Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Flowers found on the property


 Brown-eyed Susans have multiple natural variations.  There is also a pale yellow and a yellow with white tip, among others.

 Jack-in-the-Pulpit have pale and dark variants

 Milk weed form clumps from an original plant.  They range in color from off white to dark purple, from tight flowers to drooping.

Lavender violets are very common, yellow are rare.  In the woods they seem to be paler in color.  Some of them have a heavier pattern in the center.

From earliest spring until late fall wildflowers bloom everywhere.  

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Regular and Alternative Crops

Goldenseal
Native plants on the property include Butternut, Blueberry high and low bush, Black Raspberry, Red Raspberry and Strawberry.

There are many potential alternative crops
Maple Syrup:  the pond is surrounded by a sugar bush.  The trees were tapped in the 30's.
Chestnut
Hazelnut
June Berry (early upic alternative to Blueberry)
Goldenseal
Paw Paw
Autumn Olive
Goji Berry
Ginsing
other ideas

Potential:
Strawberry yield 10,000 lb acre
Blueberry yield 12,000 lb acre
Raspberry yield 11,000 lb acre
Blackberry yield 9,500 lb acre

Tomato yield greater than 35,000 lb acre

Useful link
NOFA
Northern Nut Growers Association

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Erratics

There are a few boulders sitting on top of the ground. They are called Erratics, defined as "a boulder carried by glacial ice and deposited some distance from its place of origin"
The largest one is on the southern property line. It it about 10 feet high. The rest are only a few feet high. The nicest one sits on the edge of the pond, a great place to sit.