Site Feature - West

Hey y'all!

We're planning a big weekend here. Garden planning - log moving - clearing land - ACTION ACTION ACTION!

I thought I would give a little highlight on how things are looking right now at West and where we're thinking we might head as of now.

As I mentioned before West has some different kinds of challenges than our other sites. Once the trees leaf out we will loose most of the sunlight that falls on our wet soil. Two of these shade trees also happen to be Black Walnut's. Walnut trees -those of the genus Juglans- contain juglone, which is an herbicidal organic compound contained in all parts of the tree - especially the feeder roots. Some plants, particularly natives, are resistant to the compound, but many common garden vegetables suffer when exposed to juglone.

So what are we going to do about this?! Well - in the forest only the trees get premium sunlight and everything else has to deal. Among many other things, forest floors support animals, fruiting perennials, mushrooms, and compost all the waste material into nutrients. So I figure-lets do that.

Rabbit Shed -

We have put together a rabbit shed for a small backyard Rabbitry. The rabbits will provide meat, pelts, and high grade fertilizer. I chose the most removed and shady part of our yard for this shed. The footprint is 9 x 12 - a comfortable fit for an 8 cage set up. Below are pictures of our progress.

We still have to put up 4 more cages and finish the walls to call it done. If anyone comes across a cheap/free roofing material let us know!

The rabbit breeds we are starting with are Rex and Satins. We currently have two Rex's a buck and doe, as well as 4 Satin's; 1 buck and 4 does. The Satins are still a little immature but the Rex's should be just about settled enough to start breeding.

Mushrooms -

West will also be mushroom central for the North Asheville Urban Farmers. This weekend ~50 inoculated logs will be brought to rest here and act as a more "mature" batch of logs. Soon we will also be inoculating a whole new batch of recently felled wood into mushroom production. All of the first batch are Shiitake mushrooms on Oak logs. The new batches will include Oyster, Shiitake and Maitake mushrooms on Hickory, Maple, and Oak wood. We will also be working with Blewit mushrooms which will help break down our compost and provide wood. And finally as an experimental project we will be trying to produce oyster mushrooms on waste coffee grounds.

Compost -

Yet still in its early stages, West is on a mission to produce as much compost as possible this year. We have a great connection for coffee grounds and we are trying to make the most of it. For the cost of a short bike ride I get ~ 5 gallons of grounds a day and into the pile it goes! I'm also adding ground wood on the cheap (thanks to Sunrise Sawmill) and pretty much anything else we can get our hands on. If you want to keep your organic waste out of the dump feel free to drop it in our piles :)

Growing -
We're still trying to grow some plants this year and we are definitely expecting it to be a learning process. There is now a bed of brambles including Black Raspberries (Black Cap and Wine berry) Raspberries (Heritage) and Blackberries. Soon we will also be putting in a bed of Jerusalem Artichokes, and from there - I don't know what else. I'm definitely open to suggestions. Let me have it.

Thats our update for now. More to come as things progress.

Lots of love.

Tom C