Dear Ashley: Thank you so much for saving us so much grief! I was just getting ready to install our raised bed garden. The plan was to use bark for the walkways. Your tale of bark and weeds convinced me to do it the right way. Lay down a nice grass for the pathways and keep it mowed! Also, we had planned another area with gravel. My plan was I (79 year old woman) would be able to spread it around. Now I see that it does require something mechanical to spread it about! Lucky me two winners from your one post today! Thank you!
As a 37 year old woman I wouldn't want to rake out more than 2-3 yards of gravel myself, and we do a lot a manual labor on a day to day basis. Raking gravel is nasty on the body. I'm so glad you're going to get help there!
And yes, grass between the beds is the way to go. We did bark, and it breaks down in just a month or two with foot traffic. Then we did a thick layer of wood chips...but the nasty stuff just comes right through and you can't win. Weed block fabric and/or cardboard underneath don't help either. Buttercup and dock will grow right in the chips themselves, not even caring about the fact that there's no soil. It's never ending!
Mowing (or using a string trimmer) each week is a lot easier.
We've added chickens to our orchard to add fertility and help with insect control recently. My garden is in and growing nicely now that we're getting rain. The blooms are promising squash, tomatoes, and beans soon. I love when the work I put in starts to give back!
So many lovely things to try! I’m so intrigued by planting food for the chickens. I feed mine a lot from my garden through the summer but I live on a tiny lot so there’s not a whole lot I can do. We are building a new chicken run in the coming weeks, so we shall see what I can sneak in there.
I’m working on adding perennials to my garden this year. Experimenting with starting berries from seed, but also planting heirloom varieties of already started blackberries and raspberries. I have a batch of asparagus started from seed ready to be planted into a bed we’re putting the final touches on. Also going going in various spots are rhubarb, lovage, chives, Egyptian walking onions, and a bunch of perennial and medicinal herbs. I’ve taken great inspiration from your articles.
I’ve also been super intrigued with the idea of a hardy pecan or a hardy orange tree. I know there’s a lot of mixed feelings about the orange as it can be invasive in some areas, but I’m itching to get my hands on some form of citrus that will work in zone 5b/6. Making homemade marmalade is almost too good to pass up.
We're right on the line of 4b to 5, so still way too cold for hardy oranges...but I've been itching for those too. I'd be skeptical that they're invasive right at the border of where they can survive, and I'd plant them if it were just a bit warmer here.
For hardy nuts, you're really well setup if you're in zone 5, as there are a lot of wonderful nuts that will thrive there (but don't quite make it in zone 4). All of them are at least 10 years to producing nuts, with walnuts being some of the fastest, but worth the wait if you plan on being there.
Hi Ashley! I'd love to know what varieties of late blooming fruit trees you have. We also live in a cold pocket. This is the second year in a row that the trees have frozen.
Our yellow transparent is absolutely covered in apples right now, even though it's a summer apple, it blooms relatively late.
Liberty was half way through opening it's flowers when the hard frost hit, and we lost perhaps half of it's crop, but it still set enough blooms to have a decent crop too. That one's a dependable annual producer, we always see a crop of those, and disease resistant, as well as tolerant of poorer soils...gotta love that.
Golden russet opened after the frost, as did Newton Pippin.
Most of our crabapples (like dolgo) bloomed earlier, and we lost those.
The website linked below actually has bloom times for a few hundred apple varieties, which should help you. They're classed from 1 to 6, with one being the earliest bloomers and 6 the latest. Most of our apples are actually in the 3-4 range now that I checked, so there are varieties that bloom even later and would be a safer bet.
Love your information, don't know how you do it all with a young family, must be all the real food. At age 77, did a lot when younger somewhat like you, but less as working full time. I admire all you do. Thanks for your giving..I let my chickens out in the garden when plants were grown, for 3 hrs with no damage, just cultivated ground, bless them.
