This past weekend, I rediscovered some youtube videos that discuss how to grow your own rootstocks. Seems really straight forward. I have several small Antonovka apple trees growing from rootstocks of failed grafting attempts last season. Perhaps I’ll experiment on one of them to see if I can grow more.
Author: Jeff
Dreaming of an Orchard
It’s winter here in New England. And if you haven’t heard, we’re getting walloped by snow! It seems every few days there’s more white stuff to shovel. Meanwhile my friends in places like Minnesota report bare ground. We live in strange times for sure. All this snow might be enough to drive some gardeners stir crazy. In fact, some would…
Thoughts on Chicken Processing Day
Let’s face it. The industrial agriculture system in this country is not looking out for your or my health. Their job is to generate as much “shareholder value” (aka money) as they can in the least expensive way possible. Over the course of the past 5 years I’ve become more and more disillusioned with the methods of most food production…
Chicken Processing Day
WARNING: sensitive content and images Chicken processing day. Doesn’t sound nearly as bad as “chicken killing day” does it? But that’s ultimately what yesterday was. You may ask why I would participate in such a thing if I’m not comfortable with the idea of killing an animal. I’ll address that in my next post. But if you’re interested in the…
Crop Fail!
Perhaps you’ve noticed it’s been a tad warm out lately. At least if you’re… well… just about anywhere in the US! Well, I messed up. In my post about plants reseeding themselves I have a photo of scads of little turnips germinating in a backyard garden bed. It had been less than 48 hours since I had watered when I…
The Humble Bumble Bee
I could watch bumble bees for hours. No seriously I think I really could. One day walking back to work from lunch I was struck by some amazing flowers that had loads of bumble bees on them merrily going about their pollination business while completely oblivious or uncaring of this large human standing a couple feet away watching. I stood…
Letting Plants Re-seed Themselves
Have you ever tried to save your own seed? Have you ever let your vegetables pass their prime and go to flower or seed? Until a few years ago I hadn’t. My first run-in was with some lettuce that bolted (went to flower due to the heat). I had never seen lettuce flower before and I didn’t want to yank…