Youtube comments of (@AnneofAllTrades).
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Let’s talk $$$!
An average shearing yields 4-10 lbs of fiber. Alpacas are sheared once a year. Alpaca fiber is valued at $2/ounce as opposed to $0.11/ounce for merino sheep’s wool. Alpaca wool is stronger, softer, more eco-friendly, and offers 85% greater wicking capability than merino sheep’s wool. It is also hypoallergenic and antimicrobial. So assuming you get a 5 pound fleece from your annual shearing, at $2/ounce, the raw fleece is worth $160. It costs $32 to shear.
There isn’t a huge market for raw fleeces, so most folks will want to have their fiber spun into yarn. It costs $30 to ship the fiber to the mill, $50 to wash, dry and pick the fleece, $140 to mill into yarn, and, with a 30% loss of fiber during the milling process, that 5 lb fleece will yield about 3.5 lbs of yarn. The mill will ship it back for $20, but most mills are currently at a 1 year wait time for milling services. Since alpaca yarn goes for about $125/pound for finished yarn, the total value minus expenses for the year’s fiber, processed into yarn will be $437.50-32-30-50-140-20= $165.50
Monthly shots are $5, feed and minerals comes out to about $20, so it costs about $300/year, assuming there’s no veterinary costs. So you’re at $-134.50/alpaca/year, not including labor. Not the wisest financial choice 😅 but there is where you make the decision: is there other value beyond the fiber? For me, yes. I process some of the fiber myself as a fun, non-monetized hobby. Considering what I could be spending on other activities, I’d say an annual cost of $134.50/year isn’t too shabby. But there’s where it really helps to have the numbers: if I didn’t enjoy spinning, and they were miserable to keep, at least I would know they were a cost, not a profit, financially speaking, to the farm, and could easily justify getting rid of them.
I think a lot of farmers get in over their heads when they don’t know the real numbers. Keeping chickens for selling eggs, for example, is almost always a losing game, financially speaking, for small farmers- unless you’re running more than 300 birds, the numbers I’ve run have my costs being about $12 a dozen if I’m getting paid less than minimum wage, and most folks aren’t able to fetch that kind of price, but still feed their chickens every day, proud to sell their eggs for $5-7 a dozen, thinking they’re making money. That’s exactly why I don’t sell eggs. I raise what my family eats and have a little extra to barter and trade goodwill with our neighbors, and that’s plenty.
So much of farming on a small scale is about doing things for the love of them, not the profit. Don’t get me wrong, small-scale farming can be really profitable, but operations have to stay really lean, and you’ve gotta do a lot of the same thing every day, and I’m just not into that, which is why I still work full time and do this stuff in the mornings, evenings, and weekends before/after work. Knowing the financials of every endeavor really helps me pick and choose what is and isn’t worth it: some things like dairy, beef, and baby goats bring in enough $ to pay for all the rest of the farming endeavors, while some things, like the alpacas, are just for the joy of watching those little llama pops running around the yard and using my homemade spinning wheel by candlelight by the fire on cold winter nights.
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The way our farm generates revenue is very different than most farms do, but it is very much a business. If it were just a "hobby farm," I'd advise any sane person to find a new hobby. In addition to raising almost all our own food, I work in cooperation with several other farmers to sell items privately and at farmer's markets. I raise and sell livestock, dairy, meat and hay, but we don't do anything on a large enough scale to generate measurable income beyond covering all the costs incurred by various farming endeavors: the purchase of livestock, the cost of feed, seeds, other farm incidentals, the occasional small infrastructure and/or implement purchase. Big infrastructure/improvement costs, the cost of purchasing our land, and the cost of my time would bankrupt a small farm business like this in a hurry if it weren't for the real purpose of the farm, which is as a mechanism for my education business: I write for several magazines and travel the country teaching workshops about small scale farming, homesteading and self-sufficiency/traditional skillsets. It would be possible to generate more income from the farming endeavors, but there is a law of diminishing returns there. I enjoy the scale I currently do things, and scaling further would make it a lot less enjoyable for me personally, because I don’t really have any intention of leaving my full time job- the balance is fun for me.
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That is a great question! Two tricks: remember how I said you want the wood to be 3x thicker than the spoon you want to carve? That’s because we cut the middle third, where the pith, or center of the tree is located, out and discard it. If we’re carving at least 1/2 inch, in every direction, AWAY from the pith, the chances of cracking are far smaller. Because those circles around the pith are so small, we know that’s where there’s the most tension in the wood. As that shrinks and dries, it’s the most likely part of the tree to crack.
Have you ever noticed how as firewood dries, all the cracks point toward the pith?
The other trick to keep from cracking is to carve to thin enough dimensions that if the wood does want to move a little as it dries, it’s flexible enough to do so without cracking. Extra wood makes for extra tension. A good rule of thumb is for the bowl of the spoon to be just fatter than 1/8th of an inch when you’re done carving.
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Thank you so much for this comment! You are totally right, our climate is a huge player in our parasite issues. When in Washington, it wasn’t NEARLY the concern it is here.
With regard to native animals bringing in parasites, you’re also correct, they’re coming in mostly on deer. The first two years we were here, M worm in particular wasn’t as big an issue because our livestock guardian dogs kept all the deer and other critters off the property. Some new neighbors started complaining about the dogs barking at night, which resulted in us having to barn the dogs at night, which, no surprise, resulted in a huge influx of native animal issues again. I’ve just put up high electric lines that should help with deer, but we also can’t really help what gets washed downhill from the forest.
While I’ve never intentionally bred our alpacas, we did rescue a female who had a surprise cria, and you’re totally right, after breeding dairy goats and jersey cows, the daytime births are a huuuuuuge plus.
With shearing, I’m getting better every year, but it is definitely a learned skill. The first few years, I helped shear at a local breeder’s place and they were very kind, patient teachers with 25+ years i the alpaca industry. I miss having them as neighbors!
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Not true actually. If you watched the project on Instagram, my blog, or read the video description, you’d have seen the full story. We actually got the plywood in the discount section at Home Depot for $0.50 a sheet, the spalted maple came from the stack I’ve got drying in the barn, the scraps of angle iron were from the blacksmith shop build, and the stain he had leftover from refinishing a bookshelf, 8 dominoes per stand, so all in, $2 per stand, plus a little elbow grease.
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Diatomaceous Earth is a fantastic product for so many purposes around the farm, but, (to my understanding at least) it is only viable when in a dry, powdered form. The crystals in the DE dissolve the exoskeletons of many insects, which is likely why you had the experiences you had with the cat food and fleas, etc, but, when ingested, though it’s harmless to the animal, it’s rendered ineffective, due to the fact that it’s no longer in its crystalline form. As you mentioned, it can be an extremely effective product for chickens, because many chicken issues stem from external bugs, against whom DE in it’s dry, crystalline form is able to combat, but it’s much less (likely completely) ineffective in this application.
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@Izamota-q5v I can't really recommend raising any animal by bottle if it can be avoided, dam raised animals will be far better adjusted and will have fewer health issues, statistically speaking. I've raised my donkeys from 6 months old with my animals after they'd been safely weaned, and I was intentional about how I handled introductions and, just like with livestock guardian dogs, never left the donkeys unattended with the other animals without corrective measures in place for poor behavior until they'd proved trustworthy. Just as is the case with so many species of guardian, regardless of breed or training, some animals simply take to it faster/better than others. As mentioned in the video, Howdy and Bella did a great job on smaller acreage, but when we moved to larger property, the real issue became limiting their grazing opportunities far more than lack of bonding with their charges, they love their little goaties and watch over them well, but dogs were just a better option for us after the move.
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I think I covered the purpose for each animal as we went through the chores, but the broad view is the pigs are for pork, the cows are for milk, yogurt, butter, cheese and beef, the chickens are for eggs and… chicken, the ducks are for pest control in the garden and eggs, the geese protect the ducks, the goats are for dairy, the alpacas are fiber animals, and the donkeys are trained to pull things- carts, wood, etc.
It is not necessarily cheaper and is certainly not easier to do these things ourselves, but the quality of food and the lifestyle farm life provides is far superior to what we were doing before. It’s not a life for everyone, but it’s the right life for us.
We sell hay, excess beef, chicken, eggs, baby goats and yogurt at the farmer’s market which offsets a lot of the costs involved, but buying land and setting up infrastructure is pretty time, money and labor intensive, so it will take a while to “break even.”
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Adam and I are NOT farming full time, that's how :) I hesitate to call this a hobby farm because I've never had a "hobby" that's this time/cost/labor intensive (it's easily another full time job), and I try to generate as much income through the farm as possible, but we both work full time in addition to running the farm. The days are long and the nights are short, but it is beyond worth it. It's also pretty important to mention both Adam and I had fairly successful careers in tech/marketing prior to going full time with this stuff, which is a big piece of how we got out of debt and were able to purchase land. Adam helps with the occasional farm project if I need an extra set of hands, and if I'm out of town or sick he'll help with chores, but other than that, Adam runs a lot of the back end/online/computer heavy portions of my business which frees me up to do a lot more of the front-facing parts of our business (leaning into our strengths, I suck at computer stuff). Through our company, we do marketing and small business consulting, Adam is getting into event hosting, and I do copywriting, and quite a bit of paid writing, teaching and speaking gigs all over the country. Life is never boring.
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If you watched the project on Instagram, my blog, or read the video description, you’d have seen the full story. We actually got the plywood in the discount section at Home Depot for $0.50 a sheet, the spalted maple came from the stack I’ve got drying in the barn, the scraps of angle iron were from the blacksmith shop build, and the stain he had leftover from refinishing a bookshelf, 8 dominoes per stand, so all in, $2 per stand, plus a little elbow grease.
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Great questions! Assuming everyone behaves, no one escapes coming to or from the barn, and no one pees/poops in the stanchion, leaving me to have to clean the barn, I can do it in about an hour and ten minutes by myself, or 45 mins with help. The amount of milk depends on where we are in the lactation cycle, how much fresh grass there is in the fields, and a few other things, but generally speaking we can count on about 2-3 gallons of milk from each cow per day. They produce more, but because we calf share, the calves get all they need and then some ;)
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That exact question is addressed and answered in this video. In the wild, donkeys would be in their natural habitat, the high desert, where rocky, sandy soil would be walked, for many miles per day, naturally wearing their hooves, as they went in search of very sparsely available forage. When a domesticated animal is brought outside their natural habitat, as has been done with domesticating donkeys and taking them out of the high desert and bringing them to lush pastures with plenty of calories and soft ground, they won’t have to walk miles and miles to find food, so they’ll get fat unless their intake is limited, and on soft ground and without many miles to travel in search of food, their hooves will not wear naturally and will therefore need to be trimmed.
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@wjm1319 that is a great idea, and one I’ve also had, but first iterations in the top pasture have created extra issues with ground water collection in the holes, extra work weed eating around the posts in the post-grazing mows, and an increased risk of ankle/hoof busting when the posts are out. One really huge timesaver was running the top and bottom electric lines on the line of permanent fencing I put in the middle, because now instead of moving chargers, I just use alligator clips to energize the lines (thank you Billy at Permapastures!!) next step is to do the same on the black perimeter fence, which will also give my LGD’s a much wider perimeter to watch, something we’re all super stoked to make happen. While you’re brainstorming, if you can help me come up with a better (organic) way to keep grass down along the permanent fence lines, I’d love it. So far I’ve tried high strength vinegar, cardboard and fire, none of which worked very well/long. I considered plastic, but I really try to keep that at a minimum around here, and even with plastic, Johnson/crab grass climbs up and over anything pretty quick.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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With the pond, I’d totally agree with you, except that I intend to stock it with fish and vegetation, so I do need to make sure water levels will be stable enough to sustain life, with lots of 100+ temps in the summer here, I don’t want to cook the life in the pond by letting the water get too low. The first four years we were here, it would go completely dry mid-summer and has been a total mosquito pit. As part of my artesian well project, I want to utilize the well runoff to keep up with natural evaporation, but prior to the pigs’ presence, even with that consistent flow, the water drained faster than it filled.
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I don’t need to do a video on it, my position on all related controversy, plastics, collecting rainwater, putting cardboard in our gardens, etc: doing things ourselves, even in the less than ideal way is far better: from a financial perspective, ecological perspective, from a community perspective, etc. growing your own food and eating it fresh, even if it was grown in a plastic bag is going to provide more nutrient density and caloric punch than anything you could ever buy from the store. Not collecting rainwater because you’re worried about plastic contamination, yet using heavily chemicalized municipal water and purchasing additives to purify it? I’ll leave the choosing of the lesser of two evils to you ;)
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That is incorrect, actually. The popular idea that mulch attracts, or is the cause of, termites and other insects is a myth. When you put down wood mulch, it’s not like a call goes out for a convention of termites and other insects in your yard. Instead, the insects that are already in your soil (and there are plenty of them, including termites!) wander into the mulch in your planting beds, like it, and decide to stay. Most pest control companies advise against piling mulch against the side of your house, since it can increase the chance of termites entering your home.
This is good advice, since termites are subterranean and have to keep themselves moist, and mulch provides good cover for their underground tunneling activities. However, ANY mulch can provide this cover, whether it’s organic wood or bark, inorganic gravel, or even ground rubber.
Termites are not drawn to the wood itself but to the cool, moist protection it provides. They can be found in similar numbers beneath bark, wood, gravel and rubber mulch, though fresh wood chips may have the added attraction of providing a food source.
As with other insects, the mulch doesn’t cause termites to multiply, it just offers a conducive environment for the ones that are already in the area. You don’t need to avoid mulch in your yard, just apply it carefully and keep an eye out for invading insects in your home.
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@michelleprull4105 a farmer I have learned a lot from says that our goal as farmers is to create the environment in which the particular livestock we raise will thrive. Thinking about the goatness of goats, and creating an environment where their natural inclinations to climb and be curious actually benefits the farmer, rather than trying to create a picture perfect, square paddock of grass for their goats, where the goats, bored and under stimulated, simultaneously being offered the wrong kind of forage, will create many headaches for the farmer as the goats spend 24 hours a day being destructive and trying to escape. I put my goats on our steep, rocky hillside with livestock guardian dogs, so they are safe to wander, forage and browse, and naturally wear their hooves in the process, rather than trying to graze them with the cows, who need a very different environment to thrive. Unfortunately I don’t have a desert to offer my donkeys, but replicating their natural desert conditions is what is behind the idea of putting them on a dry lot, offering them gravel and sand to walk through, and feeding barley straw instead of hay, because it is closer to the food source they’d be finding in the desert.
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Great question. Because she is not actively shedding the virus, so she is not actually a threat to the other animals. A huge percentage of the cows that test positive for BLV never actually show symptoms and unless they do/are, they don’t need to be culled- the real risk is in larger herds or in situations where the health of the animals aren’t continuously being monitored, or what to look out for isn’t really understood. With cows that are BLV positive but aren’t showing symptoms, other major potential stressors need to be constantly monitored because they might manifest the onset of BLV symptoms/shedding. But in a situation where she’s kept in peak health conditions, is not being stressed by sickness/disease/lack, and is getting high quality feed and care (and regularly being tested in the unlikely case symptoms do develop), the chances that she’d actually spread the disease are pretty small, not impossible, but very unlikely, which is why I am testing that theory with my beef herd, where an outbreak wouldn’t really matter as much because BLV only affects milk, not meat. And because I’m texting everyone so often, I’d be able to catch it before it had spread to more than one other animal and process accordingly.
