Tom Wahl is an experienced grafter. He enjoys helping others learn this skill. He will be teaching the modified-mega-chip-bud-inlay-bark graph (also known as the double flap mega chip graft) on Saturday, May 5th at Nahant Marsh Nature Center. To register or for more details go to Nahant Marsh Events Ca lander.
You-Pick at Red Fern Farm is by reservation only. You can call a day ahead to see if there is an opening or schedule your harvest day weeks in advance. We have lots of openings on weekdays, but weekend fill up quickly.
What to Expect: You can usually drive up and park close to the spot you will be harvesting. We have clean latrines, hand washing stations and picnic tables at each parking area. This is a safe area for children, but no dogs or cats are allowed (food security issues).
The grass will be mowed, but not as fine as a lawn. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, prickly chestnut burs are scattered on the ground. Our orchards are in a rural setting, close to “wild” timber. Bring bug repellant.
Aronia Berries: (still available as of 9/29/18) Aronia berries are available free for you-pick. They will hit the peak of ripeness during early September. We have over 2 acres to choose from, with some shade from young chestnut and heartnut trees. Call for more information.
Hazels: (Finished for 2018) Hazels are available at $1.00/pound for un-husked clusters for you-pick. The season for hazels starts in late August and continues to mid-September. Hazels can be picked from the bushes or from the ground underneath. Bring bags, buckets or boxes to collect into. It can take 30 minutes for one adult to pick clean one 10 foot tall bush and gather about 1-3 gallons of hazel clusters.
Pawpaws: Our pawpaw season is now past it’s peak. There are still pawpaws available on the trees as of 9/29/17, but the season will be winding down soon. Pawpaws are $3.00/pound when you pick them, $5.00/pound when we pick them. Bring buckets, boxes or crates. Ripe pawpaws are very soft and should not be stacked no more than 2 deep. Weekends are very popular, so call early to reserve a time slot. Tuesday – Thursday is an excellent time to have the pawpaw patch to yourself. It only takes about 15 minutes to get 5 – 10 pounds of pawpaws. Late afternoon is the best time to pick, but ripe pawpaws will be available all day. Recipes are available. There is no minimum or maximum for the amount of pawpaws you pick. We do ask you only pick what you plan to take home.
We have many grafted trees. If you want to see what grafted variety you like the flavor of best, bring a black sharpie with you. You can write on the outside of the pawpaw what the variety it is. When you eat it later, you can compare it with other varieties
American Persimmon: Persimmons are available are still going strong as of 9/29/17 at $2.00/pound when you pick them, $3.00/pound when we pick them. The season starts in early September and continues to mid-October. Persimmons are very soft when ripe. They should not be piled deeply in your gathering container. Bring bags, buckets or boxes to collect into.
They can be gathered from the ground or picked from the tree. Slightly under ripe persimmons are very astringent. They will ripen at room temperature if picked early. We have nets spread under grafted persimmons in front of our house. You are welcomed to gather from the nets, the trees or anywhere in our groves.
Heartnuts: Heartnuts are available at $2.00/pound for un-husked clusters or $4/pound without husks (they husk very easily) for you-pick. The season for heartnuts starts in early September and continues to mid-October. The nuts are gathered from the ground under the trees.
Cornelian Cherries: (Finished for 2018) Cornelian Cherries are available at $1.00/pound for you-pick. The season has been mid-August to mid-September. We recommend bringing a gathering cloth to spread under the bushes. The ripe berries are soft and sweet. Under ripe they are firmer and very tart. They will continue to ripen after picking. We have none available already picked (the family eats them up too fast).
Spicebush: Spicebush berries are available for $8.00/pound or 50¢/ounce for you-pick. The season runs from early September to mid October. (Tom reported ripe, red berries on 9/7/17.) You only need a few ounces of these potent berries to add to a variety of recipes. Kathy uses them in pawpaw jam and persimmon margaritas.
Chestnuts: We offer you-pick under our chestnut trees. The season often runs mid-September to mid-October. As of 9/29/17 the 2017 season is starting to wind down, and we have discounted our you-pick prices as a result. We provide tools and buckets for harvest and designate an area all your own to pick for a day. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, prickly chestnut burs are scattered on the ground. The best time of day to gather chestnuts is mid to late afternoon. Plan on coming after lunch and harvest up till sunset.
