Tree Nursery - Starting Nut Trees with Support Plants

[@CorwynGC]

My sweetie asked that I tell you that your description of how to orient the nuts was very clear and helpful.

[@zerrinekinci9219]

Hi guys. It is nice to see you work together..with what is left from the squirrels..☺ My mother told me a couple of weeks ago that she has seen a unique technique in 1940s in her village in Turkey.. Her old relatives put three walnuts on top of each other and placed it in a cob tile in soil in a barn until late spring.. When it was spring time they took out the walnuts which made a very strong new seedling and ready to plant..I guess the manure and the warmth of the barn also helped them grow easily.. Just wanted to share as I havent heard such a thing before.. (My mother is 78 and has a very good memory.) 😊 x

[@donaldcowick4280]

Great information! Love your channel. You offer down to earth permaculture techniques and give us important outcome information. Thank you

[@billastell3753]

I used a similar method. In the fall I dig a trench about 3-4 inches deep in the garden. Into the trench I place hazelnuts and hard neck garlic. The garlic is space about 8 inches apart. then I place a couple of hazel nut seeds between each garlic clove. I cover the row with soil then roll out chicken wire over the row to keep the squirrels out. The garlic grows early in the spring and marks the row. By June the hazel seedling begin to pop up. I pull the garlic if it is too close to the seedling. It makes a nice early fresh garlic treat. Once above ground the hazel nut seedlings will forge ahead.

[@edibleacres]

I've learned the hard way this season that the chicken wire is definitely a part of the equation you can't skip unless this is happening in a very large open field. Do you pull the chicken wire as soon as the garlic emerges or it grows through it or...?

[@billastell3753]

I remove the chicken wire fairly early. The garlic may grow through it a few inches but usually there is no harm done as you lift it off. It isn't until half way through June that the hazel shoot emerged. Having the garlic there helped me aim my hoe as I weed to avoid chopping off the hazel sprouts.

[@billastell3753]

I probably should have mentioned I plant the nuts and hard neck garlic in the fall. Many folks know that but not everyone.

[@ziptiefighter]

Thankyou for that suggestion. I'm going to use your strategy here in zone 5b, NE WI. I had the idea of garlic as a wishful-thinking deterrent too. But I was leaning towards using tree tubes for northern red oak and hickory nut planting. I'll likely use tubes, but not until I see which ones germinate. This is on a modest city lot (1/5 acre)...so I am picking locations carefully. I figure that if I plant in a half dozen locations, and one or two prosper...that'll be a win. Cheers

[@GrimbolTheDruid]

Thanks for the clarifying question and rad shirt idea Sasha! Thanks for the good explanation Sean! 🙏🙏🙏

[@cromulantkeith]

I like that Sasha (spelling?) is becoming a bigger part in your videos. I also really like the walking onion/persimmon setup. I'm going to ruthlessly steal that idea from you and incorporate it into my food forest! Mwu hahahaha

[@jacolubbe9364]

so nice to see you two working togethere, I can just feel the LOVE. Keep up the good work! Now I'm gonna make some nice cheese. Greetings from South Africa. xxxxxxxxxxx

[@edibleacres]

Enjoy!

[@danielallouche2493]

Trim the onion starts. It promotes bulb growth. Human hair is also a good pest deterrent. Fresh supply available daily at your local barber shop. It seems that Irish spring soap as well keep deer from devouring their favorite greens in your garden .

[@edibleacres]

Cool ideas, thanks!

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

I have long, fine hair, so when I brush or comb it, some always comes out. I save it, as well as whatever is in the drain when I shower. I also save the fur when I brush my cat, especially n the spring. I use both as either mulch or compost.

[@marklewis4793]

..barbers clean barbershops with fungicidal detergents,gardeners clean ground with fungus....use yr own hair,or shave yr pets/family/friends/slow moving strangers?

[@ghostriderwashere]

Good video. Learned something new. I would have planted them opening down which would have been a mistake. Thanks for the good information.

[@edibleacres]

They still would have grown, but it's nice to know some adjustments to get best results.

[@angelickpadilla9585]

THIS IS SO HELPFUL THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO I HAVE A PRESENTATION FOR MY SCHOOL.......

