Tag: elderberries

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First Comfrey Harvest

Over the past year we have been planting comfrey in the food forest. We have also started planting comfrey with many of the trees and bushes that we plant. Comfrey is a great plant that has several jobs on the farm. These jobs (also known as function stacking for the permaculture crowd) include:

  • ground cover that suppresses grass and weeds for the plants and trees that we plant the comfrey around
  • living mulch that we can chop and drop in the fall to compost in place
  • medicinal plant that can be used in a salve or poultice

Today, we harvested enough comfrey leaves to make a full run in the freeze dryer. The plan is to freeze dry the comfrey and then make a salve. I’ve never made anything before with comfrey so this will be a new experience

We plan to offer comfrey on demand. When an order is placed, we’ll schedule a day for porch pickup in Sanford (most likely a Saturday). This allows you to have comfrey that was harvested earlier in the day. Next year we hope to offer comfrey root cuttings so you can plant your own comfrey.

The picture below shows comfrey leaves ready to go into the freezer and then the freeze dryer.

Elderberry Harvest Continues

We are still harvesting elderberry. The dry weather in June seems to have caused us to have smaller berries this year, but we are still getting a nice harvest.

Figs Growing Taller and Taller

It is nice to see our fig trees continue to grow. Many of them are covered with figs. We can’t wait to try them

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Potato Growing Class Wraps Up

We have a great time during the last session of our potato growing class. I am proud to say that we finished with 100% of the people that started the class. We had a nice harvest of potatoes. It was great to work with everyone for a class spanning several months

Currently Available Produce

This week we have

  • elderberries
  • garlic (very limited supply)
  • raw honey from the farm in Bennett
  • raw honey from Troublesome Gap
  • goji berries (you pick – email to schedule a time)

Visit our online store to place your order. We do porch pickups in Sanford, NC. Just select “porch pickup” as a shipping option when you place your order. Visit the online store here or click on the “Store” link at the top of the page.

Lack of Rain and Hot, but Some Plants Do Well

The fig trees are loving the high temperatures and growing like crazy. The warm spell in Feb of 2023 caused a lot of damage to our figs but now they are recovering nicely. The birds are enjoying the seeds from the sunflower heads

Future Plans

We have a wooded section on the farm comprising several acres. This part of the property was actively farmed 30 years ago. One of the goals for the farm is have a park like appearance. Having a beautful farm adds to the enjoyment.

The are several areas that were previously terraced and farmed but are now tree covered. We would like to reclaim an area for growing elderberries. There is an area with great microclimate. There is also flow of rainwater draining off the field that we can manage to provide an area that won’t need irrigation.

We’ve been working to manage the area grown up areas to

  • build abundance
  • return part of that abundance to the land and wildlife
  • provide a home for wildlife, diverse native plants and insects
  • provide pollinating plants for the bees on the farm and other pollinators

The first step is to have a plan that is open to pivoting. I’m realizing how important it is to be able change plans are we learn and discover more about farming and about our property. The next step is to remove brush, dead trees and small trees that don’t support the goals of the plan. This week I had an opportunity to do some work with the bush hog. Here are some pictures of the results.

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Elderberries Incoming!

We have started picking elderberries from our food forest. Please contact me if you are interested in placing an order. We don’t use any insecticides or pesticides. The fertilizer we use on them is organic.

You can order your elderberries here (select “porch pickup” under shipping options for local pickup in Tramway)

Raspberries

We have been trying a variety of raspberries that was developed for the climate in this area. Many raspberries just won’t tolerate the warmer tempertures here (zone 8a). That is why you see raspberries mainly in the mountains. The plants came from Rabbit Ridge Berry Farm in Coats, NC. We have bought friut bearing trees and bushes from them. They have great products and are wonderful to work with. They also have a u-pick farm.

Blueberries

This is our first year of having a blueberry harvest, even a small one. Previously our plants were too young, so we pulled the berries when they first formed to encourage the plant to put its energy into the plant instead of the fruit. The first of the blueberries are almost ready to harvest. I can’t wait to have blueberry pancakes.

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Getting Young Trees Ready for Summer

The project this week was getting the young trees ready for summer. This involves pulling off the anti-deer cages, weeding around the trees and then putting mulch around the base of the trees. The mulch helps to keep the soil around the tree moist. It also helps trap water when we water the trees during the summer months. As the mulch breaks down, it will also provide nutrients to the trees.

The elderberries are coming right along. We are looking forward to having a great elderberry harvest.

