Starting out with humor

I have been wanting to start a food forest. You can't call what I have a food forest yet. I have an area with a 2 year apple tree on the east side a mature apricot/plum. Then a second mature apricot. On the north side is the back of the garage. The ground is covered with wood chips for a couple years now. Last year I planted lots of annual veggies. Now I'm trying to add perennial veggies.  I planted artichoke on the west side of the apricot because it needs full sun.  
I ordered a okinawa spinach in the mail.  Its ready for planting, it's supposed to like shade, so I planted it under the apricot/plum.  It's just a baby, and I need to add more wood chips. To protect it I used 3 pieces of old rotty fire wood in a triangle shape around the plant.  I've done this before and it works great.  The new plant doesn't get stepped on, the chickens can't dig it up, I don't forget where it is.  After I planted it I water of course.  My son walks by, and starts singing a silly song about  mom watering logs.  
I have a log I thought looked cool, and it sits in front of my greenhouse.  Later I'm in my greenhouse, and he pops his head in and tells me I forgot to water this log.  Cracked me up. Crazy mom waters logs.  Nothing better than gardening and having fun with my son.

An affinity for watering logs? Maybe mushroom growing is in your forested future! Tell him you’re practicing 😁🪵 🍄 🍂

This reminds me of a fake log commercial from a 90s cartoon that my siblings and I still occasionally reference.

My okinawa spinach is doing great. It seems to like the place I put it.  Under the other apricot I planted longevity spinach, and it's doing well. The longevity spinach I planted on the east side of the apricot didn't make it, thank goodness I got two.  The artichokes are doing well.  Tree collard I planted died. The tree collard still in the large pot was doing great, then the chicken ate all the leaves, but it grew new ones.  Today it isn't looking good.  I watered it well. I was thinking it was time to get it in the ground, until today. Might not be my year for tree collard.
Last year I had lots of melons I didn't see get to ripe.  I started a new job a month ago, and I'm still adjusting. I usually water the individual plans to save water, but I have used the sprinkler to save time. Now I have lots of volunteers.  So fun to see what I will get.
I bought a loquat.  It's a little guy.  I read it needs shade for the first couple of years, then full sun, so I will have to build a little trellis or something that can be removed.  
Still don't think it qualifies as a food forest, but I'm making progress I think.

Planted 2 beauty Barry and put three in a pot.  I got these in the mail about a week ago. Kept the paper damp, but if they don't grow it's my own fault.    I checked the tree kale. Only a few very small roots.  The beauty berry came with a free willow cutting.  I put it in the pot with the beauty berry and tree kale.  See if it helps stimulate root growth.  ( I wish I could plant the willow, but I don't have a safe place, away from septic, and water pipes.  If it grows roots I think I will see if anyone wants it.)
Planted one original comfrey. Crown root. And one blocking 14 crown root.  We will see if I can get these to grow. I haven't had great luck with comfrey.  These roots were about 4" long, and fatter then my thumb.  Both had a few little roots.  I marked where I planted them and mulched and watered.  I hope these actually survive.
I have also been throwing marigold and zinnia seeds in too.
I was so excited. Mushrooms. I thought my winecap mushrooms finally popped up.  Nope. They are mushrooms, but not something I can eat. Darn.  Oh well maybe this fall I will try again.

My food forest want to be is more want then be.  The only thing that made it was the common comfrey.  Gophers killed the Russian comfrey and the Okinawa spinach.  The tree kale didn't make it, or the beauty berries.  The longevity spinach made it until the wind blew off the cover, and the frost got it.  I don't know why the artichoke didn't make it, it was like  I just couldn't give it enough water.  I didn't manage to put more wood chips down.  
Luckily last fall I took cuttings of the Okinawa spinach and longevity spinach. Before they died.  I bought another tree kale cutting, and this one grew. I also bought and planted an artichoke. I'm thrilled to report it's large lovely and has 3 artichokes.
After weeding the area I want to plant twice, only to have the weeds come back before I managed to get anything done. I decided to have my son remove everything down to the soil level. I know you all think I have lost my mind. ( I'm going to dump the weedy wood chips into the chicken yard, they will enjoy digging through it, and eating all the bugs and weeds) I know this is not ideal, but sometimes shortcuts need to be made.  To combat the gophers I bought nursery pots. I drilled holes in the sides and bottom, then I dug holes and put them so they are about 3/4 in the ground.  In the pots I put old chunks of fire wood, soil, 2 year old wood chips, soil, then organic soil and compost. On the outside I will lay cardboard and cover first with the 2 year old wood chips, then top it off with fresh wood chips.  The area I'm not planting I think I will mow short, and cover with 8 to 12 inches of wood chips.  I know it will do the job as long as I add wood chips every year.
So basically the food forest is a blank space with a few trees, but someday I hope it will be more. It makes me think of my mom when I was young saying " If at first you don't succeed try try again.

I feel your agony Jen.  My goals always seem to exceed the time I have to get stuff done.  My food forest is in the beginning stages as it consists of eight peach seedlings and three elderberries I grew from cuttings.  I have two additional peach seeds, goji berries, raspberries and blackberries that have resided in pots for a year or more and I've lost a few due to neglect.  

I've adopted a new outlook this year in which I'm not going to dwell on what I didn't get finished, but celebrate what I do manage to accomplish.

Native Elderberries would be a good call to add, if you think you'd enjoy them. They're about the only thing so far that I planted that I have proof are coming up. The things are all over the place. At least, I know I likely won't ever have to buy those again. Lol

Cardboard down, and wood chips spread.  I wish I would have had the pots out of the ground a little more. I wanted them 8 to 12 inches above ground, but the pots aren't that deep. So it's a good thing I put cardboard down, because the wood chips aren't very deep.  I still have lots to do around this area, but I can plant this area now. I hope it works the way I hope it will, letting all the good soil life in, and keeping the gophers out.  
I added a picture of the comfrey that survived, and the tree kale. I hope it makes it, but I see loose soil between them signs of a gopher, so I'm worried, they don't have any protection.
Time will tell. I can't wait.  Happy gardening everyone.

I'm not sure my little experiment is working.  Pretty much everything germinated.  Everything looks good, but a lot of the melons died. Lots look healthy, but really haven't grown very much. They are just now starting to crawl out of the pot.  I do have a cantaloupe on the other side that is not only covering lots of ground, but has several cantaloupe on it.  Maybe the others are not getting enough sun, or maybe I planted to much in the pots.  It's been a strange summer, that probably hasn't helped.  There's still enough hot weather left I'm going to start a new pot of watermelon.( With a seedling)  It's on the other side with the cantaloupe that's doing well.  I changed my chickens waterer, so I had this bucket with 4 holes in it.  There's nothing else wrong with it so I drilled lots of holes in it and used it to plant in.  I didn't put wood in this pot.  I filled it with native soil and organic compost.  In the bottom of the hole are wood chips, and around the outside are wood chips my thinking was the soil is full of clay, so I hope the wood chips will soak up the water to keep roots from being to wet, but have water available when water is needed.  

I have managed to keep the gophers from eating my plants, now I need to figure out how to get the plants to grow well, and I will be in business.