints of black walnut syrup that we boiled down over several weeks' time and consolidated them. In total, we got about a gallon and a quart of syrup! Here's an earlier post about tapping our trees. Building a Blacksmith Shop For the past year and a half, Brian's been working out of the shop on a neighboring piece of land. … [Read more...]
Selecting Fruit Trees for your Homestead
For the past month or two, I've been pouring over fruit tree catalogs, pondering which varieties to add to our homestead orchard. Last year, we ordered and began planting fruit trees before we even had a skeleton of a house! I was a bit overzealous last spring, and the task of planting 18 fruit trees, 6 fruiting bushes, and 12 raspberries proved to be a very large one. This year, I kept my order much more reasonable, narrowing down my selection to a mere six trees, five fruiting and/or flowering bushes, and a few dozen berries (yikes!). This post will give you a checklist of considerations for selecting fruit trees for your homestead. How to Select Fruit Trees for your Homestead 1. What … [Read more...]
What’s Growing
Robins on branches, 70 degree days followed by snow, dirt under my fingernails - Spring is coming! There is so much preparation, planning, and doing these days. I finally got around to placing my fruit tree order after spending days agonizing over which varieties and limiting myself to only 20 trees and a few bushes (I ordered from One Green World and St. Lawrence Nurseries). Some of the highlights are "Arkansas Black" Apple (a fantastic keeper), "Olympic" and "Nijiseiki" Asian Pears, and "Meteor" and "Bali" Sour Pie Cherries. While I wait for their delivery, I'm reading all I can about fruit tree planting and care (this book has been particularly helpful), and setting out stakes for … [Read more...]