We have a very long waiting list of people who want to gather chestnuts on weekends. If you are new to our You-Pick, your name goes to the bottom of the list. If you can only come on a weekend, it may be years before you get a chance to gather chestnuts. If you can come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday you have a much better chance of getting to gather chestnuts. We have started scheduling people to come pick chestnuts for 2017. Call or email us to get on our list. We can schedule you now for weekdays or call you when other dates open up.
2017 Chestnut You-Pick Prices:
If you want to keep all the nuts you pay $2.50 $2.25/pound for everything you picked up.
We discount that price by 25 cents if you come on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. On these days the price is $2.25 $2,00/pound. (on 9/29/17 we discounted our prices by 25¢ )
If you don’t want all the nuts, we will pay you 50¢ for each pound of chestnuts you gather and don’t take home.
Be sure to bring water and snacks. It takes about one hour for one adult to gather 25 pounds of nuts.
Maps and directions are available or call if you need help finding us.
We are outside a lot this time of year. Be ready to leave a message.
Tom Wahl spoke on site selection and care of chestnut trees at the Chestnut conference in Letts, Iowa on February 11, 2017. The conference was video taped. This video is 1 hour and 20 minute long. It covers hardiness zones, drainage needs, Ph requirements and more for chestnut trees. Information from the conference is available.
You can watch the vidoe and others from the chestnut conferce on you tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aV_U0k-lmg
Lisa Louck, Iowa DNR, talked on possible cost share options for Iowans at the Chestnut Conference in Lett, Iowa on February 11, 2017.
Pawpaws: We will have ripe pawpaws by mid September. Pawpaws are $3.00/pound when you pick them, $5.00/pound when we pick them. Bring buckets, boxes or crates. Ripe pawpaws are very soft and should not be stacked more than 2 deep. Call to schedule a time to stop by our house and we will show you the pawpaw patch. Weekends are very popular, so call early to reserve a time slot. Tuesday – Thursday is an excellent time to have the pawpaw patch to yourself. Picnic tables and portable toilets are close to the pawpaw patches. The grass will be mowed, but not as fine as a lawn. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, prickly chestnut burs are scattered on the ground. Our orchards are in a rural setting, close to “wild” timber. Bring bug repellant. It only takes about 15 minutes to get 5 – 10 pounds of pawpaws. Late afternoon is the best time to pick, but ripe pawpaws will be available all day. Recipes are available.
Aronia berries: Aronia berries are available at 25¢/pound. They will hit the peak of ripeness during early September. We have over 2 acres to choose from, with some shade from young chestnut and heartnut trees. Call for more information. Link to map below.
Chestnuts: We offer you-pick under our chestnut trees. We provide tools and buckets for harvest and designate an orchard all your own to pick for a day. Picnic tables and portable toilets are close to the orchards. The grass will be mowed, but not as fine as a lawn. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, prickly chestnut burs are scattered on the ground. The best time of day to gather chestnuts is late in the afternoon. Plan on coming after lunch and harvest up till sunset.
We have a very long waiting list of people who want to gather chestnuts. If you are new to our You-Pick, your name goes to the bottom of the list. If you can only come on a weekend, it may be years before you get a chance to gather chestnuts. If you can come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday you have a much better chance of getting to gather chestnuts. Call or email us to get on our list. We will call you when dates open up to see if you can come.
2016 Chestnut You-Pick Prices:
If you want to keep all the nuts you pay $2.50/pound for everything you picked up. We discount that price by 25 cents if you come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. On these middle of the week days the price is $2.25 pound.
If you don’t want all the nuts, we will sort the nuts by size and you will pay a higher price, but only take what you want.
Small: $2.50/pound, Medium and Large: $2.75/pound, X-Large $3.00/pound
And we will pay you 50¢ for each pound of chestnuts you gather and don’t take home.
Be sure to bring water and snacks. It takes about one hour for one adult to gather 10 – 30 pounds of nuts.
Maps and directions are available or call if you need help finding us.
But be warned, we are outside a lot this time of year . Be ready to leave a message.
In 2016 Kathy recieved an award for her work with Tom on creating a sustainable farm. The award was from Iowa State Extension – Iowa State University.
From: blogs.extension.org
Lonicera cearulea – blue honeysuckle, AKA “honeyberry”, “haskap” , and “mountain fly honeysuckle ” – by whatever name you call it, this plant is generating some excitement for its potential as a commercial crop.
