Time to make a decsion. Choose to let the front 10 acres stay in hay for the next 5 years or use it for what I've always wanted to do with this property; build a perennial silvopasture system. As the old saying goes, the best time to plant a tree (or in my case an orchard) is 30 years ago. The second best time is today. While I'm not going to plant today because I have to work and the ground is a bit hard to plant a tree I will plant very soon. Hopefully this spring. There is one problem. I have never done this before. I haven't ever let that stop me in other endeavors so I'm going to try to take the same tactics I do in the world of information systems and take them into forestry systems.
That being said, I do realize that I have to modify my learning style a bit. After all, computers can move data at the speed of light where trees can only send signals at a third of an inch per minute. I often learn on the fly and wing it, sending commands "just to see what happens." This can be quite affective when the answers aren't readily available in some online forum or man page. In this case I have to create slight variations in my style of learning. Mistakes in agriculture can mean loss of money and time and possible damage to local ecosystems, not just an error code and a stack trace.
This will mean doing thorough research about perrenial and different annual varieties, including trees, understory bushes, annuals and their uses. This will include both for food and for heating. I'd like to take lots of notes about Keyline design, earthworks and ponds. The best and most affective (and possibly inexpensive) fencing systems to protect the ecosystem until it can handle the decimation-by-deer browse due to unfettered access to sweet, newly planted greenery.
Varieties:
- PawPaw
- Persimmon
- Black Locust
- Persimmon
- Apple
- Hardy Kiwi
- Goosberry
- SeaBerry
- Pecan
- Autumn Olive
- RedBud (Cercis Canadensis)
- Chestnut
- Elderberry
Future Topics include:
- Edibles
- Medicinals
- Energy Sources
- Fencing
- Biochar
- Wildlife habitat
- Water reclamation
- Water retention
- [Mapping]({{ site.url }}/Trees/topics/topo_mapping.md)
- Mobstock Grazing
- Living fences
- Electric net fencing