Tag Archives: agriculture

Two New American Persimmon Varieties

Starting in the mid 1980’s I began growing American persimmon trees on my farm in southwestern Michigan. I initially grew them within my nursery to sell as seedlings. Eventually I planted many in my open hay field surrounding my farm … Continue reading

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Watermelons Grow in Trees at My Farm

One of my first attempts at growing watermelons was a huge success. I was working full time at a garden center and much like all of my co-workers I had a large garden. My garden extended the width of the … Continue reading

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The American Persimmon: Sugar Heaven

Every year is a great joy to harvest American persimmons. This year is no exception. I relish the major brush clearing and grass mowing that is needed for me to obtain the fruit in quantity and quality. To harvest the … Continue reading

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The Edible World Part 3

When the vegetation management power line people came to my house a few years ago, I asked if people freak out when they show up. The foreman said that once a person decided to stop the carnage by throwing himself … Continue reading

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The Edible World Part 2

This sign from my families farm in the mid 1960’s highlights an activity at our farm enjoyed by many in our part of Michigan. You would get a bucket and go out in our 140 acre swamp and find wild … Continue reading

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The Edible World Part 1

One of the great benefits of having a nursery was to inspire others to create gardens filled with unique and delicious fruits and vegetables. Most of the plants I grew were not available by other nurseries or produced by a … Continue reading

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Creating Order in a Random World

The plants I chose to grow at my farm was based on my personal experiences. There were many more or less random events of people contacting me with seeds or accidentally finding plants as I went through my daily life. … Continue reading

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The American Chestnut Revisited

Thanks to a previous generation of growers who appreciated and loved the chestnut tree for its nuts and wood quality, I was able to grow the hybrid populations on my farm. From these seedling American hybrid nuts, I was able … Continue reading

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The Alpine Strawberry Moves to Flat-Landia

One of the most common and widely available perennial edible groundcover plants is the Alpine strawberry, Fragaria vesca. I grew as many as I could find in the seed trade. Unlike regular strawberries, Alpine strawberry varieties are grown from seeds. … Continue reading

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Plants That Saw The Light of Day (Part 2)

Every plant that I grew whether it was in great profusion or just a few for experimental purposes had possibilities. If it died unexpectedly or had some horticultural issues of some sort, then I want to know what happened and … Continue reading

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