[@edibleacres]

Hope it goes really well for you. Just take my ideas and thoughts as one approach of many.

[@ryankahlor3563]

Thank you

[@stampybear5042]

Spring has sprung!

[@crystalpope2451]

Excellent Einstein t-shirt.

[@nickl4859]

Love it! I've been focussing on doing guilds as well this spring to try to make the most out of my time and help improve the growth of our high value plants. I've been using Roman Chamomile, Feverfew and Lupine as my ground layer around things like Yellowhorn, Saskatoons, and seedling Asian Pears. The ground cover is perennial and my observation so far is the voles and mice don't bother the Feverfew or Chamomile, and Lupine adds a great nitrogen fixer and helps to shade the base of the tree as well. All three also will help attract pollinators and beneficial insects. Lastly, all three bloom at different times so it will give waves of blooms throughout the growing season.

[@edibleacres]

Those are some rich members of guilds right there! Great design concept! So much diversity too..

[@nickl4859]

Ya absolutely. I try to focus on plants that give us something and/or at the very least, benefit companion plants directly. Feverfew is incredible for headaches or inflammation, chamomile is great, and Lupine although not used for health, benefits the plants around it, plus it looks kind of tropical. Each year we continue to expand and add new beings to our catalog. Your channel definitely helps give us inspiration for new projects to try! =)

[@rubycone7924]

I tried planting pumpkin plants by the lake. Hope it dont get to cold. Should have planted soomer .it was a warm day today

[@mycedarridge]

Sweet!! I have some onions and chives that I could use! Yay!

[@rachelmadrone3168]

Love seeing you two create together Maybe there's another video on it, but how do you dig the walnut trees later without damaging taproots and disheveling your garden bed too bad?

[@edibleacres]

Certainly anytime a walnut tree, or another taproot tree is dug up, there is a significant amount of disturbance to the soil, but they are meant to be in nursery beds, where that is expected. We try not to disturb the taproot, but it does not seem like it negatively impacts the tree if we cut it and carefully clean it up with pruners to the next strong lateral route.

[@rachelmadrone3168]

Thank you for all you thoughtfully share. I am learning so much here

[@michaelsteele3588]

very informative, awesome video

[@poodledaddles1091]

I wish that I had seen this video a few days earlier I just transplanted my nut seeds with the sprout up....(hickory)....the persimmons will probably be ok . I was going to baby in controlled buckets them through the summer before putting in the ground in the fall....not near the volume as you have !

[@edibleacres]

Hopefully they'll still work out... But good to remember for the future. That first 'point' aims down with the seed on its 'side'...

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

"2 to 300 future trees." 💛

[@heterodox3487]

Sean I wonder if you plant garlic the fall before with maybe some geraniums it would provide more "cover scent"?

[@edibleacres]

Great ideas here.

[@CuriousinNY]

EdibleAcres Are there perennial geraniums? If so, I would like to know what they are.

[@heterodox3487]

@@CuriousinNY Geranium Macrorrizum, www.edibleacres.org/purchase/geranium-big-root-hardy

[@robb5984]

@@CuriousinNY Geraniums can be overwintered indoors in colder climates. Zone 5b here. I keep them in pots in the basement, not even watering, I've had some plants 12+ years.

[@elegantlyprimitive9150]

I have saved a bunch of acorns that I am trying to learn to propagate. I’m torn between putting them in pots and the way you put the seeds in the ground. It’s the tap root I’m concerned with. How do you bring the tree out to sell when you put the seeds in the ground. I can’t figure out how to harvest the tree without damaging the tap root. I have a refrigerator full of acorns wrapped in moist moss in plastic containers I saved from purchased strawberries.

[@yLeprechaun]

Here I am rewatching, is that a real word? Anyway- taking a refresher.

[@edibleacres]

Welcome back to the video :)

[@danielmarkworth2072]

Hi guys, wondering about the sinking of hazelnuts? Viability. Do you sink hazelnuts before storing them over winter?

[@rastaxhosa3283]

I'm very interested

[@kerem7546]

do you have any tips for germinating American hazelnut?

