North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Amelia Hayner <abhayner@gmail.com>]

Thank you, Doug.
These are all great suggestions- I think that strip of wood would be lovely
with some edible plantings
it's right on one of the "major" 4 wheeler tracks in the area; in the
summer, it's not usual to see nearly as many pass through behind the
property as cars on the road in front.
I think people would enjoy seeing, and perhaps pausing a bit- to enjoy.
Amy
in NC where off-road vehicles RULE

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 4:53 PM, Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org> wrote:

> Amelia, for the dampish soil in your woods, I have read of a gourmet chef
> making a kind of relish of spicebush berries (the plant is related to
> cinnamon and sassafras, and the twigs give off a cinnamon smell when
> bruised). The berries are said to contain 35% fat/oil and migrating birds
> like them very much. It grows to about 10 feet, and I've seen it as an
> understory plant on flat heavy clay where large puddles persist in the wet
> weather of fall; also in semi-shade on a sandy loam slope; and I've grown up
> small plants in a sandy nursery bed in full sun with some watering.
>
> I've seen red raspberries that looked and tasted like cultivated ones
> growing in semi-shade in sandy loam in a woods here, fruiting sparsely but
> worth picking.
>
> From reading I gather that actinidia (especially A. kolomikta) is happier
> with a little shade or an edge situation than in full sun; perhaps those
> with personal experience with actinidia could comment.
>
> The books claim that wild ribes (currants and gooseberries) grow in light
> shade; I don't know how much they will fruit there but they are said to
> reproduce in the wild in semi-shade. I have only grown them in full sun.
>
> I recall that Robert Nitschke in his Southmeadow Fruit Gardens catalogue of
> 1968 said that his English Morello cherries grown against a north wall were
> "of a size and quality unobtainable in full sun."
> I see that sour cherries, probably Montmorency seedlings planted by the
> birds, grow up in small openings in the woods here and bear some fruit.
>
> I am a member of a community group planting a park here (intended to be
> semi-wild) with native species. Our best pawpaw, Amelanchier laevis
> (smooth/Allegany serviceberry) and groundnut (Apios americana, herbaceous
> vine, edible tuber, likes moist soil rich in organic material) are growing
> in a northwest edge wind-sheltered to the west, at the bottom of a gentle
> slope.
>
> Doug Woodard
> St. Catharines, Ontario
>
>
> On 11/02/2011 6:50 AM, Amelia Hayner wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>
> we bought a small woodlot directly behind the house, just a tiny strip,
>> when
>> we bought this place, cause they had huge machinery ready to raze it to
>> the
>> ground.
>> there's a run of water through there, most of the year, although it's
>> choked
>> with small trees.
>> I have an idea of gradually clearing them out, so more light can come in,
>> and plant some blueberries in there, with some native azaleas as well.
>> thanks again- I expect Gurneys' ought to thank you as well!
>> Amy
>>
>  __________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or find out more
> about the list here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/
>