Part One: May 2024
This spring it was finally time to focus on Zone Four, the Future Food Forest. I attended native tree sales in Monroe and Washtenaw Counties, and came away with small saplings of these trees: meadowsweet, choke cherry, wild plum, pasture rose, and paw paw. I was torn between planting them in pots for the summer and then planting them in Zone Four in the fall. I chose the former, and it might have been a mistake.
My permaculture intern Sawyer got busy planting the saplings.
Sawyer used rebar to create small holes in the ground for the saplings’ roots. We want to disrupt the soil as little as possible.
This wild plum looks happy. This and other saplings were purchased with a donation from farm friend Jeff Jackson. Thanks Jeff!
Old utility flags mark the saplings after planting.
Permaculture Intern Sawyer in the Food Forest in Progress.
We were proud of our ourselves after planting the saplings. Spring was here, the weather was warm, and everything looked great. A couple days later I went to check on the baby trees. It turned out to be a sad day on the farm.
Squirrels had dug up most of the saplings and left the dying babies right next to the holes! Who knew this was a thing!
I emailed my friend Lee Walsh, a native tree expert who is involved with ReTree Tecumseh, about a half hour from here. ReTree Tecumseh have planted scores of native trees in their town. She gave me advice which I followed strictly. I purchased these white trash cans and a large bucket of garlic powder. I replanted and watered and sprinkled the garlic powder. The saplings were stressed but they were still alive.
Remediated paw paw sapling. Fingers crossed!
A neighbor was giving away a peach saplings, an older one, so on a whim we planted that too.
We’ll plant more peach trees in 2025 to keep this one company.
The remediations suggested by Lee worked perfectly. No more saplings were dug up. Sawyer and I watered them faithfully. (Mostly Sawyer.) The stress of the Squirrel Encounter proved too much for some of them, but we’re hoping for a spring miracle in 2025. We know at least a few made it. Next spring I will plant saplings in planters and keep them safe in Zone Two until fall planting. I prefer planting in the fall, since the soil is warmer and they have the winter to settle in. I’ve had good luck with red bud trees I’ve planted in the fall in Zone One.
Part Two: Fall 2024
It turns out that ground bees nest in Zone Four in August and September. This made watering difficult, but there was some rain. It also meant that we waited until October to plant the eight trees that were our big food forest project this year.
Sawyer and farm friend Sarah build cages around the new baby trees.
I wanted to plant fruit and nut trees that are less common in the area. Apples and peaches are so plentiful in SE Michigan, and pears and plums right behind them. By planting less common trees, I create biodiversity and trading opportunities.
We planted two baby American Hazelnuts. Check out the fall colors. Can you imagine them when the tree is fully grown.
Two American Persimmons.
And the most exciting to me, four Common Elderberry. Both food and medicine.
Thanks to a grant from the Monroe Conservation District, we were able to build fortresses around these trees. They are nearest to a deer path, and farthest from the smell of the dogs, so we built boxes that will contain them safely for several years. We mixed biochar (20%) with soil (80%) for the holes and sprinkled the areas with garlic powder. The trees are safe from squirrels and deer, and have good aeration as the roots expand. We continue to water as October was dry, and November is looking the same.
Eight trees planted and protected. Biochar pit in the foreground under blue tarp.
We used 8′ t-posts and 1/4″ hardware cloth to cage the trees. Chicken wire would have been cheaper, but my intent is to reuse the hardware cloth once the trees are a few years old. As I did in California, I’ll make raised garden beds with the hardware cloth and shorter t-posts. Those raised bed will grow seasonal greens in the permaculture vegetable garden in Zone Two.
We started 2024 calling Zone Four the Future Food Forest. Now as the year concludes, it’s the Food Forest in Progress. Next year’s goals include maintaining and adding trees. In addition, we’ll start transplanting some of the abundant wild strawberries in the Rain Garden in Zone Two into Zone Four. These natives will begin competing with the invasive plantain (AKA White Man’s Footprint) that is a prolific ground cover in Zone Four.
I’ve often heard it said that planting trees is faith and hope for the next generation and generations down the road. Sawyer and Sarah’s generation, for one. I just turned 62, so I hope I’m around long enough to see saplings grow to trees, and to enjoy hazelnuts, persimmons, elderberries, and more. But regardless, it’s a comfort to have planted them for whomever comes along next.
