Thanks for the thread! (Need to stumble over and get some coffee!)
I thought I was done buying seeds for the year, but last night inspiration hit and I had to buy more.
I’ve been having lots of problems growing corn on my farm. One of the problems is pest control, including both bugs and rodents. I have marigolds to interplant with the corn to see if they’ll repel bugs, but the rodents are trickier. The best plant to repel rodents is peppermint, but it’s also perennial, invasive, aggressive, and might get too tall for the shorter plants. Last night it occurred to me that there are mints available that aren’t cold-hardy enough to survive normal Wisconsin winters! That means that, in this climate, they would behave as annuals. I found one promising mint, Balkan Mint, available in bulk from Richters. Fingers crossed that it works!
I had no idea there are many cold hardy citrus trees!
Lots that take temps as cold as 10 degrees.
http://mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm
Couple I’m looking at... (but am a tightwad... mighty temptimg though.)
“Bitter Lemon: also known as the trifoliate orangeand poncirrus . Anyone wanting to grow citrus north of zone 7 should give bitter lemon a try. Trees are native of Asia and are extremely cold hardy. It has been reported that the bitter lemon tree will survive as far north as New England. Fruits are golf ball sized and the trees are decidious. Hardy to around - 5F
Price is 25 dollars per 1 gallon tree”
“Citrange: We offer several species of citrange. Citrange is a hybrid between sweet oranges and trifoliate orange.. These are very cold hardy and will grow and produce fruit where other citrus trees fail. Hardy to 0 F. We offer Benton, Rusk and Morton citranges as well as Citrandarins... a mandarinXtrifoliate hybrid.
Price is 25 dollars per 1 gallon tree”
That's all I'm going with this year.
Mowing happened yesterday! My brother mowed all the critical areas (yard, front field, entrances, around garden) yesterday morning, then came back early evening & got a lot more areas (couple of the smaller fields, around pole & horse barns). I would estimate about 90% is mowed. He reported the grass was getting really thick/tall in some areas so it was good to knock it back/get it under control now. Getting this mowing done yesterday is a huge load off of me & gives me an extra week to be able to be comfortable sitting on the mower.
On a totally different subject, my niece was telling me that more fruit trees were planted in their new orchard & the plan is to get Babydoll sheep to keep the orchard area under control as far as grass/weeds, etc. Evidently, they are perfect in this role in vineyards & orchards. I had never heard of these sheep before, but they sound wonderful - small (18-24” tall), good-natured, great wool, the “Angus” of mutton, & the bonus of being adorable. Exciting - can’t wait for her to get a couple - there is a farm just up the road that raises them so she has a good source when she’s ready for sheep.
Cool biochar article: https://www.biochar-journal.org/en/ct/32-How-biochar-works-in-soil