Apples, Kazakhstan, biodiversity and you!

My cousin Kim is going to love this: One of the people working on the Little Dog permaculture plan has visited the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan. If that sounds vaguely familiar and you can’t remember why, you’ve probably read Michael Pollan’s book The Botany of Desire. In the first chapter, Pollan tells part of the history of the apple and learns that the birthplace of the modern apple is most likely Kazakhstan. The apple forests there exhibit the surprising genetic diversity. The forest is healthy, balanced, natural, and tends to remain fairly unbothered by pests and disease. Sounds brilliant, eh? We should get some of that action here, you say? Indeed. Biodiversity is going to be the key to Little Dog’s future. We’re on the path to planting all kinds of interesting stuff in the orchard: berries, hops, nuts (the Northern Pecan! Woo!), pungent greens. All of those things are going to make the orchard a healthier, happier place to be. We’re going to build a system that supports itself. It’s going to take a big chunk of time and money, but it’s going to happen and you, dear reader, are going to be a part of it.

Speaking of taking part, let's all brainstorm names that might trip off the tongue in a more pleasant way than "permaculture", shall we? Or perhaps I just need to practice...

I thought it was an apple orchard. Why are there prunes everywhere?

Seriously - prunes are EVERYWHERE around this joint. Okay, I'm not sure they're called that, but what would *you* call the stuff leftover after pruning? I'm calling 'em prunes, and that's that.

Even though it's not the ideal season for pruning, we just had ours done. (Ask me about the timing if you're interested. I won't bore the rest of you with the details.) It was beyond necessary this year, as I skipped last year out of frugality and an absolute lack of ability and/or labor for hire. The guys who came were awesome - fast, efficient, and super friendly. One of the guys has been working on these trees for the entire time they've been here. I wish I could download his knowledge right onto my hard drive!

Once the crew has been through to pick up the big chunks of tree (er, rather, the big prunes), someone will swing through with a chopper to dice up the rest. Once that happens, I'll probably start the permaculture plan. That's likely to entail planting fun things like chives (to confuse pests!).

It's getting incredibly green around here, so I'll try to get some good pictures soon...

So much chaos, so few posts

Apologies, my friends, for not keeping you up to date on the Little Dog daily doings. Winter was so quiet and calm and then BLAM! Spring exploded all over the place. Things are in serious flux over here, but it's all very exciting. We're getting things done and making plans for a brighter future. I don't want to say too much, for fear of jinxing ourselves, but the word for the day is "permaculture". Google it, if you like. Or, check back in here at the blog, because I'm pretty sure it's going to be coming up a lot...