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Whoops, you just did, commenting boosts videos in the algorithm, but, unfortunately for you, because of your negative attitude, you missed out on some really fantastic information. As annoying as you may perceive "clickbait" to be, careful titling and well crafted thumbnails are the only way to get educational videos like this one served to the folks who really need the information, but may not know what to search for. After spending 150 hours making a clear, concise video I think could really help people, and countless thousands of hours researching and implementing the rotational grazing methods discussed within it, I'm not going to apologize for trying to do whatever it takes to get this video seen by the folks who would benefit from watching.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Hey Raymond! I grew up pretty poor, and waste really bothers me as well, but when it comes to building furniture, I think about the initial cost of materials first, the amount of time invested in the furniture second, and finally, my intention to build furniture that outlasts me and my children and theirs too. Once I’ve spent 120 hours building a piece and used a few hundred dollars of material to build it, plus the time and materials cost should something fail and it need to get repaired, it seems silly to try to “save” $20-30 in material cost to build something that is compromised in any way structurally, so suddenly, that “waste” doesn’t seem wasteful any longer. Plus, I can reuse or burn scrap material, and even in the fire, it lives a second life and serves a second purpose.
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Call me a contrarian, but while many homesteaders (myself formerly included) will tell you that in a regenerative farming model, running chickens behind livestock a few days after livestock has been concentrated in one particular area, will have the chickens scratching and pecking fly and parasite larvae out of the manure left behind, disturbing the soil and distributing the manure more evenly throughout the pasture.
It’s a sound theory I myself initially bought hook line and sinker initially,
But having run my flock of ~100 birds behind my livestock for a couple years with a huge extra time and labor cost in including birds, (they have their own fencing and chargers that need to be re-situated with every move, they need localized water, feed, ground and areal predator protection…)
I ultimately realized I would need 2000-3000 chickens for that model to be even remotely effective, because the birds need to be extremely concentrated, and also be able to cover every square inch of pasture the livestock was formerly on, at just the right time, to actually get to all the patties and be motivated enough to sort through them for larvae. If running a flock of several thousand birds behind livestock, I will cede it is probably extremely effective for both fly control and speeding up the process of pasture regeneration, but I have no desire for 2000 birds or the chores associated.
My reality trying to integrate a small flock (~100 birds) into a rotational system with my livestock was that I had several more hours of work per week moving birds and putting up extra fencing for them, while the fly population was possibly, imperceptibly diminished at best.
I’m sure many homesteaders will gasp reading that I kind of hate chickens, but I can already barely tolerate the egg/meat exchange for the labor of keeping the birds I’ve got, even now that I’ve reduced chore time significantly by rotating them less frequently and instead using them to stir my commercial scale composting project much closer to the barn.
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I’ve been keeping dairy goats for 8 years. I raise Nigerian dwarves for their butterfat and have stellar genetics within my herd. I keep both dairy goats and dairy cows because each excels at certain things. Because goat milk is naturally homogenized, it doesn’t make great cream products because separating the cream requires the use of a specialized, extremely finicky machine, which I have, but isn’t super accessible to most folks, and honestly, is a pain in the butt to use. For every day drinking milk and lots of cheeses, goat milk is far superior. But for making butter, ice cream, and other similar things, being able to easily skim the cream from atop the cow milk is 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
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An average shearing yields 4-10 lbs of fiber. Alpacas are sheared once a year. Alpaca fiber is valued at $2/ounce as opposed to $0.11/ounce for merino sheep’s wool. Alpaca wool is stronger, softer, more eco-friendly, and offers 85% greater wicking capability than merino sheep’s wool. It is also hypoallergenic and antimicrobial. So assuming you get a 5 pound fleece from your annual shearing, at $2/ounce, the raw fleece is worth $160. It costs $32 to shear.
There isn’t a huge market for raw fleeces, so most folks will want to have their fiber spun into yarn. It costs $30 to ship the fiber to the mill, $50 to wash, dry and pick the fleece, $140 to mill into yarn, and, with a 30% loss of fiber during the milling process, that 5 lb fleece will yield about 3.5 lbs of yarn. The mill will ship it back for $20, but most mills are currently at a 1 year wait time for milling services. Since alpaca yarn goes for about $125/pound for finished yarn, the total value minus expenses for the year’s fiber, processed into yarn will be $437.50-32-30-50-140-20= $165.50
Monthly shots are $5, feed and minerals comes out to about $20, so it costs about $300/year, assuming there’s no veterinary costs. So you’re at $-134.50/alpaca/year, not including labor. Not the wisest financial choice 😅 but there is where you make the decision: is there other value beyond the fiber? For me, yes. I process some of the fiber myself as a fun, non-monetized hobby. Considering what I could be spending on other activities, I’d say an annual cost of $134.50/year isn’t too shabby. But there’s where it really helps to have the numbers: if I didn’t enjoy spinning, and they were miserable to keep, at least I would know they were a cost, not a profit, financially speaking, to the farm, and could easily justify getting rid of them.
I think a lot of farmers get in over their heads when they don’t know the real numbers. Keeping chickens for selling eggs, for example, is almost always a losing game, financially speaking, for small farmers- unless you’re running more than 300 birds, the numbers I’ve run have my costs being about $12 a dozen if I’m getting paid less than minimum wage, and most folks aren’t able to fetch that kind of price, but still feed their chickens every day, proud to sell their eggs for $5-7 a dozen, thinking they’re making money. That’s exactly why I don’t sell eggs. I raise what my family eats and have a little extra to barter and trade goodwill with our neighbors, and that’s plenty.
So much of farming on a small scale is about doing things for the love of them, not the profit. Don’t get me wrong, small-scale farming can be really profitable, but operations have to stay really lean, and you’ve gotta do a lot of the same thing every day, and I’m just not into that, which is why I still work full time and do this stuff in the mornings, evenings, and weekends before/after work. Knowing the financials of every endeavor really helps me pick and choose what is and isn’t worth it: some things like dairy, beef, and baby goats bring in enough $ to pay for all the rest of the farming endeavors, while some things, like the alpacas, are just for the joy of watching those little llama pops running around the yard and using my homemade spinning wheel by candlelight by the fire on cold winter nights.
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I can assure you no clickbait is intended here, in fact, the permit issues we are currently up against would likely shock you. The red tape and obstacles have been truly unbelievable. After almost six months of daily calls, emails, office visits, calling favors, we are no closer to getting what we need to continue work on this project, and are likely still a year or more out from being able to complete the work and move forward with our business and our lives, so it continues to be a time, capacity, and drain, rather than the asset we desperately need it to become. But as I said in the intro of the video, I didn’t want this video to be a sob story, but rather, an encouragement to others.
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For what it’s worth, It’s generally safe to say that there are usually exceptions for every rule, as I’m sure is the case here, so I’ve come to the conclusion it’s best not to speak in absolutes, especially when I’ve not personally done the research to back up my claims- in this case, I have researched this stuff quite a lot, and yet still tried to speak in generalities as much as possible, because, having studied this stuff as much as I have, I see those exceptions occurring all over the place. I would love to do an in depth video talking about the actual nutrient uptake of each individual plant and why they show up where they do, but this info will hopefully apply to and be helpful to a broader range of folks.
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That is a great question! Two tricks to prevent splitting/warping while drying: remember how I said you want the wood to be 3x thicker than the spoon you want to carve? That’s because we cut the middle third, where the pith, or center of the tree is located, out and discard it. If we’re carving at least 1/2 inch, in every direction, AWAY from the pith, the chances of cracking are far smaller. Because those circles around the pith are so small, we know that’s where there’s the most tension in the wood. As that shrinks and dries, it’s the most likely part of the tree to crack.
Have you ever noticed how as firewood dries, all the cracks point toward the pith?
The other trick to keep from cracking is to carve to thin enough dimensions that if the wood does want to move a little as it dries, it’s flexible enough to do so without cracking. Extra wood makes for extra tension. A good rule of thumb is for the bowl of the spoon to be just fatter than 1/8th of an inch when you’re done carving.
If you carve it to thin enough dimensions, it will dry out in open air in 2-3 days. I use walnut oil and sometimes a coat of burnished beeswax over top to add another layer of protection.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Nothing misleading at all! If you watched the project on Instagram, my blog, or read the video description, you’d have seen the full story. We actually got the plywood in the discount section at Home Depot for $0.50 a sheet, the spalted maple came from the stack I’ve got drying in the barn, the scraps of angle iron were from the blacksmith shop build, and the stain he had leftover from refinishing a bookshelf, 8 dominoes per stand, so all in, $2 per stand, plus a little elbow grease.
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A little clarification to your point, wood doesn’t ever “steal” nitrogen, it temporarily borrows it to kickstart the decomposition process. So therefore, whatever nitrogen the wood/chips need to break down is never actually depleted, it's just temporarily tied up. adding nitrogen rich compost, coffee grounds, compost tea, etc at the start of the season is a great way to counteract that, especially in year 1 of a garden like this, but it may not even be necessary. A big part of what makes this a basically un-noticeable exchange to us as gardeners is that, especially over time, a healthy mycellial/micorrhizeal network develops beneath the soil’s surface and both actively mines as well as sends/shares necessary nutrients between plants. Years two and beyond (at least in this climate, where the wood breaks down fairly quickly), instead of using screened mulch as bed toppers, after I’ve applied a fresh layer of compost to the beds, each spring, I simply rake last year’s pathways onto the garden beds and lay fresh mulch in the pathways.
In short, year 1 you may experience a more noticeable need for more human powered inputs, species of wood chips used and quality of compost can matter more, but by year 3, regardless of any climate or input variables, the garden should basically be able to run on autopilot due to the fungal, bacterial, and insect micro biome it’s naturally developed below the soil’s surface due to the addition of large volumes of organic matter paired with improved water retention, and, at that point, it will just get better and better season after season.
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I don’t usually respond to comments like this, but I’ll make an exception because you seem to be sorely mistaken about what’s possible with the employment of a little knowledge and elbow grease. I started with solid clay on extremely overgrazed, compacted land here 4.5 years ago. I don’t bring in any soil, and I’ve worked solely with the “local biome,” as you called it, to transform our land. By mimicking the forest behind us, both its plant forms and ecology, using decaying wood matter, harvesting IMO’s, and composting leaves, grass, animal matter, etc, over time, a largely self-maintaining food forest has emerged.
Ps: here’s a video about transforming clay soil: https://youtu.be/GicG2aDPfXw?si=SBVq1HXekbBLrKsa
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I have about a 20 page reply to this, but I’ll refrain and just say that the vast majority of fungi are opportunists not assassins- most of the time when we see mushrooms on a tree, the mushroom is not what is killing the tree, the mushroom is digesting dead wood on a tree that has been otherwise damaged- by disease, by mechanical failure, by pests… etc There are actually only a small number of fungi that will damage a healthy tree. One of them is the amalaria fungus (aka honey mushroom), which will parasitize healthy black hickory and some other hardwood species, but fascinatingly, there is yet another fungus that, when spores are present, will parasitize the amalaria fungus, save the tree, and turn the honey mushrooms present into an even more delicious edible called shrimp of the woods, so I’ve been collecting shrimp spores and spreading them everywhere I see evidence of amalaria.
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I think it all comes down to mindset. I hope it’s obvious watching my videos how deeply I care for my animals. On butcher day there are tears, I’m not a monster, but it’s something I’ve prepared myself for. I truly believe that eating meat is a choice to take on a certain amount of responsibility. Animals have made the ultimate sacrifice to nourish our bodies, and that is not something to be taken lightly. I try my hardest to give my animals, regardless of their intended purpose, the best life they can possibly have, and promise them they’ll only ever have one bad day. The care I put into the animals is reflected in the quality of their meat. Having been to so many other farms, I’m truly proud of the way I raise my animals and I frankly wouldn’t want to eat any other meat. We are what we eat, after all. So much of my time, money and energy goes into planting the best grass for them to eat, improving the soil on which they stand, and constantly rotating them through fresh pastures so they don’t deal with parasites or disease and I therefore don’t have to give antibiotics or other medicines that might linger in their muscle tissue and, and in turn, they get the most out of the calories they eat. It’s a pretty good system, and the meat is truly superior. So yes it’s sad, but… the bacon and ribeye I’ve grown is legitimately the best meat I’ve ever tasted, and that helps ease the sadness significantly, and as the freezer gets empty, helps put all of it back into proper perspective. Another thing that helps is being fully aware of the reality that these animals were born for this specific purpose. I couldn’t afford the time or energy to have these animals as pets, and even if I could, after the ark was full, I’d I was never cycling anyone in or out, I’d never be able to breed, experience the miracle of life, have a source of dairy, or get any other animals and give them the opportunity for just as great a life as these ones do.
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Reading the rest of your comment now though, yes, animals getting caught in netting is a danger when using it. The key, especially with goats, is keeping it very hot all the time, because goats will keep testing it if they don’t get a solid shock the very first time they touch it. I have only ever had that issue one time and it was because the charger failed and I learned a very hard lesson. Now I train my goats to a very hot line and once they’re trained, they don’t ever test the fences again, at which point I switch to solar chargers in the field. The solar chargers won’t kill a goat by shocks, the current isn’t strong enough to do that, but if they aren’t trained properly, it’s common for them to get strangled by getting caught in the netting.
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It’s definitely a lot, and this way of life isn’t for everyone, but the animals and the routine and reason for daily physical exercise and outside time helps me show up better for the rest of my life too, so I keep choosing it, but I ask myself often whether each endeavor is really serving the whole picture. Whenever the answer to that question is no, I don’t hesitate to make the necessary changes. For example, for a season, I stopped daily milking and massively shrunk the animal count and number of morning chores I had to do. I’m also always looking for ways to automate or eliminate steps, so things have gotten pretty dang efficient over the last few years. If I’m firing on all cylinders It takes 32 mins in the morning for this crew they way things are currently, it takes a little longer when the goats are in milk, but even that goes pretty quick. 30-40mins in the afternoon for the dairy cows (over at the other property) with 10 mins travel time, and 25 mins in the evening to put everyone to bed. I usually do a quick lap to check waters and add hay if necessary 1-2 times during the day and I budget 3-4 hrs over the weekend to muck barns, fix fences, and do whatever else needs doing to keep them going, but of course all of that can stretch infinitely depending on how many squirrels are running around in my brain 😂😂
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Yes, you do want and need your guardians to imprint on the animals, but that doesn’t just happen (and certainly doesn’t happen safely) by putting dogs in with livestock and leaving them to “bond,” hoping that instincts will kick in naturally without guidance, and that’s what I was getting at with that point. While some folks have, in a lack of understanding or experience, just put animals together and assumed instincts would be enough, and haven’t had negative repercussions, far more have tried, and in so doing have put both their dogs and their livestock at risk. It’s that very misunderstanding, the expectation that “instinct” is all that’s needed, that has resulted in such a huge number of Livestock guardian dogs, donkeys, and llamas ending up in rescues and shelters. There is a significant amount of training required to get a dog up to speed as to their duties, boundaries, who is and isn’t a threat, what stimulation to act on and what to ignore, and that cannot be done without spending a significant amount of time with the animal. Bonds do form during that time, but if that time is intentionally spent, with an understanding of how to spend it in a way that is constructive both for the guardian and your livestock, you’ll end up with a fantastic guardian. I got Johnny and June as a pair, Johnny already a trained guardian dog and June a puppy. They have performed their duties and learned to work as a wonderful team under my guidance for the past year and a half and now, having put in that time, I couldn’t ask for better dogs.
