Agnes Seitz

update Needle Mountain Food forest - zone 2 experiment  
thanks Koren for the offer on Manchurian walnut- Ill definitely get back to you come September.
We are having quite a winter here- definitely zone 2- we did get the -40 this year.but worse is that we go up and down so often- temp changes between -35 and + 2 in a week..and then again..and again.It will be quite interesting to see which of our trees and perennials will come back..for now we are still buried in snow- with another 2 months at least.
We do have about 40 small bags in the rootcellar..seeds in cold stratification- all new or at least most new ones to try..from stone pine, to swiss pine, hazelnuts to cicely and Japanese quince. It will be fun to see how they do..and we will work more on the nursery part for our sub arctic climate.
If it worked out..I have attached a few pics- from our first year- just clearing the area- to 3 years later..quite a development- in our very short seasons, with no watersource , semiarid climate, off grid, and no machinery use.
looking forward to hear from other zone 2 growing enthusiasts
Agnes
Southernlakes area, Yukon  

hello Etienne
and co

and here is the neighbor from down the road .. funny way to meet..

we did put together the mentioned  list a few years ago ..when we started out
since then we have tried a wide variety of trees and bushes and learned a few things along the way.

Yukon - Southern Lakes as mentioned would be zone 1A Canadian , mostly Zone 2 US and 3 is already a microclimate here..

while we had success in the sense that the plants survive winter - we got a few more challenges here
soil as mentioned- we have very young soils, maybe 1 inch ( we did start with actual bush land , never cultivated )
semi arid to arid-  low rain and no close water source
short growing season- most years we get frost in every summer month, average growing season 60-70 days

Along the way we have developed our own strategies to be able to grow  food - with low outside input and high biodiversity in Northern climate.
We grow and preserve all the veggies we need year round, have started a food forest research plot - to see what we can grow perennial wise and
plants that provide more calories. We currently have about 200 different plants in the annual garden and around 80 in food forest.

we have started our own little nursery- growing trees and bushes from seed - as well as strengthening bare root plants we buy- for a couple years before we plant them..
we have about 250  little ones  heeled in for next year- another experiment
and we are experimenting with biomass belt ideas - for fertilizing and soil building

anyone has  tried this in real cold climate ?

as well I am still looking for a source for Manchurian walnut seedlings ( that would also ship to Canada..)

any ideas  
or questions anyone..
Agnes