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Farm Tours! – Our Annual Fun Day on the Farm

Thanks to everyone who came. We had 16 attendees from 8 families. What a great day. We shared about permaculture, design thinking, innovation and regenerative farming. Attendes learned about how we go about building good soil so the plants, trees and bushes thrive. We also talked about how we farm without insecticides or pesticides. Attendees also learned how we do function stacking so many plants on the farm have multiple jobs.

We also had a meal for people who have attended our classes. It was nice sharing a meal with familiar faces. Thanks to everyone who attended. Also, thanks to everyone that helps make the farm a success.

One of the new items we showed off on the farm tour is our growing cadre our medicinal plants. We now have

  • comfrey
  • witch hazel
  • white yarrow
  • motherwort
Motherwort is planted and ready to grow

Here are some views from the farm this weekend

My opportunity to share about our farm

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So Much Growth

The warm rains have helped kick off so much green on the farm. It is nice to watch everything grow. The fall and winter test plantings of fig, elderberry and pawpaw in the back field are growing well. We’ve had a few figs that might not make it, but overall it is looking good.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from this week.

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Great Day Teaching How to Prune and Plant Elderberries

It is always wonderful when we get the opportunity to teach a skill from the farm. We had a great time and tried our best to answer some really thoughtful questions.

How We Plant Elderberries

Step 1 – Cuttings

We start off by trimming away branches from the elderberry plant that either:

– get in the way of the lawnmower by sticking out in the grass row
– grow inward and won’t receive enough light because of the vertical branches

Keep in mind that you can very aggressively prune elderberries so there isn’t a wrong approach

Each cutting should have at least 4 nodes. A node is the joint where roots (underground) or branches (above ground) will grow from. 2 nodes to plant under the ground and 2 nodes above the ground. The distance between the bottom nodes determines how deep you have to plant the cutting, so keep that mind when you select cuttings to plant.

The cutting should be at least the size of a pencil. Larger cuttings are ok, but the distance between the nodes will increase and the hole for planting will need to increase as well. The length of the cutting can be anywhere from 2 to 4 feet long. Longer cuttings are nice because they are easier to see as the grass around them grows and you are less likely to mow them over in the spring. This is the voice of experience speaking.

You also want to wait until the plant is no longer actively growing to make your cuttings.

Step 2 – Preparation

Dig a hole for each plant or use a piece of rebar and a hammer to form a hole that you can drop the woody cutting into. We place the holes 2 feet part. The distance between the holes i driven by how dense you want the elderberry plants as they grow. We’ve seen suggestions that varied from 2 to 6 feet between plants. We’ve had good success planting potted elderberries at 6 feet apart. Since we are planting cuttings this time, we are reducing the distance to 2 feet.

Step 3 – Companion Plants

One of our goals for the perennials on the farm it to do companion planting and create guilds. This is very much a permaculture principle. This year we are experimenting with planting comfrey at the same time as the elderberries. The planting pattern is:

– elderberry
– 2 foot spacing
– elderberry
– 1 foot spacing
– comfrey
– 1 foot spacing
– repeat

We have also sewn the following cover crop on either side of the elderberry row:

– winter peas
– daikon
– clover

We’ll terminate the cover crop later. The cover crop will help prepare the root bed for the elderberries. We’ll continue to see clover as a companion crop. The comfrey should spread over time and fill in and around the elderberry and also suppress weeds and grass around the elderberries.

We planted comfrey cuttings from Perma Pastures Farm https://permapasturesfarm.com/ . They have a wonderful Youtube channel and provide great customer service. We highly recommend them.

Step 4 – Planting

We used a shovel, rebar and hammer to plant the elderberries and comfrey, careful to insert the elderberry deep enough to have 2 nodes below grade. The comfrey root cutting needs to be placed in a horizontal orientation approximated 1 inch deep. Make sure everything is covered over.

The ground was wet and it was raining while we were planting so there wasn’t a big need to water the plantings.

Step 5 – Wait

The cover crop will grow this fall, but we don’t expect to see much activity from the elderberries or comfrey until spring.

Goij Berries

We ended the day by picking our fill of goji berries. Those berries are in the dehydrator now.

Elderberry Cuttings

We have elderberry cuttings available now if you want to start your own elderberry plants. Contact us here to order. The cuttings are seasonal and available from approximately October through early March.

Check back with us

We plan to post pictures in spring to show the progress. Joining our mailing list is a great way to keep in touch and follow along

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Elderberry Explosion and Cactus Blooming

Check out our very happy elderberries! Please leave a comment, let me know how you want us to prepare them for you. Do you want jam or fresh, juice, sauce, tea, or something else? Just let us know.

The cactus have bloomed and the deer enjoyed the tasty treat