The dark blue berries produced on small, multi-stemmed shrubs 2 – 6 feet tall are similar in size and flavor to blueberries. Like Aronia berries, honeyberries have 3 times more antioxidants than blueberries, but unlike Aronia, they taste good right off the bush. Growers report honeyberries sell out very quickly at farmers’ markets.
In the wild, honeyberries are found growing at the edges of wetland
s and in the shade of boreal (evergreen) forests across Northern Europe, Siberia, Northern Japan, and Canada. In the US they are found in the northern Midwest and in the NE from northwest Pennsylvania through New England. Honeyberries should not be confused with the exotic, invasive Amur and Tartarian honeysuckles. Honeyberries are not invasive; in fact, they need care and attention from humans in order to grow and thrive outside of their native habitats. Although they are cold-hardy to -50ºF, they do not 
compete well against grasses, and some are damaged by direct sunlight at southern latitudes.
Honeyberries originating from low humidity environments tend to be susceptible to the foliar fungal disease downy mildew.
In the wild, most honeyberry fruits are rather small, and flavor can be quite variable, from sweet-tart to bland or even bitter. In Russia and Japan, extensive breeding programs dating back decades resulted in the development of larger, better tasting berries on more productive bushes. In contrast, honeyberries were ignored in North America until quite recently, but brand new breeding programs by Dr. Maxine Thompson at Oregon State University and Dr. Robert Bors at University of Saskatchewan have already yielded some dramatic results. Cultivars producing better-tasting berries and more than twice the size of any in Asia are now available to growers in the US and Canada. Some of these new varieties are suited to mechanical harvesting.
Despite the rapid advances in the development of honeyberries, some significant challenges remain to be overcome before they become an important berry crop in North America. In the nursery trade, honeyberries of Russian origin dominate the US market. These Russian honeyberries bloom in March, well before the bees needed to pollinate them become active. This, pus their susceptibility to sunscald and foliar disease make this strain the least adapted to our latitude and climate. Worse still, some of the Russian cultivars were deliberately bred to have bitter-tasting berries for adding to Vodka. Some of these have found their way into the US market, leading some to believe the hype about honeyberries is fraudulent.
A great deal of work needs to be done to explore the limits of the honeyberry plant’s adaptability. “How far south can it be grown?” is a question that remains to be answered (current speculation is that zone 6 or 7 will be the limit). How much moisture do these plants need? Though they are found growing at wetland edges, it has been found they grow best in moist but well-drained soil. No one yet knows what the ideal ratio of shade to sunlight will be, or if this ratio will varyat different latitudes. Fertilizer requirements remain unexplored, except that N rates normal for blueberries can be lethal to honeyberries. Recommended plant spacing is just a guess at this point, and will be different for hand-picking verses mechanical harvesting.
One of the most serious problems facing this crop is the name. Many growers and researchers have adopted the Japanese name “haskap”. Others are using the name “honeyberry”. What you call a crop has a profound impact on its marketability. There are many examples of this, but one obvious case is the “Chinese gooseberry”. This plant was grown in the US for over 150 years, yet no-one was even interested in eating them until the name was changed to “Kiwi fruit”. It takes no explanation for why growers chose to replace the name “choke berry” with “Aronia berry”. “Honeyberry” is an excellent name for something you would expect to taste delicious. “Haskap”, to the ears of Americans, may refer to the lid for a special container for hazardous waste. Although I believe the name “honeyberry” will eventually prevail over “haskap”, I also think that the sooner we kill this name, the better.
Honeyberries are not well known in this country; in fact, most Americans have never heard of them. Much needs to be done to educate the public about this new crop, but I have no doubt that a native berry that tastes this good will have a bright future. – Tom Wahl
Sometime in December 2014 Tom Wahl made a claim on the Practical Farmers of Iowa list serve that 16 families could make a living farming on 160 acres using an agroforestry system. Below he gives more details on his claim. Edits have been added.
These figure comes from my own personal experience in growing and marketing chestnuts, plus yield data from the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry and from Kansas State University. The full answer would be long and complicated. I am working on a book (to be published by Chelsea Green Co.) that will explain this all in detail, but for now I will give the “short” answer.
As you could probably guess, the most important component in my agroforestry system is chestnuts. I have been telling people for years that one reasonably fit adult should be able to manage 10 acres of chestnuts by his or herself (labor for harvesting being the limiting factor). 10 acres of chestnuts, well managed on a good site, should be able to produce 3500 to 4000 lbs per acre of nuts, for a total of 35,000 to 40,000 lbs on the 10 acres. This would be for a “mature” level of production, but that can be reached in 12 to 15 years from the initial planting. In Iowa, the nuts wholesale for $2 to $3 per pound, so the 10 acres should generate $70K to $120K per year.
