Jonathan Hodges

Roy Therrien wrote:First trees in!  Three cherry trees (Bing, Ranier, Stella) arrived a bit earlier than we expected.  That's probably a good thing, given the number of things we learned in the process.

Our major take-away from this first tree-planting experience was, wow, we gotta find an easier way.  Three trees took 4 hard days of work, often with two people.  That probably sounds funny to y'all, and frankly we enjoyed it, but it was wayyyy too inefficient.

My heart hurts for you here. Not just because of all the work you did, but because it may not have been the best for the trees either. Something I've heard from multiple sources, and have a little anecdotal confirmation of, is don't amend the planting hole. If you have a bunch of good stuff right in that hole, and regular stuff outside of it, the tree roots won't want to leave it, resulting in a potentially unstable tree that may not reach out to its dripline. Also, I'm curious about the logistics of your drainage test. Why do it after the trees arrived? It just seems like something you would do before you even order them, so you can plan to put in species tolerant to the conditions of the locale, or be able to amend the situation ahead of time.

Lastly, I am in the camp of not tying up transplanted trees. There may be some situations where it is needed, but the ties are effectively a crutch for the tree; they hold it upright so it doesn't have to on its own. If the hole is deep and wide enough, and you did a good job spreading the roots and backfilling the hole, then pressing out any air pockets, the tree should be able to support itself just fine. Then as wind sways it around, it will generally shoot out roots in the opposite direction to stabilize itself. If it relies on those crutches, it never has to develop the stabilizing roots, and may be prone to coming down when it's mature.

You guys sure have pampered those trees, and I'm not knocking you for it, but you are very correct in assuming that there is a much easier and faster way to do it. Trust the organism and it's ability to adapt and thrive.

For annuals, you may be overcomplicating it a bit. I use Pro-Mix w/myco and don't mix anything else with it for (when using for annuals) soil blocks. If the plants are in the blocks for longer than most before transplanting, like with peppers, I'll use some fish fertilizer a couple times just to make sure there is no shortage of nutrients limiting their growth, but that's it. The reason I don't mix anything else with the pro mix is because the density/compaction factor. You need the blocks to be compressed well for them to hold together, but if there isn't plenty of perlite or similar in the mix, the roots and air can't penetrate (or can't penetrate easily), and it stunts the growth of the baby plants. The 3/4" blocks have limited utility in my opinion. they dry out extremely fast, can only handle small seeds, and can quickly stunt the growth of the plant if not potted up right after germination. They seem to only make sense to use with seeds that have a poor germination rate, so you aren't investing as much soil mix and space into a lot of seeds that never come up.

I also start perennials, trees, shrubs, etc. in soil blocks, and for those I do mix in some vermicompost, alfalfa meal, and other slow release organic amendments to the mix, because the plants will be in the blocks much longer before going into the ground. Those are also the only plants I have found with the huge 4" blocks.

On a side note, I read in a couple different sources that 4" is the ideal size for most plants for root pruning, which is part of the huge sell for soil blocks. The claim was that any smaller, and the roots prune before they have reached a good efficient size, and the block quickly becomes filled with tiny,  but not as useful rootlets.  for me, this is important for the perennials, as the establishment or not of a strong root system before transplant can take years off of the time it takes for the plant to start producing, but for most annuals, I think the biggest advantage of soil blocks is space efficiency and eliminating the repeated purchase and use of a lot of plastic that ends up in landfills.

**I forgot to add that all the fungi/mushroom growth means is that there is some unprocessed plant material in your mix, which isn't a bad thing. The warm, moist conditions being provided makes it ideal for the fungi growth. I wouldn't worry about that itself, just the bugs and mold that could present a problem, but both can be mitigated with enough air flow.

I am growing red and white mulberries mixed in rows of other fruit and nitrogen fixing trees and bushes. I think your only real option may be the white mulberry due to your growing zone, but they would be excellent candidates from the system you describe. The only problem I have had here with them is deer. They strip all the leaves they can reach all summer and try to peel and eat the bark in the winter.

