Matthew McCoul

Seems like just a temporary problem. Back up and running now for me too.

Title says it all.

For those unaware, Plants For A Future is (was?) A searchable database of countless plant species a person might use in permaculture, regenerative ag, etc., along with detailed write ups on each. Truly one of the finest online resources out there.

Now, their website redirects to an ambiguous "web security console" called "Plesk"/"Mochahost" and links to parts of their site simply 404.

Anyone in the know about what's going on there?

Let's talk seaberry!

I'm in Zone 5b michigan, looking for unique edibles attuned to the kind of cold we get, and seaberry seems like a great tough option for food and nitrogen at the same time.

I've come to understand there are a LOT of varieties of seaberry. One Green World has some ~15 varieties at a glance. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed choosing the right ones for my design without more information, so I'm wondering if anybody here has experience with some of these varieties.

I'm looking for a handful of varieties to fill 2 distinct niches in our site.

One: large bushy, vigorous varieties for nitrogen fixation in our hedge. Good fruit flavor and production are a bonus but not a requirement here.

Two: compact (4-8ft), productive varieties with high fruit quality for a berry bush area. Flavor, fruit size and sweetness are key here, though some tartness and even a tart variety with exceptional flavor are both fine. At least a majority of them should have a flavor suited for fresh eating.

Thanks in advance! Really looking forward to hearing your experiences.

I'm designing a simple guild for under a friend's mature standard (20ft+) apple trees. The trees are not picked for any purpose outside occasional snacking and that's unlikely to change.

It's family Property, so the whole family including his suburban-gone-rural parents have to approve of the design.

Some goals for the project are:
-low maintenance (friend, friend's parents)
-aesthetically pleasing  (friend, friend's parents)
-support tree health (me)
-easily propagated plants (friend, me)
-simplicity (friend, me)
-low cost (all)

Right now, I've got chives at the drip line, comfrey within the drip line, ligularia for a shade tolerant beautification, and I'm considering something to replace the grass for the pathways.

Any suggestions?

Sort of a sepecific question, does anyone know if there's information on the average amount of leaf litter produced by different trees and shrubs?

Curious regarding different parts of a set-and-forget soil building method, this is just one of a thousand questions that go into it, but it's one i'm having trouble finding data on

Craig Dobbelyu wrote:I have two siberian pea shrubs that are 5 years old and roughly eight feet tall and about 6 feet wide in full sun.  They produce a few ounces of viable seeds yearly.  If you want them to be used in any sort of feed capacity, I would say that you would need more than a few plants.  I recently started a hundred or so seedlings in order to make a feed hedge for the future.  They are easy to grow from seed and are very hardy.   They grow pretty fast and don't need any attention.  The flowers are nice and attract many pollinators in the early spring.  

Maybe start with a few plants and then use them to produce seeds for later propagation if they work out for you and you needs.

They've got ample food already. My question is basically whether the peas are edible to them. No good planting toxic plants around my ducks. Even if the trees don't produce an appreciable crop of seeds, they're mostly there for nitrogen in the first place.

That's a good start. Thanks for including a reference too!

Anyone have a second opinion?

Hey folks, I'm considering growing a few redbud and siberian pea as coppices for nitrogen fixation and to a lesser extent food.

We've got ducks. Does anyone know if they can/willl eat the fallen/low to the ground peas from these? They've already got ample food from wandering our near to 2 acres so this wouldn't be a major or forced part of their diet, but more food couldn't hurt.