TOPIC: opening day...

Same here guys... rain rain rain...

This past weekend I got those 50 strawberry plants planted... got my wife and son to help out and it went pretty quick. I already had ground ready for them to go into... raised bed, so with a day and half of no rain, it was good to plant in. Glad to get those done.

I had to get out today and check out all my orchard and food Forrest stuff growing... and had to use a umbrella and rubber boots....

Think I will get out this evening (now that work is done) and take another look. It is amazing how fast strawberries start putting out new growth once planted.

My european plums are just starting to show some bud swell now... they have been looking completely dormant. Looks like they may bloom in April (as I heard)... which should make sure I get some plums most years... I have a Lapins Cherry tree that has a couple blooms just now starting to open (showing a little white).

I usually have some greens growing in the flat garden by now, but not this year... been too wet to break it.

It sure would be nice to get a week or two of dry sunshiny days.

TNHunter

44 and all, I'm not yet depressed over the rain and virus, somewhat annoyed with the rain. I don't smoke but I think my beer keeps me "sane". lol

We had a nice day today, dry and mid-50s, rain supposed to move back in tonight.

Last night, our Governor announced that our "lock down" starts tonight at 8pm for "non-essential" businesses. I'm not sure of the details exactly so my wife and I drove to Lowes and bought enough materials to keep me busy remodeling the house for 2-3 months. We also bought tomato and pepper plants and seed packets for what we plan to plant in the garden.

We need to make a grocery store run tomorrow. My wife usually does this alone but asked me to go with her. I guess some countries are ticketing people for going out during this virus-thing. My wife is from England and is just unsure of things.

I spoke to a Lowes employee today and he said they'll stay open. Makes sense since they sell appliances, lumber, etc. If someone's fridge goes out, I'd say buying a new one is essential by 2020 standards. If a tree falls on a house, lumber might be considered essential. But I don't really know for sure. This is uncharted water for all of us.

WV has had few reported cases and in our county and those nearby which are rural, there have been none.

I'm most concerned with my daughter, daughter in law and grand kids in WA state which has been hit harder and according to two buddies there, are further along in restrictions than we are here in WV. Plus, there are so many people there, the retails must be feeling the effect at a greater level.

TN, do you plant your strawberries in the ground or raised beds? I've got 10 plants, in the past I've planted them in raised beds hoping rodents have less effect on them.

I really appreciate having you guys to chat with, as corny as that sounds...

well today is the only day they are not calling for rain,the next 5 days theres a good chance everyday..

Oh man... what is that bright thing in the sky... have not seen it much hear lately. Looks GOOD.

We have had some nice sunshine past early morning today.. Love it !

I walked a mile on my lunch hour and got some sun on my skin.... Vit D3... and man it felt good.

it may rain tomorrow, but this evening is SWEET ! I am going to get out and enjoy it some.

woodsrunner... last spring I got to researching food forest (look it up on youtube).. permaculture, etc.. it is basically growing things in a very natural way, like they grow in nature for the most part.. Fruit trees, top layer, berry bushes under and in between them, and then ground cover crops like strawberry, or even herbs like basil, or chives, onions, clover, peas (nitrogen fixers)... The concept is that there are specific (guilds, or groups of plants) that can all be planted in the same space, correctly, and they will all support and aid each other to maximize production of the space (just like nature does).

I built a raised bed 4' wide x 90 ft long last july... I broke up the top 5-6 inch of soil in a 8' wide strip (where there was a foot of tall green grass growing in my pasture)... and I incorporated all of that grass and grass roots into the raised bed. I even mowed my yard and part of the filed for 3 months, putting all of those grass clippings into the dirt that was making up that raised bed... so it was loaded with organic matter by the time I raked it all up into a 4' x 90' long raised bed.

Then I covered it with 12 bales of hay... and let that sit on it and rot until October... and then I put another 8 bales of hay down on top of that (this is called Ruth Stout method)..

