last of the frozen blueberries (rinse out baggie, reuse)
Today was fabulous. Almost 60F, sunny, a mild breeze. Amie and I went outside and worked – well, she sat and drew, I worked. I made a new 4’x16′ bed near the fence, for peas and lettuce (it will be shaded by the summer hoop house). Still have to fill half of it in, with the soil from my potato bins, only the top twenty inches of which weren’t frozen. Ooph, my back! Feels good. I also bought enough timber for 4 more beds and 5 trellises, which means…
… that I am going through with the tree, bush and vine order. This is the order I am contemplating:
- 1 BARCELONA HAZELNUT (Corylus avellana), layered
- 6 BUSH HAZELNUT (Corylus americana), 1-2 foot seedlings
- GAMMA HAZELNUT (Corylus avellana), layered
- 1 MEADER PERSIMMON (Diospyrus virginiana)
- 2 PAW PAW (Asimina triloba)
- 1 ATREANO FIG (Ficus carica)
- 3 PATRIOT BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium corymbosum)
- 2 ANANASNAYA FEMALE HARDY KIWI (Actinidia arguta)
- 1 MALE HARDY KIWI /POLLINATOR (Actinidia arguta)
- 3 CHINESE MAGNOLIA VINE (Schizandra chinensis)
- 1 ROSA RUGOSA / ALBA (Rosa rugosa alba)
- 1 RUBY AUTUMN OLIVE (Eleagnus umbellata)
- 1 SWEET SCARLET GOUMI (Eleagnus multiflora)
- 2 SOCHI TEA (Camellia sinensis)
- 2 RED HUCKLEBERRY (Vaccinium parvifolium)
- 2 RED OSIER DOGWOOD (Cornus sericea)
- 3 ARONIA SEEDLINGS (Aronia melanocarpa)
- 2 YORK ELDERBERRY (Sambucus canadensis)
- 2 JOHN ELDERBERRY (Sambucus canadensis)
- 3 SNOWBERRY (Symphoriarpos alba)
- 2 SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier alnifolia)
- 2 HiGHBUSH CRANBERRY (Viburnum trilobum)
I’m still trying to find these:
- WITCHHAZEL (Hamamelis)
- WINTERBERRY (Ilex verticillata)
- SHADBLOW SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier canadensis)
- APPLE SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier grandiflora)]
- STRAWBERRIES
Mot of these don’t mind shade, and not a few of them don’t mind it wet, either. All are edibles – except the Red Osier Dogwood, which we want for coppicing, for basketry.
I just need to do some more fine-tuning, placement in the garden plan, sourcing and price matching. So far Burnt Ridge seems my best bet (they have all the ones in the first list). A pity it has to come from so far away: we’re talking seedlings, 3 foot trees, and some pots! I wonder how all that can survive in the mail. But my local garden center is too expensive, and they don’t sell half of what I want – same with the few Massachusetts nurseries I found. If anyone knows of one: I’m near Boston…