[@jacknanuq6119]

How did this work out? Did the squirrels leave the walnuts alone?

[@edibleacres]

Not that much :)

[@LolitasGarden]

Am I getting the right idea that the design in this pattern is to use the aromatics as a cloak as much as a yield? Are the sowings and plantings at that great a risk at this stage? Thank you for all your shared knowledge.

[@edibleacres]

That is the idea, yes. And yes, the seedling trees are a super huge target for wild life early in the season. Near 100% loss without predators or aromatics.

[@miniatures1]

How did the walnuts do?

[@travisdavis1042]

Would you happen to know if spicy pepper dust sprinkled over tree seed beds would be efficient at keeping squirrels and mice at bay while also allowing me to direct seed?

[@edibleacres]

I have tried a number of things in this general realm and none of them worked... I am not trying to be negative, and encourage everyone to experiment, but it did not work for us.

[@travisdavis1042]

@@edibleacres fantastic. Just wondering if you’d tried and how it worked out. I just built some small air prune boxes like the ones in your video and wondered if the peppers would be sufficient or if I needed to build a cage on top. I’ll cage a few and pepper a few to see which works best. Thanks for sharing.

[@CleoCastonguay47]

How and when do you pull out the walnut seedlings and do you pot them or sell them bear root as you pull them out?

[@edibleacres]

We'll dig them up in the fall for sale, or leave them over winter for spring sales. In some beds, we'll leave them for two years and then dig out so they are larger.

[@Klavier7]

So for sprouting nut trees you store them in a bucket of wood chips through the winter then plant in the spring?

[@edibleacres]

Yes, and in our cold climate we bury that bucket or put a BIG pile of leaves over it. Drilled holes in bottom and firm lid on top with some holes, and you should be able to make it happen...

[@CovilleR]

Squirrels! How do you separate seeds out for planting from buckets of wood chip seed storage? It seems like they'd be hard to find amid woodchips even if stored in layers. Carefully scoop out layer at a time, or plant with woodchips, or somehow strain seeds out?

[@edibleacres]

You can plant with the chips, thats fine, and also you can use chips appropriate to the seed. More coarse and large for carpathian, black walnuts, etc., and then sifted sawdust or sifted aged chips for paw paw, hazel, etc. Micro seeds like mulberry, serviceberry, perhaps you mix in with sand or store in the fridge.

[@DavidTheMechanic]

So are the aromatics supposed to keep the squirrels and Chipmunks away

[@edibleacres]

That is the idea. I'm learning that with intense wild life pressure it doesn't work very well, but can be helpful with intermittent interest.

[@DavidTheMechanic]

@@edibleacres I'm trying to start a black walnut Orchard and this is my first season I'll be planning my nuts in May and I guess I'm going to have to use chicken wire or something like that

[@metamud8686]

8:05 could you tell us where the update video is please?

[@edibleacres]

I'm not sure if I made one... Had a lot of losses that year because the red squirrel population as intense.

[@jesserahimzadeh4298]

Did the onions end up protecting the nut seedlings?

[@edibleacres]

Good question! This spring we had such a massive over-run of red squirrels and chipmunks that we ended up losing a tremendous amount of crops to them. Even with the onion support they were able to sneak into this bed. In the past it has worked well for me, but this year I think they were just too ravenous!

[@ceadeses]

Checked your website and your sold out of everything. Will you have any elderberries in June?

[@edibleacres]

Yep, later June we'll replenish stock for fall shipping.

[@howardstratton5880]

i do not understand..you planted them in the ground.why not a bucket.how are you going to transplant them?

[@edibleacres]

You can definitely grow trees from seed in the earth for year 1 or 2 and then move them later. If you can dig nice and deeply you can generally get the whole tap root without a huge problem, or trim it a bit if needed...

[@peaceoutpeaceout4267]

Do you cover the walnuts after you place them in the trench?

[@edibleacres]

Yes, they need to get a good soil coverage and ideally a deep mulch.

[@dashana941]

Hi! Do you keep the nut seeds in moist sawdust or dry one?

[@edibleacres]

Most nuts we store in moist sawdust for the winter.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3e7nKl3msSYaKM - shows in more detail.

