What are Ann and I doing today? What else other than planting more trees! We have been plann(t)ing this for about two years, and well, when the weather is chill and damp, and the house is chill, and the only thing that is hot (other than Ann in gumboots and a big wool sweater) are more nuts and pears in the ground.
So though it may seem cool, damp and grey, this is the BEST time to be planting your perennial food crops. The Eco-Sense nursery is open every Saturday this spring from 10am-2pm for plant sales of of all our favourite fruit, nut, and berry bushes.
Spring Last year
We are well stocked with plants we have propagated and grafted ourselves and purchased from other suppliers. Here’s a partial list.
Plums are in bloom
Fruit Trees: Apples, Plums, Pears, Apricots, Cherries, Figs, and Peaches.
Special Fruit Trees: Medlar, Mulberry (limited stock), Quince, PawPaw, Persimmon, etc. We also have 1 pollinating pair of the hard to find Cornelian Cherry that we have grown from seed. ($60 for the pair)
Nut Trees: small almonds, Hazelnuts, Pecans, Walnuts, small Yellowhorn, Chestnuts, and even the very beautiful Russian Almond. Bigger yellowhorns will be here late April.
Berry bushes: Currents (red, white, black), Gooseberry, Josta Berry, Elderberry, Evergreen Huckleberry, Raspberry (Cascade Delight)
Climbers: Cascade Hops, Kiwi (Fuzzy, hardy, and arctic), Thornless blackberry, Logan berry, Cinnamon (Chinese) Yam, and Grapes
Berry Producing Nitrogen Fixers: Autumn Olive, Goumi, Sea Berry, Silver Berry
Mountain Pepper
Teas and Herbs: Tea (Sochi and Korean), Sechuan pepper, Japanesse pepper, Mountain Pepper, Siberian Ginseng, Wooly Tea Tree, Wintergreen
Vegetable plants like Hosta and edible BAMBOO
Lots of varieties with excellent information sheets in the nursery to help choose the right fruit and the right pollinators. Inventory list here. Prices INCLUDE the GST.
SPECIAL The $5 (Gord Screwed Up) table for unnamed varieties and stuff that GORD lost the tag to… and its a shame to discard it for no name, is edible and would want to a new home that gives it better attention than GORD gave it. We also have Desert King figs ($15) and most grapes ($10) on sale. (BTW…Gord wrote this …not Ann. Actually the ducks are to blame for many missing plant labels.)
Special Plant Workshop on Resilient Food Systems: Fruit Nut, and Berry Crops: (only a few spots left). WHEN: Sunday April 22 (Earth Day…also Gord’s birthday). TIME: 9am-noon.
DETAILS: Explore the different food producing trees that are ideal for OUR climate and YOUR home and lifestyle. Presentation with Q&A to learn about fruit trees, nut trees, berries bushes, vines and support plants to create a sustaining eco-system to nourish the land, our bellies, and our souls.
Answer such plant questions as soil types, water requirements, sun exposure, weather toughness, crop timing, pollination, guilds (what likes to grow together), and how to process, store, and eat.
The MUD room @ Eco-Sense – Classroom for Radical Learning
Classroom session followed by a guided tour to see plants in action.
For anyone that wishes to hang around after the 3 hour class, bring your lunch and we can all sit and chat.
Plant nursery will be open following lunch. Register Here: $20
IN OTHER NEWS:
- We have our first Wwoofer coming in April…and keeping with our values she is local (Washington) and did not fly here. 🙂
- We have sourced out replacement sweet chestnut stock and are accepting serious orders with deposits… the more people that order a tree or 20, the better. Named varieties include Bisalta No. 3, Szego, Prococe Migoule, Bouche de Betizac. If we order 200 trees, we can minimize the shipping costs, but expected pricing on trees between 36″ to 84″ is likely in the $40-$60 range.
- We are just nailing down the details of have ongoing live on-site help for 3 months this summer to help in the nursery.
- We are planning another camping trip this summer and have some dog, chicken, duck, and garden loving friends housesitting for 10 days this summer. Woohoo.
- Still waiting on the final news for when our book on Composting Toilets will be published. Stay tuned for upcoming news and workshops.
We love camping!
The Living Building Challenge
Eco-Sense 