Nick Dee

I appreciate all of the feedback and tips so far!

To add some context and answer a few questions,  the site is in west central Illinois, the area is a CRP pasture, below is the soil test from last year.  The only issues I have had so far is woody apple aphid but those seem to be under control now.  This will be the 4th season for the trees and only a couple started producing last year.  

PH 5.5
Phosphorus 41.0 lbs/A  Low
Potassium 270lbs/A   High
Calcium  2736 lbs/A  Low
Magnesium  341 lbs/A  High

Organic Matter 2.4%
Cation Exch  11.1 meq/100g

Hello,

I have a small orchard at our farm that has 21 trees and I am looking to improve the soil.  The farm is land locked with only an easement road so supplies are limited.  
I am thinking of acquiring some horse manure from my neighbor and putting it down first.  We have a couple of bales of 2-3 year old alfalfa hay that I am thinking of tearing down and using that to cover the manure with.  I would then like to establish clover in the main rows to minimize mowing and attract insects.  Once it warms up I will then plant some perennials in the mulch rows to attract beneficials.  

Is this enough to really improve the soil?  Is there anything I am missing?

I appreciate any feedback or advice.

Thanks.

Please help me figure out whats wrong with my apple tree and one of my gray dogwoods.  The apple tree has 2 branches that are full of dead leaves.  The dogwood has been taken over by these spots, and now the leaves are falling off.  Any advice or insight is appreciated.  

I came across 75 bare root saplings at a yard sale today. 25 Redbud, 25 Dogwood and 25 Gray Dogwood. A guy had bought them from the state nursery and for some reason didnt want them so I gave him $10 for them. I really dont know what to do with them, I just couldnt pass them up and let them die! I have a big yard so I have room for a few of these to go in permanent homes.

I would like to try my hand at being a nurseryman and grow these up for a year or 2 (or more). Maybe use them for gifts or sell them at a later date. Question is-how can I plant them now so that they are easy to move in the future? I was thinking of building a berm out of compost and mulch them-would that work? Any ideas or direction is appreciated!

Attached is a pic of a family farm that we have.

It is 5 hours from my home so my goal is to turn parts of it into a food forest type setup. I have a 1/4 acre permie style garden in my backyard, that is the extent of my experience so I am seeking input and ideas, please!

My uncle owns the property but I am heir to it to he give me mostly free reign.

Farm is 100 acres in central Illinois(5B). The center of the map is roughly the peak of elevation, it gently slopes down from there. The property eventually slopes sharply to a creek bottom bordered by lots more of the neighbors corn The inside 10 acres is GMO corn sprayed with god know what. My uncle is old school and still believes that is all ok, I am working on him though. The other 20 cleared acres, is in CRP, we can plant 2 acres in food plots for wildlife(food plots in green). Within in those 2 acres I want to begin a low maintenance kind of food forest. A place where I can get some food off of when I go, a place where I could go if SHTF and have a good base of food production. Since it is 5 hours away, I can only get there about 6 times a year. I could do once a month is absolutely necessary. I am not immediately interested in massive harvests of whatever I plant, but I would like to consider the possibility of it in the future.

The woods contain plenty of oaks, blackberries and lots of other things that I am not familiar with yet. The food plots are planted in clover, winter wheat, daikon radishes and some brassicas. I am thinking of planting hazelnuts, apples, pears, grapes and some greens like lettuce and kale.While these are not perennial, in my experience if they are left to go to seed they thew will readily re seed themselves and almost appear perennial. Also some ground covers such as clover, comfrey and so on. This will be an evolving project and I am interested in hearing what others would do.

What do you use for a seed starting medium? Why? Im just curious.

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far! I am fortunate that we dont have any animal problems such as squirrels here!

When I build the bed for these do I need to do anything special? Or is standard bed preparation the norm?

I am planning on planting a hedge of hazelnuts for a sort of privacy screen. I have been searching for some companion or guild plants but havent found anything specific. I was thinking of some other shrubs that would bloom at opposite times from the hazelnuts possibly.

Any ideas? Thanks!

I should have mentioned that the local concrete company will donate the concrete materials.

We have found that engineering an older (2001) greenhouse is a real challenge. It wont meet 2012 International Building Code for load capacity or wind load. That means we need to beef it up, which wont be cheap.

We have talked with a few retired construction managers, I believe we can get one of them to lead the erection of the greenhouse.

Most companies we have talked to have never built a greenhouse and they seem afraid to try it. So far only one company has been willing to even bid it.