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So far the brush ‘mattress’ I built to stop the creek bank from collapsing seems to be holding. It is held in place with...
03/07/2026

So far the brush ‘mattress’ I built to stop the creek bank from collapsing seems to be holding. It is held in place with deeply driven T-posts with wire crisscrossing the branches. Beavers have come and snacked on some of the limbs.
Tree willow has been planted in the tubes along the edge. Eventually their roots should permanently stabilize the banks.

Sheep and lambs are enjoying the clover rich pasture in one of the chestnut and pawpaw orchards. They’re helping by cutt...
09/30/2025

Sheep and lambs are enjoying the clover rich pasture in one of the chestnut and pawpaw orchards.
They’re helping by cutting down on the amount of mowing, plus cycling nutrients faster than simply mowing.

This is one of several American persimmon trees at the farm. Despite more than one hard freeze over the last couple of w...
10/27/2024

This is one of several American persimmon trees at the farm. Despite more than one hard freeze over the last couple of weeks, the fruit from this ‘Lehman’s Delight’ cultivar continues to ripen and drop. Though not as pretty as the fruits that ripened before the freezes, it is still perfectly edible and tasty.
American persimmon is native to Iowa (far SE part) and the tree and it fruit are not bothered by serious pests making it perfect for a no-spray situation.
Delicious American persimmon fruit is the second sweetest fruit in the world (behind dates) and provides both people and a wide variety of wildlife with a great source of nutrition.
While most orchard cultivars are bred to ripen and drop fruit early, some persimmon trees drop fruit little by little deep into winter making it great source of energy for wildlife when little else is available.

07/31/2024

This is a ‘Galarina’ apple, one of several grafted this spring at the farm. From a 2” scion grafted to m111 rootstock just 1” off the ground in May, it and most of the other grafts are now almost six feet tall.
Galarina Apple is a seedling of the familiar Gala Apple, but is more disease resistant and stores much better.
Other apple cultivars grafted this spring include ‘Prairie Spy,’ ‘Keepsake,’ ‘Regent,’ ‘Freedom,’ and ‘Winecrisp.’ These apples were also chosen for disease resistance, late season ripening and ability to store for long periods.
It will still be 4-6 years before they bear fruit. Growing trees cultivates patience!

The chestnut trees are flowering in all their stinky glory! There seems to be a lot of male catkins, but not many female...
06/24/2024

The chestnut trees are flowering in all their stinky glory!
There seems to be a lot of male catkins, but not many female flowers so it might be a light nut crop this year. Last year’s drought and the ongoing D0 dryness may have something to do with this.

American persimmons are in full flower at the farm. On the left are female flowers from ‘Prok.’ On the right are male fl...
06/12/2024

American persimmons are in full flower at the farm. On the left are female flowers from ‘Prok.’ On the right are male flowers from a seedling of SAA Piper x ‘Szukis.’
One (male) rootstock was also successfully grafted over to ‘SAA Piper’ this year to add to ‘Prok,’ ‘Lehman’s Delight,’ and ‘Madison’ trees. More cultivars will be grafted in the future.
With any luck there will be far more than the 12 persimmon fruits harvested last year.

While bringing the sheep up to the barn for the night, I ran across this fledgling red tailed hawk. It can’t fly at all ...
06/01/2024

While bringing the sheep up to the barn for the night, I ran across this fledgling red tailed hawk. It can’t fly at all yet and it was making quite the display warning me to keep my distance.

37 ewes and lambs came back to the farm today. They will graze the orchard for a couple of weeks before moving out into ...
05/05/2024

37 ewes and lambs came back to the farm today. They will graze the orchard for a couple of weeks before moving out into the main pasture.

05/05/2024

Direct seeded chestnut seed from ‘Shotgun,’ ‘Mossbarger,’ ‘Blondie,’ ‘Elrond,’ ‘Victor,’ ‘Szego’ and other cultivars.

Using a winter day to make permanent tags out of heavy gauge aluminum and will tie to trees with copper wire. These tags...
01/27/2024

Using a winter day to make permanent tags out of heavy gauge aluminum and will tie to trees with copper wire. These tags will still be legible in 100+ years. When you have as many cultivars as we do here, there needs to be a good way of keeping track of who is who. 2024 goal is to label all plants that are grafted/named cultivars as well as chestnut rows that contain seedlings of named cultivars.

Nice weather today, so I went and buried some char/carbon on the farm. With hobbies like this, it’s no wonder I don’t ge...
12/15/2023

Nice weather today, so I went and buried some char/carbon on the farm. With hobbies like this, it’s no wonder I don’t get invited to many parties. 🤣

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