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Oh I’m not (intentionally, at least) asserting that AT ALL. I would agree that our quality of life with regard to the convenience of life has vastly improved since the IR. Our access to and technology within healthcare is far superior, yes. But our quality of life with regard to our connection to our families and communities, our having an inbuilt sense of meaning and purpose in life, our access to nutrient dense food, grown in restorative rather than destructive ways, all of that has degraded SIGNIFICANTLY since the IR, but I don’t blame the government for that, I blame an ever increasing societal pressure to push the easy button, for instant gratification rather than longterm rewards with regard to most every choice we make in a day. I am fully aware there were many things about life 200 years ago that were absolutely awful, and I don’t want to return to that, I want to encourage folks to learn from the past and combine the good from back then with the good from now, and leave the bad from both behind.
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@ricardogonzaleziii2598 Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Call me a contrarian, but while many homesteaders (myself formerly included) will tell you that in a regenerative farming model, running chickens behind livestock a few days after livestock has been concentrated in one particular area, will have the chickens scratching and pecking fly and parasite larvae out of the manure left behind, disturbing the soil and distributing the manure more evenly throughout the pasture.
But having run my flock of ~100 birds behind my livestock for a couple years with a huge extra time and labor cost to me (birds have their own fencing and chargers that need to be re-situated with every move, they need localized water, feed, ground and areal predator protection…)
I ultimately realized I would need 2000-3000 chickens for that model to be remotely effective, because the birds need to be extremely concentrated, able to cover every square inch the livestock was on, at just the right time, to actually get to all the patties and be motivated enough to sort through them for larvae. If running a flock of thosands behind livestock, I will cede it is probably extremely effective for both fly control and speeding up the process of pasture regeneration, but I have no desire for 2000 birds or the chores associated.
My reality trying to integrate a small flock (~100 birds) into a rotational system with my livestock was that I had several more hours of work per week moving birds and putting up extra fencing for them, while the fly population was possibly, imperceptibly diminished at best.
I’m sure many homesteaders will gasp reading that I kind of hate chickens, but I can already barely tolerate the egg/meat exchange for the labor of keeping the birds I’ve got, even now that I’ve reduced chore time significantly by rotating them less frequently and instead using them to stir my commercial scale composting project.
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This is, as I explained in the video, a catch pen for training purposes. They have many, many, many acres to roam. And you are partially correct on the predators, but only very small ones like foxes. Alpacas are prey animals themselves so they are good guardians of things like chickens because their concern for their own safety warns the chickens of potential danger. Rather than actually providing protection, they are more an alert system, with the exception of little things like foxes, skunks or cats, because they are so curious about them that they end up chasing them away. We’ve had alpacas for 5 years and they are an absolute joy, but are very misunderstood animals and therefore often don’t get the care or opportunities they actually need.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I live a life I love that is challenging enough to keep me on my toes and fulfilling enough to keep me motivated. I hate running errands and going to the gym, so I farm. I eat what I grow and running the farm keeps me in decent shape. Being outside in the sunshine and around animals helps, for sure, but because I still have to work full time to make all of the above possible, I spent a decade while working multiple other jobs building a business that now, 10 years later, allows me to do work I feel makes a positive contribution and is mostly enjoyable to do. In every area of what I do there are absolutely crappy parts, but I make a point of maintaining an attitude of gratitude and am constantly reminding myself of the power of choice. Even the things I have to do are still done in support of things I feel blessed to get to do. But let's not pretend I don't get tired, sad or feel burnt out sometimes. We all do, and that's ok, it's just important not to stay stuck there too long or our energy gets zapped along with all the other good stuff.
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That is in no way what I'm intending to do, I know Paul personally and have talked about him a TON in other videos, but didn't think to mention him in this particular video because the initial intention when we started filming this video was to talk a lot more about mushrooms than what actually ended up making the final cut in the editing room, and that is not something I learned from Paul. I learned far more about permaculture and forest gardening from my friend Cody at Rainy Sunday Ranch than I did from Paul, the stuff I've learned about composting I learned from various books, from Charles Dowding, from Billy at Permapastures farm, from Geoff Lawton, and the stuff I 've learned about mushrooms, mycelium and the importance of remineralization mostly through my own personal experiments. Credit is important, of course, and I try to give it whenever I'm talking about one topic I specifically learned from one specific person, but I'm pretty sure Paul himself would tell you that he cares far more about people having this kind of information accessible to as many people as possible than he cares about getting credit for parts and pieces of things that we learned from him and many, many other sources and have ultimately made our own.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Only if my plants tell me they need it. Malformation, discoloration, dotting, crinkling, slow growth and pest/disease issues are often the first signs of nutrient deficiency. Yellow leaves can be caused by nutrient deficiency, lack or water, foliage pest infestation or foliage disease infection. A nitrogen deficiency causes green leaves to turn yellow, starting from older ones that fade prematurely. Dark green leaves, small leaf size, reduced shoot growth and increased root growth are often signs of Phosphorus deficiency. Typical symptoms of potassium deficiency in plants include brown scorching and curling of leaf tips as well as chlorosis (yellowing) between leaf veins. Purple spots may also appear on the leaf undersides. Plant growth, root development, and seed and fruit development are usually reduced in potassium-deficient plants. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are the NPK noted in most fertilizer ingredients. By adding well balanced compost, we’re trying to remove the need to add chemical (even organic) fertilizers of any kind because while they often offer more immediate results, chemical fertilizers (even organic fertilizers) tend to disrupt the natural biome of the soil, kill michorrazeal growth and create fertilizer-addicted plants and soil that require more and more inputs over time. One of the things that Michorrazeal fungi do best is mine phosphorus from soil and transfer it to their plant partners. If plants are provided phosphorus, they grow more. The more plants grow, the more the draw down carbon from the atmosphere. The more plants live, the more plants die, and the more carbon that is buried in soil and sediments. The more carbon that is buried, the less there is in the atmosphere.
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The latter is what I’m doing, intentionally, with specific species I’m trying to eradicate entirely. Allowing the animals to overgraze the fescue means it will take longer for the fescue to recover, and it’s during that extended recovery time that I’m overseeing all kinds of things I do want, like… believe it or not… crab grass, a late summer, super heat tolerant weed to anyone unaware of it’s high protein, high desirability to cows in the late summer when there’s not a ton of other stuff, but along with the crab grass, I’m also overseeing other goodies like sorghum Sudan grass, late season clovers, and others.
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Because the word lazy is more triggering, therefore, more people will have the chance to see a video that will hopefully help them come up with more creative,
Less invasive solutions to their problems too. And if we want to go deeper, I came from the marketing world. There’s a term called “primal branding,” aimed at creating a recognizable theme so your intended audience can recognize you or your “brand” right away. And if we want to go REALLY deep, the word “lazy” is in my intended “branding” in hopes of attracting other people with brains like mine, who have likely been called “lazy” our whole lives, because the way we think makes it really tough to fit into society’s cookie cutter molds. In reality, we are the opposite of lazy, but in the wrong environment, we really struggle. Finding farming, aka the right environment made me realize why no schooling or career prior had “worked” for me, because my special set of talents is best used outside a schoolroom/office, and instead to solve ever changing, complex problems as I physically move my body in tandem with my mind 😉
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We’ll be doing a video on air layering this fall, but fwiw, we wouldn’t want to air layer these trees. Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I use mint, acv, citronella, lemongrass, coconut oil, garlic, all the things in rotation, but unfortunately most organic solutions are only extremely temporary- the mint doesn’t even last through milking time in the parlor 🥴 I raise soldier fly larvae, have the tape at the water troughs and keep the lights off in the barn, keep the fans on, keep the lights off in the barn, keep chickens and geese to eat the larvae… the flies just absolutely get out of control. I’ve never seen it like this year and most of my farmer friends who have been at it way longer than me feel the same.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Short term thinking, no this wasn’t cheaper or easier than an IBC tote, however, this short term solution will also be able to be utilized by the longterm solution, getting a solar water pump, digging a catchment pond at the top of the hill, using a ram pump to automatically run water through the now existing pipes/infrastructure, therefore the short term helps build toward the longterm solution, which ultimately is better in my mind than a temporary solution that might solve things well enough to discourage the making of the longterm solution a priority… if that makes sense ;)
As far as the direction of the tape, you’re 100% correct, however my wrapping it the wrong way is due to dyslexia, not an improper understanding of the correct method. Right and left, clockwise and anti-clockwise are a lifelong struggle for me and no matter how many times I try to get things right, I’m usually only right 50% of the time 😂😂
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I have a vet come once a year unless there is an emergency I can’t take care of on my own, so about $350/year. I learned basic veterinary care, to farrier, train and shear by volunteering at other farms for a few years, which offsets an enormous amount of the regular costs most other farmers have to pay. Feed is covered entirely and (then some) by the sale of eggs, dairy, and meat sales. I have a rule that every farm endeavor must pay for itself, as I don’t have time or capacity for “hobbies” when it comes to the farm, though it’s safe to say that the upfront cost of feed and general care is about $400-$1200 a month for everything. In the winter it’s slightly more expensive than in the summer because less of the feed is supplemented by the farm in real time (like excess dairy and produce for the pigs, fresh grass and forage for the goats and cows) and we have to buy more grain, barn bedding, and use the hay we pay to have cut and stored.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For balcony gardens, the brewer I've got is going to make way too much, but you can do this on a much smaller scale and in a lower tech way by just using weed clippings, coffee grounds, wood ash, tums tablets, epsom salts, medicinal herbs, and, all kinds of other things and stirring the ingredients a few times a day over a few day period in a 5 gallon bucket. In the brewer I've got the bag is made of fabric, so I don't think microplastics are a concern, but even if they were, they aren't something I personally would spend a ton of effort thinking about, because there are a lot of other things that could potentially have a much more significant effect in a much shorter time period than the compost bag in my tea brewer if that makes sense... There are also different bags or options you can use though if it was a genuine concern.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I always wear boots. The geese and chickens get snakes, yes, but the barn cats are vicious with them. Believe it or not, I’ve been here for 4 years, I spend at least 30hrs a week in the woods and in tall grass, and I’ve only seen two venomous snakes since living here: one was on my front porch, the other was at a waterfall with literally hundreds of people all around it. Never a single encounter otherwise in the garden, the pasture, creek beds, or the woods. Lots of rat snakes, racers, snappers and box turtles, but those are friends not foes.
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It totally depends on what you want to do, how you want to do it, and how much your neighbors can help! Our last farm was 3.65acres with 1 useable acre which I figured out how to utilize every square foot of. I was able to do meat chickens, egg layers (ducks and chickens), meat rabbits, a LARGE garden, a small orchard, large scale compost, had a Woodshop, blacksmith shop, and small barn. We had to bring in hay and feed, but I also kept 4 dairy goats, 3 alpacas, and 2 donkeys on the land in addition to our small house, and it worked phenomenally well. We’re now on 30 acres and lease extra land for our cows, goats and pigs to graze as needed. Though it’s great to be able to grow a whole lot more of the hay and other feed our animals need here on our new property, and I’m very thankful for our new community and the land we now have, I often find myself missing many of the efficiencies (and plain compactness) of the 1 acre farm. Funny thing I never thought about before, but at our old place, if I left my drill in the barn and needed it in the Woodshop, it was a 15 second walk as opposed to a 20 minute walk to fetch it. Not to mention, there’s now just a whole lot more land to maintain, which leaves a whole lot less time for some of the fun hobbies I had when we were on a much smaller plot.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue, and the glue is where the pfa stuff started.
With concerns regarding other chemicals and pfa’s being leached into the soil through cardboard, do your own research, and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk,
but having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Charles isn’t the creator of this method and I can honestly tell you I’ve never seen a video of his like this, though I’m sure he has published several. This is all knowledge accumulated from various sources over years of research- Ruth Stout, my mentor Paul Gautschi, Steve Solomon, Cody at Rainy Sunday Ranch, Jason Pavorak, Gabe Brown, Mark Shephard, Paul Stamets, principles borrowed from Hugelkultur, Permaculture, Korean Natural Farming…
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Howdy neighbor! We don’t like to get too specific about our location in an effort to protect our family, local community, our time, and our animal friends. It’s an unfortunate reality of building an online audience today, especially when it comes to sharing honestly about what really goes on on a farm like ours, because on one extreme, I have animal rights activists regularly threatening my livelihood and my life, and on the other extreme, I’ll get very well intentioned folks wanting to stop by for a tour. As such, though I wish I could just invite everyone in for a cup of tea and a chat if I did, we wouldn’t have the time or capacity to maintain the very demanding schedule required to juggle working full time and sharing our journey online, much less maintaining the farm and investing in our community to the standard we feel called to do. I hope you understand ❤️❤️
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I’ve read it, and many, many others too. I haven’t put Reba down because I have some theories of my own regarding when/how there are higher/lower dangers of it getting spread, the ways it’s actually spread, even what a “positive” test might mean - the fact that she’s had 3 totally healthy calves and raised a fourth, none of which ever tested positive, was the first thing that sparked my curiosity and fueled a very, very deep dive, research-wise. I have a hunch that there might be some cows that test positive due to having been exposed but instead of becoming symptom positive, developed an immunity due to good health / low rate of exposure. Even if building immunity outside the womb isn’t possible, I wonder if negative testing cows being born to positive testing moms might not also have a superior potential for immunity.
I would venture to guess that the chances of a positive testing mother with a high viral load during gestation would be much more likely to produce a positive testing calf.
Even if none of those things are true, I think it’s pretty reasonable to assume the chances of it naturally spreading to other healthy members of the herd when a positive testing cow has a low viral load are very, very slim. Especially if that spread is supposedly taking place through fly bites, grooming, or sharing feed/water/minerals. Dirty vaccination needles/AI equipment, etc, on the other hand…
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Some folks will want to tell you you can’t use pine because it will make the soil too acidic or you can’t use walnut because there’s an allopathic compound in walnut called “juglone” in it. Both are technically true but experientially, I’ve never had a single issue with any species of native American woods. Even insane amounts of walnut, which I used exclusively one year just to prove a point. My favorite woodchips, however, are fruit woodchips, because they foster fantastic mycelial growth. Bradford pear, for example, breaks down super quickly and keeps my compost pile HOT. Cherry fosters more mycelial growth than any other species I’ve come across.
