Author Archives: Biologicalenrichment

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About Biologicalenrichment

I started a farm in the early 1980’s called Oikos Tree Crops. It was once a 13 acre pasture and with the help of many worldwide plants became a forest. Today I am dedicated more than ever to finding, preserving, creating and disseminating a wide variety of food plants via seeds that I harvest at my farm. I explore new plants and healthy ways to raise them. I currently focus my attention on my seed repository while providing seeds and bring these new discoveries to the public at large. My farm is one of the oldest and most diverse maintained tree crop plantings in the U.S. using many plants from around the world as a form of global agroforestry applied at a local level. Every plant grown on my farm is grown from seeds. I use the tree crop philosophy as a means to expand the use of perennial, woody tree and shrub crops raised from seed without the use of chemical and high energy inputs.The two story agriculture is alive and well at Oikos Tree Crops. This blog highlights ecological enrichment as a means to improve human health and raise awareness of the possibilities of creating a healthy earth and a wealthy farmer. My story is told by describing my 50 years of farming and life experiences surrounding agriculture filled with my love of nature and my constant search for a greater diversity beyond the cultivar on a global stage.

Structure and Function of Future Plants and Forests

One of the the great events of my family farm was the sand mining operations that left two large distinctively different ponds. In the process, it also created a completely different landscape. It was one we fully enjoyed as now … Continue reading

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Diversity Explored: The European Chestnut

When I was first introduced to the European chestnut, I found it as a shrubby and stunted tree barely able to cope with Michigan’s cold winters. It was on top of a dune overlooking Lake Michigan near Grand Traverse Bay. … Continue reading

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Explorations of Fruit Diversity: Black Mulberry

The range of any plant can vary tremendously from high to low elevations, across whole continents not to mention human introductions. With many woody plants, these are not entirely reflected in the selections available in the nursery marketplace. It was … Continue reading

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‘Michigan’ Tree Collard: Annual To Perennial in Nature

If you were to grow broccoli or brussel sprouts you might discover by accident a few plants that resprout from the soil level the following spring. It’s a common experience. It is not a reliable means of propagation waiting to … Continue reading

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The Timber Apple: An Opposite Value Rises in the Forest

All fruit trees contain within them their original blueprint of the forest environment that they were originally found. There are apricots, plums and apples throughout the world that are part of the forests around them in some way. When these … Continue reading

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It Happens : Growth.

2024 was a year of surprises. Here are a few from my farm where anything is possible.

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Diversity Explored: Serviceberry

At the time of my early nursery life in the 1980’s I was well aware of this beautiful flowering ornamental plant with delicious fruit. Sometimes in the nursery profession, you would not want to use the word serviceberry. It made … Continue reading

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Diversity Discovered: The Wild Gourd

One of the blessings of growing plants is the unknown progeny produced by cross pollination. This twist of fate brings huge benefits to the plants as they change. The species is plastic and changes over time to help adjust to … Continue reading

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Diversity Discovered: The Atlantic White Cedar

It is always a surprise to me that a wetland tree found only in swamps, back waters of streams and lake fronts will grow outside of it’s specific low oxygen and high moisture location into the front of the average … Continue reading

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Dreams of Crop Diversity-The Perennial Bean

The thought of creating or exploring a new crop is a good idea. It is very simple. You start with seeds. All new crops start with new seeds. Like an idea the new seeds are something that no one has … Continue reading

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