I’m dehydrating Swiss chard from the garden to use in fall and winter soups and stews; experimenting with sand cherry chutney; and making elderflower syrup.
Oh that's a good idea. Swiss chard works really well in canned bean and greens soups too, and it doesn't get funky like kale and collards do when they're canned. Gotta love chard.
Oh Ashley, reading this brought back to mind the farm we had an d the forging we did! That meal at the end was one we had often, exactly! I had to sell that farm, to much upkeep for just me when my husband passed away. I often miss it though.
Hi Ashley, we have 50+ pine/fir/cedar trees on our property. Would really love to make some of the syrup you mentioned here. Would you please share your recipe and a little more details? Thanks so much
Yup! So I've made this many years just by eye, and this year I actually measured. Be sure to ID your trees, as I'm not an expert on trees out there...and some may be problematic for human consumption. Some trees that are called "cedar" aren't true cedars and can be toxic, so check on that, but if you know what you've got the vast majority of them are edible.
Anyhow. A pint mason jar filled with pine candles (so 2 cups) was 100g of candles. I found that for a nice batch, I needed 1/8 to 1/4 cup of whisky, and about 200 g of sugar...but that's going to vary based on the moisture content of the tree species you're working with.
Start off with a splash of whisky or gin, then toss in about 100 g (1/2 cup) of sugar. Give it a good shake a couple of times a day for 3-4 days. It should all dissolve. Gradually add more sugar, a bit at a time, a little each day, until the sugar stops dissolving (meaning you wait 3-4 days, shaking regularly, and the last bits won't dissolve). Add in a splash more whisky or gin to get those last bits to dissolve, then shake for a few more days and strain.
All in all, you're looking at a few weeks to a month on the windowsill, shaking everytime you pass by, and adding a bit of sugar every few days until it stops dissolving. When it stops dissolving, you've gotten all the goodness out of the pine.
For the syrup you are making with spruce tips, how long will that stay good in an air tight container/mason jar? Is it shelf stable or does it need to be refrigerated?
It is shelf stable because it's such a high sugar percentage. If you open the jar a lot and live in a humid area, you can get mold on the top from condensation forming a water layer on top of the syrup (but that's also true of actual honey too, if it's humid enough). If your humidity is reasonable though, it's perfectly fine in a tightly sealed container in the pantry for everyday use.
I just harvested some dandelion seeds to grow in a specific area for easier harvest (hopefully) next year. What percentage of flowers would you harvest for oils and salves to let the rest go to seed? I have a hard time gauging this and also am reluctant to harvest flowers because I like to let the bees have first crack at them.
If you harvest them mid day to late afternoon the bees will have already hit them, and they're dried off from the morning dew at that point so they're easier to process. I don't have a good answer for small lots. On our land, I could literally harvest them by the wheelbarrow load and maybe only touch one in a million blossoms. On a small patch of lawn, I'd guess maybe you'd want to harvest no more than on in three blooms? That's just a guess.
For garden paths, I am laying down cardboard and covering it with hay or grass clippings. It worked really well last year for keeping weeds down, and we hardly had to water.
We tried the cardboard thing, but no matter what we covered it with, the cardboard made the littles slip and trip. Even under 3'' of chips they'd still find a way to run and make the whole path into a ski slope. I've heard cardboard works wonders, but not with these little ones around! Glad it's working for you, that's a great strategy if you don't have little saboteurs around!
I thoroughly enjoy (and learn) from every article you post...but like Boyd, that last picture was merciless...and mouth watering! Thanks for sharing a part of your family life with your readers. A breath of fresh air...
Dear Ashley: Thank you so much for saving us so much grief! I was just getting ready to install our raised bed garden. The plan was to use bark for the walkways. Your tale of bark and weeds convinced me to do it the right way. Lay down a nice grass for the pathways and keep it mowed! Also, we had planned another area with gravel. My plan was I (79 year old woman) would be able to spread it around. Now I see that it does require something mechanical to spread it about! Lucky me two winners from your one post today! Thank you!