The bigger and healthier the mycelial network, the more beneficial nematodes and other microorganisms that will appear, the greater the water retention in the soil, the greater the nutrient density of the food you’ll be able to grow, and the fewer heavy metals and other toxins in the soil that will be taken up by the plants we eat.
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Since day one my goal has been to learn to do or to locally source as many things I need, to make things with my hands, follow my passions, further craft, and to challenge, empower and inspire my peers to follow their own passions in the process. It may, from the outside, seem like things are pivoting here, but only in as much as I was really limited by space available and financial viability for some of the things I've been passionate about pursuing while we were in Seattle. The move to Tennessee offered the space, community, and affordability to move towards those ends at an accelerated pace.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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With concerns regarding chemicals and pfa’s being leached into the soil, do your own research, and make whatever decision you’re most confident in. But from my experience, as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using glossy, colored cardboard, in my experience, neither are a concern. The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as well as taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing. Chances are high most of us already have some level of heavy metals and pfa’s in our soil simply due to human impact, but I have been doing this method of gardening for 12 years and have lab tests, taken by scientists in my garden, that have provided concrete proof my soil and the plants grown in it are some of the cleanest, healthiest around, and I use tons of cardboard, year after year, so I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite. And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no. And- for what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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We are currently milking mostly Jerseys and jersey mixes but we are intentionally moving away from the “purebred” mentality and toward what some might ultimately call “mutts.” Our goal is to build a herd of more robust cows that are easier, cheaper keepers than purebreds tend to be.
Modern purebred genetics, especially when it comes to Jerseys and the other popular dairy breeds, have had a lot of the characteristics we as a family looking for a good milk cow/ we as a small scale dairy desire from our cows intentionally bred out of them in favor of increased milk production, with some unfortunate side effects.
Jerseys specifically were bred by commercial dairies to have shorter teats for optimal machine milking, which becomes an issue for us as homesteaders/small scale dairies if we want /need to milk a cow by hand rather than using our machine. I personally far prefer to milk cows by hand (way less dishes, more peaceful) but if I’m milking more than one, I always opt to use the machine. But even with our machine as an option, we still find the need for hand milking, like in the instance of a teat injury, mastitis, or power outages.
We’ve tried to pick cows that have a more promising teat size and conformation, but it’s often tough to predict what an udder will be like as the cow matures, especially when starting with a heifer who has never previously calved/ been milked. Even using our best judgement, this year we ended up with a heifer whose back two teats were so short that there was no physical way we could have milked them by hand and could barely even get the machine to latch, even to provide the mama some simple pressure relief right after she calved. We knew she had small back teats, but there’s no way we could have predicted they’d pose that big an issue, because that heifer also turned out to be an insanely heavy producer, and by the time she actually calved, her udder was so tight there that was basically nothing left in the form of back teats. Short back teats are a pretty common thing in modern jerseys, which is especially challenging when it comes to hand milking, and while that was an extreme case, we do have several cows that are insanely difficult to milk, especially their back teats, by hand, and few folks even know that’s something they need to watch out for when looking for a cow.
Commercial dairies breeding for maximum milk production and machine-ready teats also resulted in the majority of modern milk cows requiring grain (often in excessive amounts) just to keep condition (aka not get dangerously skinny) during milking due to the simple truth that making more milk requires more calories, and there’s a tipping point both in production and environment adaptiveness where grass alone simply won’t cut it, even if it’s the absolute best grass. Most first time cow owners don’t understand that they can’t simply take a cow that hasn’t been raised solely on grass, reliably milked and maintained condition solely on grass, and have evidence that that’s been successfully done, if not for that specific cow in past lactations, if it’s an unproven heifer, that they’d need multiple generations of prior cows that had only been grass and never grain fed, and just expect to be able to put their new cow on grass alone and not starve to death. And even for those that do know to feed grain, the unfortunate reality is that feeding grain is expensive and also often results in a shorter lifespan for the cow, a far higher propensity to sickness and an overall higher requirement for human inputs (feed, vet care, parasite and fly prevention, intervention with breeding and calving, etc).
All of which is a very long-winded (please forgive me) way of saying that now that we’ve learned the hard way that breed/pedigree isn’t nearly as important as other factors and have gotten a little better at ignoring the buzzwords and trends, today, I’d far rather buy a solid, reliable “mutt” that gives us exactly what we need: they’re really well adapted to our local climate, our unique soil conditions, they won’t be extremely high producers, they’ll have gentle temperaments, they’ll have good teat size and shape for both hand and machine milking, good udder conformation and strong udder attachment, and they will reliably produce milk and raise healthy calves for 10-14 years, ideally, ultimately, on grass and minerals alone, but it takes a few generations and often some mixing and matching to breed the good stuff back into the gene pool.
The only reason I give such a complex answer to a simple question is because when I was first getting started I really wish I’d better understood what I really needed to be looking for (disease resistance, generationally grass fed, locally raised, from a regularly tested, clean herd with records to prove it, gentle temperament, good teat and udder conformation) and that I had been more intentional in seeking those specific qualities rather first, rather than thinking that the things I actually most needed in a family cow were guaranteed simply by finding a “cuddly A2A2 Jersey with great milk production and high butterfat,” all of which are great plusses, but shouldn’t have been the starting point.
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Invasive species shouldn’t be let go to seed, they should be cut back/ managed as much as possible through mowing, restricting water, and smothering or solarizing them with tarps or cardboard/mulch is a great way to slow them down, but longterm, a lot of the same principles put forth here apply, even to invasives: things like studying the soil conditions that favor the invasives that are goin, working to make the soil conditions more favorable to other, more desireable plants and then planting other, fast-growing species that will limit their access to sunlight and exhaust their root systems is the best way to go when it comes to eradication of invasives. There are organic pesticide options that, as a last resort have worked for certain seemingly in-iradicateable species, like injecting concentrated vinegar, and sometimes even stronger stuff into the living root stems are really the only longterm solution to perennials that are already really well established in a space. Which is why we want to try to get ahead of them as much as possible with the first options offered.
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Grafting peaches to apple and pear won’t work, I’m afraid. When it comes to grafting, you’ve got to stay within the same genus - stonefruit needs to be grafted to other stone fruit trees, like peach, nectarine, apricot, cherry. Different varieties of apples, pears, crabapples, etc can be grafted to one another, but not onto stone fruit or visa versa.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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That’s a great question, and the answer depends on a lot, what species of wood, what else is going on in your garden, the level of decomposition, but the quick answer is no. I used 10 dump truck loads of wood chips to prep my garden in Seattle and would add 10 yards of sawdust to the pathways 3x a summer and I had the best soil around. Check out my video “fix your soil” or look into “back to Eden” gardening practices, basically, I am doing everything I can in my garden to mimic the forest, so I can minimize my watering, weeding, and have plants that are naturally pest and disease resistant.
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The answer there is a matter of “it depends,” with way too many variables to answer definitively one way or another, but Is it possible to farm full time profitably? Absolutely, many of my friends do. Is it a ton of work? Absolutely. Would I recommend someone try to turn their hobby farm into a full time job and expect it to be profitable right away? Absolutely not. Because I love my full time job, I continue working which means I don’t have the time (which really means I have actively chosen not to dedicate the time to farm in a manner that would generate enough income to offset my off farm income), which means I have had to put more into the farm at the outset to make it efficient enough that I don’t have to farm full time, so that I can keep my job and farm in the evenings/weekends as an added sense of purpose, meaning and important way to maintain my own sense of self-discipline.
That said, aside from our property/mortgage costs (which are actually lower now than when I lived in the city), my goal when I started was to generate every other cost the farm created by the farming endeavors themselves, meaning my goal for the farm was to break even. Most years I have actually turned a slight “profit,” but certainly not one that covers the opportunity cost of my labor involved in turning that “profit.”
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Great questions: 1: Weed tea is significantly more effective than chop and drop in three areas:
Nutrient Concentration: When weeds are soaked in water to create compost tea, nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are extracted into the liquid, resulting in a concentrated, plant-available solution. This method minimizes nutrient loss due to evaporation, especially in hot or windy conditions.
Seed and Pathogen Management: Chop-and-drop can inadvertently reintroduce weed seeds or pathogens if the plant material isn't properly managed. Composting weeds in water can help neutralize these risks before application.
Carbon-Nitrogen Balance: Chop-and-drop adds organic matter directly to the soil, but without an additional carbon source (like straw or wood chips), the decomposition process can tie up nitrogen, temporarily reducing its availability to plants. Compost tea, being liquid, doesn't have this issue and can provide immediate nutrient availability.
2. Straw Mulch Contamination is very different than potential tree mulch contamination for several reasons, the first of which being exposure time compared to growing time/life cycle of the plant (contamination rate), the second of which being potential contaminants present and their dangers to your garden. Non-organic Straw has a HIGH liklihood of being contaminated with persistent herbicides like aminopyralid, and other pre-emergents which remain active even after composting and can harm sensitive crops at concentrations as low as 1 part per billion and effect seed germination for years, even after being properly composted. While trees can absorb environmental chemicals, the risk of herbicide contamination in wood mulch is significantly lower, in my 12 years of gardening experience using hundreds upon hundreds of truckloads of arborist waste, nonexistent. Trees metabolize and compartmentalize toxins over time, and the dilution effect in a large woody biomass further reduces potential harm.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, no, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I hate hearing you’re having issues with that, it really shouldn’t be so devastating, I bet we can come up with some solutions together! What are you sowing, when, and how? How are you watering your seedlings? What is the soil like right at the growing surface (what are the germination conditions like?) the biggest problems I see folks encountering are:
1. burying their seeds too deep (however thick your seed is, it should only ever be covered by two times that thickness worth of soil)
2. Not keeping the soil consistently moist enough (or keeping it too moist) for seeds to germinate
3. Planting their seeds in the wrong medium (lazy gardening involves using a TON of mulch, but it’s really tough and not super advisable to start seeds in mulch, but rather, to pull the mulch layer back, and to start them in sifted compost mixed about 50/50 with native soil, using soaker hoses while germinating to keep the soil moist, then adding mulch and lessening watering incrementally as the seedlings grow).
If all else fails starting seeds out in the garden, sometimes the confidence boost we all need is to start seeds indoors in a more controlled environment and then to transplant outdoors. There of course are so many benefits to direct sowing, but those are massively outweighed by the perils of direct sowing not going as well as we would like/need it to.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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The saw is made by Erik Florip. My opinion on the Bench Dog planes is the same as any other brand- I always encourage folks to buy the best tools they can afford. I was impressed that the Benchdog tools were flat, had nice broken edges so no cuts getting it out of the box, flat backed blades, nice thick castings, well wearing blades, and a good visual aesthetic. If you are well acquainted with how to tune up and set up tools, these are a great option with a little elbow grease. The thing is, you either pay more for a tool up front for someone at the factory to work out the details, or you pay yourself to do it on your own time. These are not Lie-Nielsen/Veritas tools, but they also aren't pretending to be. For the money, they are a solid value.
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Nope! And there‘a a really nerdy reason why: the application of pesticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers,even the organic ones, disrupt the natural micro biome of the soil. Store bought fertilizers are like a quick fix pill, but then you create plants that rely on the pill and get too lazy to play their part in the underground highway system that develops and grows naturally year after year with the constant addition of decomposing organic matter.
That same underground network is the key to how forests and grasslands used to be able to care for themselves without human intervention.
Studying the way gardens that require no outside care, (forests and grasslands of the past), has helped us re-create an ecosystem very similar to what was present on earth before humans started messing things up, here on our farm and many other farms like it.
Decomposing organic matter like trampled grass and manure attracts all kinds of little creepy crawlies, fungus and bacterias that show up and foster each of the different stages of decomposition from something solid and recognizable like grass, manure, wood chips, etc into healthy, vibrant, alive soil.
Wood matter, in particular, attracts mycilleum, whose roots can literally blast through rock to mine what is needed by the plants and soil above. Added bonus, the carpet of mycelium that forms just beneath the soil’s surface as organic matter breaks down also acts like an enormous sponge, a giant root carpet that stops soil erosion and evaporation from the sun, storing water and carbon and all kinds of other goodies just below the soil’s surface.
As mycillium roots spread and other microorganisms like beneficial nematodes crawl around in there, eating and pooping as they go, they create a highway system beneath the soil’s surface, providing air, space for plant roots to breathe and move about and an actual living network that can find and share resources along the highway system under the soil’s surface.
When plants send down their roots and have an established mycelial network to connect to, they suddenly have access to a far larger area than their own roots will ever be able to stretch, from which to pull the resources they need, making much healthier, pest and disease resistant plants.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I am so, so sorry to hear you had to start over, we know that heartbreak a little too well 🥺 but I also applaud you for making the right call for you and the rest of your community despite so many conflicting opinions on the issue.
My business partner with the dairy stuff, Tyler, and I run a small raw dairy milking 5 cows at a time and serving our local farmer’s markets and food banks. Tyler had previously had to cull a herd due to an outbreak of jones and it took us a few years to build our herd back up and we were poised to start our first real season, and then we found out our three best milkers had BLV. We still had two cows that weren’t testing positive, so we made the immediate decision to separate the 3 and try to keep the other two healthy. We each had one heifer from that first season we needed to wait out for 2 years to calve, which was a great start but that would put us 3 years out from coming into a decent milk supply again. Tyler bought a replacement cow who calved, another heifer, but suddenly died a month after calving. I’ve since bought two replacement cows, it’s been two years and we’ve finally gotten back into a good rhythm again, but boy howdy was there a lot of tears in between.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I can’t wait for that either! Unfortunately there was no contract and after asking them to come back and fix it, I did initially look into suing but it ultimately wasn’t worth the risk of further financial investment or the emotional weight of litigating because there was no contract, just a handshake. I learned the lesson to have a contract and to monitor and closely inspect the work before paying in the future, but we don’t know what we don’t know, and sometimes lessons like this have to be learned the hard way, but that’s why I share what I do, in hopes others don’t make the same mistakes I have. I didn’t know anything about framing codes or really even what to look for initially, because I didn’t have reason to be suspicious, I didn’t look nearly as closely nor at the right kinds of things when I initially looked it over, I was, at the time, just so over the moon about forward progress, it wasn’t until days later I even started to notice the sagging openings, crooked joists, or lack of hangers, supports etc. I learned, after the fact, how to read structural plans in order to figure out where the missing parts and pieces should have gone, and that is on me. Yes, they should have done better work, and should have come back to fix it when given the opportunity, but I had missteps too.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue. That’s where most of the concerns come from.
It’s definitely worth it to do your own research, when it comes to things like this and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none of the popularized claims have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk…
But having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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A lot of folks aren’t able to discern the difference between mycelium and mold. Chaffhaye should have mycelium in it, it is evidence it was fermented properly. It’s possible for Chaffhaye to get moldy, if the bags are over a year old, if the plastic is punctured, or, just like any other feed or hay, if it’s stored improperly after opening.