[@ElisandeWalters]

so how did that work out? did the onions really protect the seedlings?

[@edibleacres]

Glad you asked. In this case we lost a whole lot of the seedlings to chipmunks and red squirrels. The pressure from them was way too high in this part of the garden. Oh well.

[@CuriousinNY]

EdibleAcres So the onions didn’t help?

[@robpaton7]

@@edibleacres have you tried garlic? I have just direct seeded a few hundred sweet chestnut and hazelnut and put a clove in with each nut... nice to see the garlic springing up to show me where I planted but SO painful waiting for spring to see if the trees make it! Badgers and voles are our main challenge

[@rubycone7924]

Like your occupation

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

Question: do you sharpen your hori-horis? Mine is quite dull, but is very difficult to sharpen with a stone.

[@edibleacres]

We don't... The type you get matters. If it is super sharp to begin with it seems to stay sharp an incredibly long time. We're planning to do a video on hori hori tools sometime soon. They are incredibly valuable!

[@michaelripperger5674]

"Standard gardening practice" ~ you don't say that very often

[@edibleacres]

hehe!

[@brendonparker2210]

Darn those critters. I'm dealing with them as well with my strawberries.

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

I hope this isn't too gross, but because strawberries are such heavy feeders, I have been fertilizing them every few days with diluted urine. It seems to make the strawberries very happy and keeps away the critters. I have noticed though, some plants do *not* like diluted urine as fertilizer: specifically, watermelons.

[@brendonparker2210]

Have you tried it with the yellow flesh melons? :D

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

Melons in general are really tough in my area. I'm on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in WA. The summers are too cool for most melons - all the watermelons failed last year, and I've only got two seedlings left this year. It's been a long cool, wet spring. I was trying two types of watermelons: Cream of Saskatchewan (cream-colored flesh) and Sweet Dakota Rose (red flesh).

[@brendonparker2210]

I've yet to have very successful watermelons. Just have to keep writing down what didn't work and try more.

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

This year, I'm going to try them in the orchard that's covered with thick layer of wood chip mulch, and I'm putting them out much later with bigger growth indoors. I'm hoping they will get more heat there, as all the trees are only a year or two old. If not, I'll try something else next year.

[@Majoofi]

What do you do about invasive species? I was watching Deep South Homestead and they're using Roundup on their Congon Grass. Yikes.

[@edibleacres]

We plant them :) We work with an incredibly wide range of plants. Some considered illegal, some invasive, some whatever. We work with as many different characters as we can.

[@Majoofi]

Thanks for the reply. I guess what I'm asking is if there are any situations in which you have too much of something that's hard to get rid of, and what your strategies are, is it just a question finding the right plant to compete with it...or...? And further more how to argue against others putting poisons all over the land.

[@mihaiilie8808]

Majoofi You can use organic herbicides too.Vinegar is a good one and its good for the bacteria in the soil because it adds a little fast available carbon source to help them decompose the dead plants.

[@geomundi8333]

you ever had your carpathians suddenly die? after putting out water spouts? maybe cold freeze damage and death? i live up in N. IL. ugh those varmints man. they steal all that work, i have had it happen too with 100s of baby trees. if there are even big cotyledons on nut they will tear it down to eat that even. then the rabbits...

[@edibleacres]

We have had Carpathians die from strange fungal loads for sure... We now have a source for very disease resistant parent stock that we are working with for the nursery.

[@krizhaarnaiz6800]

Hii im krizha

[@krizhaarnaiz6800]

Arbyy

[@angelickpadilla9585]

OK HELLO

[@healthygreenbrave]

Sorry, I didn't catch- why do you pee on them?

[@edibleacres]

Help add fertility but mostly to help deter creatures from eating them, although that doesn't have a huge effect :(

[@healthygreenbrave]

Ok, thank you! It might deter rabbits. They're very sensitive to pee. And they like young trees, I've noticed 🤦‍♀️

[@HappyFarmUrbanPermaculture]

Just thinking out loudly, how do you take out the seedlings off the ground once they get ready for sell?

[@edibleacres]

We dig with a nursery spade. We use one called 'King of Spades'