New Property, New Garden

[kazedwards]

At the end of September my wife and I closed on 3 1/2 acres a little east of where we are now. We will be building a home in it and should be moving in around June or July. So now I have been thinking of the new property and what I should do. I think I would like to stick with no till. I would like it to be several small gardens spread out rather than one big one. The soil already seems to be better than I already too. Next year I don't plan on having a huge garden but working towards it every year. I was thinking maybe a few hugelkultur beds. Any other thoughts?

I am also starting to think about fruit trees too. I want to have a Pawpaw, apple, peach and maybe a cherry tree. A couple of each. When is the best time to plant them? Also any specific varieties a should look for?

[philagardener]

Congratulations, Zach! A few thoughts for consideration:

You want to make sure that the home construction does not result in subsoils being spread around the property (from basement excavations), and that none of your topsoil is lost in the process, either. Also, this might be a great time to get some soil tests out for analysis.

Hugelkulture is a great option but based on the pictures you posted in another thread it didn't look like you have a lot of waste wood being cleared. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with it! You might contract tree companies in your area as they often have to pay to landfill trimmings and chips; maybe they can drop them off in a convenient corner. It also can be really helpful to have access to large equipment if you want to do that at scale, so you might see if your contractors would be willing to let you buy a bit of extra time for that when they are on site.

An orchard! Fall is a great planting time but it is getting late to prepare and order stock. Spring is your next best option. You want a source of water if you are working ahead of your construction. Heirloom varieties have a lot to offer, but there also are some new ones that offer valuable disease resistance and easier maintenance. A bigger question is the size - and that relates to the root stock on which you order them. Check out some nursery catalogs and start dreaming . . .

[reed]

Perfect time right now to plant fruit trees from seed. Just get some good apples and pears and plant the seeds straight from the fruit. What works really easy for me is just plant not much more than 1/2 deep and put a board or something on top. Next spring a little bit before expected last frost take the board off. Someone here on the forum recommended that, I don't remember who or in what thread but I tried it and it worked beautiful.

[kazedwards]

Nov 5, 2016 16:58:50 GMT -5 philagardener said:

Congratulations, Zach! A few thoughts for consideration:

You want to make sure that the home construction does not result in subsoils being spread around the property (from basement excavations), and that none of your topsoil is lost in the process, either. Also, this might be a great time to get some soil tests out for analysis.

Hugelkulture is a great option but based on the pictures you posted in another thread it didn't look like you have a lot of waste wood being cleared. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with it! You might contract tree companies in your area as they often have to pay to landfill trimmings and chips; maybe they can drop them off in a convenient corner. It also can be really helpful to have access to large equipment if you want to do that at scale, so you might see if your contractors would be willing to let you buy a bit of extra time for that when they are on site.

An orchard! Fall is a great planting time but it is getting late to prepare and order stock. Spring is your next best option. You want a source of water if you are working ahead of your construction. Heirloom varieties have a lot to offer, but there also are some new ones that offer valuable disease resistance and easier maintenance. A bigger question is the size - and that relates to the root stock on which you order them. Check out some nursery catalogs and start dreaming . . .

They are only going to work in about 1/4 of the property. The other 3/4 will not be bothered with the exception of the septic system.

As far as wood for hugelkulture beds I had a Bradford pear that we lost this spring. I was thinking I could use the wood from that for a few beds. The rest I'm not sure of. We are wanting to do berms for landscaping and privacy along the road. I'm not sure where anything else will go besides the house of coarse.

The orchard I can wait on. Next fall is about perfect as long as that is the best time to plant.

[kazedwards]

Here is a picture of the lot with where the house will sit. The blue line is the property line. To the right is a sign for the neighborhood.

[khoomeizhi]

Clean slate! Seems pretty wide open.

[MikeH]

Congrats.

Re: hugelkultur beds, most people simply copy Sepp Holzer without understanding what they are doing. Unless your circumstances resemble his, the better approach is to go down, not up, thereby improving the soil - permies.com/t/12150/hugelkultur-hot-arid-climate.  Essentially, you are burying "mulch" and creating a store of slow release organic matter. If you thoroughly soak, the woody matter and mix in some decomposing leaves that you've run through a mulching mower, you'll speed up the decomposition and begin building a fungal network.

On top of this inverted hugelkultur, I'd build raised beds assuming that your climate conditions are not unusual.  If they are, raised beds might not be appropriate.  

Re: fruit trees, the sooner you plant them, the sooner you harvest. Unlike annuals, there is a lead time.   Have a close look at The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way by Michael Phillips.  He manages to avoid spraying with chemicals.  You can reduce disease pressure by buying apple varieties - www.cumminsnursery.com/disease.htm.  Planting is generally in the spring. 

Look at what Stefan Sobkowiak has to say about training vs pruning - soilbeneath.blogspot.ca/2015/04/good-better-best-stefan-sobkowiak-and.html and Questions from Permaculture Orchard. Nikolay Kurdyumov also uses a similar training approach - www.amazon.com/Growing-Fruit-Smile-Gardening-Book/dp/0984287345/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478451796&sr=1-2


Regards,
Mike

[kazedwards]

Wow Mike thanks for all the links. Raised beds would be nice and I have thought about using them and will do a few.

[steev]

Having killed many trees, I now buy bare-root in Spring, then pot them and plant out in Fall. Lets them get better root structure before being planted out with the greatest time to establish before being heat/water-stressed.

[kazedwards]

I still cant believe how good the soil is at the new place. Today I dug a bed for the garlic and will be making a few more. Here soon.

The bottom picture is the dug bed on the left and some of the best soil from the old garden on the right. The soil at the new place is way darker and also has a much better texture. I'm really excited to see how well thing grow in it.

[reed]

That is beautiful. When I lived down in the river valley I had soil like that two feet deep. It would grow anything, including tremendous weeds.

[philagardener]

Looks fabulous! Lots of organic matter in there!

[steev]

Lucky you, kaze; I'm still building my mineralized yellow soil to decent condition; I'll get there, thanks to bunny bedding beans and sawdust. Clearly, you've got the immediate advantage, but I have the opportunity to improve as long as I live; be well and prosper; did those Mortgage-lifter seeds do you any good?

[kazedwards]

Yes it looks to be very deep. A little ways from that bed they tested the soil for the septic system so there is a 5ish foot deep hole.


steev those seeds did great. I got good sized tomatoes with good taste. And they were earlier than I thought they would be.

[steev]

Glad to know they worked for you; might want some seeds back one day.

Looks like you got some real buffalo-prairie soil there.