One of the first lines of defense for goats is to sample new foods a little at a time, and to see how they feel/their body reacts, and if they don’t get sick, they will gradually eat more and more of anything that nourishes their bodies and fills their tummies.
You should never just swap out the feed of a ruminant cold turkey, that will wreak havoc on their guts. It took about 2 weeks to transfer my goats over from an all hay diet to an all Chaffhaye diet, and from a cost, nutrition, and waste standpoint, I’ve never looked back. I made the switch 8 years ago and will never go back to regular hay unless Chaffhaye somehow becomes totally inaccessible.
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Totally, we have tons of fire ants here too. These are some of my favorite ways to get rid of them:
1. Boiling Water: Pouring boiling water directly onto ant hills can kill them instantly.
2. Diatomaceous Earth: Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth around ant nests and along ant trails. This natural substance damages their exoskeletons, ultimately leading to dehydration and death.
3. Vinegar: Mix equal parts of vinegar and water and spray it directly onto ants or their trails. The strong smell disrupts their communication and deters them from coming back.
4. Citrus Peels: Place citrus peels such as lemon or orange rinds around areas where ants are present. The scent repels ants effectively.
5. Cinnamon: Sprinkle cinnamon powder along ant trails or around their nests. Ants dislike the smell and will avoid crossing it.
6. Plant Mint: Anything in the mint family, lemon balm, catnip, oregano, etc are great ant deterrents. Mint plants especially, peppermint and spearmint, emit a strong scent that ants dislike.
7. Boric Acid: Create a bait using boric acid mixed with sugar and water. Place this mixture in shallow containers near ant trails. The ants will carry the bait back to their nest, eventually killing the colony.
8. Cornmeal: Sprinkle cornmeal near ant mounds. When ants consume it, the cornmeal expands in their stomachs, leading to their demise.
9. Neem Oil: Mix neem oil with water and spray it onto ant-infested areas. Neem oil acts as a natural insecticide and disrupts the ants' hormonal balance.
10. Coffee Grounds: Spread used coffee grounds around areas where ants are present. The strong scent and acidity of coffee repel ants.
11. Plant Marigolds: Marigolds contain pyrethrum, a natural insect repellent. Planting marigolds around the perimeter of your garden can help deter ants.
12. Soap and Water: Mix liquid dish soap with water and spray it directly onto ants. Soap disrupts their cell membranes, leading to dehydration and death.
13. Mint Leaves: Place fresh mint leaves around ant-infested areas or crush them to release their scent. Mint acts as a natural ant repellent.
14. Garlic: Crush garlic cloves and place them near ant trails or nests. The strong odor repels ants effectively.
15. Cucumber Peels: Place cucumber peels near ant entry points. The bitter taste and scent of cucumber repel ants.
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We will do an air layering video this fall, but we wouldn’t want to air layer these particular trees. Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock, which would more often than not produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe or efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Thanks for sticking around! That is a great question, and the quick answer is that weeds are great indicators of soil condition and can be used to create free soil fixers as shown in that video, but when maximum food production is your goal, taking intentional steps toward building healthy soil, as this video shows, and reducing potential weed pressure in the form of competition for growing space and sunlight is key. You’ll note I laid the cardboard right on top of whatever was beneath it, weeds and all, so nothing already there will go to waste, but I created a nice clean new spot to plant some plants I really wanted. Now, as the cardboard deteriorates, if weeds from the seed bank below emerge, I can use those as indicators of the soil condition and fertility in the new garden beds and, as long as they’re not competing for space or sunlight with my desired plants, I can let them grow, chop and drop, or chop and use them to make fertilizer ;)
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue. That’s where most of the concerns come from.
It’s definitely worth it to do your own research, when it comes to things like this and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none of the popularized claims have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk…
But having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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There's a lot of "it depends" when it comes to that- where you are, what your climate is like, the condition of your pastures/hay/abundance of/quality of grass, what part of the lactation cycle your cow is in, how much her production is, how well she keeps condition during milking... on and on. But I can tell you the basics of what we do- we do intensive rotational grazing with a small herd on quality pasture 9 months a year. The cows have more calories/nutrition available than they could possibly eat grass wise during that time, so we really don't need to supplement their feed a ton. We try to make our milking season coincide with that 9 month period. They've got salt and mineral licks with access to unlimited kelp meal, baking soda, etc. When the younger cows are in the stanchion, we feed 10 lbs of chaffhaye and 1lb of local soy free grain. If the cows start losing condition, we up their grain intake. With the older cows, who find it more difficult to maintain condition, we feed a little more grain every feeding, and add other things to their diet as necessary if they start getting skinny. We dry the cows off 3 months prior to calving to help further improve condition leading up to calving.
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15 ways to Get rid of ants in the garden:
1. Boiling Water: Pouring boiling water directly onto ant hills can kill them instantly.
2. Diatomaceous Earth: Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth around ant nests and along ant trails. This natural substance damages their exoskeletons, ultimately leading to dehydration and death.
3. Vinegar: Mix equal parts of vinegar and water and spray it directly onto ants or their trails. The strong smell disrupts their communication and deters them from coming back.
4. Citrus Peels: Place citrus peels such as lemon or orange rinds around areas where ants are present. The scent repels ants effectively.
5. Cinnamon: Sprinkle cinnamon powder along ant trails or around their nests. Ants dislike the smell and will avoid crossing it.
6. Plant Mint: Anything in the mint family, lemon balm, catnip, oregano, etc are great ant deterrents. Mint plants especially, peppermint and spearmint, emit a strong scent that ants dislike.
7. Boric Acid: Create a bait using boric acid mixed with sugar and water. Place this mixture in shallow containers near ant trails. The ants will carry the bait back to their nest, eventually killing the colony.
8. Cornmeal: Sprinkle cornmeal near ant mounds. When ants consume it, the cornmeal expands in their stomachs, leading to their demise.
9. Neem Oil: Mix neem oil with water and spray it onto ant-infested areas. Neem oil acts as a natural insecticide and disrupts the ants' hormonal balance.
10. Coffee Grounds: Spread used coffee grounds around areas where ants are present. The strong scent and acidity of coffee repel ants.
11. Plant Marigolds: Marigolds contain pyrethrum, a natural insect repellent. Planting marigolds around the perimeter of your garden can help deter ants.
12. Soap and Water: Mix liquid dish soap with water and spray it directly onto ants. Soap disrupts their cell membranes, leading to dehydration and death.
13. Mint Leaves: Place fresh mint leaves around ant-infested areas or crush them to release their scent. Mint acts as a natural ant repellent.
14. Garlic: Crush garlic cloves and place them near ant trails or nests. The strong odor repels ants effectively.
15. Cucumber Peels: Place cucumber peels near ant entry points. The bitter taste and scent of cucumber repel ants.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Burnout is such a tough battle. Make getting good sleep and intentional time to "play" your highest priority. Without those two things, we become increasingly more stressed, less productive, less effective. Clarity and quality decision making go out the window when we are under rested and living in stress. I understand all too well the pressures of big projects, tight finances, and impending deadlines- there is no greater killer of creativity, joy, or productivity. In crazy seasons juggling work, family, and other obligations, even a small, 15 minute daily practice of doing something just for you to restore some of that creativity and joy can go a long way. For me, that started last year as a 15 minute gratitude walk every evening around the farm, where I'd walk slowly, intentional about regulating my breathing and looking for any and everything, big or small, that I could take a moment to be grateful for. That 15 minutes has evolved, but it changed my life for the better.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Straight up, farming while totally broke is totally possible, thats where I started 12 years ago. A lot of hard work, creativity, community involvement, sacrifice, constant pivoting and plenty of blood, sweat and a whole lot of tears (and some good luck for sure) got me where I am today.
However, because I still work full time and love my job, the goal with the farm currently isn’t necessarily profit (though it’s great when profits come), the goal with the farm farm is to stay out of the red, to get better connected within my community, and to keep my hands and mind busy in my “down time” so I stay in shape and out of trouble. Farming helps me become the kind of person I definitely am not by nature: patient, consistent, intentional, active.
I have a vet who comes to the farm for a flat fee, and barring emergencies, the goal is to have him out once a year. Our arrangement is that if he comes once a year ($350), he will prescribe meds and procedures for the animals at my request/I can call and ask questions and he’ll kindly advise.
We came to that arrangement because I’ve proven over time with him that I generally know what I need and how to administer it myself, and that’s become a great arrangement for us.
I do all my own farrier work, training, daily care and infrastructure development on my own or with the help of friends and neighbors which keeps costs pretty minimal.
It would be far more expensive/ would require more $$/vet visits/farrier visits/ trainers/ other costs for someone who didn’t like to read/learn/research as much as I do. I definitely paid a lot more in vet visits and stupidity also known as learning opportunities when I was first getting started.
My feed bill is no longer a “bill,” I actually make money feeding my animals, because growing up poor, I’ve become somewhat of an expert wheel and dealer, so I have a handful of side businesses aimed at helping other local farmers get feed affordably while getting my feed as cheaply/free/even making a little money as a result of feeding my animals as possible. There’s a short novel of explanation there but to sum it up, I cut and sell hay, I lease extra grazing land from neighbors, I take food waste from local establishments, I get spent brewer’s grains from local breweries and distilleries, and I recently became a wholesaler for the commercial feed we use which helps offset my costs significantly and earns me lots of favors from other local farmers. What the animals don’t eat/their own waste and bedding goes into my large scale composting and mushroom farming operation that creates other products I can sell locally.
Livestock sales cover most incidentals throughout the year and I also work with several other farmers to sell dairy, honey and meat products/plant starts, etc. at various local markets.
Though a lot of what I do with farming would likely be a whole lot more profitable if I were to scale larger and farm full time, but I have no interest in scaling (that generally involves less personal connection, more infrastructure cost and more machine noises that I prefer to do without). And while farm profit is nice, I love my non farming job, and plan to keep it as long as it stays enjoyable.
The truth is, not only would it have been unrealistic to purchase the land/infrastructure I did without off-farm work, nor do I want to discount the huge part the valuation increase in the last piece of property I bought as a total dump, spent five years restoring, and ultimately sold, played in my ability to upgrade and move here to this property, it’s just practical to acknowledge that I can make a lot more money doing things I really enjoy working off the farm without having to do a whole lot more of the parts of farming I really don’t enjoy. Which, admittedly might make the farm more profitable, but would certainly make it less enjoyable for me personally. The balance of farm and off farm life keeps everything interesting, fun and there’s a whole lot less stress all around. That’s not the way everyone will want to do it, but it works really well for me.
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I’m so glad that that works so well for you! I don’t disagree about the benefits of cover crops, I’m arguing for the benefit of planting other, more useful plants in place of a cover crop, simply because in our climate, frost won’t kill a cover crop off, and because one of the tenants of lazy gardening, as I teach it, is that we interplant perennials and annuals together, so it’s really tough to remove a cover crop if there’s no frost kill. So planting things like turnips, daikon radishes to break up the soil, and snow peas to fix nitrogen, all of which can be picked, eaten, and then chopped and dropped in place if there’s an excess, rather than having to carefully hoe between perennials with tender roots to try to get rid of something like clover or rye, that, come spring, would compete with the things we do want to grow.
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I am married, we don’t have kids, our families live out of state, and the farm is my thing, not his, and that is fine, I believe in playing to one another’s strengths. He is good with technology and music and is insanely smart, but has never really been around tools or livestock or done manual labor of which to speak, so though he is very willing to help when asked, with a lot of the stuff I do day to day, he’s not really in a position to step in and be me when incapacitated. And while I do have friends I can call to help for the occasional project, I work 18 hour days and have my hands in a LOT of different projects requiring very specialized knowledge and skillsets and that’s not really replaceable, even if I could find/afford full time help in the interim. It took a few months to figure things out and lots of things fell by the wayside in the meantime, but many very positive lessons were learned in learning to ask for help, adapt when needed, in prioritizing what’s truly important, and taking a break when needed, and I’m very happy to report that now, 9 months later, I’ve healed well enough to get back to the important stuff.
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I respectfully disagree. I’ve had most goat breeds over the years and keep coming back to Nigerians. Though you are correct, most Nigerians aren’t very big producers, and in my opinion, the breed and dairy lines have been largely ruined by folks looking for the cute factor, but there are some genetics-obsessed holdouts like me doing our darndest to save the good stuff. I’ve been working on my dairy lines for the last decade with Nigerians specifically, for several reasons: the butterfat content and high sale value of kids being the two main ones. I now have multiple Nigerians who produce more than a gallon a day with 14% butterfat. You can’t get that from a Nubian. I milked one of my Nigerians for 3 + years without rebreeding. Mine have great teat and orifice size, incredible udder attachment, and are the most efficient converters of calories I’ve found. By the time you get to the size/stature of Nubians, you might as well get a cow, which I have, 18 of them 😅, and still hold onto my Nigerians. For drinking milk, mozzarella cheese, and yogurt, my Nigerians win the day all day every day. For butter and aged cheeses, my cows prove their worth and then some.
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Hahaha no, I still disagree, and I think we could go back and forth on this endlessly, but since both of us are busy farmers, we can just agree to disagree, mostly because for me, all discussion on the matter starts and stops with the 14% butterfat.
Two things to clarify quickly though, I only have heavy producers (from breed standards) and have no reason whatsoever to want any more milk than mine provide. And aside from the one I milked for 3 years (just as an experiment, to prove it was possible), I’ve never had reason to further test, though I do not question any of the other goats’ ability to produce for extended lactations. A friend of mine is on year five milking her Nigerian with no end in sight.
Aside from donating milk during the formula shortage, I’ve never wanted a surplus of goat milk beyond what our family and a couple friends drink.
But selling the high dollar, genetically “superior” babies I’ve been working on raising/improving once a year has always been a far more profitable endeavor than any goat milking was ever going to be for me especially the way I wanted to run things. For the majority of time I’ve owned goats, baby sales have financed all of my other farming endeavors and then some.
So with goats that reliably have quads or more, every kidding, that is another no brainer. I also didn’t mean to imply Nubians required as much feed as a cow, but rather that from a “I can no longer easily pick up this animal and move it when it’s sick, injured or being a jerk” standpoint, by the time we’ve entered the size category of Nubians, we might as well be milking cows. But again, that’s a personal taste, personality and preference thing (that really just goes back to butterfat if we’re being honest).
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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All these questions will be answered in depth in a few days with the next few videos but yes, we did take Rigby the dog, Oliver the cat, Howdy and Bella the donkeys, Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin and Brenda lee the milk goats, and Briggs and Morrison the bunnies. Darrel and penny kept 3 alpacas, two goats, a bunny, 2 cats and our remaining birds. The alpacas were left because further research showed
They would have been stressed beyond what was fair to them during transport and would be susceptible to other biosecurity risks upon arrival here. I’ve spent time with much of his extended family and I can assure you this farm and it’s creatures are something they as a family will pursue passionately together. They’ll provide an excellent last home for all our animals and then some, and we will have opportunity to provide a stellar last home to some other critters here in Nashville as well. Everyone wins.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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They are actually not the same plant. I saved some time and let google type this out for me ;)
Cocklebur and burdock are both summer weeds that have prickly burs and hooked spines:
Cocklebur
A coarse, annual herb that's native to North America and other parts of the world. Cockleburs are often found along river banks and lakeshores. Their leaves are rough and scratchy, and their stems are spotted brown to purple. Cocklebur seeds and seedlings are toxic and can be fatal to animals, and people with sensitive skin may develop a rash from handling the plant. Cocklebur burs are firmer and don't break apart, but they produce two large seeds within each bur.