That is just for chestnuts. You could put a pawpaw tree underneath every chestnut tree. Pawpaws are natural understory trees and can produce 50% to 75% of a full crop even in fairly heavy shade. Dr. Patrick O’Malley estimates that pawpaws in Iowa should bear around 14,000 pounds per acre (in full sun). Pawpaws can wholesale for as high as $7 to $10 per pound. [we plan to sell you-pick pawpaws for $4.00/pound in 2015] Under the pawpaws and chestnuts you could add shade-tolerant berry shrubs such as gooseberry, currant, and honeyberry. On the ground, in the more exposed areas, you could grow perennial vegetables such as asparagus, rhubarb, and horse radish. In the shadier areas you could add high-value medicinal plants such as ginseng and goldenseal.
Even though this takes 12 to 15 years to reach this level (and that is assuming no disasters such as extreme weather events), this does not mean there is no income leading up to this point. Chestnuts can begin bearing in as little as two years from planting, and can reach 350 lbs per acre by year 5.
I am sorry that I can’t point you to university research documenting all of these figures, but there just aren’t any universities doing this. The best university info on agroforestry comes from U of Missouri Center for Agroforestry www.centerforagroforestry.org, including a 12 page summary on chestnut growing. – Tom Wahl
Table 1 shows a conservative projected production and income for chestnuts assuming 108 trees/acre and $2/pound selling price.
|
Year of growth |
Pounds chestnut/acre |
Gross income/acre |
|
1-3 |
0 | 0 |
| 4 | 56 |
$108 |
|
7 |
432 | $864 |
| 10 | 1,512 |
$3,024 |
| 15+ | 3,348 |
$6,696 |
Table 2 shows a conservative projection for pawpaws assuming 108 pawpaw trees/acre (growing under chestnut trees) and $5/pound selling price.
| Year of growth | Pounds pawpaw/acre | Gross income/acre |
| 1-6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 216 | $1,080 |
| 10 | 756-972 | $3,780 – $4,860 |
| 11 | 864-1188 | $4,320 – $5,940 |
| 14 | 1,404-1944 | $7,020 – $9,720 |
| 15 | 1,620-2,160 | $8,100 – $10,800 |
Let me tell you a story. The Chinese gooseberry, Actinidia deliciosa, a perennial vine native to eastern Asia, was grown as an ornamental for centuries. Even though it produced a fruit, few people consumed it and it was never found in the market. A few decades ago some enterprising New Zealanders decided to take the Chinese gooseberry commercial. They changed its name and came up with a marketing campaign. Today, kiwi is popular all over the world. 
There are thousands of fruits around the world that are seldom or never found in commerce. Of these, dozens – perhaps hundreds – are well suited to backyard culture and home use. Some of these could become commercially popular if more people knew about them. One example is Actinidia arguta, the hardy kiwi. Hardy kiwi fruit is a smaller (about the size of a grape), sweeter, and m
ore flavorful relative of the fuzzy kiwi found in stores. Its smooth skin does not need to be peeled. The vine is vigorous to the point of being rampant, requiring a very sturdy trellis to support the fruit load of up to 200 pounds per vine. They come in male and female; males produce no fruit, but are required for fruit production on females.
Another little known fruit with potential is the goumi, Eleagnus multiflora. This small tree or large shrub is a non-invasive re
lative of the invasive pests autumn olive and Russian olive. The potentially heavy crops are sweet-tart and cherry like in size and flavor, but without the pest and disease problems associated withcherry production. It is hardy through zone 5.
Che, Cudrania tricuspidata, sometimes called “melon berry” or “silk thorn” is a Chinese relative of our native Osage orange. Che fruit resembles Osage orange, but is only 1” – 2” in diameter and deep red when ripe. A more important distinction is that while t
he larger Osage orange is inedible, the fruit of the che is chewy but delicious. The flavor is said to resemble a mix of mulberry and fig, both of which are related to che. Though it usually only reaches the size of a large shrub or small tree, che can produce up to 400 pounds of fruit. The long growing season required to ripen the fruit limits the production to zone 5b and south. Development of earlier ripening cultivars could potentially extend its range northward. Like the kiwi, che comes in male and female, but unlike kiwi, some female che will bear seedless fruit without a male nearby.
