Devon Viola

Mad Garden specializes in genetically diverse, resilient, native and food-producing plants of the Eastern US and beyond.
https://madgarden.us/

I grow a curated variety of trees and seeds on my 1/4 acre nursery (inspected and certified in the state of New Jersey) using no-till methods. All the plants are highly resilient specimens, grown in natural low-input conditions with no irrigation, no chemicals, and no special care (just love). I select mostly native plants that perform well under a wide range of conditions. Products include beach plum, persimmon, and chestnut seedlings; lofthouse sunroots; a direct-seed tomato seed mix; and more.

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Bare-root tree seedlings ship in Fall or Spring. Order now for fall shipping and select which week you want your order to ship. (Transplanting trees is a great activity to do on Thanksgiving morning!)

Here's the progression of the garden in the last 6 months! I created no-dig beds by laying about 2 inches of compost on top of the winter-killed weeds. I mulched the walkways with leaves.

My new plot also get slightly more sun than last year's plot right behind it, which was more acutely wedged into the surrounding woods. I have tree seedlings in the old back plot, and both tree seedlings and vegetables in the newer plot with the compost-topped beds.

The addition of compost has produced tremendous growth compared to last year. It's also rained way, way more than last year. Because last year's squash and melons were so skinny, yellow, and unproductive, I expected the same and planted things too close together. Now I can't walk through 4 of my beds. Good problem to have.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I'm planting things like black locust and walnuts far north of their traditional range in preparation for changing times and I guess I don't care too much what the state naturalists think.

I've heard the idea more than once that, here on the east coast, planting native trees from a few states south of you is becoming an important thing to do.
As someone with a vested interest in tree diversity I've been walking around a local university that has really excellent landscaping-- it's essentially an arboretum. I'm impressed with the diversity of native species that were planted in the last 50 years. I also can't help but notice the preponderance of 20-ish year old native southeast trees whose native range doesn't quite reach here.

Lofthouse sunroots grew barely taller than shown in this photo. But they still produced more tubers than I planted.

Corn also didn't love my shady sandy field. Some intrepid plants grew tall anyway, only to be devoured by deer. I planted corn elsewhere that did much better. The photo attached is one of the few special corns that survived shade, sand, drought, and deer.

Peppers did quite well-- the same varieties that did well growing under the shade of my corn last year. Buena Mulata and Fish Pepper, which are heirlooms from nearby. I also planted piri-piri this year, and they were great too. No other varieties were productive, but those 3 are amazing.

Direct seed tomatoes grew and they produced fruit on small, skinny plants. Currant, cherry, and a few salad sized tomatoes in red, pink, and yellow. A couple of the fruits were hairy. Tomatoes were not plentiful nor tasty by my standards, as someone who doesn’t like currant tomatoes. The hard part is getting them to also be tasty.

Carrots did ok.

Nothing else in the landrace breeding garden was noteworthy. Except maybe that I tragically harvested no potatoes at all.

I was pleased with garbanzos. First time growing those, too. The plants were so small I expected nothing, but like the favas, they did produce a seed increase.

Hey, a shame I didn’t update this til now, huh?
Between work and finishing my degree, the time really got away from me.

In summary, the whole garden did terribly! Brutal year of selection. But the things I was able to harvest seeds from, now I know they’re tough.

Favas produced a seed increase, but not enough to eat yet. By the time they bore green pods it was hot out, and about half of them died. The remainder produced mostly purple and green seeds. It was interesting to see ants farming black aphids on the stems.

Looking forward to growing them again soon.

Greg Martin wrote:I'd love that!  Do you have some now for sale or should I wait for the fall?

I have some that I harvested in October. If you're interested in those send me a message.

Greg Martin wrote:I ran across this a bit late, but wondering if you find that any of your plants are heavy seed bearers.  I've been hunting down seeds from plants that seem good at doing that in the northeast and therefore can't help but ask

Hi Greg, I appreciate you reaching out.

In my own garden I am selecting heavily for upland tuber production, in addition to seed production. I am still in an early stage of the project, so the best and most productive are the ones I feel inclined to hold onto.

That being said, my hopniss originates from a wild population down the street that is absolutely loaded down with seeds each fall. I can provide you seeds from this prolifically-seeding wild population.

I thought this was going to be a post about businesses buying conventional produce and reselling it as organic. That happens all the time.

I'm not concerned about certification at all, and am not that much of a stickler for perfect purity considering I'm inhaling tires all the time just by existing. But I am concerned that the farmer is farming ecologically and not doing anything toxic, environmentally hazardous or intentionally deceptive.

Nancy Reading wrote:

Devon Viola wrote: I taste-tested by variety-- and then from the varieties that tasted decent, saved the best looking individuals. As they cross in subsequent generations I guess I will have to taste-test individuals and then replant them.

Yes this is something that is getting me stumped as well. How to select future generations without destroying the parents....I made the mistake with my Swede (Rutabaga) of mixing all my starting seed together so I just took roots at random last year. This year I will sow the different varieties in different spots, so I know I have some of each (if I can). I don't think I will cull any at this first stage though - I'm too pleased that something grows!

I think with root vegetables you can cut off a significant portion of the root, replant it, and it will still produce flowers and seeds. I have not tested this with rutabaga. I think for rutabagas and carrots, the top part needs to be intact. You may be able to eat the bottom half, or at least cut some off the sides.
Whereas with a bulb, like an onion, it's the bottom part that must remain intact.