Burdock
A larger plant that's native to Europe and likely arrived in America with early settlers. Burdock burs have hooks that can catch on clothing, animal fur, and sheep wool, and they break apart into many small pieces. Burdock may cause dermatitis in sensitive people, but it's not poisonous, and the root can be eaten raw as a vegetable. Burdock also has young central stalks and petioles, or leaf stalks, that are edible during certain seasons.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right time/trees/varieties to do so.
Yes, they could be grafted, but it would need to be done to another dwarf rootstock.
We intentionally DID NOT show grafting in this video because that’s a whole other topic and didn’t root these cuttings, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
1
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1
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I most certainly have dealt with far more than my fair share of himalayan blackberries, but to your point, invasives absolutely need to be handled differently: Invasive species shouldn’t be let go to seed, they should be cut back/ managed as much as possible through mowing, restricting water, and, for the real persnickety ones, smothering or solarizing them with tarps or cardboard/mulch is a great way to slow them down, but longterm, a lot of the same principles put forth here apply, even to invasives: things like studying the soil conditions that favor the invasives that are goin, working to make the soil conditions more favorable to other, more desireable plants and then planting other, fast-growing species that will limit their access to sunlight and exhaust their root systems is the best way to go when it comes to eradication of invasives. There are organic pesticide options that, as a last resort have worked for certain seemingly in-iradicateable species, like injecting concentrated vinegar, and sometimes even stronger stuff into the living root stems are really the only longterm solution to perennials that are already really well established in a space. Which is why we want to try to get ahead of them as much as possible with the first options offered.
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I’m so, so sorry for your loss. You are totally right, stone fruit leaves absolutely can be toxic to ruminants, especially when they are offered to animals as snacks on an otherwise “dry” lot. As it happens though, a well fed animal with well balanced minerals and a low parasite load will rarely if ever eat any new plant to toxic levels. Ruminants especially are known to sample new foods in tiny quantities over time and develop a like or dislike to them as they pay attention to how their body responds. But because goats especially are historically browsers not grazers (aka they’re used to a very varied diet consisting mostly of shrubs and greenery that grows above shoulder height), if they’re on a dry lot or put onto grassy pasture and/or only fed a diet of hay and pellets or grain, they’ll be infinitely more curious/desperate for other flavor/nutrient profiles, which is why so many domesticated goats end up eating toxic amounts of plants they would never otherwise even think to sample more than a bite or two of in the wild, like rhododendrons. Over time, observing my animals that get a really diverse diet, I noticed them intentionally going to “known toxic” plants like walnut, and taking a few bites at a time: what they were doing was eating just enough of a “toxic” substance to naturally manage their own parasite loads, but somehow knew exactly when to stop. All that to say that now we intentionally plant things like walnut in every paddock for that very purpose. I’m always careful to watch and make sure they never take too much of any one plant, but at this point pretty much trust them to know what their bodies need and to self-regulate.
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Honestly, neither. Having had both myself and talked to lots of folks with lots of experiences with them, unless they come to you as trained guardians, it’s a real crapshoot as to whether they’ll pan out as protectors or not. My first alpacas were great, but this round of alpacas are actually aggressors against my smaller livestock, not protectors. And I’ve heard a ton of stories about donkeys turning on stock as well. The bigger concern with donkeys for first timers, though, is that if you’re keeping them with livestock on pasture, they’re really likely to develop health issues. The grass our grazers eat is too rich for those desert genetics. I’ve had to pull my donkeys out of the pasture and keep them on a dry lot to keep them healthy, which has been really hard on me and on them, because they lost their main “job”
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Ha! I bet we could talk for hours. Lean thinking, SCRUM, Kanban, etc is how I run my whole life. With my many learning struggles, I've found many helpful principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in those methods. Of course I can easily get carried away building the system and forgetting to do the work... so finding a healthy balance and actually leaning into some of my more innocuous idiosyncrasies instead of being consumed by solving them is always a... balance ;) Though you'll probably be amused to know I've been carrying around a notebook and kitchen timer for the better part of 10 years both as a motivation/awareness tool and as a data collector to look for inefficiencies in my day to day repeated tasks/chores/processes and train my brain to constantly be on the lookout for possible solutions. One of the sillier yet extremely effective solutions I've come to is purchasing used/cheap duplicate tools and literally leaving them in the way, on my way past, around, or through an area that needs a task done so I remember to do the task and, when the right moment strikes to do so, everything I need is already right there, where I need it. It's cost a few extra dollars but saved me a lot of gray hairs. Though I have also, admittedly, accidentally recreated the rake scene from every marx brothers movie on multiple occasions and taken a rake handle to the face tripping over my very useful tool, right in my way, where I'd forgotten I left it ;)
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I have donkeys I trained as guardians. What you said can definitely be true, but that’s not always how it goes, and it’s not quite as simple as all that. In Washington, our donkeys were great guardians, but since we moved to TN, they can no longer be with the goats because the forage here is far too rich for them to have unlimited access to, which is why we now have dogs. Just like dogs, there are pluses, minuses, and considerations that need to be made. I go into a lot more depth on all this in the precursor to this video, Please Don’t Get a Donkey. https://youtu.be/bWo2JvWHVnA?si=uZK7TbFX0pwf-1mT
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In this climate, rolling over still requires tarping or solarizing for at least 3 weeks to finish killing the cover crop off, and that’s a totally fine option if you can spare the garden space to have a bed or beds that are totally unusable for the last 6 weeks of the fall growing season and the first 6 weeks of the gardening season, but lots of folks (especially those with shorter growing seasons and those with smaller gardens) can’t afford to sacrifice that much growing time. But if you watched the original video I explained why even that method doesn’t work for us here, because I interplant perennials in every bed, so the ultimate reason we don’t use traditional cover crops in our system is that there isn’t a way to efficiently kill it off or remove it without disrupting the other plants we don’t want to kill off come spring. But that’s why I interplant a “cover crop” of cold weather tolerant edibles by broadcast seeding spinaches, kales, lettuces, arugula, collard greens, snow peas, and many others in all my beds. What doesn’t germinate and grow this season will remain in the seed bed to have a chance next season, and so on.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue. That’s where most of the concerns come from.
It’s definitely worth it to do your own research when it comes to things like this and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none of the popularized claims about pfa’s or other “forever” chemicals in cardboard or other things I use around the homestead have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk…
But having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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You also now have a beautiful field of grass because of the seeds in the hay. You’re not entirely wrong, but you’re also not entirely right. It matters what kind of hay you use, alfalfa would be best. But even then, you’re not actually getting a complete fertilizer, you’re getting a bunch of nitrogen, which, yes, is what most commercial fertilizers are, but plants don’t need just nitrogen, they need balanced nutrition, just like every other living thing does. Every different plant has unique needs and need to be able to draw from all 88 essential minerals we need in our soil to be able to grow strong and healthy, to be pest and disease resistant, and to bear much fruit.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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You are 100% correct. The more that I make videos for the internet, the more important preciseness of words and vocabulary becomes, and funnily, this mis-speak was actually due to one of the many strange (and sometimes, like it was here, incorrect) ways my brain connects things. What I should have said, far more clearly, is that we as home gardeners won’t (hopefully) ever actually encounter true genetically modified seeds, the kind that happens in a lab, where the actual genetic sequence is being messed with, because those are patented and being used on a commercial growing scale. My intention here was to point out and dispel the myth that tons of beginner gardeners seem to have with regard to being very afraid of using hybrid and non-organic seed varieties, thinking they have been “genetically modified,” which is, in their minds, very very bad. Which simply isn’t true. Now: true genetic modification can actually be scary, but thankfully for us home gardeners, the corporations that own their patents are too greedy for that to be a valid fear 😜
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I am a huge proponent of regenerative agriculture and good soil health. If you watch the video, I clearly make the distinction about why cover crops aren’t good for the type of gardening/farming I specifically teach, and many of my market gardening friends raising veggies on a large scale the same way, agree. If you’re doing a monocrop system, yeah, a cover crop is better than no cover crop, but far better for the long term health of the soil, the conservation of water, and the fertility of land to stop tilling entirely, to interplant species, and to keep soil covered and amended with organic matter at all times. I get why large scale farms don’t do this: it’s very labor intensive and difficult to scale. But good things rarely come easily.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I do concentrated rotational grazing just like Joel salatin does. The chicken thing is a major myth though, at least in numbers of chickens I’m willing to/able to run. Joel is a good friend of mine. He has dozens of volunteers helping with the day to day on his farm. I do 100% of this on my own. I’ve tried running chickens behind my cows, goats and sheep, sometimes up to 250 at a time. The amount of labor involved in that endeavor is ridiculous, and the payoff is, at those numbers… nothing at best.
If I were equipped time, capacity, infrastructure, etc wise, and could run 2-3000 chickens at once, this might be a different story with regard to the flies, but in my personal experience doing this for 12 years, without insane bird numbers, there is absolutely zero measurable difference when it comes to fly populations. Chickens simply don’t naturally flock to cow crap and dig maggots out. If you sprinkle corn on each and every patty, they might eventually find it and do their thing, but in that instance, they’re finding it on accident and doing their “work” accidentally due to convenience not concentration.
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With my pepper plants, I remove all the foliage right before the first frost, pull them, remove all the debris from the roots and repot in fairly dry potting soil (this is a bit of a dance because you don’t want the plant to fully dry out, but you don’t want it to rot, either), putting them into a sort of dormant state by moving them into the dark in the garage and storing them there over winter which keeps them from freezing, but then I’m able to “wake” them back up and replant in the spring when the weather warms. Depending on your humidity levels, You’ll need to check moisture levels in the soil on occasion so they don’t dry out entirely, again, trying not to drown or rot the roots in the process. Alternatively you can transplant to pots and keep them as indoor plants over winter but that’s not an option for everyone. It has had varying levels of success for me, but when I’m able to pull it off, it gives me a solid two month head start on peppers in the spring. In an ideal world you wake them back up in a greenhouse or inside the house and wait to replant until well into the warmer weather of spring/early summer, just like with your tomatoes and other heat loving plants so you don’t accidentally stunt their spring growth.
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*all, not 1000 ;) you have to be a builder, blacksmith, welder, gardener, animal tender, teacher, learner, mechanic, chef, hunter, equipment operator, seamstress and plumber to be a decent farmer, and some seasons call for more of one thing than another, this has been a season of a lot more gardening and animal tending than making because a serious injury forced me to push pause on the finer aspects of tool usage for a bit
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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1. Boiling Water: Pouring boiling water directly onto ant hills can kill them instantly.
2. Diatomaceous Earth: Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth around ant nests and along ant trails. This natural substance damages their exoskeletons, ultimately leading to dehydration and death.
3. Vinegar: Mix equal parts of vinegar and water and spray it directly onto ants or their trails. The strong smell disrupts their communication and deters them from coming back.
4. Citrus Peels: Place citrus peels such as lemon or orange rinds around areas where ants are present. The scent repels ants effectively.
5. Cinnamon: Sprinkle cinnamon powder along ant trails or around their nests. Ants dislike the smell and will avoid crossing it.
6. Plant Mint: Anything in the mint family, lemon balm, catnip, oregano, etc are great ant deterrents. Mint plants especially, peppermint and spearmint, emit a strong scent that ants dislike.
7. Boric Acid: Create a bait using boric acid mixed with sugar and water. Place this mixture in shallow containers near ant trails. The ants will carry the bait back to their nest, eventually killing the colony.
8. Cornmeal: Sprinkle cornmeal near ant mounds. When ants consume it, the cornmeal expands in their stomachs, leading to their demise.
9. Neem Oil: Mix neem oil with water and spray it onto ant-infested areas. Neem oil acts as a natural insecticide and disrupts the ants' hormonal balance.
10. Coffee Grounds: Spread used coffee grounds around areas where ants are present. The strong scent and acidity of coffee repel ants.
11. Plant Marigolds: Marigolds contain pyrethrum, a natural insect repellent. Planting marigolds around the perimeter of your garden can help deter ants.
12. Soap and Water: Mix liquid dish soap with water and spray it directly onto ants. Soap disrupts their cell membranes, leading to dehydration and death.
13. Mint Leaves: Place fresh mint leaves around ant-infested areas or crush them to release their scent. Mint acts as a natural ant repellent.
14. Garlic: Crush garlic cloves and place them near ant trails or nests. The strong odor repels ants effectively.
15. Cucumber Peels: Place cucumber peels near ant entry points. The bitter taste and scent of cucumber repel ants.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Steve, I definitely appreciate you watching all my videos and leaving comments, but literally every single comment you leave has a negative tinge or some, intentional or not, suggestion that I don’t know what I’m doing, or that you have a better way. I can assure you that while I certainly don’t know everything, I’m a pretty competent person, and there is generally a reason I do everything I do the way that I do it, whether I explain it on camera or not. I am certain your intention is to be helpful, but to be honest, I’m quickly tiring of the tone.
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In case you didn’t watch the whole video, I actually answered that question more than once. My husband and I worked multiple jobs for multiple years, paid off debts, made wise investments, then moved across the country to an area with a much lower cost of living, and have since massively invested in a community we can trade and barter with. Adam still drives the car he bought in high school, we buy used, improve, and resell. We’ve had some lucky breaks along the way, for sure, but “luck” is also often “hard work,” misspelled. To have gone from most of our food coming from the food bank to having a surplus to contribute to the food bank within the span of a decade is something I will never stop being grateful for.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue. That’s where most of the concerns come from.
It’s definitely worth it to do your own research, when it comes to things like this and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none of the popularized claims have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk…
But having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so.
Ironically, willows are super easy to propagate the way you did and in fact, soaking willow branches with cuttings you do want to propagate is an excellent way to do it because willow will release naturally occurring rooting hormone that will encourage the other cuttings soaked with it.
We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue.
With concerns regarding other chemicals and pfa’s being leached into the soil through cardboard, do your own research, and make whatever decision you’re most confident in.
But as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk,
but having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering (the technique you are referring to), propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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A big piece of it is being self employed, being able to work from home, create my own schedule, and stay fairly flexible with it is very, very helpful. Working off the farm and commuting into the city back when we lived in Seattle was really limiting in so many ways, and there were a few situations I had to stand up in the middle of a meeting at work, blurting out that my alpaca was having a baby or that my goats were out on the highway and race home to deal with stuff (I’m lucky I had a pretty chill boss at my last job).
