top set onions, tree onions, walking onions, egyptian onions

 If you haven't tried these they are wonderful for the food forest, or for any garden for that matter. If you know of someone who has them, they'll happily give you starts, as they are prolific multipliers. They multiply below ground, and above ground on tall stems. They grow these clumps of baby onion sets in t he summer on top of a long stem, that will dry and bend over so that the clump touches the ground. Each tiny little onion on the clump will grow a new onion plant. The bottoms will never get as large as a big onion, but they are good eating. And even the little top sets can be pickled if you have too many. In Spring they produce green onions that are wonderful in salads.

This  year I had so many, even after replanting hundreds, giving hundreds away and walking through my food forest paths (see other posts) and sticking little sets in all along the forest paths, gurilla gardening style.

Freezing Blossoms

 

Well, we had 80's in March, 70's in April and 60's in May, and 19 to 24 degree overnight now. The warm Spring weather encouraged all of our fruit trees to blossom, and our perennials to grow. So far since the perennials have come up and the fruit trees started blooming we have had dozens of hard freezes and several light frosts. It's so disappointing knowing how hard this is on the trees and vines and plants. Right now the plums are already dropping their blossoms as are a few of the pear trees, the peaches are just opening now and the apples and grapes are holding on tight to their buds. There have been a few wild strawberries bloom so far, but the rest of the berries are holding on as well. I've picked 22 small morel mushrooms already in the lawns near our back woods.

We have 30'. and  20's in the forecast for the next two weeks yet. Last year we lost a lot of fruit and grape buds to late spring frosts in May and June which limited our fruit harvests. Looks like we'll be in for this again.

So this spring I've mostly been doing cosmetic stuff on the property. Cutting up downed trees, picking up branches, pruning and weeding. A little dividing and moving and planting. 

Can't do too much until the weather clears up, but I have tomatoes in the greenhouse ..and  Basil. And lots of starts growing in the house waiting for the weather to stabililze. Hope you are having better weather than I am and don't lose everything to frosts.

Sustainability

Sustainability, what does it mean to you? 

To me, sustainability means keeping all of your property as close to how nature would have it be. Looking around your property, is your property sustainable? Would a black bear or a deer be able to find a safe place on your property to sleep? If the grocery stores had no food, would YOU even be able to go outdoors, to your own property and be able to find enough food for you and your famiy?? I would. I have made a habit of planting enough food and cover and  browse for my family, and all of  the wildlife that would like to live on my property.  

Often a lot of people think that they are sustaining the planet by driving an electric vehicle, or recycling their trash. Not true. There is nothing sustainable about any of the liberal idea of green living at all. How many trees have they planted on their property in the past year? The past 50 years??

My husband and I will have been living on our property for 50 years this year. And since we moved to this property, we have consistantly planted trees, forbes, berries, shrubs and wildflowers, as well as native pants that will feed ALL of God's creatures that would choose to walk across our property.

Even people who do have a few fruit trees, and vegetable gardens, would not be able to live over a few weeks if grocery stores closed down today. Many of you during COVID discovered that very quickly. People all over couldn't find toilet paper, bread, sugar, flour, and hand sanitizer..OUCH.

I'm a bit concerned over people who are totally dependent on stores and government to make it on their own. On my property you might not even survive, cause you might not even recognize the food plants that are growing everywhere. To the untrained eye, most of what is edible on my land may appear to be weeds, woods, and rodents..Most human beings would never ever, even if they were dying, eat a mouse, squirrel, grub , ant, deer, bear, dandelion, or get their medicine from the willow shrub or barberry bush in my yard. 

There are some excellent books available that you could read that would help you to recognize the foods and medicines on my property, I have a lot of those books and have collected them. But by the time the grocery stores are out of food it is too late for you to  buy the books, or grow the plants, or to welcome the wildlife to your land. 

Even my friends and relatives that hunt and fish, arent even likely to plant an apple tree in their own yard. A short list of a few of the food plants and animals growing every year in my yard are: Asparagus, kiwi,serviceberry, apple,chokecherrry, barberry,beech,blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, butternut, carrot, catalpa,cattail,cherrry,chestnut,comfrey,corn,currant,dandelion, daylilly, elderberries,fat hen,filbert,frogs,garlic,chives, gooseberry, grapes, heartnut,horseradish,rhubarb,jerusalem artichoke,knotweed, malva,medlar,milkweed,motherwort, burdock root,oak,onion, parsnips,peaches,pears,plums,rabbits,raspberries,sage,thyme,wintergreen,walnut,turtles.....deer, bear, racooon, possum, etc.

That is just a few items that grow here, I also plant vegetable gardens each year, I save seeds from my plants so I don't have to go to the store to buy seeds, but I always add new seeds, plants and trees from the stores every single year. You can never have too much growing on your land. You can always preserve the extra or give it to the needy, or sell it. Or feed it to the wildlife.

I'm only trying to encourage some of you, since the covid scare....to at least start a few pots of vegetables this spring, or to plant a few fruit trees in your yard. There are really good books out there that will tell you how to prepare, eat and kill what you need to, to survive. But PLEASE at least plant a tree this year.