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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Zone 7b/8a Temperate Humid Subtropical, Eastern NC, US
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Recent posts by Steve Thorn

I have very high deer and wildlife pressure here also, since my garden is about 50 feet away from a stream which is like an animal highway. I put up a 4 foot fence at first, and the deer jumped it like it was a game . The posts were 7 feet tall though and I didn't want to buy a whole new fence, so I tied a string to the top of the posts at the 7 foot mark, above the fence, and I have never had one jump it since. I think the visua barrierl at the 7 foot line deters them. I dont know if that would count for the HOA but the fence would technically only be 4 feet tall and just the string tied above it. Good luck Matt!

Steve

Cristobal Cristo wrote: I always pick standard or close to standard rootstock that will make large trees for three reasons: lifespan, better tasting fruit, potential drought resistance.



I love standards for these reasons also. They also seem to be much more generally healthy and resist pests better for me also.

I have had good luck with seedling rootstock and bury the graft underground to encourage the fruiting variety to send out its own roots.
6 months ago
Awesome picture Jenny! Those flowers do look amazing!
6 months ago
An energetic performance that always makes me smile.

Every time I hear this song I think of it as "Permie Hard" instead of "Party Hard".

7 months ago
I had about 20 peach seedlings sproutimg this year, and we had a pretty unusual hard late freeze this year, and it appears to have killed all of them unfortunately.
7 months ago

May Lotito wrote:Now what do I do with the dead dry shoots? Do I need to prune them all off?



You can prune them off if you can easily do it, but I've had the same happen to mine, and I just left them, and they were fine.
7 months ago
I don't think you'll have an issue with the peach close to the house. I haven't noticed them as having a damaging or crazy vigorous root system. Mulberries however, can go a little crazy!

I think close to the house will also be an excellent site because peaches seem to be my earliest bloomers, and the heat from the home should hopefully help with protecting it from late frosts.

Good luck with your peaches!

Steve
7 months ago
Here's a picture from today showing just how much our blueberries love water.

I planted these on the edge of a ditch this winter and when we get a lot of rain (like we have this weekend) they go completely underwater.... and they love it so far and have already put out some healthy new growth!
7 months ago

Debbie Ang wrote:Hello, Steve.  Would love to test some of your seed here in dry, hot Utah.  This year I purchased several moschata varieties from Baker Creek and planted them in a sunny area of sandy loam amended with some homemade compost.  It was watered a couple times per week (we had a much hotter summer than usual, with more than 30 days of triple-digit temperatures).  The harvest was unimpressive - very few, mostly small fruits.  I plan to save the seed from all of them and plant them out next year.  Adding some of your seeds will likely help the overall population genetics.  Thanks.



Thanks Debbie, I hopefully plan to start offering them next Spring!
7 months ago

john Harper wrote: Does anyone know how Native Americans traditionally dealt with squash bugs? I haven't been able to find any info about this.



I bet they bred for natural squash bug resistance. I'm trying to do the same thing.

I noticed that the more organic matter and healthier the soil was, it helped give the plants more reaiatance as well.
7 months ago