Old Otter Holler Farm

Annual Pruning

For the past four days I've been pruning all the deciduous trees in and around what we consider the yard (about five acres) not so much for form, but rather to make it easier to mow and maintain the property and to remove broken limbs from winter storm damage.  One exception is around the apiary where I removed several large limbs from a group of Chinese Chestnuts that blocked the early morning sun in most seasons from striking the bee hives.  Once I pick up the brush and move it to a few perennial brush piles I maintain as wildlife habitat around the edges of our meadows, I will begin to prune the fruit trees in the apple orchard.  Since I am running late this year on pruning, I'll only have time to prune out any deer damage, winter damage, and any growth that obviously has to go.  Next year, I'll have to get an earlier start if I want to correctly prune all the trees in the orchard.  Speaking of the orchard, I also have to remove a couple of 12" to 14" DBH trees that fell on the perimeter fences over the winter.  The outer woven/barbed wire fence will need to be patched, but unbelievably the inside high-tensile electric fence did not break and appears to be supporting the trees.  Of course, that doesn't mean that the fence in undamaged.  Hopefully I won't have to spend days repairing them when I need to focus on preparing and planting beds with cool weather crops.  I'll know for sure this afternoon or tomorrow when I tackle this task.

Time to Shift Focus at OOHF

Well, it is a done deal...the garden is finally planted this year and everything is looking good.   We even had a brief but steady 30-minute rain Sunday afternoon just minutes after we placed the last of our squash and zucchini seeds in their hills.  What timing!  Actually, we'll still be planting more waves of beans, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, etc. as the summer progresses, but for the most part, the bulk of it has been planted and we can finally move on and focus on other things here at the farm.  Although planting the garden was a big accomplishment over the last month or so, the biggest task, which is now completed, was growing and selling plants from the greenhouse.  What plants we have left now will be planted around the farm, donated to the Alderson Community Garden, and composted.  It was a good year for selling plants, and yes, we are glad it's over and we're ready to move on.

One of the new tasks that we can now focus on is mowing the orchard, which has not been mowed this year and is sure to be at least three feet high.  The reason we don't mow the orchard until late June is because of the wild turkeys, which build their nests and raise their young in the orchard.  By late June, the little ones are big enough to move out of the way of the tractor and I often see them scurrying around the high grass with the mother close by.  The orchard is an excellent place for the turkeys since the food is plentiful, there is good cover and escape routes from predators, and we don't use any chemicals. 

Another task that needs addressed this time of year is mowing access roads and a few wildlife plots in some of our small clearings in the woods that we maintain for wildlife. To maintain the plots, we mow a six-foot strip, leave a 10-foot strip unmown, then mow another six-foot strip.  We repeat this across the entire clearing.  This gives wildlife and plants alot of edge and allows them to graze and feed close to cover and concealment.  Whenever visiting the plots in the summer and fall, we often surprise many different types of animals in the strips to include deer, turkey, grouse, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, opossums, racoons, and groundhogs.  We've even seen a few bobcats who appeared more surprised than we were. 

Finally, another task we will begin soon is tearing down our three hoophouses and replacing them with one super-insulated wooden frame greenhouse, which will be about 50 feet long and 20 feet wide.  Our plan is to have the new greenhouse under roof and enclosed by fall and then work on the inside during cooler weather.   Our ultimate goal is for the new greenhouse to require no supplemental heating in the winter for growing greens and other cool-weather crops, and no heat in the spring when we transition to warm-weather vegetable plants and annual/perennial flowers.  We think this is achievable using passive heating techniques and good insulation. 

Although it is time to shift focus, we plan to take a little break over the next week and enjoy the more seasonable temperatures (70s and low 80s) now that the heat wave has passed.  I'm also teaching an outdoor adventure class this week at the 4-H camp from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM each morning.  Looks like I'll be wearing a light jacket or long-sleeve shirt since the early morning temperatures are supposed to be in the low to mid 50s.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Organic Insect and Pest Control

Here at OOHF, we don't use any herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizer to grow our crops.  I have to say that it is very difficult and requires more work, but the benefits of not using these products far outweigh the extra yield or unblemished fruits or vegetables.  Here are some of the methods we use to control insects and pests in our gardens and orchards:

Garden Cleanliness:  Making sure the garden or orchard is clean in an excellent preventative measure to break the life-cycle of many insect pests.  Pick up all windfall fruit from the orchard, and remove garden debris from the garden in the fall.

Garden and Crop Rotation:  This is another preventative measure used with garden cleanliness to break the life-cycle of garden pests.  Growing the same type of crops in the same place  year after year usually results in an overabundance of a particular garden pest since they will overwinter near their primary food supply.  Rotating your crops  works really well, especially for harmful insects that live in the soil since they will not travel far to find their food.