I'm so glad it's helpful!
As a 37 year old woman I wouldn't want to rake out more than 2-3 yards of gravel myself, and we do a lot a manual labor on a day to day basis. Raking gravel is nasty on the body. I'm so glad you're going to get help there!
And yes, grass between the beds is the way to go. We did bark, and it breaks down in just a month or two with foot traffic. Then we did a thick layer of wood chips...but the nasty stuff just comes right through and you can't win. Weed block fabric and/or cardboard underneath don't help either. Buttercup and dock will grow right in the chips themselves, not even caring about the fact that there's no soil. It's never ending!
Mowing (or using a string trimmer) each week is a lot easier.
We've added chickens to our orchard to add fertility and help with insect control recently. My garden is in and growing nicely now that we're getting rain. The blooms are promising squash, tomatoes, and beans soon. I love when the work I put in starts to give back!
Nice!
So many lovely things to try! I’m so intrigued by planting food for the chickens. I feed mine a lot from my garden through the summer but I live on a tiny lot so there’s not a whole lot I can do. We are building a new chicken run in the coming weeks, so we shall see what I can sneak in there.
I’m working on adding perennials to my garden this year. Experimenting with starting berries from seed, but also planting heirloom varieties of already started blackberries and raspberries. I have a batch of asparagus started from seed ready to be planted into a bed we’re putting the final touches on. Also going going in various spots are rhubarb, lovage, chives, Egyptian walking onions, and a bunch of perennial and medicinal herbs. I’ve taken great inspiration from your articles.
I’ve also been super intrigued with the idea of a hardy pecan or a hardy orange tree. I know there’s a lot of mixed feelings about the orange as it can be invasive in some areas, but I’m itching to get my hands on some form of citrus that will work in zone 5b/6. Making homemade marmalade is almost too good to pass up.
We're right on the line of 4b to 5, so still way too cold for hardy oranges...but I've been itching for those too. I'd be skeptical that they're invasive right at the border of where they can survive, and I'd plant them if it were just a bit warmer here.
For hardy nuts, you're really well setup if you're in zone 5, as there are a lot of wonderful nuts that will thrive there (but don't quite make it in zone 4). All of them are at least 10 years to producing nuts, with walnuts being some of the fastest, but worth the wait if you plan on being there.
Hi Ashley! I'd love to know what varieties of late blooming fruit trees you have. We also live in a cold pocket. This is the second year in a row that the trees have frozen.
Thanks!
Our yellow transparent is absolutely covered in apples right now, even though it's a summer apple, it blooms relatively late.
Liberty was half way through opening it's flowers when the hard frost hit, and we lost perhaps half of it's crop, but it still set enough blooms to have a decent crop too. That one's a dependable annual producer, we always see a crop of those, and disease resistant, as well as tolerant of poorer soils...gotta love that.
Golden russet opened after the frost, as did Newton Pippin.
Most of our crabapples (like dolgo) bloomed earlier, and we lost those.
The website linked below actually has bloom times for a few hundred apple varieties, which should help you. They're classed from 1 to 6, with one being the earliest bloomers and 6 the latest. Most of our apples are actually in the 3-4 range now that I checked, so there are varieties that bloom even later and would be a safer bet.
https://www.orangepippin.com/varieties/apples
OMG! You are so ambitious! Makes me tired just reading all you do. lol Admire all you do for real!
Ha! I admire those that have the patience to sit still, it's something I lack...but that'd sure come in handy.
Love your information, don't know how you do it all with a young family, must be all the real food. At age 77, did a lot when younger somewhat like you, but less as working full time. I admire all you do. Thanks for your giving..I let my chickens out in the garden when plants were grown, for 3 hrs with no damage, just cultivated ground, bless them.
It's nice when the chickens can do that, such a help!
