Blue Earth Forest Farm: Planting Update 2022

Greenhouse/Hoophouse

  • 2021 was our first successful cucumber harvest; it was a bumper year.
    • We planted ‘oriental cucumber’ cucumis sativus (40-45 days) from Richters
    • We will do this again
  • Tomatoes grew well but seemed like forever to ripen?
    • It was a good harvest but a late one.
    • Will focus on tomatoes with least amount of days.
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  • As of 2021greenhouse medicinals are now in their 3rd year.
    • Root medicinals need 3 years to build potency.
    • We harvested fo ti, maral root and sheep sorrel in somewhat large quantities.
      • We are making teas this winter to work out tasty blends.
    • I have sent out emails looking for labs to analyze phyto-nutrients.
Perennials
  • Our focus at Blue Earth Forest Farm is to shift from annuals, which are more labor and energy intensive, to perennials as much as our diets will allow.
    • The acre we have divided into quarters with rows of swales has 3 swales, dividing the quarters and swales on each fence line, 7 swales in total.
      • These 7 swales are now in their 4th year and starting to produce fruits, berries, nuts and medicines.
      • Last year we had success propagating grapes and basket willows.
      • This year we will propagate basket willows, sea buckthorn and elder.
    • We dug up many raspberry suckers at Michael and Katarina’s last spring.
      • We have noticed the lower quarter of our acre is largely under water for much of spring/early summer.
      • We are going to see if raspberries will take in raised beds.
    • The food forest (zone 1 and 2 around the cottage) are now showing swales in decomposition and ready for perennial plants to populate.
      • Sea buckthorn cuttings and mystery seed mixes will populate.
      • The long term plan should, IMHO, be to thin the fire hazard away from zones 1 and 2 and install swales to bio-mimic the large dead trees that are no longer present.
        • This process does many great things
          • Many many years of firewood 6"d. and smaller,without splitting large dead trees that are better left as habitat.
          • Many many fence posts and rails for above ground 'X' fencing (easier to assemble and maintain, and doesn't support chemical toxic posts).
          • Larger logs can go to log cabin kits.
          • Swales can be planted to multitudes of beneficial perennials for cows, bees, humans food needs. (example Pears beet the bears :))
          • Fire resilience with the fire hazard pushed further up the mountain.
             
    • We had a good pear harvest and I like that we can harvest these before they ripen, unlike apples which we need to sweat over with the bears.
      • With this in mind I will go into more pear varieties this year.
 
Annuals
  • 2021 we had great success with our no-till Styrian pumpkin and corn patch.
    • We’ve been sharing our bumper harvest of styrian pumpkins, little green emerald seeds that are great roasted the wood stove with salt.
    • We laid brown cardboard down on the bed and covered with compost. The pumpkins had extra compost in a mound.
    • We will do this again.
  • We have discovered that carrots like self seeding in our swales.
    • We found many massive volunteer carrots in our swales.
 
Fungi
  • 2020 we inoculated 30 aspen, birch and fir logs with mostly oyster strains of fungi, some bear claw and shiitake.
    • This year we harvested about 10lbs of fungi.
    • 2022 should be a productive year.
    • We’d be interested in doing more this year with others if interested.
      • We purchased the log hole driller and plug filler which greatly speeds up the process.
 
Animals
  • We started ‘X’ fencing in 2021. It goes fast and it definitely is the way to go for Cows.
    • We are ‘X’ fencing a large paddock for future cows/oxen.
    • We are ‘X’ fencing our future apiary that is starting to take shape.
    • On a side not there is huge fire hazard up and down Rathayatra drive.
      • It is easy road access and the thinning could provide large quantities of ‘X’ fencing, not to mention firewood for all valley residents.
 
Pollinators
  • I read ‘Keeping Bees with a Smile’ last year. I ordered a copy for my self as I love the shift from commercial to pollinator care so much. The local Ashcroft library has a copy on the shelf.
    • I have ordered 2 nuts this year of, what I believe, to be the best quality queen’s in the area from a S. African’ bee keeper in the Kamloops area.
    • I have a plan to encase these revolutionary horizontal, thick wood hives within a crude but hella strong log cabin style frame that is bear proof.
 
Medicinal Plants
  • We are experimenting with a blend of fo-ti, maral root, and marshmallow, all which grow well here.
    • It tastes good and has amazing healing/health qualities.
    • I will expand these plants this year.
    • I would be happy to share with others and build a base of these medicinals and others.
  • I’m also focusing on the Essiac, anti-cancer blend. Sheep sorrel root is a rarity in the commercial blends. It grows well as an understory plant with tomatoes and cukes for sure.
  • Licorice does will in the greenhouse and shows good Covid early treatment data.
 
Solar shower
  • I have a good book on how to build one using wood chips as a heat source. I will bring it.
 
Goshala and Hay growing
  • I can give an update on the milling for the goshala if people are interested.
  • ox team and green tractor can cut hay,  Bailer and Storage needed:
  • This is interesting and i'd like to collaborate on how best to store this loose hay. See attached images for inspiration/discussion?
 
Need a valley-wide composting system
  • I have installed 3 large composts from Helen and Scott Nearings work in homesteading.
  • The aspen poles are good for this.
  • I will see this spring if the worms have survived in them.

 

Blue Earth Forest Farm Reports: Wood Season + Food Medicine

 

Coop AGM