Steven L Williams

Oh my gosh, many thanks to you and everyone else who has helped me with this.  Just the mere mention that this elderberry plant might be similar to the water hemlock had me feeling really doubtful about my abilities.  I checked online and most especially Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants.  I have also been making tinctures just recently.  It is definitely very interesting to dive into all this!  Our place kinda rewilded itself over many years before we bought it, due to the house and "farmland" being too derelict for most to consider.   Anyway, thanks again for all the help and support!  I will likely be back with more wild plant identification in the future...mostly to calm my nerves about my lack of knowledge  Happy day to everyone!

Drying them now.  First time making tinctures.  There is conflicting information out there about it but drying seems safer.

Yes.  The plan is to dry the flowers for a tincture.  Any tips things not to do?

Hi there.  We have plants that we are confident are elderberries and not water hemlock based on every characteristic we can find but the consequences of a mistake would not be good.   The four attachments show key features.  The plants are anywhere from 6 to 10 feet tall.  If anyone cares to weigh in on this it would be reassuring.

Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies.  As to my main question, it looks like I should burn the cedar instead of chipping.  I don't know if there is a definitive source of information on survivability of the fungus but I won't take the chance.  Regarding the apples in general, fortunately we aren't growing them to sell so even partial success will be ok.  We have some resistant varieties and some susceptible varieties so we will see what happens.  We've overplanted so even a poor result may provide enough for our own use.   When buying more trees, rust resistance will be the main consideration.

hi all.  We have apple trees and last year saw symptoms of cedar apple rust.  We have a lot of cedars as well and after examining them have found some cedar apple rust galls and possibly some quince rust spots on some of the branches.    We are pruning and taking down some of them and my question is whether the galls and rust spots will persist if we shred them or is it better just to burn them.  Anyone have thoughts on this?

Hi.  Just created a permies account and am wondering who's out there in the area around Greensboro, NC.  We have been in the area for about 3 years now and are making a lot of progress towards self sufficiency including food production (garden, greenhouse, eggs, livestock), solar energy, and lessening our carbon and pollution footprint.  Curious to know who else is nearby or about events and gatherings that might be interesting.  Stay warm!