Post by Alan on May 14, 2008 13:53:40 GMT -5
So, while I've been out obsessing with all things agricultural on this little Southern Indiana Farm a few things keep coming to mind that I'm determined to get to work on. Of course there is the mushroom thing which I'm well on my way to doing, I've started a ton of logs and also am doing some of the straw growing types and some of the manure growing types.
One thing I keep coming back to (probably thanks to plantsnoobins and her beautiful perinials) is perinial fruits and how I would like to work with them. Recently I took a trip to the state nursery in neigboring Jackson County and took a tour and decided there was nothing being done there that I couldn't do myself or shouldn't be doing. That is in propogating local tree stock. I really don't have much interest in ornamental or shade tree types, mostly just wild edibles and after seeing how easily they cultivate these types I have decided to start a small tree seedling nursery on the back of the property. I plan to spend a number of years working with wild stock seeds and developing varieties that will do well for my farm, of course some extra income will be gleamed from also selling the sapplings as potted plants in coming years, money which will be well needed and put into good use.
This is provided that for the most part, with the exception of rarities and new experimental germplasm that I have enough anuals in my collection to develop the new and old varieties of anuals needed on my farm and locally to be developed for regionalized "Eco-Logically" sound agriculture. It is time for me to move on, much like my hero Luther Burbank, into the lifetime development of perinials and their sound cultivation.
So I got thinking and discussing with local orchard growers and perinial growers that the most economical and "Eco-Logically" sound way to develop and maintain an orchard with varieties that aren't as resistant to local pests and diseases is not to go with grafted types or new hybrids but instead to develop varieties out of local populations and stocks of wild and cultivated fruits which should show much more tolerance and resistance to pests and diseases than those which are grafted or which are new hybridized varieties. Sure the fruit isn't as pretty, but a country boy can survive and local folks know what local types look and taste like and greatly appreciate it, this also keeps me from going broke trying to develop enough nicotene tea, worm tea, pepper spray, and soap spray in trying to maintain an orchard in an "Eco-logically" sound way.
After discussing this with some experts (in my eyes) in the local field it only makes since, it is also a fairly decent reality that some of the local fruiting trees and shrubs probably have very little variability in their genotypbe due to the limited amount of diversity in the small areas in which the seed is collected with the majority of the plants in one area having been related to the other plants directly meaning that any resulting hybridization from a small localized stock will have very little variation, so to expand upon the variation and the chances of developing (over a lifetime of course, look up Burbanks 30 plus year experiments) varieties which will do well for me, this then means that I should and will go outside of Pekin, but still in the vicinity of the county and the surrounding county lines to find other small and variable populations of seeds.
So what does this mean? I need to get with Plantsnoobin for one thing, she is very knowledgeable on all of this and I know she is willing to share her diversity with me, but it also means that in the fall I need to be going on seed expeditions.
I also though it would be nice to have some modern types or types not from this are, while they may be more prone to disease and pests a small population would be manageable, but I also digress and say I should stay away from common types, instead looking for types which are of different colors or types, white cherries, white mullberies, gold, purple, red raspberries, white peaches and so on.
I did order some mulberry seeds from treehelp.com both the common american red/purple type and also the chinese white, both need to be stratified for three months before planting which is fine by me, they proabably won't be planted untill fall anyhow. I will also be collecting mullberry seed from local populations, I have found several very small populations of the American type around Pekin from which to make collections.
On my list of local types of things that I would like to start the tree nursery and orchard with are; persimmons, cheries, local white peaches, gooseberries, currants and other small berries, mullberries, pears, apples, figs, paw paws, and grapes.
Anyhow, just a rambling note, mostly to myself to remind myself to get busy working on this project for the future of Bishop's Homegrown.
One thing I keep coming back to (probably thanks to plantsnoobins and her beautiful perinials) is perinial fruits and how I would like to work with them. Recently I took a trip to the state nursery in neigboring Jackson County and took a tour and decided there was nothing being done there that I couldn't do myself or shouldn't be doing. That is in propogating local tree stock. I really don't have much interest in ornamental or shade tree types, mostly just wild edibles and after seeing how easily they cultivate these types I have decided to start a small tree seedling nursery on the back of the property. I plan to spend a number of years working with wild stock seeds and developing varieties that will do well for my farm, of course some extra income will be gleamed from also selling the sapplings as potted plants in coming years, money which will be well needed and put into good use.
This is provided that for the most part, with the exception of rarities and new experimental germplasm that I have enough anuals in my collection to develop the new and old varieties of anuals needed on my farm and locally to be developed for regionalized "Eco-Logically" sound agriculture. It is time for me to move on, much like my hero Luther Burbank, into the lifetime development of perinials and their sound cultivation.
So I got thinking and discussing with local orchard growers and perinial growers that the most economical and "Eco-Logically" sound way to develop and maintain an orchard with varieties that aren't as resistant to local pests and diseases is not to go with grafted types or new hybrids but instead to develop varieties out of local populations and stocks of wild and cultivated fruits which should show much more tolerance and resistance to pests and diseases than those which are grafted or which are new hybridized varieties. Sure the fruit isn't as pretty, but a country boy can survive and local folks know what local types look and taste like and greatly appreciate it, this also keeps me from going broke trying to develop enough nicotene tea, worm tea, pepper spray, and soap spray in trying to maintain an orchard in an "Eco-logically" sound way.
After discussing this with some experts (in my eyes) in the local field it only makes since, it is also a fairly decent reality that some of the local fruiting trees and shrubs probably have very little variability in their genotypbe due to the limited amount of diversity in the small areas in which the seed is collected with the majority of the plants in one area having been related to the other plants directly meaning that any resulting hybridization from a small localized stock will have very little variation, so to expand upon the variation and the chances of developing (over a lifetime of course, look up Burbanks 30 plus year experiments) varieties which will do well for me, this then means that I should and will go outside of Pekin, but still in the vicinity of the county and the surrounding county lines to find other small and variable populations of seeds.
So what does this mean? I need to get with Plantsnoobin for one thing, she is very knowledgeable on all of this and I know she is willing to share her diversity with me, but it also means that in the fall I need to be going on seed expeditions.
I also though it would be nice to have some modern types or types not from this are, while they may be more prone to disease and pests a small population would be manageable, but I also digress and say I should stay away from common types, instead looking for types which are of different colors or types, white cherries, white mullberies, gold, purple, red raspberries, white peaches and so on.
I did order some mulberry seeds from treehelp.com both the common american red/purple type and also the chinese white, both need to be stratified for three months before planting which is fine by me, they proabably won't be planted untill fall anyhow. I will also be collecting mullberry seed from local populations, I have found several very small populations of the American type around Pekin from which to make collections.
On my list of local types of things that I would like to start the tree nursery and orchard with are; persimmons, cheries, local white peaches, gooseberries, currants and other small berries, mullberries, pears, apples, figs, paw paws, and grapes.
Anyhow, just a rambling note, mostly to myself to remind myself to get busy working on this project for the future of Bishop's Homegrown.