Polycultures:  Never grow just one crop (monoculture) over large areas.  Plant a mixture of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and other plants to give your garden diversity and draw a mixture of beneficial insects and creatures to your garden. 

 Permanent Planting and Grass/Clover Strips:  In our market garden we have four feet wide planting strips (essentially raised beds) separated by four feet wide walkways of grass and white clover.  These walkways are mown several times over the summer and the clippings mulched in place or blown over the planting strips as mulch.  By having this grass/clover strip between each row of crops, we provide a home for all kinds of spiders, ground beetles, and other beneficial insects that move into the planting strips to feed on the harmful insects.  Spiders, although generalists, or some of the best predators of insects that do harm to your crops.

Attract and Keep Birds and Bats:  Feeding wild birds will keep them around your garden where they will feed on many harmful insects.  The important thing here is to not feed the birds at regular intervals since they will get lazy and rely on your handouts for all their food.  Another method we use is to provide bird houses and habitats for bluebirds, swallows, bats, and martins, which all eat prodigious amounts of harmful insects.

Homemade Insecticides:  Some homemade concoctions that we've successfully used include dish washing liquid diluted 40:1 with water and garlic and/or hot pepper sprays.  These types of sprays must be sprayed directly on the insect or its eggs for the best results.

Manual Insect Control: A effective method of insect control, particularly for potato bugs and bean beetles and their larvae, is to hand-pick them off the crop and either squish them or drop them in a can of water.  We find that a couple of well-timed pickings of potato bugs is all we need to ensure a nice crop of potatoes (same with beans too).

Wood Stove Ashes:  Sprinkling a thin coat of wood ashes over crops such as cabbage, potatoes, and broccoli will control a number of chewing insects, and it sweetens your soil to boot.

Beer and Salt:  Slugs sometimes become a problem here at OOHF, especially since we add lots of organic matter to our soil which is prime habitat for snails and slugs.  We generally don't do anything unless it is really bad, but a couple of ways to control an outbreak include sprinkling salt on the creatures, or placing a dish of beer at soil level that attracts the slugs and other harmful grubs and caterpillars, which end up drowning.  Another method is just to avoid planting those early garden crops such as cabbage and peas in those locations that are prone to slug infestations. 

Farmscaping: Provide diverse habitats around your garden or orchard by ensuring there are adjacent "wild areas" that contain a mixture of native plants that will support populations of beneficial creatures such as toads, frogs, birds, bats, snakes, etc., and insects like beetles, spiders, praying mantis, predatory wasps, flies, bees, butterflies, lady bugs, etc.

Baking Soda as Fungicide:  Sodium Bicarbonate, a.k.a. baking soda, mixed at a ratio of 200 parts water to one part baking soda will help control powdery mildew and blackspot.

Chickens:  Our chickens will find and eat many insects and insect larvae in our garden areas as well as provide valuable manure to the soil.  Incorporate the flock into  your crop rotations and use them to help clean the garden in the fall.

High Pressure Water Hose:  Using a high pressure water stream will dislodge aphids to slow down or stop their damage.

Well-timed Tillage:  Another trick we use is to shallowly till our planting strips after the first frost in the fall, and again before the last frost in the spring to expose any insect larvae that have overwintered in the soil.  Exposing them to the frost will often kill them. 

Soil Improvements:  Having soil that is healthy and alive with bacteria, mold, fungi, microbes, worms, and other living creatures is one of the best things you can do to promote a healthy insect balance in your garden.  We add lots of leaf mulch and mold, compost, animal manure, and other organic matter to our garden soil every year.  Keeping the pH of the soil in the right range is also important.  We sprinkle wood ashes and lime in our compost and planting strips every year to sweeten the soil and counteract the acidic effects of the leaf mulch and animal manure. 

These are some of the methods we use here at OOHF to control harmful insect infestations and damage.  Used together, they work wonders and allow us to grow our crops in a way that is alligned with our philosophy of farming and healthy food.   I would be interested in hearing how others are using alternative methods to help control insect damage to their crops.

 

       

 

Preparing for Deer Season

Deer hunting season is a big deal here in West Virginia.  Many local businesses close for the week of Thanksgiving and I think they even close the public schools, at least they used to when I was in school.  Deer season is a time for many people to fill their freezers with venison eliminating the need to buy expensive and chemical-laden meat from the grocery store.  In fact, I know quite a few families whose primary source of meat protein comes from venison.  Folks around here are very creative when it comes to preparing and preserving deer meat.  Some ways I've eaten it include canned, fried, baked, slow-cooked, roasted, grilled, smoked, and dried as jerky.

