They certainly can be in certain climates and areas of wildfire risk. In those circumstances a good biochar session might be advisable as a way to put this type of woody debris towards supporting wildlife, since healthier soils will grow healthier plants which will support the fauna you’re aiming to help.

boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew

I’m glad to hear everything survived! Here’s to a good season!

Diligence pays off! 💪

I jiggled the pot a little so they all waved back

That’s an appropriate amount of checks per day, for a slacker.

I kid, I kid. It’s just so exciting when they finally sprout, it’s like the ultimate payoff

Ours is still half covered by snow, but that hasn’t stopped me from walking the yard and encouraging the bushes to keep pushing buds

Won’t lie, I’m a little jealous of your high tunnel! I’d be interested to hear why you’re against using culled invasive species for the anaerobic composting. Granted, I try to get them before they’re well developed, but as long as the plants aren’t in seed I’m comfortable decomposing them either in turned compost or in water.

What’s in the rotation this year?

Very nice! Fingers crossed for no ridiculously cold periods, I can’t wait to see how they all do for you

Awesome! What varieties are you growing this year?

It’s coming, slowly but surely (mud season, that is). And thanks! We wanted to name her after something that is beautiful, ecologically important, and native to Maine.

Ugh. I feel that down to my roots 🫂

We go pretty hard on herbs and fruit bushes in the spaces our neighbors can easily see, maybe that’s a path worth exploring for your space? Bonus points if what you select have different size and color flowers - they’ll attract beneficial insects to help mitigate pest pressure and that can entice them to lay their eggs in the habitats you’ve built so there’s an endemic population ready to help year after year.

Here’s hoping you manage to get some of your gardening time back to relieve some of the anxiety 💕

Absolutely lovely!

I liked that everything mentioned positive reinforcement training as part of each solution 💕

Our six month dr’s appointment is Friday, and let me tell you just how excited I am to ask the pediatrician about sticking to the vaccine schedule as it existed when Juniper was born, or about our options for speedrunning vaccinations should they begin messing with the certifications or supply chains.

For the past two years I’ve been communicating with the planning board of the next town over, regarding supplying plants for them to redo the municipal plantings with genetically diverse natives. With the forest service suspending the tree planting programs using IRA funds, I am unsure whether their project is going to move forward. Here’s hoping it does - we’re one of a number of small nurseries who would’ve been tapped (hah! tree pun) for the project.

In other news, our six month old is figuring out standing on her own by holding on to objects. I’d say more but I have to go clear everything off of everything 🙄

Those. Look. AMAZING

We’re sitting around 43.30° N and under roughly a foot of snow right now; we’ve had a warm spell recently that melted some of it =)

The passion fruit we’re growing is Passiflora incarnata and the hardy kiwi is Actinia arguta, in case you also live in a northern climate and are interested in some tropical type food plants.

Oooh, we haven’t tried beets but she’s been loving the sweetness of the squashes we’ve given her. Great call!

I think I’m waiting on witch hazel from fedco, I should go check receipts … Which blueberry cultivars did you pick? We have some 'Duke’s and 'Jersey’s but have found a ton of random highbush as we’ve been renovating the woodlot.

Not a comprehensive list:

• Apples
• Pears
• Blueberries (high- and lowbush)
• Plums
• Persimmons
• Two types of blackberries
• Five types of raspberry (3 cultivars of R. idaeus, R. occidentalis, and R. oderatus)
• Four types of Mentha mints and three varieties of Pycnanthemum, or mountain mints
• Serviceberry/shadblow/Amelanchier
• Hardy kiwi
• native Passionfruit
• Elderberry (five cultivars now)
• three kinds of Monarda, also called Bergamot (but it has like a dozen “common” names)
• tons of herbs, medicinals, and flowers
• veggies of all sorts

There are so many ways and “styles” of pruning fruit trees - how do you like to do yours?