Tag Archives: seeds

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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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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The Hazelnut Arrives

It was over forty years ago when I first peered through the tree line on the land I was about to purchase and spotted hazelnuts. It was a good sign. I had no idea what was ahead of me. Here … Continue reading

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Hog Peanut Moves to the Light

Once a seed repository is built up including varietal selections like Crispy Snack, seeds can be used for the production of the tubers. You can pelletize the seed for greater uniformity and inoculate it with appropriate nitrogen fixing bacteria. It … Continue reading

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The Perfect Plum

One of my early nursery experiences with another nursery owner on the west coast was with plums. He was producing an Asian species from seed like gangbusters. I started seeing them in the some of the giant retailers like Gurney … Continue reading

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