Joao Winckler

Good to hear it actually worked out. The smell thing puts people off but you're right, a proper ferment smells more like cheese than rot. Did you end up diluting it much before applying, or using it fairly concentrated?

Yeah Norway maples near me did something similar last summer, just randomly stress-dropping while everything else was fine. Looked alarming but they bounced back. The weather thing rings true, it's been all over the place this year, hard to know what's normal tree stress anymore.

That's a long wait but a good result. Seven seeds from one fruit too, plenty to experiment with or pass on. Hopefully now it's fruited once you'll get a proper cluster next year.

The slug damage result was the most interesting part to me. Hard to pitch woodchip mulching to a lot of growers but fewer slugs is at least something concrete to point to.

Yeah the mild winter really did set things up badly. I had the same with squash bugs this year, way earlier than normal. The ladybug timing on the aphids is interesting though, feels like the predator pressure does eventually catch up even if it takes a bit. Harlequin bugs are nasty to deal with though, hand picking eggs before they hatch is about the only thing that feels like it actually does something.

Same here with my apple and pear trees this year, genuinely surprised when I measured some of the new growth. Suspect it's a combination of good rainfall at the right times and warm nights more than anything. Whatever it is I'll take it.

Finally sat down and mapped out my whole garden properly. Been growing fruit trees and perennials for a few years but never had a clear picture of how it all fits together until I drew it out.



All my vegetables are crammed into the top left corner next to the greenhouse. The rest is fruit trees and perennials, partly because they've been the most productive part of the garden by far, and partly because it's the back garden and my partner likes it to look nice. Hoping to claw back some more veg space in the next few years.

You can browse my garden in full resolution here: https://app.leaftide.com/g/joao/

I built Leaftide for this (biased, I know), but honestly just doing the exercise of mapping it all showed me things I'd missed for years. Stuff competing for space that I hadn't noticed, obvious gaps.

Does having a visual map actually change how you plan, or is it overthinking it?

Half rooting in plain play sand with minimal watering is pretty impressive honestly. Arborvitae seem to be one of those conifers that just want to root, unlike some of the pines I've tried. Good luck getting the rest to follow.

The leaf thing is interesting, I had no idea they were eaten as greens in parts of Africa. My experience with the berries was pretty similar to others here, mostly disappointing unless cooked down into jam with a lot of sugar to balance them out. Ended up pulling them after two seasons.

Congratulations on closing! pH 6.5 in Georgia is a solid starting point, you won't be fighting the soil much at all. Exciting that you've got space for all three projects, the cut flower field sounds like the fun part.