Jobe Shores

Thanks again! I watched several hours of Stephen Hayes today and immediately understood about the different types of grafts for different applications. I also read the other thread that someone suggested, which was very helpful as well. I guess the next step for me would be to gather up my apple and pear scions and get them in the fridge. After this -15 F wind chill goes away of course.

Thank you all for your replies. I am excited to try my luck!

I have a small orchard based loosely on The Permaculture Orchard DVD (1/4 acre). I bought a grafting tool that cuts the notches for me rather than rely on my knife skills (which failed me on my last attempts). I'm in Central Illinois, zone 5. I'm just wondering when I should cut my scions, when should I attempt to graft the scions onto my selected trees? My scions will be from the younger trees I've been planting (in the ground 5 years or less), and I am hoping to graft them to my 40 year old (at least) apple trees and pear trees, and also onto some 8-10 year old volunteer peach trees. So, scions and 'rootstock' are in the same place. Can I just wait til spring and cut scions and graft them right away, or should I cut the scions and get them prepped to rest dormant in the refrigerator until spring. Is spring even the right time? Again, I'm wanting to graft apples, peaches, plums,  pears, and nectarines. Also, I have 2 apricot trees (in the ground 8 years, 1 Manchurian apricot and 1 dwarf moorpark apricot) that have never fruited and was curious about grafting peaches, plums, and nectarines to the apricot trees. I like to read, ( I've read almost every thread in growies and critters) so don't be scared to give me as much minute detail as possible, anything I need to know. Thanks a million!

michael- as far as i know, i've never seen comfrey growing around here. i had never heard of comfrey until a few months ago, though, so i'm hoping i can locate some local plants once spring breaks. but JUST IN CASE, i'm still looking for an alternate source. if there are no local comfrey plants to dig, maybe it just doesn't do well here, or maybe the conventional farming sprays have eradicated it from this area. but i'm gonna try it anyway

hey brad- thanks for the reply. i would definitely make a trade for some comfrey root cuttings. i have a huge assortment of vegetable seeds. you tell me the type of vegetable seeds you would like and i'll tell you what varieties i have for that type of vegetable. ie- you say tomato, i say i have cherokee purple, black krim, pink brandywine, black pineapple, gypsy, delicious, beefsteak... and so on. i probably have another 15 varieties just for tomatoes. let me know. thanks again!

I'm hoping to trade some left-over vegetable seeds for some comfrey seeds and/or any other seeds of perennial plants/trees that would benefit a food forest/permaculture orchard. My orchard is about 3/4 of an acre with a good variety of fruit trees planted and another 8 varieties of fruit trees ordered for march. I have a huge variety of tomato and pepper seeds, and, well, I have a 2.5 gallon zip-lock bag full of seed packets (the vegetable garden is an acre). Chances are, I'll have some type of vegetable seed you would use.

seeds i would like to obtain (probably forgetting some, if you live in central illinois and a plant is useful for you, feel free to suggest others)
comfrey
black locust
honey locust
siberian pea shrub
russian olive
bayberry
indigo

thanks in advance!

thanks for the help. i guess i thought i had searched this site for seed swaps, but apparently not well enough. i'm also checking the amazon site. thanks again

I'm hoping to trade some left-over vegetable seeds for some comfrey seeds. My orchard is about 3/4 of an acre. I wouldn't necessarily need enough seed to fill the orchard, obviously, just enough to get maybe 10 or 15 sprouted. I have a huge variety of tomato and pepper seeds, and, well, I have a 2.5 gallon zip-lock bag full of seed packets. Chances are, I'll have some type of seed you would use. Also, I would take honey locust seeds... Well, pretty much seeds of any beneficial perennial for a food forest/orchard. The more varied, the better. Thanks!

a week ago i put my 6 hens in a pen with a rooster, and now have collected 13 eggs. i borrowed an incubator but in 18 hours i still haven't got the incubator to a steady 99-100 degrees; it's ranging from 104 to 108. i'm almost tired of fighting the incubator (i haven't put the eggs in it yet) and also have recently read that hen-reared chicks out-perform artificially incubated eggs. the temps here (il) are anywhere from 20 F to 40 F this time of year, although it can get much colder some nights, and even some days. is there a certain number of eggs i could place in the hens' nesting box to trigger one to go broody? in fair weather i would just experiment, but i don't want to run the risk of the eggs freezing if no hens took to the nest. ideas, suggestions? my hens are barred rocks, black australorps, and silver laced wyandottes.

I'm in the early stages of converting a mostly-abandoned orchard into a permaculture orchard. I have found a few small mulberry trees, which I plan to leave. I also found a few small elms growing in the orchard, and was wondering if these would be a good contribution or something I should plan on removing? They are beginning to crowd out 2 peach trees that are around 5 years old. I'm in central Illinois, zone 5, if that makes a difference. I've started transplanting black and honey locust trees into the rows. I will be ordering 20 or so different varieties of dwarf fruit trees, and when I get the rows of trees established, I'll be ordering or transplanting a variety of shrubs (edibles and nitrogen fixers) and ground covers (again, edibles and nitrogen fixers). Any advice/ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!