Nanabush Food Forest Stories — forest

Having failed to report news in a timely manner, let's go with better late than never...  it was thrilling to have our first (small) crop of hazelnuts from 4 year old trees.  Check out some of the hazel close-ups (of both nuts and the male flowers a.k.a. catkins that form in the fall)!  

No, its not a rewrite of the Kansas song, its a fruit that seems to be wayward of the tropics.  I am referring to the Asimina triloba plant, or common pawpaw which is the largest indigenous fruit on the North American continent.  A native of Ontario and many northeastern U.S. states, this plant is the only one of its genus found outside of the tropics, wayward?  perhaps... but that is not the only unusual thing about it... The pawpaw has fetid or stinking flowers that attract scavengers such as flies and beetles to pollinate it.  The source of the smell...

It's that time of year again in the food forest, where temperatures and humidity hit just the right point to cause a flush of spring mushrooms.  So exciting!  Shiitake logs are in full flush, as the newly planted vegetables establish themselves in the soil and fruits and nuts develop on the trees and bushes.  We've got some blue, pink and pearl oyster mushrooms queuing up over the next few months, along with some reishi logs established last year which we hope will produce their first flush this fall. 

So many folks interested in a forest of food!  I've added some additional photos from throughout this 2015 year.  It is very hard to capture the whole view of the forest, so many photos celebrate individual plants.  Once the bulk of harvest is complete, tune in for some more discussion about forest design.