Identification of our Chestnut Trees: I am calling them hybrids for now.

Here are pictures of our Chestnut tree elements.  The leaf looks like a combination of the American and Chinese variety.

Our Tree leaf is to the right

From left to right: American, Chinese, our chestnut tree burr

From left to right: American, Chinese, our variety.

Based upon review of these images and our tree, it looks like we have a hybrid chestnut tree. The leaf in the top picture resembles both varieties. The lentles in the second picture look like American Chestnut lentles. The burrs resemble the Chinese chestnut variety. The nuts are big like Chinese chestnuts, but they are hairy like the American variety.

I am calling our trees hybrid chestnuts until I can get the definitive word from the American Chestnut foundation.  

The leaves of my chestnut tree will be submitted for analysis via the instructions in this link.

The Useful and Pretty Rose of Sharon Bush

On our homestead, we are well pleased with the summer flowering plant species, Hibiscus Syriacus. The plant is from the Malvaceae family of course from the Plantae kingdom. The plant is species native to Syria, as is indicated by its name. Below are pictures of our plant taken in September 2014.

Our hibiscus syriacus is identified from the cultivar as, "Notwoodone" or "LAVENDER CHIFFON® - Rose of Sharon." This post is written to delve into the meat of this useful and pretty plant.

The flowers of hibiscus warn of the waning summer. Here in North Carolina, we sometimes view this with relief! It is also a reminder that we need to prepare ourselves for approaching wintertime.

Interestingly, the plant will grow beneath the allopathic Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) which inhibits growth of many plants.

Hibiscus Syriacus is favored by professional landscapers as a hedge plant.  It is a low maintenance plant with pleasing flowers.

Uses:

The young leaves and flowers of Hibiscus Syriacus  are edible in salads. The leaves are less palatable than the flowers, which have a mild flavor. They also can be made into a tea.

Hibiscus Syriacus is a medicinal herb. 

A decoction of the flowers is diuretic, ophthalmic and stomachic. It is also used in the treatment of itch and other skin diseases, dizziness and bloody stools accompanied by much gas. A decoction of the root bark is antiphlogistic, demulcent, emollient, febrifuge, haemostatic and vermifuge. It is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, dysmenorrhoea and dermaphytosis.

Medicinal Herbs

Propagation:

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, Hibiscus Syriacus is, "[e]asily propagated by stem cuttings." Stem cuttings with produce a clone of the mother plant. The plant also will grow from her seeds, but she may not be true to type in terms of flower color.

Chestnut Tree identification

That is highly unlikely. But if we do, our trees could be the champions if they can pass along the resistant genetics. (Something other would-be champions have not been able to do at this stage.)

First we found an excellent Internet chestnut tree identification resource: The American Chestnut Foundation. Using the site, we compiled the following data to undertake this project.

Why I Need to Know if My Trees Are Champion American Chestnuts

We have two large, fruitful chestnut trees on our homestead. 

In the early 20th century a lethal Asian fungus infestation (known as the chestnut blight) swept across native habitat of the American chestnut tree and wiped out about 4 billion American chestnuts.  In circa 1925, the fungus reached our ecosystem in western North Carolina killing the American chestnuts here.

Most chestnuts growing now are Chinese chestnuts or hybrids. The Chinese chestnut species has an immunity to the blight. However, the American Chestnut Foundation is using science to seek out and restore blight-resistant American chestnut trees to our biome.

The first option for the American Chestnut restoration project is to locate naturally-resistant all American (not hybrid) trees. Champion trees could save the species. A champion would have a natural immunity to the blight, and would be capable of passing that immunity down to her children through her seeds. Here is an article about the ACF restoration project: Restoring the American Chestnut Tree. Another good piece is Chestnut Champions by Meghan Jordan, TACF, Page 12. 

There is only a very slight possibility we have American chestnuts on our homestead. There is an even smaller probability still that our chestnuts are champions. But even the faintest possibility of a champion chestnut tree on our homestead creates a duty to check. That is why we must identify our chestnut trees. We owe it to our ancestry and progeny. Stay tuned.

Here is a picture of my brassicas (cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli) growing in the soil cube mixture.  I followed the recipe of the soil cube instructions to make up my mix.

The seedlings are a bit spindly.  I will move my light source closer down toward the seedlings today and observe as to whether that improves their spindliness.

I also need to buy another grow bulb as I only have one installed in my grow tub right now.

Jerusalem Artichoke, or Sunchoke (Helianthus tuberosus).