So this spring I had this huge raised bed 4 foot wide by 90 ft long... the dirt inside was very rich, compost like, loaded with worms... and all that hay (the bottom layer at least, had turned to compost)... dark rich, and ready to grow anything pretty much.

In that 90' long raised bed... I planted.. 9 fruit trees... (I planned this out all winter)..

2 JuJube trees
3 apple trees
1 apricot tree
1 peach tree
1 Che (melon tree)
I also planted 5 blackberry canes (ouachitaw).
5 raspberry (3 reds, 2 golds).
2 Goumi Bushes

And in between and on top of the bed, I planted strawberries, at about 2ft spacing, all the distance of the top of that bed (in between everything else).

Here is a example of permaculture guild logic...

I planted my 3 apple trees next to each other spaced out properly... first a gold rush, then a golden gem, then a akane..

And in between the gold rush and golden gem I planted a goumie bush.
In between the golden gem and akane I planted another goumie bush.

So I have this... apple tree, goumie bush, apple tree, goumie bush, apple tree

A goumie bush produces berries (early in the year, late may early june) red friuit, that are officially called droups I think (sort of like cherries) they have a pit. When ripe they are sweet tart and I hear quite good. We'll see soon, they are covered with blooms now. Not sure if they will produce first year or not, but it looks like they may. They will get 5-6' tall and produce LOTS of this fruit each year.

They also have the ability to take from the air, nitrogen and fix it in the soil near their roots. they can turn poor soil much richer.
They say that if you plant a goumie bush near your apple tree, the apple tree roots will reach over to the goumie bush area and get extra nitrogen that it supplies. increasing your apple tree fruit production by as much as 10 % or more.

That is a example of how permaculture (food forrest) works... There are lots of other ways that specific plants can assist each other (as happens in nature).

It is so nice this evening.. I may get out and get a pic or two to share of my new planting... (or one of them).

TNHunter

Another nice sunny day here today... a little windy but no complaints. love that sunshine.

I did get out and make a few pics to share...

first one below.. a red bud ... just off my back yard into the woods...



Not fully open yet, but still pretty !

and I checked out my seed producing bed today... but none of those old roots had started sending tops up yet. Not suprised...

But I have a a few spots near my seed bed, where i often poke a few red berries in the ground and I found one of those up already.
This is not a 3 leafer.. but it is a small 2 prong, one prong is out (with 3 leaves) and the other is still working it's way out.

So here is my first sighting of seng up this year.



Another 8-10 years might have a 4 prong there

TNHunter

Now here is a pic of that long raised bed I made last year... and have filled with fruit trees, berry bushes, and strawberries this spring...
Hard to see the strawberries in the pic below, but I have others that will show up closer.



From this end there are first two JuJube trees, then an Apricot, then apple tree, goumie busy, apple tree goumie bush, apple tree, then a peach... raspberries, blackberries and a CHI... with strawberries planted all down the top of that bed.

The bed actually curves around a bit (following the edge of my yard and field), and goes down the hill a bit.

TNHunter

This pic shows some of the other end... up close is the new RisingStar Peach.. and if you look close you can see a couple of strawberry plants, and then 5 ouachitaw blackberry.. on the very end of that run is the CHI melon tree.

One more pic for the day (got to get out and work outside some this evening)...



This is the top of that new RisingStar Peach.. It was a 2 year old... and had some pretty good branches and a long top.

I prune peaches open center... and below are the 4 limbs I left... they are all pointing in different directions... and will become my main fruit bearing branches. I cut each of those back to a outward facing bud (look close and you can see that)... that is so they will continue to grow out, instead of up.

Also note the close pin.... just above one limb...

To be a good fruit bearing limb, they need to be pointing out from the trunk, with not so much of an upward angle. This one was wanting to go up a little to much... and a close pin can be used to encourage it to grow out more instead of up... and after a month or so you can remove it and it will stay that way.

Have a great evening all.

Hope you are all getting some of this Tennessee Sunshine !

TNHunter

rain,rain,and more rain...