20121108 Tree Collard Propagation — 3 of 5 videos

Nov 082012

You have landed on Day 3 in this 5-day series of videos depicting propagation of tree collard cuttings. Enjoy!

First a video re “Collard Propagation”. Today’s video is part 3 of 5 (1/day) for the series! THEN some collard tree pics (below the video):

Tree Collard Propagation — 3 of 5 videos

Transplanting Tree Collard Cuttings for Propagation (pics):

Transplanting tree collard cutting - 1 of 4. Note the bend in the cutting. Could be very difficult to stab this cutting into the ground and keep the leaves off the soil-mulch surface. But working with what we have, we'll lie the cutting on its side. The extra length of cutting (not pruning it back because of the bend) will allow more root development and better ensure propagation.

Transplanting tree collard cutting 2 of 4. Perfect fit for this tree collard cutting that has two 90-degree bends in it. Permaculture principle #1 = the problem is the solution. Because of its twists and turns, this cutting has primo real estate in the topsoil layer – look at how well the cutting, or new root system travels horizontally, along the rich microbe-abundant topsoil layer.

Transplanting tree collard cutting - 3 of 4. The topsoil layer is returned over the cutting. Leave it as you found it. The soil microbes have had a heck of a day (I hate moving!), but they will get a second chance at thriving, alongside the transplanted tree collard cutting. The green manure (boring people call them “weeds”) are also pushed back into place with the lightly packed topsoil. Those plants/greens are going to be mulched over (next pic) so they will boost the existing community of soil microbes. And the soil microbes and the tree collard cutting’s new roots will live happily ever after.

Transplanting tree collard cutting - 4 of 4. Rice straw (old, perhaps last year's bale) is used to mulch over the tree collard cutting. Moisture retention is critical while the cutting decides to thrive or not. Note the chop-and-drop'ed dock plant (lower right); see text below re chop-and-drop.

Note the chop-and-drop’ed dock plant in the above pic (lower right). Sure it could have been ripped out while I was digging in the transplant. BUT, I would rather have the dock plant’s large, voluptuous leaves soak in the sun’s rays, create carbon (sugars) and other organic matter in the form of more leaves and a more developed root system. THEN, I will come along again (for the umpteenth time!) and demand that the plant start all over. Besides perhaps emotionally scarring Dock, the leaves I’ve collected can be used to make mulch, compost, or salad. The root system that was supporting all that leaf growth dies back; the leaves are no longer feeding it. Those died-back roots then become food for the soil as well as organic material that retains moisture for the new roots to come as the dock plant regrows.

Chop and drop video by TrevorsGarden.

Happy collard propagation and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121107 Tree Collard Propagation — 2 of 5 videos

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 082012

You have landed on Day 2 in this 5-day series of videos depicting propagation of tree collard cuttings. Enjoy!

First a video re “Collard Propagation”. Today’s video is part 2 of 5 (1/day) for the series! THEN some collard tree pics (below the video):

Tree Collard Propagation — 2 of 5 videos

Preparing Tree Collard Cuttings for Propagation (pics):

Collard Tree prunings, ready to trim the leaves from the stems for a meal. The remaining stems will be used as propagation cuttings.

Preparing Collards for the kitchen and for propagation -- 1

Preparing Collards for the kitchen and for propagation. When given the chance, work outdoors. Good vitamin J (joy)!

Preparing Collards for the kitchen and for propagation. The edible leaves have been stripped off of the harder/woodier stems. For illustrative purposes, I arranged the stems on the table to show you how far each stem is pushed into the soil. The line between pruners and sheath represents ground level. Note how little leaf bulk is left on the stalk; root development is the priority.

Soaking tree collard cuttings for tomorrow's transplant. We recently had a good rain. Plenty of nutrition in that funky water. The bucket was left outdoors to collect water; leaves were a bonus.

Happy collard propagation and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121106 Collard Propagation — 1 of 5 videos

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 072012

Tree Collard (supported by bamboo poles)

You have landed on Day 1 in this 5-day series of videos depicting propagation of tree collard cuttings. Enjoy!

First a video re “Collard Propagation”. Today’s video is part 1 of 5 (1/day) for the series! THEN some collard tree pics (below the video):

Tree Collard Propagation — 1 of 5 videos

Preparing Tree Collard Cuttings for Propagation (pics):

Tree Collard (supported by bamboo poles). Harvesting the collard greens is as easy as pruning the stems and leaves off the main trunk. Leaves are cooked down/steamed like kale. Stem sections can be added to stir-fry. Thicker pruned stems are best propagated -- stuck into soil and left be; a little water helps get the roots going. Soon those cuttings will become their own tree.