The Cornelian cherry Cornus mas, is not a cherry at all, but a type of dogwood native to Europe and Asia. Like the goumi, it can produce very large crops of bright red, sweet-tart fruits on
a large shrub. The fruits are similar in size and flavor to pie cherries. Also like the goumi, it seems to be unbothered by pests and diseases. Even Japanese beetles seem to leave them alone. They are cold-hardy though zone 4.
A close relative of Cornelian cherry is the kousa dogwood. In early spring it is covered by large, showy white flowers like our own native flowering dogwood, but on this eastern Asia native the flo
wers are followed by edible red fruit. Kousa fruits are highly variable in size, flavor and quality. The best of these have a creamy texture and a sweet flavor reminiscent of paw paw. Unfortunately, kousa varieties are usually selected for ornamental qualities. One single cultivar, ‘Big Apple’, has been selected for large fruit size. So far, no kousa varieties have been selected for fruit flavor or quality.
Mayhaw is a term applied to hawthorns, Crataegers sp., that are highly prized for their fruits. In the stricte
st sense, mayhaw is C. aestivalis, a species native to the southeastern US. Mayhaw fruits are small, bright red, tart, but rich tasting. The shrub or small tree can tolerate a very wide range of conditions but is usually found on wet or even swampy sites. The mayhaw flowers and fruits very early for a hawthorn. In the Deep South, fruits ripen in May, hence the name. Devoted fans of the mayhaw claim it makes the very best jelly in the world.
More broadly, “mayhaw” may be applied to any of several other species of hawthorn with high quality fruit. Most of these are native to the northeastern US and their fruits ripen in the fall. Arnold hawthorn, C. arnoldiania and scarlet hawthorn, C. pedicellata are a couple of the better known hawthorns with commercial potential.
Medlar is a relative of hawthorns, apples and pears. The fruit of this Eurasian shrub or small tree was one of the most commercially important in Europe during the Middle Ages, but has since fa
llen into obscurity. The mature fruit is brown, hard, 1” – 2” in diameter, and somewhat resembles a small apple or pear, but with a very large calyx or “blossom end”. This characteristic gave rise to the fruit’s old common name “open arse.” Mature fruit are too hard and astringent to eat. They must first go through a process of over-ripening called “bletting.” When they reach the point of becoming mushy, fully bletted medlars take on a flavor and consistency of applesauce spiced with cinnamon. To eat the fruit you bite a hole in the tough skin and suck the pulp, using your teeth to strain out the large, hard seeds. It is no wonder the fruit has fallen out of favor, and it is not grown commercially anywhere in the world today. Where i
s the commercial potential? Certainly it is not with the general public. On the other hand, even in isolated rural areas you can find groups of people who will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to dress up in Medieval costumes to attend “Madrigal Dinners” or “Renaissance Faires”. Just imagine what you could charge if you were the only supplier of authentic bletted medlar fruit to su
ch an event! – Tom
It’s an old cliché: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The bizarre weather of 2012 provided a powerful lesson about crop diversity. Locally, we had total to near total crop failure of apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, Aronia berries, kiwi fruit, paw paws, heartnuts, black walnuts, pecans, and even oaks and hickories. There were a few bright spots. Persimmons, hazels and blueberries had normal crops. Due to the mild winter, blackberries had a bumper crop.
Extremes of heat, cold, rain, snow, ice, wind, and drought
will affect different tree crops differently, according to both the crop and the timing of the event. A hard frost on May 1st may damage an apple crop but leave chestnuts unharmed. The very same temperature on May 20th might ruin the chestnut crop but leave apples unhurt. The greater the number of different kinds of crops you grow, the less the likelihood there is of an extreme weather event wiping out all of your crops.
The benefits of greater crop diversity are not limited to resiliency in the face of weather extremes. A greater number of different kinds of plants on the landscape has been shown to dramatically reduce the number and severity of pest and disease outbreaks. This in turn will both increase the size of the harvests while reducing the cost of production.
Yet one more benefit to crop diversity is to spread out the workload through the season. Raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries are ready in June and July. Aronia berries are harvested early to mid-August. Hazels are picked mid-August to mid-September. Chestnut, persimmon and pawpaw harvest runs from mid-September to late October.
The arguments in favor of crop diversity are many and powerful. Perhaps it is time you considered diversifying. – Tom Wahl