I’m dehydrating Swiss chard from the garden to use in fall and winter soups and stews; experimenting with sand cherry chutney; and making elderflower syrup.
Oh that's a good idea. Swiss chard works really well in canned bean and greens soups too, and it doesn't get funky like kale and collards do when they're canned. Gotta love chard.
Exactly!
Oh Ashley, reading this brought back to mind the farm we had an d the forging we did! That meal at the end was one we had often, exactly! I had to sell that farm, to much upkeep for just me when my husband passed away. I often miss it though.
Hi Ashley, we have 50+ pine/fir/cedar trees on our property. Would really love to make some of the syrup you mentioned here. Would you please share your recipe and a little more details? Thanks so much
Chris in California
Yup! So I've made this many years just by eye, and this year I actually measured. Be sure to ID your trees, as I'm not an expert on trees out there...and some may be problematic for human consumption. Some trees that are called "cedar" aren't true cedars and can be toxic, so check on that, but if you know what you've got the vast majority of them are edible.
Anyhow. A pint mason jar filled with pine candles (so 2 cups) was 100g of candles. I found that for a nice batch, I needed 1/8 to 1/4 cup of whisky, and about 200 g of sugar...but that's going to vary based on the moisture content of the tree species you're working with.
Start off with a splash of whisky or gin, then toss in about 100 g (1/2 cup) of sugar. Give it a good shake a couple of times a day for 3-4 days. It should all dissolve. Gradually add more sugar, a bit at a time, a little each day, until the sugar stops dissolving (meaning you wait 3-4 days, shaking regularly, and the last bits won't dissolve). Add in a splash more whisky or gin to get those last bits to dissolve, then shake for a few more days and strain.
All in all, you're looking at a few weeks to a month on the windowsill, shaking everytime you pass by, and adding a bit of sugar every few days until it stops dissolving. When it stops dissolving, you've gotten all the goodness out of the pine.
Does that make sense?
I can't wait until you post the recipes for the soap and candles.
Hopefully I'll get to those soon, but probably not till the fall if I'm being honest with myself, when the weather starts to turn.
Two thumbs UP!
For the syrup you are making with spruce tips, how long will that stay good in an air tight container/mason jar? Is it shelf stable or does it need to be refrigerated?
It is shelf stable because it's such a high sugar percentage. If you open the jar a lot and live in a humid area, you can get mold on the top from condensation forming a water layer on top of the syrup (but that's also true of actual honey too, if it's humid enough). If your humidity is reasonable though, it's perfectly fine in a tightly sealed container in the pantry for everyday use.
I just harvested some dandelion seeds to grow in a specific area for easier harvest (hopefully) next year. What percentage of flowers would you harvest for oils and salves to let the rest go to seed? I have a hard time gauging this and also am reluctant to harvest flowers because I like to let the bees have first crack at them.
If you harvest them mid day to late afternoon the bees will have already hit them, and they're dried off from the morning dew at that point so they're easier to process. I don't have a good answer for small lots. On our land, I could literally harvest them by the wheelbarrow load and maybe only touch one in a million blossoms. On a small patch of lawn, I'd guess maybe you'd want to harvest no more than on in three blooms? That's just a guess.
For garden paths, I am laying down cardboard and covering it with hay or grass clippings. It worked really well last year for keeping weeds down, and we hardly had to water.
We tried the cardboard thing, but no matter what we covered it with, the cardboard made the littles slip and trip. Even under 3'' of chips they'd still find a way to run and make the whole path into a ski slope. I've heard cardboard works wonders, but not with these little ones around! Glad it's working for you, that's a great strategy if you don't have little saboteurs around!
I thoroughly enjoy (and learn) from every article you post...but like Boyd, that last picture was merciless...and mouth watering! Thanks for sharing a part of your family life with your readers. A breath of fresh air...
Thanks Kevin!
I always learn something new reading your letters. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge.
You're quite welcome!