20121107 Tree Collard trunk split during propping up trunk. The "tree" is best kept from growing too tall because the wood is weak -- more of a woody vegetable than a tree wood. The split was left to fare on its own -- an experiment on my part to see if the fast-growing plant will repair the wound quickly. My perfect kind of science experiment -- do nothing!

Tree Collard in March, showing the perennial leaf canopy -- food, privacy, and animal habitat. The young tree collard is growing just uphill from The Bog, between apple trees (top right of pic).

Happy collard propagation and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121105 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 062012

You have landed on Day 6 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Today = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Seed Planting

Recording seeds used with camera, a portable note taker. These seeds were used to plant Straw Bale Recliner veggie bed, the planting area alongside our sidewalk. We planted first week of July and had a lush patch of sunflowers and pumpkin this fall. Skyward Pumpkins grew in this patch, from these seeds.

To see Skyward Pumpkins, go to Spore Lore’s blog entry at Skyward Pumpkins and Happy Halloween.

Seed Mixing Bowl with mostly green manure seeds -- vetch, fava bean, red clover, and white clover. I am a greedy planter; I want it all! I want my intended crop, perhaps some insectary plants to attract pollinators, and I want some green manure. Note that in the above bowl of seed, I mixed in soil. The soil will allow me to more thoroughly mix the seeds and give them bulk for my inexact hand dispersal (sometimes over my left shoulder).

Mycorrhizae to dust seeds before planting. Improves germination, plant survival, root development, plant happiness, plant emotional security -- JUST USE IT!

Paul Stamets says we can save the world with spore. He says more spore. I say Spore Lore!

Dusted Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds. The black dust is mycorrhizae spore; the granules might be spore, might be a nutrient. The black and white-striped seeds (left) are mammoth sunflower. The solid white seeds (top right) are pumpkin.

Planting out a sunflower-pumpkin patch. Spore-dusted seeds sprinkled and ready to go. Bed half planted (might be siesta!).

Covering planted seeds with a layer of rice straw to provide mulch and to protect the seeds. The thin layer of straw will provide enough cover to deter birds and other critters from eating the seed, will keep water from washing the seeds away, and will discourage neighborhood cats from claiming the veggie bed as a litter box.

Pumpkin plant on its way! Note how the seed husk was lifted out of the soil and through the mulch layer by the young plant. Also note how the mulch is in place at germination -- the plant does not have to be disturbed -- it and its mulch pack are ready to go. Just add water and sunlight.

Young Sunflower Plant boasting its seed husk. Note the delicate young red-purple amaranth seedlings off to the right of the sunflower seedling.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121104 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 5 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 052012

You have landed on Day 5 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Today = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Seed Saving

: Cold Storage Pumpkin. These pumpkin have been stored a few months since harvested last fall. Each pumpkin has seeds, so if the fruit does not look edible, perhaps it will provide good seed in a month. That fresh, viable seed can be dried, then planted. Note how the pumpkins were stored in an apple box; its pocket-hole liner allowed good ventilation UNDER the fruit.

: Dandelion seed in bowl. A high-sided bowl was used to dry this light, easy-to-blow-away seed.

: Drying Tomato Seed. A lot of moisture here; to protect the bookshelf (tray of seeds will be stored above to dry) a plastic cafeteria tray, newspaper, and office paper are used to soak up the tomato’s juices. Note the use of the fruit labels for easy labeling.

: Sunflower drying over winter. A corner of this room is used to dry the sunflower because A LOT of debris will fall to the ground. A dropcloth under the drying stalks makes cleanup/harvesting fallen seed easier.

: Sunflower head, dried, ready to have its seeds harvested.

: Harvesting Sunflower Seed. I like to also harvest the dry pulp from the head and mix it in with the seed before planting. Benefit unknown re mixing in the pulp, but my gut likes the idea.

: Harvesting Callendula Seed in a bucket. The still-alive and well plant is leaned into the bucket so that those seeds that are ready to fall will will not scatter and be lost (unharvested).

Yes, seed collecting is fun. And, don’t forget partly why we do it — to increase food producion and increase biodiversity. So what happens to those critters that get captured during our seed harvesting? Start by giving them a break!

: Allowing critters to escape from seed harvesting might be as easy as providing them access out. In this example, the bucket was rested on its side to allow critters to crawl out. Note the tucked-up-against-the-bucket hose bib. Nice to give the critters a chance to escape, but would be a bummer to have a breeze roll the bucket and dump all the seed — Nature’s way of saying, “These seeds belong HERE!” Note the escaping Thompson Jumper spider on the right.

