Revo Smith

I think that the main concern for these worms is that in the Northeastern United States (which is where they have been introduced so far), the temperate hardwood forests have evolved to build soil mostly through the falling of deciduous leaves. The point that I've read from university studies is that the leaf litter on these forest grounds would be completely consumed. I don't know how the total nutrient content of the soil would change much, but they might cycle the organic matter too fast for this ecosystem. Also there is the potential for massive moisture loss and then potential drought or fire if the worms spread far enough.
I'm not to concerned about it, systems change and evolve. The continuos consumption of leaf litter in this region would just allow for a wider range of seeds to germinate. I imagine that these worms among many other factors could contribute to the long term shift from a hardwood forest to a denser soft wood forest with more living mulches. This change has already stated since the European contact happened and fire suppression became common practice.

I have a woodchuck under my shed and peed on/in/around the tunnel entrance and also spread chili powder and flakes. I think he might have a poor sense of smell because it never bothered him. I've given up on being upset and just say hello when I see it eating my unfenced gardens.

    I've been thinking about experimenting with some coppiced and Pollard trees.
    My only input regarding deer pressure is that a Pollard tree may have its new growth and foliage up over the reach of deer, but if the trunk is not going to be fenced, it will be exposed to deer attack. The risk of tree death may be higher if the trunk gets damaged.
    With coppicing, the risk of new growth and foliage being damaged may be much higher, but if the coppiced tree is able to spread and mature, the density of branches would prevent the deer from killing the tree as they would only browse on the exterior branches.
    I would put in fences either way. If I went coppiced, I would fence the perimeter of the expected new growth. I think fencing a Pollard would be easier. Only requiring, a fence around the main trunk below the Pollard cut.
   I guess once you get going with either method, you'll eventually have plenty of small diameter wood to make lots of fencing. Might need to buy a few hundred feet of hardware cloth to get started though.
    Good luck and keep us up to date on your project!

    I would have to go with writing down observations and revelations. I spend a lot of time wandering my gardens and often notice interesting occurrences but rarely record these observations anywhere.
    I just got some small notebooks to keep in my pocket for this exact reason. I plan to write down any seemingly important ideas as they come to me, and will organize these thoughts into a yearly write-up. I think this will allow me to progress my efforts more efficiently and make time for more interesting experiments.

I make my own wine cap spawn and they grow all over my garden. They will come out different shades sometimes. I think it's based on age, moisture and sunlight. Here's some old and young ones I grow.

    When I moved into my current home in western MA, there was several steel trash cans full of sand in the "root cellar" (a section of the basement that had a low ceiling and dirt floor that was insulated from the finished portion of the basement. The room stays between 55°f-60°f throughout the year and was used for root storage by a previous owner. I haven't tried storing roots in sand myself, but with our humidity here, I would guess the sand stays naturally cool and damp without adding any water. I eat most of my roots fresh or leave them in the ground outside.
From what I've read, it seems that the most important function of the sand in to keep the roots from touching each other. I would imagine that staring with and empty container and adding layers, each covered with sand to ensure the roots are separated would be ideal.

    I know I'm a few years late, but I'm right across the border in western MA. Quince do great here! I've been cloning with cuttings and planting hedge rows. They flower pretty early and the fruits can be lost to a late frost.
    I'm having good luck with mulberry, pear, blueberry, Honey Berry, sun choke, woody herbs, hosta, daylillies, apples, horseradish, rhubarb, kale, mustard, strawberry.
I'm currently building trellis for kiwiberry (Geneva 3 variety) and hope for large harvests in the coming years.
    I eventually plan to plant some tree nuts and would love to get some seabuckthorn.

Ps: I've been planting potatoes every year and leaving them in the ground. This spring is the first time, I've had one regrow... So perennial potatoes too?

Hi there from western MA (5b).
    I grow Japanese purple mustard and mine have self sewn for the last 3 years. For the self seeding aspect, I think cutting back weeds and cover crop at the right time is essential for the seeds to come back on their own. For me, this means once the ground ivy has reached maturity and is is well into flower, I cut back or pull anything that is carpeting the soil. The mustards that come up in spring will usually bolt and will have resewn seed in time for fall harvest, which again, self seeds the next spring's crop. The Japanese purple mustards will get greener and elongate throughout the years. (Assuming that they are reverting to a parent gene) I grow mustards in sun and shade and the only difference is the mature size is smaller in shade.
    For kale, I grow red Russian and have a similar experience as I do with mustard. The difference being, the kale will not seed until the late fall and are harvestable all summer. (Even in July and August with 90°f sun)
For collard greens, I don't have problems with bolting the year of planting. They do good through our cold winters and will go to seed by late spring the following year. I will let the seeds fall to see how they self sew later this year or next spring.

The homemade shade cloth is really cool. I use 1/2" hardware cloth around all of my high value beds. I just wore tie them to rebar or sticks for support. Keeps the dog and cat from digging.  No top on mine, but I've noticed the slugs don't seem to get in those beds as much either.

I use mine to start apples from seed until they're ready to transplant into the ground. Mostly like that my food frame is vole proof and weed free.