Steve Thorn

steward
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since Nov 12, 2018
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Biography

Steve started his first "permaculture" garden when he was about 7 years old and has been addicted to growing things ever since! It was only about 20 square feet back then, and he didn't know much about gardening except what was on the back of the seed packet, but he knew he didn't want to use any fertilizer or pesticides, and wanted to grow everything as naturally as possible.
Years later, when he got some land of his own, he started planting a larger garden, berry bushes, and fruit trees, and also discovered permaculture and Permies! Permaculture has made growing things so much easier and enjoyable! He is passionate about growing things naturally using natural farming and permaculture methods to minimize work and maximize enjoyment!
He is also passionate about saving seed and creating new and locally adapted vegetable and own root fruit varieties to increase the natural growing vigor, flavor, and pest and disease resistance of the plants, to make them easier and more enjoyable to grow.
Creating a plant nursery selling these types of plants occupies most of his free time right now, and he is hoping to start selling these types of plants and seeds soon! He has learned so much from the Permies community and is excited to learn and share our experiences together!
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Recent posts by Steve Thorn

I have, I didn't solely exclude them though to have similar offspring, so I don't get a whole lot as they are mixed with the others, but I have been getting more each year. It has definitely been my favorite color to show up that I have seen so far!
4 months ago
That's so exciting May! It really looks like it is going to produce quite a few apples so I bet you'll get a good sample!
6 months ago
Thanks!

I'm in zone 7b.

The one leafing out is a named variety, but I can't remember what its name is though. The seedlings are the ones that haven't leafed out yet, so appear to have the beneficial trait of leafing out later, and they had zero frost or freeze damage last year, even as young plants which are more susceptible, while the purchased varieties had mostly severe and some had moderate dieback even as larger plants.
7 months ago
It's coming along pretty well. I have about 5 seedlings so far that leaf out about a week or two after the parent, which should greatly help them avoid frost and freeze damage here. I transplanted them last spring, so they had some transplant shock and will hopefully have a growth spurt this year.

My other pomegranates will hopefully fruit this year for the first time, so if they do, I hope to have a lot more seedlings to evaluate!

Here are some pictures I took of how the young plants look with almost no leafing out yet, compared to the parent plant that broke dormancy a week or two ago. It is a little hard to see the seedlings, since they all pretty much are still dormant and look like sticks.
7 months ago
I plant all of my fruit trees this way now, and it seems to cut out a lot of problems. I try to bury it by at least 3 inches or more if possible and this seems to help encourage rooting. Also I had good results on trees using a knife to remove squares of bark of the grafted variety below the soil line, to encourage rooting.

Also an interesting observation I've seen, is that almost 80% or more of the own rooted trees that I've had, is that in full sun they are extremely precocious, producing fruit on their 3rd year, so they do equal or better than most rootstock, and they grow faster so when they fruit the trees produce more fruit with the same amount of time. I have a lot of trees this year that will probably produce at least 20 fruit their first year fruiting in their 3rd growing season!
7 months ago
I have dabbled in a little wood carving and found some videos on Swedish traditional wood carving that explained the different holds and carving techniques and found that really helpful, as with using those, the cut can be made in a way that safeguards from a major slip and serious cut. Minor cuts still definitely happen but it's the major ones that make me nervous.

With grafting however I try to use a glove on my left hand most of the time and a thumb guard on my right hand if the blade is really sharp. It seems like with grafting there is a lot higher chance of a thin scion giving way with a lot of pressure and causing serious cuts. I admit I like the feel better definitely with no glove though and a lot of the time don't wear one when I should.
8 months ago
Its a little bit warmer here, and I grafted pears today. I bet you would probably be fine there.
8 months ago
I have heard similar things from that place, that stinks.

If the trees just have an inch of roots for a five foot tall tree it won't be able to support it.

You could cut the trees back to 6 inches and  that may give it a chance to stimulate new root growth!
8 months ago
If the soil is not great around it, that could be a cause of the poor fruit quality. A good mulch could help build the soil and retain moisture during the hot months and encourage good fruit growth.

If it still doesn't do well I'd just cut it to 3 or 4 feet tall and graft on other varieties. Peaches are one of the hardest to grow where I live, so maybe even replacing it with a southern apple or pear might be better.

Good luck, hope it takes a turn for the better!
8 months ago