This plant is in the Asteraceae or Compositae family.  It grows to seven feet tall in rich and damp thickets.

The tubers are edible.   The tuber develops a pleasant sweetness during the winter, especially if subjected to frosts, and is then reasonably acceptable raw Otherwise it is generally best cooked, and can be used in all the ways that potatoes are used. The tubers are rich in inulin, a starch which the body cannot digest, so Jerusalem artichokes provide a bulk of food without many calorie. Some people are not very tolerant of inulin, it tends to ferment in their guts and can cause quite severe wind. The tubers are fairly large, up to 10cm long and 6cm in diameter. The tubers bruise easily and lose moisture rapidly so are best left in the ground and harvested as required. The inulin from the roots can be converted into fructose, a sweet substance that is safe for diabetics to use. The roasted tubers are a coffee substitute.

A very easily grown plant, it grows best in a loose circumneutral loam but succeeds in most soils and conditions in a sunny position. Plants are more productive when grown in a rich soil. Heavy soils produce the highest yields, but the tubers are easily damaged at harvest-time so lighter well-drained sandy loams are more suitable. Dislikes shade. Likes some lime in the soil. Jerusalem artichoke is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 31 to 282cm, an average annual temperature of 6.3 to 26.6°C and a pH in the range of 4.5 to 8.2. 

Jerusalem artichokes were cultivated as a food plant by the N. American Indians and they are today often grown in temperate areas for their edible tubers. There are some named varieties. 

The plant is a suitable crop in any soil and climate where corn (Zea mays) will grow. It survives in poor soil and in areas as cold as Alaska. It also tolerates hot to sub-zero temperatures. 

The first frost kills the stems and leaves, but the tubers can withstand freezing for months. 

The plants are particularly suited to dry regions and poor soils where they will out-yield potatoes. Tuber production occurs in response to decreasing day-length in late summer. Yields range from 1 - 2kg per square metre. The tubers are very cold-tolerant and can be safely left in the ground in the winter to be harvested as required. They can be attacked by slugs, however, and in sites prone to slug damage it is probably best to harvest the tubers in late autumn and store them over the winter. It is almost impossible to find all the tubers at harvest time, any left in the soil will grow away vigorously in the spring. 

Plants are sensitive to day-length hours, requiring longer periods of light from seedling to maturation of plant, and shorter periods for tuber formation. They do not grow where day-lengths vary little. The plant is good weed eradicator, it makes so dense a shade that few other plants can compete. 

The young growth is extremely attractive to slugs, plants can be totally destroyed by them. 

Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits. Grows well with corn]. Plants can be invasive.
                                    

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring or autumn. 

Harvest the tubers in late autumn or the winter and either replant the tubers immediately or store them in a cool but frost-free place and plant them out in early spring. 

Jerusalem artichoke is propagated by tubers, which should be planted as early as possible in the spring when the soil can be satisfactorily worked. Late planting usually reduces tuber yields and size seriously. 

Whole tubers or pieces about 50 g (2 oz.) should be planted like potatoes and covered to a depth of 10 cm. Pieces larger than 50 g do not increase the yield, though those smaller will decrease it. Deeper planting may delay emergence, weaken the sprouts, and cause the tubers to develop deeper, making harvest more difficult. Basal cuttings in spring. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10 - 15cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.

Plants for a Future

NC State University, Horticulture Information Leaflets, Growing Jerusalem Artichokes, Jonathan R. Schultheis, Extension Horticultural Specialist (1999)

Rough pre-spring garden plan

Working on a rough annual garden plan for next spring.

The image to the left shows my general plan.  It includes three trellis systems for growing tomatoes.   There might be some other vegitables mixed there.  Maybe cucumber and basil growing in those same beds.

My garlic was planted in the fall.  Still have to figure out what herbs or vegitables will  go into the beds.  The beds will go roughly in the area of the green. The yellow area represents pathways.

Garden Journal

Experienced gardeners tell you that you should keep a garden journal. They say that you can go back and figure out mistakes or patterns when stuff happens in the garden . . . good and bad. That helps you keep a better garden.

Following that advice, I started a garden journal online one a few months ago.  Really, its been a stumbling effort.  I've already made some key omissions.  Like when I failed to record the first frost dates of the season last month.  The journal so far is only organized by chronological post date.  That makes it hard to see patterns.  This problem may be mitigated by using Labels or keywords so one can use to sort the blog posts.   