I have mixed feelings about deer hunting in West Virginia, and my friend Elora at JOTOLR nicely summed up some of those feeling in her recent post titled "Deer Hunting Season 2010".  It seems that the agency that manages the deer herd here is more concerned about the revenue that deer hunting brings in (from both residents and out-of-state hunters) than with what is good for the herd or our communities.  Too many deer can be a nuisance and cost residents lots of money annually in the form of higher auto insurance premiums, loss of their food crops, and property damage.  Since we sell bedding plants in the spring and vegetables from our market garden during the growing season, we hear countless horror stories from customers who complain about the deer eating not only their vegetable garden, but annual and perennial flowers, shrubs, and trees they plant around their houses.  With the current size of the deer herd in West Virginia, you better have an effective way to keep the deer out of your garden or you will lose your crop. 

So, what can we do about it?  Well, I am no animal expert but it seems to me that the authorities should close buck season every so many years and allow only does to be hunted.  Of course, that would probably never happen since horn hunting is big business in this state.  Personally, I am not a sport hunter searching for the trophy buck to mount on the wall, and actually prefer to take young does since the meat is more tender and tasty.  From a genetic standpoint, it also makes sense to me to limit the hunting of trophy bucks and let them reproduce, which would improve the genetics of the herd.  Of course, I understand a valid arguement can be made the other way as well.  It's just that we're out here in the trenches and see what is going on, not sitting in some office making policy decisions based on the latest academic research. 

Back to the title of this post.   What do I do to prepare for deer season.  First, I make sure I don't make plans to  harvest firewood or other activities in our woods as a precaution since some people have no respect for private property and could be slinking around with a gun on your property.  Second, if I am working on the farm, which I do during the week of deer season, I wear something blaze orange instead of my normal earth tone garb. I also keep my dogs close to the house since many hunters view dogs in the woods, even in your woods, as a threat to the deer population and will often shoot them.  Most importantly, I break out the old rifle, clean it up, and carry it with me during the day (for a couple of reasons).  Finally, I sharpen the butchering knives, hang the gambrel, and hope the weather turns cold so I can let that deer carcass hang in an outbuilding for a week or so to let the natural enzymes break down the meat making it more tender and tasty.  Seems like this does not happen often in late November any more, so sometimes I'll have to wait until closer to the New Year.  Regardless, venison is an excellent and sustainable food choice that is a big part of the culture here in West Virginia, and I hope it remains that way.

The Ancient Art of Coppicing

In a previous post I talked about how we grow some of our blueberries under Black Locust trees and how we cut them down for fire wood or building materials once they reach a certain size, usually in about seven years.  Little did I know that we were practicing the ancient art of coppicing.

Coppicing is an ancient woodlot management system that has been used around the world for thousands of years (one report citing 8,000) by many cultures.  The art form was prevalent in Europe before North America was colonized,  mainly because they had limited resources.   The practice fell out of favor once the Europeans migrated to North America because the land seemed to have an endless bounty of trees.  What a pity the art form never took off here in North America.  If it would have, we might have forests full of ancient trees (> 1,000 year old) since coppicing allows trees to  live hundreds of years longer than normal.

Since living at OOHF, I have learned about the many trees that stump sprout after being cut and have taken advantage of the characterstic for energy, building, and increasing biodiversity.  Some of the trees that re-sprout here inlude Black Locust, Willow, Ash, Sycamore, Beech, Birch, Oak, Hazelnut, Poplar, Black Walnut, Sugar Maple, Red Maple, Boxwood, and Cherry.  There are probably more species that will re-sprout here, but these are the ones that I have the most experience with.

Based on my experience, the best time to coppice a tree is in early spring before the sap starts to rise.  Soon thereafter, the tree will send up numerous new shoots that often grow straight and tall as they compete for light.  Depending on the species, these sprouts will grow quickly since the tree has an established root system.  I have cut Green Ash and within three years the sprouts are nearly 10 feet tall and large enough for a tool handle, kindling, or nice poles for a variety of uses. Besides firewood and building materials, coppicing also benefits the biodiversity of the site since more sunlight can reach the forest floor creating new environments for different plant, animal, and insect communities.

I would like to learn more about this ancient art and put it to use more on the farm.  With some planning and work, it seems to me that you could manage a group of small woodlots to provide your energy and material needs indefinitely.  Based on my experience here at OOHF, you can re-cut Black Locust every 7-10 years and Sycamore, Yellow Poplar, Willow, Maple, and a few other species on a shorter rotation depending on their ultimate use.  Best of all, you don't need to split wood for kindling or rails since you can harvest the material at the right size.

I would be interested in hearing from others who have knowledge and experience with coppicing or pollarding, or those who have experience building traditional livestock fencing out of coppiced wood, a successful practice that has been around much longer than steel fencing.