sutton023

In spite of the snow outside the greenhouse, the nuts are starting to wake up from their winter dormancy. I'm sharing a close-up profile of a chestnut germling below. We've planted over 4000 hazelnuts and 900 chestnuts to date.  We wait until they have germinated so that all seeds in a flat are nearly the same developmentally.  By doing so we can ensure watering and other treatments can be provided at near optimal timing for the entire population of plants in a flat. We use subirrigation via flood-able tables to ensure even water availability to the tublings.  If you are familiar with the leaf size of hazelnuts (or chestnuts) you can readily see how water from an overhead source could be deflected from reaching the surface (and interior) of individual tubes (white containers above and below).  In order to ensure good capillary action we presoak the flats after planting.  Included in this presoak is a combination of beneficial soil organisms in a produc...

Email just sent out to our mailing lists: According to demand, we are expanding the annual Short Course to TWO dates this year for the first time; at two different venues. March 23-24 (with some events 22 and 25) at the traditional location near Badgersett in SE Minnesota, at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. April 13-14 (with some events 12) at The Dept. of Sustainable Living, Maharishi Univ., Fairfield Iowa. The two events will be somewhat different, again in response to demand; the March Short Course will focus on theory and Hybrid Hazelnut crop specifics; the April, Iowa, Short Course will teach theory with a focus on Hybrid Chestnut crop specifics. Both will provide a good grounding in Woody Agriculture crop basics, including pests, genetics, harvest, marketing, and establishment; but detailed examples and discussions will be specialized for the first time.  Persons who want to attend both will likely not be disappointed. DETAILS AND UPDATES AT THE BADGERSETT GROW...

But this is ridiculous:   This is Meg's Leg; very soon after the major reconstruction surgery.  It actually looks quite a lot better these days; but it's worth remembering where we started.  I'm hoping we'll eventually have the xrays we can show you- boy, they're impressive.  We could start our own scrap metal business.   The red spot to the left of the top stitches is the hole left by the screw for the immobilizer rig.  I still don't understand why these wounds (4; penetrating skin and muscle and leaving screw holes in the bones) don't result in gangrene and death.  But they don't.  Sterile technique and intravenous antibiotics notwithstanding- I would think you couldn't keep them clean enough.  They're all closed tight now.   Meg is still mostly in bed, until the end of February.  She is on track to start putting weight on the reconstructed knee then.  Stitches out weeks ago.  She did have to have another operating room ...