: Weevils Trapped In Holyhock Seed Bag. The pruners are being used to keep the trapped weevils from having to spend months in a plastic bag. Besides clearing my conscious (one of the weevils could be Grandpa Tony!), I also want to free these glorious ambassadors of biodiversity because they pollinated the holyhock in the first place.

: Hey gang! I found it — this is the way out.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121103 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 4 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 042012

You have landed on Day 4 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Today = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Green Manure

Squash grown for green manure to establish new planting bed. The over-planted (like WAY TOO MANY!!!) squash and pumpkin vines will be harvested to create soil. Likewise, the vines could be "chop-and-drop'ed" in place and covered with soil -- the vines would become a rich source of compostable material as microbes, fungi, and critters (insects, etc.) break it down.

Tony harvests green manure (squash vines) to feed earthworms. Those are not just squash vines that have grown ridiculously abundandant. Those are sheets of moisture, sponges of sugar, and whole communities of resident microbes/insects. Earthworm bin, compost pile, under a new soil mound, the harvested squash vine is a delicacy for the garden.

Sure, composting can be rewarding. But frankly, I hate turning the pile. Permaculture slacker! But I do try to make up for some of my sins. My favorite use of green manure is to pile it and mound soil over it. I try to imagine the busy life of microbes/crawly critters/earthworms/mollusks/a rooting skunk all working the pile. Indentured servitude in my soil mound, and I have no guilt! In fact, I have provided jobs.

Green Manure from Norwegian Hill Basket.

Harvest from Norwegian Hill Basket. The fruit is nice, it's food. The squash flowers are very nice to have; they can be breaded and fried for a delicacy. The green manure, and a piled high wheelbarrow of it!, is Life worth living for, realized dreams, a reason to keep on going. We now have organic material to create healthier soil. Talk about riches!

And my favorite use of green manure — burying it. For one, I believe plants above the mound will have an easier time sending roots into the warm soil. Roots that seek the warmth and nutritious moisture that the breaking down greens provide will send roots along the loosely packed decayin greens and grow far and wide.

Leaf Trench Highway filled with green manure, including squash greens. LTH, our soil-making trench, stores our green mulch for six months to a year. The greens are layered with other garden assets, like brown leaves, rotten fruit, and twigs according to REMP standards. Invented by you, whenever you find the time, Real Estate Marketting Principles, are very effective in the garden -- what can you do to have microbes and critters big and small want to move in your mix of organics. For one, water the area. Once you attract the critters and microbes, relax. Harvest your compost-rich soil when ready.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 4 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

Chapter 5 (“Resources” by Anita Smith) — page one

5- Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond No Responses »

Nov 242010

Chapter 5 (by Anita Smith)

Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond

One need not sit very long nowadays with unanswered questions about the garden, the environs surrounding it, anything, really. There is so much information available. In fact, the real challenge might not be finding information on a subject, but rather acting, doing, or creating. Regarding your garden, eventually you will want to take a leap, and what better place than in the garden.

-Tony McGuigan

Introduction

Has Tony’s passion or sense of humor infected you yet? What Tony’s doing in the garden and offering the world through his writing, I believe, is unique. Watch out, his perspective and playful approach is contagious! By this point in the book I bet that you’ve at least smiled and giggled some. I hope you’ve felt your heart expand and warm, and your childlike excitement and curiosity about the natural world reignite. I hope you’ve also been touched by hope; a sense of hope about the possibilities for a more healthy, equitable, and sustainable way of living. There are countless things we can do—no matter who we are or where we live—to make the world a better place for everyone and all life on this precious blue orb. The resources in this chapter are intended to help further tantalize and support you on your journey.

There are a few things I want to mention before jumping into this offering of resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond. First, I’m operating on several assumptions here. One is that biodiversity is a good thing. The more biodiversity on the planet—on our continents, in our watersheds, and around our homes—the better. It’s like having a well-stocked toolkit for keeping things running smoothly and fixing things when they break. There are, of course, some ecosystems that naturally have lower biodiversity than others and have evolved unique and intricately balanced dynamics. As a dominant species though, we’ve done WAY too good a job of messing with those dynamics nearly everywhere on the planet, and we have significantly and alarmingly reduced Earth’s biodiversity in the process. If everything is indeed connected—as nature shows us it surely is and many wise people have intoned—then that diminishment of biodiversity is bound to plague us. We would be wise to proactively address this rather than ignore it or wish it away. Recent advances in the study of human ecology, specifically reconciliation ecology, are part of the resource toolkit we can draw upon to help inform our proactive response. Reconciliation ecology is the science of inventing, establishing, and maintaining new habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work or play.

For more of Anita’s chapter, Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond, see Tony’s book, Habitat It And They Will Come .

Cheers.

Tony

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