North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Jim Fruth" <jfruth@tds.net>]

   When I moved here, most of my land was yellow blow sand and what little 
organic matter there was, was one shade grayer than yellow.  Now I have up 
to 14" of rich black dirt, the envy of area farmers and it didn't cost me a 
cent.
   When I moved here, I lived on a dead-end road with very little traffic 
from except my (few) neighbors.  I put up signs saying, "Leaves and Pine 
Needles Wanted," and word spread quickly.  People from miles away brought me 
their leaves and I spent my Winters spreading them.  The most I received in 
a single year was over fifty cubic yards.  I removed the wheels from a 
semi-circular metal garden cart, fastened a piece of flat iron around the 
opening big enough to hold a 30 gallon can, making a make-shift sled that 
moved easily across the snow for moving leaves to where them would be laid 
down.
   When Spring came I tilled them in as best I could.
   I still put up my signs every Spring and Fall but I'm fussier now. 
Nowadays, I only want pine needles and pine needle/leaf mixtures.  I hire 
neighborhood kids to spread them.  Every two or three years each area of my 
one acre garden/orchard gets a new covering of mulch and every Summer 
tourists drive by to see a garden with no weeds.

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(877)265-6856 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]