Permsteading.com

Thanks for the update George, and congratulations on a HUGE project coming to a close for the season. That has got to feel fantastic. I wish I could offer some insight into the problem, but I'm sure you will figure out what causes it eventually.

I'm inspired, and will be looking to this thread and you for some guidance come fall, when I hope to mimic your efforts on a much smaller scale with my favorite plum tree here.

South Mississippi is in drought. It has been at lease two weeks since we've had a drop of rain and there is no forecast for rain for as far out as the forecast projects. That translates into much watering in addition to replanting the skips which is happening at a pace of about 30 every couple days.

One thing that I learned this year is that crows love to dig up walnut seeds. I can't figure out why because I can't tell that they gain any benefit from doing so. Once they disrupt the set (thereby killing the seed) they seemingly walk off without actually eating any part of the nut. Strange.

I did a ph test in a hole where a tree had dessicated thinking that perhaps soil acidity might explain this phenomenon. However, according to the little tester-thingy, the ph is right at a 7 which is perfect for walnuts.

We are not getting much rain up here either George. I have been hauling a bit of water up to the garden, I don't normally carry water that far except when I plant. I did get most all of the garden mulched with rotting wood chips, they seem to be holding the moisture pretty well. Mulch always helps, although I have about 2000 maple trees sprouting in the garden from the wood chips. I spent some time this morning pulling weeds in the garden. We did finally get a nice rain last night, almost an inch, that should really help the plants. It also made the weeds alot easier to pull. It is to be warm here for the next few days, great Holiday weekend, close to 90 several days. I hope everyone gets to enjoy Family and Friends over the Holiday Weekend, enjoy the time.

Dang, crows of all things. I bet there's good grubs under there, and that's the easiest digging since you softened it up for them. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have suffered most of your losses at this point. I would imagine that anything that has made the first month or two is gonna make it. I hope.

Conditions are brutal here as they probably are for y'all as well. We went for almost a solid month without a rain during May then we had a large rain even that helped everything immensely. However (there's that word again), that was the last rain we've had since. So far, we've not had a drop in June.

Daily-hgh temperature records are falling everyday and we haven't had a drop of water in just over 3 weeks which means we have been watering daily for the past 2 weeks. The trees planted early in the year are doing fairly well. Those planted toward the end of April and into May are looking pitiful. The loss-rate in some parts of the field have been immense.

I have contemplated abandoning the field and starting fresh next year with the lessons learned this year. And I would but for that damned, infernal stubborn streak. The way I figure it, the longer I stay with it this year, the greater the store of knowledge that will be taken into subsequent years.

Every tree that makes it through this year is one less that you have to plant next year George. As well as being one year of growth ahead of the next years plantings, these trees will be very hardy for having survived this terrible growing year. Try and save all that you can, but don't worry if a few don't make it through. Look at nature, how many seeds are put out by a tree each year, and how many grow? Your survival rate should be at least as good if not better than nature. Keep up the good work.

It has been awhile since your last up date George. We have finally been getting rain up here above the Mason-Dixson, how are you doing down South? Have the trees shown signs of catching on, is there some growth that would indicate that they are going to survive this 1st most difficult year? I know that you and the family put in alot of work this spring, what does the survival rate look like? Pictures would be nice,

If lack of rain is causing issues in your garden then could I be so bold as to suggest "water absorbing crystals"?
These crystals hold water (you have to pre-soak them before putting them into your garden) and release it during dry spells when the plants need a drink........it could save you time, money and plants. They also help to absorb excess water if you get massive downpours and then nothing for quite a while. I'll attach a couple of links for more info....
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors-g ... C2oMaBzlPY
http://ezinearticles.com/?Use-Water-Sto ... id=1509480

Many years ago I was in charge of the tree planting program in our small town. After the trees were planted The Business District Authority planted flowers around the base of every tree to beautify the shopping district for the summer. A friend of mine was out of work so I hired him to plant the flowers for us. This was over 25 years ago and I had just heard about those polymer crystals that hold water. Some of the merchants were good about watering the flowers everyday in front of their store, others, not so much. You could really tell the difference as to who watered and who did not. So we bought a bunch of those little crystal hickeys and gave them to Sam to use when he planted the flowers. They were very new at the time, they had just come out on the market, so we didn't know anything about them. Well, when Sam planted the flowers he sprinkled those little white crystals around the plants like they were salt. When he watered they ExPLODED, I mean they Blew up and popped right out of the ground. It looked like little clear marshmellows everywhere. They look weird like that, little jelly things all around the top of the ground. We did discover that if you wet them 1st and spaded them down into the ground they worked WAY better. At that time they claimed a 5 year life for the crystals, I see that they are claiming a 12 year life now. They are much improved. I do not know what happens to them when they break down with time. I wouldn't think they are very organic, but because of saving water they maybe considered very Green.

I laughed so hard about the crystals exploding out of the ground.......so funny
I'm guessing that at the end of the viable period for those crystals that they just will not hold water any longer. I must admit that I don't know that much about the crystals except that they saved my garden on the coast (really, really water repellant sand over the entire block regardless of how much compost and manure I used) with severe water restrictions for several years even during extremely hot weather (42 Celsius for days on end) where we were not permitted to water (I had 1000 litre rainwater tank and greywater to try and keep the garden going).