POLLINATION ISLANDS--Dogwood Island Update

Dogwood Island Update 10 April 2014

Friends,

Welcome back to the blog.  For those of you just joining us--Welcome.

Today's update is about our "Pollination Islands", specifically Dogwood Island.  Let me step back about 10 months ago when I began to lay in my concept for these Pollination Islands.  I had been researching a few out of the box, but logical gardening practices.  I have always despised buzz words and trendy terms so I won't elaborate any further on some of these concepts.  In fact, I did my research, processed the information and developed my own plan based on my area to work, enhance and nourish. 

Here is a brief summary of how I am proceeding.  Keep in mind that this is a living plan and is subject to multiple modifications as additional research and experimentation are conducted.

The "Front Yard" of the property has been starving from lack of nutrients and sunlight during the summer months.  I began looking at potential possibilities with this wasted space.  For the last several years, I have been getting free wood chips and horse manure from the Hiawassi College stables.  Every 2-3 days, they have filled my hillbilly trailer with nearly two cubic yards of this future compost.  After collecting enough for all of our raised beds, I began to realize that it was time to step outside of the box.

I looked at all of the trees in the front yard and figured out how I could connect a series of trees by building organic matter between them.  I began dumping the manure/wood chip mix between the trees and created 7 living pollination islands.  Each of these are unique due to location and available sunlight during the summer.  All of these trees produce a great shade canopy so growing in these islands would require some research as well as good old fashioned trial and error.  Those of you who know me, know that I am not afraid to experiment and fail as long as I am willing to try it again.

We are naming the islands with appropriate names due to some unique feature.  The picture above is my next island to begin.  You can see  a lot in the picture if you look close.  Fist, the white blossoms you see are from the dogwood tree.  She is displaying her spring colors.  Next you may see the 25 foot centerpiece in the center.  This is a dead fall tree from my neighbors property.  I used my hillbilly workout plan and side-stepped this tree nearly 150 yards by alternating left to right.  Works a few muscles I haven't used in a while.  The centerpiece will also provide a natural habitat for many lifeforms we might not be able to see.

The trailer in the background is loaded with two cubic yards of year old mulch.  I am getting this for free as well and they even load it for me.  I use my hillbilly workout plan to haul mulch to those areas I am currently working.  I use two 5-gallon buckets loaded by hand to move this mulch.  While in transit to the final dumping area, I do a variety of upper body excercised with these buckets that weight about 20 lbs each.  

Next you might see 5 canes of bamboo leaning against the mighty white oak.  This will become a trellis experiment for cucumbers.  I will share more about this concept as I continue to develop my game plan.  I would recommend for folks to look around your local areas for property that has bamboo.  If you can contact the owner, ask for some cuttings.  In a few years, I will be able to harvest enough bamboo to do some trading and bartering for it.  If you are asking for cuttings or transplants, be sure to offer some home grown/ home made goodies as a token of good faith.

Feel free to ask questions.  I will attempt to answer any questions you might have.  If you think of anyone who might appreciate the journey we are sharing, please sharing this blog with them.  We also have a Facebook page under Frugal D. Farmer.

Happy Trails My Friends.