Dominic Schultheis

Lorenzo Costa wrote:Sure is James, sure is!! Now the real work starts!

Hi Lorenzo

I'm sure you have started some very epic permaculture projects at la scoscesa. I can't wait to see an update when you have time.

I was attacked by bumble bees while planting trees today. Total of five painful stings (four on the head and neck and one on the arm).

While I was digging holes for planting, I hit a good sized rock that needed to be removed. A pile of rocks I had formed years ago for reptile and amphibian habitat was just a few feet away. I dug up the rock and tossed it onto the pile. The rock mound began to buzz...LOUDLY. I stood there and watched as 30-40 bumble bees slowly exited and hovered over the rock pile. Rarely in my life have I been described as fast, but I'm pretty sure I set an Olympic sprinting record for the 100 yards or so to my back door. The bees chased and stung me four times before I could get inside. I tried to go out about 30 minutes later to retrieve my hat and some bare root seedling trees I dropped during my escape. The bees were still waiting for me and got me once more in the head. This was only about 10-15 yards from my back door, so they were still protecting the nest nearly 80-90 yards away. An hour later was the same response but I avoided additional stings.

How long until the aggressive response of defending the hive stops?

That looks delicious!

Normally smoking means a very long and slow burn at low heat. How long did this cook for and did you have to fire the RMH the whole time? Or did you fire the RMH for a short time and then it kept the smoker at optimal temp for an extended time thereafter?

For example, in my ceramic smoker at home, I would burn lump charcoal and wood chips to keep the smoker at 225 degrees for about 8-10 hours to cook a piece of meat that large.

Thank you for sharing!

Dominic

Wow Lindsay, what a great start to your orchard!

I think I would want to include some nitrogen fixers in the tree and shrub layers. You have lupine for your herbaceous layer and clover for your ground cover layer. I would consider seaberry (Sea Buckthorn) for your shrub layer, which not only fixes nitrogen but produces a medicinal berry. The black locust is a great option for a nitrogen fixing tree in your area. Although, black locust does not offer a food yield, I've heard of people using them as scaffolds to trellis grape vines. My understanding is both of these nitrogen fixers grow quickly and don't need much attention to get going.

As for timing of your harvest, chestnut, hazelnut, apples, and pears are all late season crops. Cherries and plums are typically mid season. I would consider including some early variety apricots and peaches to balance out the yield of your tree crops.

Thank you for letting us share in your orchard design! Keep us updated!

Thank you Pete and Blake. I thought Autumn Olive as well.

Lets try that again...

Hello All!

I need some help identifying the shrub below. This plant is located in southwest Michigan on land that was bulldozed two years ago to prepare a home site. Soil is compacted clay with areas of standing water around. Thank you in advance!

<a href="http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/DimoDomo/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjcxpbg2p.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag114/DimoDomo/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjcxpbg2p.jpg" border="0" alt="Plant 1 photo image_zpsjcxpbg2p.jpg"/></a>

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<a href="http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/DimoDomo/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsnlyzgreh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag114/DimoDomo/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsnlyzgreh.jpg" border="0" alt="Plant 3 photo image_zpsnlyzgreh.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/DimoDomo/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1kmjnpdc.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag114/DimoDomo/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1kmjnpdc.jpg" border="0" alt="Plant 4 photo image_zps1kmjnpdc.jpg"/></a>