Appalachian food forest

Renate Haeckler wrote:There are different biomes depending on if you're on acid or lime soil, and which direction you're facing but in general you can grow oaks, hickories, walnuts, and chestnuts well in the region, as well as brambles (blackberries, etc.). Apples, pears, etc. can do well also. I planted hazelnuts and they're thriving.

If your hillside garden is very steep then you'll probably want to terrace it and maybe look into the keyline information for catching and directing water so it doesn't just run off.

I was recently climbing the Pinnacle at Berea and was amazed - at the top of the hill, which was just a giant rock formation, there was a lot of thick rich spongy humus from the trees eking out an existence in the crevices of the rocks. The climate is *very* conducive to trees and grass, and pretty much anything green.

In Foxfire when you read through the history of people living in Appalachia, they used the trees a lot - sourwood honey, ran pigs in the woods, etc. They also grew cushaw squash and pole beans a LOT.

Conserving the soil from being carried away in heavy rains is a big consideration. Finding level and making paths, etc. level as much as possible is important because anywhere the grass is worn away will become a stream and carry soil away on you. Putting large branches across downhill sloping paths helps slow the flow but you can still get soil loss (what I'm dealing with here).

Greta Fields wrote:Hi Joseph
I have never been up on the pinnacle, but my mother talked about it a lot. The fascinating thing about cliffs is, they absorb water like soil, so things can grow on them, strange as it seems for plants to grow on rocks. The Indians knew how to find water and salt seeping out the bottom of cliffs.
I have joined that e-mail list for the food market and farms for the Growing Warriors around Berea....I guess that is how you got started, through them?? That is a great organization, sounds like. You are lucky having people like them around, and family too! I wish we had more activities like that around me. I read about one of the farms having an open house, but I couldn't go.
Well, I have just discovered that I have a perfect moist bottomland for Shellbark Hickories. My mother grew them on a seemingly dry yard, but the yard was built over a former swam, so the hickories probably sent taproots down into the old drainage flows under the yard.
You are right about the problems growing things around hills and woods. While you probably have good Central Ky soil, I have mostly acid humus. I have to modify the garden soil to grow ordinary vegetables...it is working though. I am getting nice tomatoes, beans and squash now.

Greta Fields wrote:thank you. That was one of my mother's favorite spots! Someday I would like to visit the pinnacle. I never took my mother back there when she was alive, and I should have. We used to drive 2-3 times per year to see her mother's farm in Boyle County, however.
Right now, am too busy to travel! I am in a local storytelling group that is about to put on a play, and we rehearse a lot. Also, I am still working on a house roof!
Greta

christopher Sommers wrote:Hello, this is my first post and although an older forum, I am starting my food forest in western PA. I am driven to make Appalachia a thriving region that brings abundance to this enduring place. On my youtube channel- theothermillennial , I have posted some videos on my tiny house project and my food forest plants. How is everyone doing with their systems? [/quote
I'll get ahold of you, I've been working towards the same across Appalachians for a couple of years myself. I get around, and would like to collaborate in time.

christopher Sommers wrote:Excellent work Clinton! In regards to your butternuts, do you see any issues with butternut canker disease in your part of the range? They have been hit hard in the central part and is expanding.