Growing our Grove

 You may know that our goal at Third-Acre Farm is to explore permaculture in sub-urban settings, and one of the most overlooked perennial food sources, I believe, is trees. In fact, one of our areas of focus is "food forests," which implies the presence of trees right in the name. So today I want to put a spotlight on the trees we are growing.

Fruit and Nut Trees:

Reliance Peach: late blooming to avoid deadly frosts. Moderate freezing hours. Free stone. Great for eating fresh or canning.

Persimmon: described as a cold tolerant tropical fruit. A tough skin and soft flesh that is described as tasting like honey.

Mulberry: a prolific producer that grows fruits that look like blackberries, which the taste also resembles. 

Butternut (White Walnut): a Walnut without the bitter or astringent bite. Tree sap can be cooked into syrup.

Flowering Trees:

Eastern Redbud: named for the beautiful leaf buds this tree produces in the spring. The buds are edible when picked young.

Shade Trees: 

Red Maple: A fast growing maple tree with beautiful red foliage. Tree sap can be cooked into syrup.

Sugar Maple: produces a sap with a 2% sugar content. Tree sap can be cooked into syrup.

Paper Birch: The papery bark of this tree has been used for building material for centuries. It can also be dried and ground into a flour. Tree sap can be cooked into syrup or drank fresh. 

Weeping Willow: the bark of the Willow tree is filled with Salicylic Acid, which is a precursor to asprin. Chewing on the bark can reduce inflammation, manage pain, and help control heartburn.

Bald Cypress: most often recognized as the tree growing out of the swamps in the coastal south, this tree also thrives in dryer conditions. A fast grower, this is one of the only deciduous conifer natural to the US. The needles turn brilliant orange in the winter before they drop.

Quick Look: Mushroom update

We've spent the winter practicing our mushroom cultivation techniques and have recently expanded the species we are growing. In this quick look, we'll just be listing all the cultures we currently have on hand.

Grey Oyster

Gold Oyster

Winecap

Maitake

Chicken of the Woods

Lions Mane

Wood Blewit

Pink Oyster

All varieties we grow are considered "Gourmet" in that they are intended to be consumed for food purposes. Some of them also have medicinal purposes such as immuno-support and improving cognitive functions. 

Future posts will focus on cultivation of specific varieties and in-depth looks into their benefits and uses.

What is Going On This Month: March

 

The year is March-ing on (man, that is awful) and we're really hitting the pavement hard with our seed Germinating! From the list below, it doesn't seem like a lot but most of my days involve some sort of putting dirt into pots. Our herb and capsicum starts are looking fantastic from last month and many need to be thinned already. As we're selling seedlings in May, thinning will involve lots of repotting, and I'm quickly running out of space! I'm very ready for warm days so I can start bringing trays outside to get some light.

As a reminder, my list will be specific to my garden for now but will grow to encompass general strategies for my region and FDA zone, which is 5(b).

Here's what we're working on in March:

- Starting Tomato seeds

- Repotting herb and capsicum seedlings 

- splitting Indoor plants

- Cold stratify sunflower seeds

- Cold stratify perennial herbs

- Inoculating Indoor mushroom gardens

- Building Cold Frames

- direct sowing Cold weather crops

Harvest Schedule:

- Indoor herbs

- Indoor hydroponics

- Indoor mushrooms