From that I would say your critters would be in good company chowing down on mulberry prunings.

Mike Haasl wrote:Thanks everyone!  I really like how it's attached to the coop.  Then it's a protected run in the summer if we're gone for a few days (just leave them locked in).  I haven't figured out how to do a full Edible Acres system with feedstock going in and compost coming out.  I'd also have to import a bunch of scraps to make that happen.  I am getting two buckets of food scraps a week that I put in there for the birds to pick over and to turn into compost.  But that's a far cry from what Sean is putting in.

Next year I may try to figure out how to store extra leaf bags.  Then in late winter I can add 40 more bags to make even more compost.

I'm also looking to replicate the system from Edible Acres. The schools in my area started providing all kids with fruits and veggies every day for free, whether they want them or not, so they end up throwing out tons. I already have one small school bringing me some of this waste which is feeding my birds, but I'll be looking to expand it come spring with about 20 birds total.

Thanks for adding more material to the collection on ways to implement this concept.

While I'm not quite in zone 3b, I kept chickens through the polar vortex a few years ago, and we get pretty low wind chills off of Lake Michigan, plus a couple hefty hauls of lake-effect snow each winter. While I don't mean to knock anything you are doing, in any way, shape or form, I suspect you may be overbuilding by a good margin. My chickens have been completely free range in the woods around my house for at least 3 years now. they come back to their coop most of the time at night, which could be described as the worst shed you've ever seen, with two feet of hardware cloth between the top of the walls and the roof. I built it that way to ensure ventilation above all else.

In the 3 or 4 years since I built this coop, I have lost birds to predators, but not had a single sick one, nor any frostbitten combs. As long as you get the appropriate breeds, chickens are very hardy creatures. Believe it or not, the past 2 or 3 winters we've had a hen hatch chicks sometime between December and February, with no real issues.

Best of luck on the rest of the build, and with your chickening adventures to come!

I would use it as mulch in the fall around the freshly planted garlic. By the time you are harvesting it will be well broken down.

Cy Cobb wrote:In your layered approach recommendation, is that for building a top soil where there isn't one currently?

It will do that, but it will also help to make existing soil better. I've found that the more consistent moisture and availability of organic material that this provides makes any soil better and produces better plants with less work than if planted in the exact same soil without amendments & mulch.

It really depends on how big the space is, how densely vegetated it is and how many chickens there are. I have a small flock of 5 1/2 (the half is a new chick) completely free range chickens that I haven't fed at all in 2 years, besides a couples times in the winter when the snow was really deep and they didn't come out of their coop. They forage over about an acre or two of woods, yard and garden area and show no signs of sickness or malnutrition, still laying plenty of eggs in secret places we don't find until they are way too old to eat!

Sandra Graham wrote:My tubers rarely seem to be near the plant, and this is true for all the varieties I grow. I think the tubers must be deep underground because I can dig a whole area over and find few or no tubers, even though it was teeming with medium to huge sun root plants. I know the tubers are there somewhere because the plants will spring up again thickly the next season. It’s incredibly frustrating and I haven’t heard anyone else mention this problem.

Have you tried gently loosening the soil around the plant then pulling the entire stalk out of the ground? Even if some of the tubers break away from the root stolons, you'll be able to see where they were leading as you pull, helping you to find the tubers.

Cy Cobb wrote:I have really good soil now, & I want to keep it improving.  My only complaint is, it develops a hard crust after heavy rain followed by really hot days.  It actually hindered some of my seeds from sprouting through the crust.

This is a sign that your soil structure is poor, which could also indicate that a lot of the good critters you want in the soil like worms, beetles, etc. may not be present. A nice persistent mulch, like wood chips or a thick layer of straw or shredded leaves will help retain moisture, preventing the surface from drying out, and will make the environment more welcoming for those critters you want.