Revo Smith

That looks like a coyote to me. I grew up in Colorado where the coyotes look Wiley and wirey like the cartoon, but now reside in Massachusetts where they look like this. The eastern coyote has been crossed with the red wolf in the 90s and is much larger than their western cousins. I've seen several in person and they do seem like wolves, but the picture you have looks like the eastern yotes I've spotted here. Either way, it's a great pic and a beautiful animal!

I use an inline hose filter for the garden. It was about $20 and I replaced it every year. I spend so much effort trying to build my soil and don't want to stunt it's life with unnecessary chemicals.

In 2023 I directly sowed apple seeds into cages and still have 2 nice trees. I don't do much weeding, so I decided the trees should be at least 6" before they are placed in cages and left on their own.

I make the cages out of 1/4" hardware cloth and use them for any perennials that voles and woodchucks like to kill.
In the beginning of 2024 I made a hot house for safe seed starting and season extension. It is vole proof and easy to work in (the roof is hinged on both sides). I grew mostly apples from seed in the hot house and transplanted into pots at about 3-6". The apples stayed in pots until late summer/ fall, then some were planted in cages, given to friends, or kept in pots to overwinter in the hot house.

As of right now, I have planted 17 apples in my small yard (out of 50+ trees and over 70+ edible annual/perennial varieties). I plant everything extremely close and maintain year round living mulch by cover cropping. Most of what I grow is chop and drop soil building with plenty to bring meals into the kitchen.

I've acquired 2 acres that extends from my back yard and have already started clearing space for more planting. I've built and buried about 50 more cages and have them spaced about 3-4' apart. I will alternate planting with seedlings, cuttings, mature trees and bushes, and cover crop/ annual crop in between these rows.

I work at a restaurant and have been added hundreds of apples seeds to my hot house this winter and expect to have another 100+ seedlings to plant this coming summer.

I don't have any particular goals for what I'm doing, it's more of a compulsive curiosity. I don't mind pruning or even lethaly chopping any of my plants. I do what I need to to maintain paths and maximum photothinsasis. I will come back next winter to show this year's apples and report on their growth and habit.

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.