Reinhold Atreides

Just wanted to check in to see if you've gotten fruit from your Shellbark yet? I've always heard they take decades to produce a usable crop.

Laura Poland wrote: Here are some of the species I've already planted in my wetland forest garden:

Canopy:
Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
Shellbark Hickory (Carya laciniosa)
Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Understory:
American Plum (Prunus americana)
Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
American Hazel (Corylus americana)
Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

Vines:
Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)
Maypop (Passiflora incarnata)

Herbs:
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)
Late Goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)
Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris)
Purple Giant Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariaefolia)
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

Just an Idea. I know you said you dont want to cut down the dogwood because of the loss of its appeal. Would you, though, consider replacing it with another dogwood that produces edible fruit? Cornus kousa and Cornus mas both produce edible fruit. Kousa producing large pinkish fruits with a somewhat tropical flavor and mas producing yellow or red (depending on cultivar) fruits that are tart and sweet, similar to a cherry. The Ukrainian cultivars can be especially large and sweet.

Besides that, kousa flowers look almoat identical to our native C. florida flowers from a distance. Mas flowers, however, look nothing alike, but flower much earlier in the season.

I really don't have a single favorite, however, I have a few I like for different reasons.

The fruit I get the most enjoyment from finding is definitely Pawpaw. I'm never sure if im gonne get to them before someone (or someopossum) else does. Also, the huge variation of flavor and texture from patch to patch makes them interesting.

The fruit that I look most forward to simply on taste are Hillside Blueberries, V. pallidum. I cleared a section of forest where I currently live (ridgetop) to make way for some bees. Doing so let in enough light for what I assumed were Deerberries, V. stamineum, to bloom and set fruit. Thankfully and to my surprise, they ended up being Hillsides and some of the biggest and juiciest I've ever found. I plan on taking them with me when I move to my new property and incorporating them in with the reat of my commercial varieties.

The one fruit I have a love hate with are Wineberries, Rubus phoenicolasius. Lovely flavor and abundant, but invasive.

I had three seedling peaches growing in front of my first home. They were small (around 2" in diameter) but extremely juicy and sweet. I would cut one down every year to use as smoking wood, and it would bounce back as a coppice and set fruit two years later. This way I always had at least one or two setting fruit.

As far as growing them on purpose from pits, I never really had any luck. I usually get them on accident. I compost the pits and they would periodically make appearances in my beds. I had one sprout this year in between my oregano and thyme. I plan on transplanting it to my orchard and then chip budding it onto one of my established trees next year.

Theres alot to read here. I'm going to have to come back to it later. I think that the old advice that seedling apples are bad is partially nonsense. All naturally derived apples started out as a seedling apple before they were named. Not knowing exactly what you are going to get is exciting IMO and a fun game to play if you have the space. Will it be astringent and mealy or delicious and worthy of its own cultivar name? Who knows unless you try it?

I recently purchased some asian apples grown in China from a asian market. I noticed the seeds were sprouting inside the apples so I figured why not and potted them all. I plan on planting them in the orchard in this fall. The variety translates from Chinese to English as Honey Core Snow Apple.

I'm no expert, but that looks like a great place for berries and I'm not sure you'd need to do much besides maybe make some swells to help the plants establish. I'm relatively new to tree fruits, so I hazard to give my opinion there. I will, however, say that most of the orchards I've visited have had much more slope than you do in your photo. Best of luck!

Hello,

 This is my first post. I recently purchased a used and abused tobacco 20 acre farm that has been leased and planted with corn and soybeans for the last 6 years with no care put into maintaining the soil. Now that it is mine, I want to heal the soil and turn around half of it into a sustainable food forest in order to benefit me, my family, and my bees. I've already begun planting an orchard and moved about half of my hives there. I've also begun planting timothy in the lower pasture,  which is currently completely devoid of grass and occupied by various brassicas, lamiums, and other similar invasives. Attached are two images to for me to link to in order to complete my profile.

Cheers,
Rein