Things are a lot different now. There’s still tons of work to do and though I generally love what I do for work, it’s not always super fun work to do, (not a fan of the phrase “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,”there are aspects of even the dreamiest of jobs that truly do just suck) but now if there’s a farm emergency and I need to deal with it during the workday, or if there’s some project I need to do during daylight hours during the week or we need to trailer some animals somewhere on a random Tuesday, it doesn’t mean I just get to take the day off and might (often does) mean I’m up finishing my “work work” to meet a client deadline at 3am or working a Saturday to accommodate taking that time when it was needed, but that flexibility is definitely key now that I’m doing way more with the farm and the school build. Having good systems, good infrastructure, backups for our backups and keeping farming ambitions in check are other key elements. Every few months I have a checklist of questions I run through with regard to whether each farming endeavor is still serving us, our farm, and our long term goals, and it’s a whole lot easier now to cut my losses when the answer to any of those is no than it used to be. I hope that helps?
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I wholeheartedly disagree. The grain we feed our animals is grown within our community, but even if it weren’t, we are on our way away from grain entirely, and towards far better soil health in our pastures, better grass for our animals, and better locally adapted genetics within our herd, those things just take a few years and a lot of work, but we are getting very, very close to being able to ditch the grain. We’ve dug an artesian well and have catch ponds, swales and ditches to redirect and store rainfall, so water is no longer an issue. The animals are a CRUCIAL piece of us being regenerative, rather than simply sustainable farmers, they’re a crucial piece of having important fats and proteins in our diet, and they’re also a crucial piece in the overall health in our gardens and the food we grow there as well because of the nitrogen for our compost that they provide.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I think the term pith is getting in your way a bit- pithy usually means soft or stringy, but the pith is the center ring of the tree (it’s rarely actually in the exact center, however). We want to split the log in half with equal heft on either side of the pith, then, depending on the log size, quarter, etc but then make sure to cut away the pith and at least 1/2” of the wood surrounding the pith in every direction before we carve, because that is where the most tension in the log lives, which is also why you’re struggling with cracking/warping. If you remove the pith and surrounding wood, everything else is useable. Knots, burls or branch inclusions will make the interior grain do funny things, so I tend to try to find the clearest, cleanest sections and use those first.
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Donkeys are extremely hit or miss behavior wise. Several close friends have had donkeys turn on their livestock or become aggressive against their humans.
They are also meant to be desert, not pasture animals, and tend to have a lot more obesity, skin, hoof and leg issues when kept on (especially rich) pasture. Not to mention, their hoof care and training is a fairly steep learning curve/is expensive and lots of farriers won’t come out for donkeys at all, especially when you’ve only got one or two.
My donkeys were great guardians, but after moving to TN, they could no longer stay with my livestock because our pasture was too rich and they were developing health issues as a result, and I’ve had to move them to a dry lot and have been working on training them to give them a new “job” since.
Even with the proper training and in the right environment, some donkeys just don’t cut it as guardians because their cautious and playful nature can cause them to injure other livestock or even to attack newborn animals/new livestock they don’t recognize.
So unfortunately, for a lot of folks, donkeys aren’t the right answer either. And it’s precisely because this topic warrants a whole other video that I didn’t mention them here.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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It can be other kinds, but wine caps are one of the easier ones to cultivate and propagate. It is a mushroom variety better suited to thrive in the mulch as opposed to varieties that prefer to be inoculated in logs and other larger detritus. It doesn’t work as well, for example, to use oyster mushrooms, for example, because they prefer to grow in logs, and therefore their mycelium will be likely to be overtaken by some other, more aggressive decaying-agent, and, perhaps one that is less desirable, like the stinkhorn mushrooms that totally took over and dominated one area of my garden until I figured out how to get them back under control. I love the thick layer of mycelium they created, but could do without the super stinky, slightly phallic looking red and brown mushrooms (that are not at all delicious, by the way) that would pop up everywhere amongst my plants.
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I spend almost 100% of my waking hours outside. I walk through 4 foot grass as I tend my cows, I forage in the woods almost every day, I walk through creek beds and work my pond and garden, (all three of which often involve tromping through “snake territory,” and often plunging my hands into piles of leaves and other debris looking for wild mushrooms and other herbs, and I’m always on the lookout for snakes because that is one of my biggest fears. I occasionally see a water snake, worm snake, rat snake, or racer when out and about but believe it or not, I’ve never seen a snake in my garden. In fact, I’ve encountered only 3 venomous snakes in the four years I’ve lived here: There was a cottonmouth napping in a Little Rock crevice about 10 feet away from where 100+ people were swimming around a waterfall in East TN, and I’ve nearly stepped on 2 Timber Rattlers on my driveway about 10 feet from my house. So while I do think it’s wise to be on the lookout, I wouldn’t be discouraged from gardening this way for fear of snakes, because if you’ve got snakes, you’ve got them, and will likely encounter them in daily life and in unexpected places regardless of how you garden. Your best line of defense is to educate yourself about how to identify in a high stress situation which ones are dangerous and which ones are friends, to always remain aware of your surroundings, and to make a little noise as you go about your business- most snakes are pretty reclusive and if they hear you coming, they’ll slither off before you ever even notice they’re there. When I’m in the woods, I’ve made a habit of trying to write funny parodies to accompany whatever melody is stuck in my head at the moment, and I sing them at the top of my lungs while I look for mushrooms. A recent favorite is a song about my donkeys, Braying, to the tune of Kesha’s Praying. Instant classic. Stay safe out there!
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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my channel is aimed at beginners looking to gain confidence, as much as I love the nerdy parts of this stuff, it's a fine line to walk, between sharing valuable, helpful info in a digest-able way and getting lost in the "weeds" of theories and longterm thinking, but I definitely could have/should have made a clearer distinction about invasives vs natives. The reason I didn't is actually because of the way soil ecology has evolved since European settlement in the US, and the line between "natives" and "invasives" in their viability and usefulness for the current state of the soil has become blurred to some degree due to that evolution. There are, however, invasive weeds like Kudzu that will absolutely take over, and should not be, to your point, left to run amok.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I love that you asked that!
So the biggest reason is that we are supplementing things that used to naturally occur in the soil and their feed, but due to overgrazing, tilling, monocropping, and all kinds of other destructive farming practices that have happened over the past 100+ years, those things disappeared from the native environment, so now, we both want to supplement those things for the cows for their physical wellbeing, but also because if the cows eat the stuff that’s missing, they also poop and pee the excess stuff their bodies don’t absorb, and in so doing, the cows ultimately act as our own little low input fertility machines to improve the soil, over time, in turn!
Just like humans, without certain vitamins or nutrients that should naturally occur and balance their diet, but for whatever reason, no longer do, over time they can develop health issues. Some of those issues can compound generation over generation, and so to your point, that is, in part, what we’re trying to offset now, but it’s more than just that. Supplementing missing nutrients helps increase pest and disease resistance, fertility, and even their efficiency in actually utilizing more of the calories in the food we feed them. That reduces the need for human intervention (aka work), saves on feed and vet bills, and provides healthier, more robust animals in the long run. Especially when we’re breeding healthier animals that then have healthier babies that then eat healthier grass grown on healthier soil, and pretty soon, all the goodness compounds even further.
A great example of how this actually measurably plays out in our cows: selenium is a crucial nutrient when it comes to fertility and reproduction, in both animals and humans. Selenium used to be prevalent in soils across America and would show up in trace amounts in the grass that cows and other grazing animals would ingest. But now there is nowhere in America left where there is actually enough Selenium in the soil that is bioavailable to the food animals or humans are consuming. Fertility issues, deformities, miscarriages, and irregular heat cycles became far more prevalent. Before we started supplementing Selenium, we had a string of fertility/birth related issues, including a cow that nearly died of infection after retaining her placenta and two goat kids born back to back to two different, unrelated mothers that had the same genetic deformity. We started supplementing selenium, and haven’t had a single issue since. We’ve had similar incredible luck with feeding ancient sea salt with added garlic and massively reduced fly pressure and heat tolerance on the animals in the summers, our animals slick off faster in the spring and fatten up on less hay in the winter. Our pastures are getting better, a greater variety of grasses are growing, we need less water, on and on it goes.
Can you tell I’m super passionate about this stuff? 😅
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
And dwarf trees can be planted much closer together, especially when pruned properly.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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That statement is partially true but somewhat misleading in its phrasing, que my favorite kind of nerdy qualifiers:
1. Plants Don’t “Produce” or “Capture” Nitrogen Themselves: Plants cannot take nitrogen directly from the atmosphere (which is about 78% nitrogen gas, N₂) because it is in a form that is chemically unusable to them.
2. Legumes and Other Plants with Symbiotic Bacteria: Certain plants, especially legumes (like peas, beans, and clover), form a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mainly Rhizobium species. These bacteria infect the plant roots and stimulate the formation of nodules, where they convert atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) into ammonia (NH₃) or related compounds, which plants can then use.
3. Non-Legume Plants and Other Nitrogen Sources: Many plants don’t have root nodules or a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Instead, they rely on nitrogen that has already been fixed in the soil by free-living bacteria (e.g., Azotobacter), decomposing organic matter, or fertilizers.
All that to say, Legumes don’t “produce” nitrogen—their bacterial partners do; Not all plants have this symbiotic relationship—most rely on nitrogen already present in the soil; Some free-living bacteria fix nitrogen without a plant host, enriching the soil for all plants.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Termination is also the issue in our climate, but if this is the first video of mine you’ve seen you might have missed that I do plant “cover crops” of sort, just not the traditional “cover crops.” In my last garden video I broadcast seeded the whole garden with a whole variety of things I’d saved seed from last fall. I don’t at all disagree about the benefits of having roots in the soil, I’m arguing for the benefit of planting other, more useful plants in place of a traditionally understood “cover crop,” because, to your point on termination, in our climate, frost won’t kill a cover crop off, and because one of the tenants of lazy gardening, as I teach it, is that we interplant perennials and annuals together to ensure there are always roots in the soil, come spring, it’s really tough to remove a traditional cover crop without risking damage or competition with our interplanted perennials. So my solution has been interplanting perennials with things like winter kale, spinach, and other greens, turnips and daikon radishes to break up the soil, and snow peas to fix nitrogen, all of which can be picked, eaten, and then chopped and dropped in place if there’s an excess come spring, rather than having to carefully hoe between perennials with tender roots to try to get rid of something like clover or rye, that, would ultimately compete with the spring things we really do want to grow.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I've heard about all your rain! Here are a few slug tips I happened to have handy: cheap beer in little dishes to trap them, also, minimizing watering helps a lot, they don't like the woodchips when they are dry. Broken eggshells around plants, coffee grounds around plants is a nice nitrogen boost and slug deterrent, diatomaceous earth works well when it's drier, first saturday lime is another similar product, copper wire scraps I save from used romex wire laid in margins of garden beds...
For my dahlias by the house I'm not above using products like "sluggo" or "deadline" but I wouldn't do that around my veggies, and to be honest, once my soil health had improved, I no longer had to use anything because yes, there are some slugs, but my plants are so healthy the slugs don't damage them too much.
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We will do an air layering video this fall, but we wouldn’t want to air layer these particular trees. Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock, which would more often than not produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe or efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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If it’s true, it’s not clickbait. If you watched the project on Instagram, my blog, or read the video description, you’d have seen the full story. We actually got the plywood in the discount section at Home Depot for $0.50 a sheet, the spalted maple came from the stack I’ve got drying in the barn, the scraps of angle iron were from the blacksmith shop build, and the stain he had leftover from refinishing a bookshelf, 8 dominoes per stand, so all in, $2 per stand, plus a little elbow grease.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering and picking the right species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Show me someone who is running a profitable alpaca operation and actually compensating themselves fairly for their time. I’m genuinely curious to see what that might look like.
An average shearing yields 4-10 lbs of fiber. Alpacas are sheared once a year. Alpaca fiber is valued at $2/ounce as opposed to $0.11/ounce for merino sheep’s wool. Alpaca wool is stronger, softer, more eco-friendly, and offers 85% greater wicking capability than merino sheep’s wool. It is also hypoallergenic and antimicrobial. So assuming you get a 5 pound fleece from your annual shearing, at $2/ounce, the raw fleece is worth $160. It costs $32 to shear.
There isn’t a huge market for raw fleeces, so most folks will want to have their fiber spun into yarn. It costs $30 to ship the fiber to the mill, $50 to wash, dry and pick the fleece, $140 to mill into yarn, and, with a 30% loss of fiber during the milling process, that 5 lb fleece will yield about 3.5 lbs of yarn. The mill will ship it back for $20, but most mills are currently at a 1 year wait time for milling services. Since alpaca yarn goes for about $125/pound for finished yarn, the total value minus expenses for the year’s fiber, processed into yarn will be $437.50-32-30-50-140-20= $165.50
Monthly shots are $5, feed and minerals comes out to about $20, so it costs about $300/year, assuming there’s no veterinary costs. So you’re at $-134.50/alpaca/year, not including labor. Not the wisest financial choice 😅 but there is where you make the decision: is there other value beyond the fiber? For me, yes. I process some of the fiber myself as a fun, non-monetized hobby. Considering what I could be spending on other activities, I’d say an annual cost of $134.50/year isn’t too shabby. But there’s where it really helps to have the numbers: if I didn’t enjoy spinning, and they were miserable to keep, at least I would know they were a cost, not a profit, financially speaking, to the farm, and could easily justify getting rid of them.
I think a lot of farmers get in over their heads when they don’t know the real numbers. Keeping chickens for selling eggs, for example, is almost always a losing game, financially speaking, for small farmers- unless you’re running more than 300 birds, the numbers I’ve run have my costs being about $12 a dozen if I’m getting paid less than minimum wage, and most folks aren’t able to fetch that kind of price, but still feed their chickens every day, proud to sell their eggs for $5-7 a dozen, thinking they’re making money. That’s exactly why I don’t sell eggs. I raise what my family eats and have a little extra to barter and trade goodwill with our neighbors, and that’s plenty.
So much of farming on a small scale is about doing things for the love of them, not the profit. Don’t get me wrong, small-scale farming can be really profitable, but operations have to stay really lean, and you’ve gotta do a lot of the same thing every day, and I’m just not into that, which is why I still work full time and do this stuff in the mornings, evenings, and weekends before/after work. Knowing the financials of every endeavor really helps me pick and choose what is and isn’t worth it: some things like dairy, beef, and baby goats bring in enough $ to pay for all the rest of the farming endeavors, while some things, like the alpacas, are just for the joy of watching those little llama pops running around the yard and using my homemade spinning wheel by candlelight by the fire on cold winter nights.
IG caption
Alpaca math doesn’t make sense.
Alpacas are sheared once a year. An average shearing yields 4-10 lbs of fiber. Alpaca fiber is valued at $2/ounce as opposed to $0.11/ounce for merino sheep’s wool.
Alpaca fiber is stronger, softer, and offers 85% greater wicking capability than merino sheep’s wool. It is also hypoallergenic and antimicrobial.
Assuming you get a 5 pound fleece, at $2/ounce, the raw fleece is worth $160. It costs $32 to shear.
