So, it has been a really long time since the last blog post. The reason for this is that spring and summer is the busiest time of year on a farm especially since this was our first spring on the property. We had a ton of stuff that we wanted to get done and we’re still slowly working down that list. To start we had ordered 6 bare root fruit trees, 25 red wine grapes, and 75 baby trees (spruce, fir, and white birch) all of which were delivered in April. Bare root plants need to go in as soon as possible so my husband dug a lot of holes in a short period of time! We planted 4 apple trees, a cold-hard peach tree, and a sour cherry tree and hope to add 4-6 more fruit and nut trees each year until our orchard is complete. Our biggest concern is our zone; we are in zone 4 which limits our selection of fruit trees that will grow well here. If anyone knows of a sweet cherry tree that grows in zone 4 please let me know! The 25 red wine grapes that we bought are suited to our harsh Wisconsin winters. We chose the Marquette variety as these are cold hardy and although they are a new variety developed by the University of Minnesota, appear to make a nice dry red wine which we prefer. In subsequent years, we hope to add more grapes including a white variety (likely Itasca) well suited for our climate. Before we could plant the grapes however we needed to get the sod in our field tilled under. We also wanted to put in a large vegetable garden this spring and summer so we also needed the sod tilled under for that as well. We do not have a roto-tiller attachment for our little 955 John Deere tractor however a neighbor with a much larger tractor agreed to roto-till our plot in exchange for haying our field this summer for his horses. He has also provided lots of horse manure for compost!
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Thank you for visiting my new website. The purpose of this site is to share more information about my online Etsy store (www.twopondsfarm.etsy.com) and the products I sell. I started a new Etsy store just before Thanksgiving 2016. I am focusing on all natural items that are sourced from our land in central Wisconsin. Currently I have a wide variety of pine cones for decorative or crafting needs. I am beginning to make pine cone wreaths and will hopefully add more pine cone crafts in the future. I am also focusing on white birch products. We have made a variety of beautiful wooden tea light and votive holders. We also sell white birch logs that are great for fireplace decor. I am also hoping to expand into more vintage items as well as dried flowers and herbs that I will grow at our farm this summer. |
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AuthorMy family and I recently moved from the New York City area to small town Wisconsin. Our move, this website and blog, and our Etsy store is the result of our desire over the past several years to simplify our lives, increase our quality of life, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life. I grew up as a country kid in central PA working on my grandfather's fruit farm and as a corn "de-tassler". My background is in biology where my love of nature originated. I used to work as a research scientist and professor and have now transitioned to a part-time stay-at-home mom, self-employed tutor, and small business owner. Thank you for taking the time to check out my site. Archives
March 2023
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