Here are some of the concepts that ought to be included in an effective garden journal.  

• Weather, including the frost and heat dates.  

Valuable and necessary information for any less cold tolerant plants.  Not only should you write about historical information that actually happens, but you ought to be thinking about the first and last frost dates, and the heat stretches, as they approach so you can watch and observe their affects.  Record rainfall, wind, and temperature patterns.  Analyze the affects of the energies in your climate.  Write about what happens to plants in the peak heat of summer?

• To Do lists.

Back in the Navy we called it stayinig ahead of the airplane.  Give yourself some to do lists ahead of time so you are not caught with your pants down. Pay attention to dates.  Incorporate your calendar into your planning so you are reminding yourself of the deadlines.  Gardening seems much about managing deadlines and time lines.  

Figure out when your plants need to be pruned, divided, or moved. 

• Seeds and performance.

What kind of performance do the best in your soil and climate?  Which plant can tolerate bugs and heat, etc.  Figure out which of the tomato plants thrive. Then, save those seeds and plant those varieties.

• Plant Types

Hone in on each of the plants and study them in detail--dates of germination, appearance of blooms, and fruit, harvest dates.   How do plants do around other varieties.  Use labels and keywords for each plant so you can sort posts.  Incorprate the information into your plans.

• Supplements

Record the kind of amendments to the soil were made.  Composted horse manure in one area.  Worm castings or tea in another.   Chicken manure compost's affect here.  

• Bed Structure

Raised beds, woody beds, trellised beds, etc.

• Lighting and shadows and boggy places

Watch the energy flows on your place.  Measure how the sunlight and shadows impact your plants, and how plant growth in a season changes.  This data helps you figure out where to plant certain species or where to place your trellis systems, etc.

• Maps and plans

Record the location of the plants.  Bulbs are underground and you can forget them.  Draw up a plan and keep revising as you learn about your gardens.  Figure out timing for when to plant stuff for a useful harvest. You don't want your brocolli harvest all at the same time because you cannot eat it all.

• Costs

What kind of money and inputs are going into your gardens for soil amendments, seeds and plants.  

• Plant Wish List

What do you want to harvest?  More importantly, what do you like to eat?  Which herbs are you using for your livestock, etc.  Which give beauty?   Those are the plants that should be the most abundant in your gardens. 

• Pest and disease observations

How do they affect your plants and what are the signs?  How do you treat for pests and disease?  Are their any plants resistant?

• Mistakes and Victories (summary)

Summarize mistakes and victories so they can be eliminated or repeated next season.

Terroir Seeds has a good published garden journal here.  This has a lot of useful looking formating.  I will try to incorporate some of this data into my online journal.  

Soil Cube Tool Arrives in the Mail

Today a little box with my soil cube came in the mail.  I ordered the tool from soilcube.com.

Last year, there wasn't much time to plan things out for my garden and we just bought most of our plants from a nursery.  They weren't even open pollinated varieties.

Now that I've learned a small amount about gardening, I want to try to start my own plants inside this winter.

You can start plants in little containers.  But the roots can bang into the sides of the container.  Depending on when you start and the weather outside, you might have to put the little plants into bigger containers to keep them from getting all root bound.

That's where the soil cube has an advantage.  There is no container at all. The plants grow right in little cubes that you make up with the tool.

I still need to make trays, shelves, and a grow light system inside the house.  But now I have the soil cube tool, and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Gardening Links

Research

1. NC State Plants Net
2. My list of plants
3. International Seed Saving Institute, Basic Seed Saving Guide
4. How to Plant and Grow Sweet Potatoes
5. How to Build an Inexpensive Grow Light System (You Tube), Survival Podcast
6. NC Hardiness Zone Map
7. NC State Horticulture for Gardeners
8. NC State: Pruning Fruit and Pecan Trees
9. NC Agricultural Extension Apple Guidance
10. NC State Apple Rootstocks

Resources

1. Moon Planting Calendar
2. All Things Plants Website and Forum
3. Plants for a Future
4. Instructions for Propogating Trees

Vendors

1. Baker Creek Seeds
2. Landreth Seed Company
3. Heirloom Seed Swap
4. Terroir Seeds (TSP Discount)
5. Sow True Seed
6. Useful Plants Nursery
7. Permaculture Activist Link List
8. High Mowing Seeds (TSP Discount)
9. Victory Seeds (TSP Discount)
10. Tree Seedlings Arbor Day Foundation
11. Virginia Seedlings