There isn’t a huge market for raw fleeces, so most folks will have their fiber spun into yarn. It costs $30 to ship the fiber to the mill, $50 to wash, dry and pick the fleece, $140 to mill, and, with a 30% loss of fiber during the milling process, that 5 lb fleece will yield about 3.5 lbs of yarn. Return shipping is $20, but most mills are currently at a 1 year wait time.
Alpaca yarn goes for about $125/pound, so the total value minus expenses for the year’s fiber as yarn will be $437.50-32-30-50-140-20= $165.50
To keep these little jerks alive, monthly shots are $5, feed/minerals come out to about $20, so it costs about $300/alpaca/year, assuming there’s no veterinary costs.
So you’re at $-134.50/alpaca/year, not including labor.
Is there value beyond the fiber? For me, yes. I process some of the fiber myself as a fun, non-monetized hobby. Their poop is compost GOLD.
If I hadn’t built my own spinning wheel and they were miserable jerks, I could easily justify getting rid of them on financial grounds.
But much of small scale farming is doing things for the love, not the profit. Don’t get me wrong, small-scale farming can be really profitable, but operations have to stay lean, and you’ve gotta do a lot of the same thing every day, and I like variety, so I still work full time and farm mornings, evenings, and weekends.
Knowing the financials of every endeavor helps me pick and choose what is and isn’t worth it: some things like dairy, beef, and baby goats bring in enough $ to cover all the farm costs, while others, are just for the joy of watching little llama pops running around the yard and using spinning wheel by candlelight by the fire on cold winter nights.
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We will do an air layering video this fall, but we wouldn’t want to air layer these particular trees. Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
1
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1
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1
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1
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I totally get where you're coming from and have absolutely no judgement with regard to the ways others do things on their own land. For what it's worth, there are natural solutions to all of those issues, but they can be very time and labor intensive and aren't a practical option for larger scale operations, and often come after years of positive inputs, not a single season, so for folks with time sensitivity and a particular bottom line, it is tough to justify the time and inputs required to improve conditions naturally. That said though, chemical insecticides, fertilizers and inputs are generally incredibly costly from a financial perspective, so over time, the benefits of one tend to outweigh the other.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I love all animals when they are well contained and given the correct jobs, chickens, like so many other animals, can become major pests if not properly contained. A farmer I love says a good farmer helps make the pig ness of pigs and the chicken ness of chickens really shine. This mobile coop and fencing helps the chickens and all their pesky habits get put to good use around the farm so they help the greater good. I quite enjoy my chickens now that they aren’t reeking havoc in the barn and getting in the garden, we just had to get them to the right spot. When I first got into gardening and farming, I only had four chickens, and I loved them, but that is also because they were the only thing I had to care for besides the garden. At our last farm property, we didn’t have enough acreage to move the birds the way they needed to be moved, and I expanded from 4 birds to 40, so they were constantly getting into stuff and cleaning their coop was a big chore, and it followed that I didn’t really enjoy them, as I had a lot of other daily responsibilities and livestock to care for. It’s all about finding the right balance.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I own quite a few dairy cows, though far from an expert I’ve had opportunity to learn from some great folks over the last several years. There’s definitely a good balance between how this cow started behavior-wise and what I’d recommend a beginner milkmaid to look for, but I tend not to like bottle babies, especially for beginners- they tend to be a lot more excited about their human friends than I’d feel comfortable putting most folks in the field with, their playfulness and eagerness can turn dangerous quick if they’re in heat or just too excited, especially with horns. This cow, Maybe, is now, after a few months of practice, an incredible Milker with exactly the right temperament: cautious but eager to please, and so gentle in the stanchion. I am shocked at the transformation.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Burro is Spanish for Donkey, not a different species of animal. Some folks do intentionally use the term “Burro” to note a distinction between the wild donkeys that wander the southwest desert and domesticated donkeys that have been bred for generations to be working animals, but genetically there is very little (if any difference).
But even if we were to use those naming guidelines, technically it still wouldn’t be a Burro, it would be a Burrito, “little donkey,” because it is a miniature donkey.
That distinction is important because they aren’t intentionally bred to be small like ponies are, they are, in fact, a separate species native to the Middle East that is naturally small, and they were first brought to the US in 1929.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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I use mint, acv, citronella, lemongrass, coconut oil, garlic, all the things in rotation, but unfortunately most organic solutions are only extremely temporary- the mint doesn’t even last through milking time in the parlor 🥴 I raise soldier fly larvae, have the tape at the water troughs and keep the lights off in the barn, keep the fans on, keep the lights off in the barn, keep chickens and geese to eat the larvae… the flies just absolutely get out of control. I’ve never seen it like this year and most of my farmer friends who have been at it way longer than me feel the same.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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That is correct. Invasive species shouldn’t be let go to seed, they should be cut back/ managed as much as possible through mowing, restricting water, and smothering or solarizing them with tarps or cardboard/mulch is a great way to slow them down, but longterm, a lot of the same principles put forth here apply, even to invasives: things like studying the soil conditions that favor the invasives that are goin, working to make the soil conditions more favorable to other, more desireable plants and then planting other, fast-growing species that will limit their access to sunlight and exhaust their root systems is the best way to go when it comes to eradication of invasives. There are organic pesticide options that, as a last resort have worked for certain seemingly in-iradicateable species, like injecting concentrated vinegar, and sometimes even stronger stuff into the living root stems are really the only longterm solution to perennials that are already really well established in a space. Which is why we want to try to get ahead of them as much as possible with the first options offered.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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With regard to your first question, this is, indeed permaculture, and nature doesn’t naturally use those plants because, to risk making a sweeping generalization, the plants we want didn’t occur in the state we enjoy them, naturally in nature. We’ve cultivated and selectively bred and, GASP, genetically modified the plants we now desire to grow over thousands of years. Allow me a moment to clarify that genetic modification happens in nature, too, and isn’t, itself, the scary, awful thing so many folks make it out to be, at least in the context I’m describing it here. Open pollinated plants, planted near other plants within the same variety, left to go to seed, will produce seeds that are likely to contain genetic traits of both varieties of plant, and viola, we’ve got a GMO seed, without human involvement.
Through thousands of years of cultivation, humans have both intervened in the modification of plants and discovered happy accidents that were similarly desirable, and that
To answer your second question, no, plants themselves aren’t great cleaners, but many funguses, in cooperation with plants, are. Oyster mushrooms are actually successfully being used currently to clean up oil spills and soils contaminated with microplastics and other pollutants. And that’s why I’m so concerned with fungal development alongside good soil health. They, in fact, go hand in hand.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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1. Boiling Water: Pouring boiling water directly onto ant hills can kill them instantly.
2. Diatomaceous Earth: Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth around ant nests and along ant trails. This natural substance damages their exoskeletons, ultimately leading to dehydration and death.
3. Vinegar: Mix equal parts of vinegar and water and spray it directly onto ants or their trails. The strong smell disrupts their communication and deters them from coming back.
4. Citrus Peels: Place citrus peels such as lemon or orange rinds around areas where ants are present. The scent repels ants effectively.
5. Cinnamon: Sprinkle cinnamon powder along ant trails or around their nests. Ants dislike the smell and will avoid crossing it.
6. Plant Mint: Anything in the mint family, lemon balm, catnip, oregano, etc are great ant deterrents. Mint plants especially, peppermint and spearmint, emit a strong scent that ants dislike.
7. Boric Acid: Create a bait using boric acid mixed with sugar and water. Place this mixture in shallow containers near ant trails. The ants will carry the bait back to their nest, eventually killing the colony.
8. Cornmeal: Sprinkle cornmeal near ant mounds. When ants consume it, the cornmeal expands in their stomachs, leading to their demise.
9. Neem Oil: Mix neem oil with water and spray it onto ant-infested areas. Neem oil acts as a natural insecticide and disrupts the ants' hormonal balance.
10. Coffee Grounds: Spread used coffee grounds around areas where ants are present. The strong scent and acidity of coffee repel ants.
11. Plant Marigolds: Marigolds contain pyrethrum, a natural insect repellent. Planting marigolds around the perimeter of your garden can help deter ants.
12. Soap and Water: Mix liquid dish soap with water and spray it directly onto ants. Soap disrupts their cell membranes, leading to dehydration and death.
13. Mint Leaves: Place fresh mint leaves around ant-infested areas or crush them to release their scent. Mint acts as a natural ant repellent.
14. Garlic: Crush garlic cloves and place them near ant trails or nests. The strong odor repels ants effectively.
15. Cucumber Peels: Place cucumber peels near ant entry points. The bitter taste and scent of cucumber repel ants.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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For what it’s worth, thanks to corn and soy subsidies, most cardboard is now manufactured with corn/soy based glue. That’s where most of the concerns come from.
It’s definitely worth it to do your own research, when it comes to things like this and make whatever decision you’re most confident in, but as long as you’re removing tape and stickers and aren’t using waxed, glossy, colored, or heavily inked cardboard, none of the popularized claims have remained legitimate concerns for me, because after years of using this method in my own garden, I’ve tested my garden soil for contaminants and it’s pretty dang clean.
Chances are high most folks already have some level of heavy metals, chemicals from former owners’ use/overspray from neighbors using them and pfa’s other “forever” chemicals in their soil simply due to human impact on the earth, proximity to cities and waste sites obviously increasing that risk…
But having looked at the science, I’m genuinely not concerned about cardboard being the culprit of contamination, in fact, quite the opposite.
And even if the glue in the cardboard did contain less than desirable chemicals/toxins many, many studies have been done on whether the plants actually uptake the chemicals in a way that our bodies end up ingesting them, and the answer there is conclusively no.
The mycilleum and micorrhizeal fungi that we’re intentionally introducing and those that will naturally show up as a result of the addition of increasing organic matter in and on the soil as we are doing through these methods, as well as actively taking measures that will foster better water retention, even over a single season (which is why we use the cardboard and mulch in tandem), will ultimately provide more good than harm could ever be caused by using this method. Fungi is a truly miraculous tool when it comes to cleaning toxins from the soil, sequestering carbon beneath the soil’s surface, and improving the health and fertility of both the soil and plants around it over time, so anything we can do to encourage fungi to show up and multiply in our gardens, we should be doing.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Hey Jenna! First off, this all in an effort to create useable soil in an area the soil was not previously useable at all because it was clay. In Seattle, you're likely to have a way better start to your soil. Secondly, even though I live on a farm, I had to purchase all these items as well, save for the arborist chips, which were free, I just bought them in extreme bulk. You have access to free wood chips in Seattle (and most everywhere else) anytime you want them, just sign up for chipdrop. The idea behind the larger wood chips I put on first are to soak up the water beneath the bed on top of it and add to the soil's complexity. This first season, they'll soak up water when it rains and act like a sponge releasing water slowly as the bed heats up. As they decompose, they'll enrich the soil's complexity which will, over time, add to it's own ability to retain more water. I added the first layer of compost to counteract the temporary nutrient stealing the un-composted wood chips will do as they decompose. The soil on top of that would be your base layer if you were starting with decent soil. Then the compost+mulch I put on top is the top layer everyone should add because the chips are smaller, already partially decomposed, and they will serve their water wicking and water saving purpose without preventing seedlings from pushing through a heavy top layer of large wood chips that haven't been composted.
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cheap beer in little dishes to trap them, also, minimizing watering helps a lot, they don't like the woodchips when they are dry. Broken eggshells around plants, coffee grounds, diatomaceous earth, first saturday lime, copper wire scraps I save from used romex wire...
For my dahlias by the house I'm not above using sluggo or deadline but I wouldn't do that around my veggies, and to be honest, once my soil health had improved, I no longer had to use anything because yes, there are some slugs, but my plants are so healthy the slugs don't damage them too much.
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Propagation 101 would tell you cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock, which would more often than not produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe or efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! The quick answer is, yes, it is possible to use rooting hormone to create saplings from the cutoffs, but we intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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That’s an excellent point. Invasive species shouldn’t be let go to seed, they should be cut back/ managed as much as possible through mowing, restricting water, and smothering or solarizing them with tarps or cardboard/mulch is a great way to slow them down, but longterm, a lot of the same principles put forth here apply, even to invasives: things like studying the soil conditions that favor the invasives that are goin, working to make the soil conditions more favorable to other, more desireable plants and then planting other, fast-growing species that will limit their access to sunlight and exhaust their root systems is the best way to go when it comes to eradication of invasives. There are organic pesticide options that, as a last resort have worked for certain seemingly in-iradicateable species, like injecting concentrated vinegar, and sometimes even stronger stuff into the living root stems are really the only longterm solution to perennials that are already really well established in a space. Which is why we want to try to get ahead of them as much as possible with the first options offered.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock, and most of these cuttings were too big to graft, not to mention, were harvested in the wrong season to successfully graft even if they could have been.
Cuttings that are simply cut, then rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking not to mention a tree poorly acclimated to the local growing conditions.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want, and cuttings make perfect clones of the origin species of whatever was grafted onto that dwarf stock. Without a diversity of species, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will be affected. And if something negative settles in, it has a veritable buffet of highly susceptible plants at it’s disposal, so it will multiply quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because then, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of apple but not another, then we only lose the crop from one tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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While you are nearly correct from a scientific perspective here, you're missing an important piece of the puzzle: wood does, to your point temporarily borrow nitrogen to kickstart the decomposition process, but the key word there is borrow. Wood chips are a natural sponge, which is why they help us with the absorption of excess water as well as the longterm storage and slow release of natural rainfall, both huge components in the arguments for their use, but that sponge-like characteristic also helps us as gardeners in many, many other ways too, not the least of which being that they actually make the nitrogen the very temporarily borrow more "digestible" to the plants surrounding them it is re-released into the soil. I'm 12 years into using literal dumptruck loads of woodchips in my garden, season after season, and will be the first to tell you that my soil is incredibly healthy and grows absolutely insanely nutrient dense food without the addition of any chemical fertilizers, organic or otherwise. If you're interested in a more in-depth explanation of how this process works and why, I made a video about this topic called "Is Lazy Gardening A Lie" last summer.
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For what it’s worth, I’ve actually discussed this, at length, with every truly phenomenal caregiver I’ve worked with through this service, because personal integrity with regard to the services I recommend is hugely important to me, and they all expressed feelings of deep loyalty and gratitude to the company for the opportunities for extra income, personal and professional development, and the chance to reach more people using the skills they’d developed. I’ve also built a personal relationship with several company executives in service of using my relationship with and influence through it for the betterment of everyone involved. BetterHelp has saved and massively improved a lot of lives by making mental healthcare available without the same hoops that make it extremely difficult for people like me to actually follow through and get the help we need, and until I encounter information that I can personally validate through the avenues mentioned above, that position isn’t likely to change. There are always a few bad apples and crappy experiences, and public accountability, especially where corporations, money and the potential for greed is extremely important, but it’s also way too easy in our current framework for those individual experiences and extenuating experiences to be blown way out of proportion and cause access to the good that could otherwise have been done to disappear entirely.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because, we wouldn’t want to propagate these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want- cuttings make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the dwarf rootstock, so cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
And further, without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees.
Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking.
Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees.
If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly.
As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.
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