Andy Tynen

https://www.johnnynerdout.com/product-page/bbs02-mid-drive-motor-750w

https://www.johnnynerdout.com/product-page/52v-jumbo-shark

I feed insects and wildlife.

The only way I can think of using them is to make a jam, or leather.  I could probably collect a few gallons of berries.  They are mostly husk and seed, but they have a little bit of flesh and juice with a nice flavor. Maybe use a wine press? I don't have one but that's all I can think of.

Does anyone have a successful way to harvest and process kousa berries?  

Looking for suggestions for fruit and nut trees that require no pesticides or fungicide spray, for the southern Lake Michigan shore area (6b). Smaller varieties for a city lot preferred, and types that can handle sandy soil.

Some ideas...

On the north end of the property, plant a closely spaced line or double line of tall conifers, to try to create a bowl to hold solar warmth.

An area of vineyard on the steep slopes between the grazing areas on the hill might work, on the south facing slope.

I really like the terraced grazing areas on the hill.

You might want to check your forest for potential forage plants, and introduce mushrooms and raspberries into the natural wooded area.

John, we are in South Haven. My current goal with our city lot is to find fruit and berries that are pest resistant. We have a beautiful pollinator garden (lots of flowering plants) and a few fruit trees and bushes. So far I have found red currants and grapes easiest to grow. I am trying to get hazelnuts, peaches, blueberries, gooseberries and kousa to produce.

Beautiful property. Soil type?

If you use wood chip mulch, use the wood chips as floor covering in the chicken pen to get the wood saturated with manure. Without this step, wood chips take 2 or 3 years to break down and they pull nitrogen away from the plants.

Is the slope of the hill appropriate for grazing animals? A terraced, keylined slope would be very interesting but a lot of work.

I believe Mark Shepherd arranged rows of fruit and nut trees on either side of a narrow grass field to provide multiple grazing rows. Is there enough space in the flatter field area to plant multiple rows of trees?

Peaches are a wonderful fruit but they require pesticide and fungicide spray every week to 10 days from just before blossom fall to just before harvest.  This will impact pollinators, so be sure you are OK with spraying before planting peaches.  If you do plant them perhaps separate them from other blooming plants.

It took about 10 years to get our Lake Michigan dune garden going.  You are doing the right thing by adding compostable organic material, keep doing it.  Two other things we did: grow bushes and thick undergrowth (we grow flowers) to protect the soil from sun and wind, and use drip irrigation all summer.  There are still many challenges, some trees make it, some don't, beach grass tries to take over, other invasive such as Chinese yam came in with compost brought in, animals and insects love our garden and treat it like a restaurant.  We love our garden, it's a little paradise near Lake Michigan.

I have grown broccoli microgreens on shelves in the basement and extra production went into a dehydrator until dry, then zipped for a few seconds in a food processor to make microgreen powder.  I found it to be a good soup broth flavor ingredient. I would add a few teaspoons into any veggie type stew.  I don't know what the nutrient level is of dried microgreens but it may be pretty high, because fresh broccoli microgreens have very high nutrient levels.