James Landreth

My instinct is the second. In a cold winter I doubt many spores are flying around anyway.  And yes, it is aggressive,  and even if some competitor come up it's fine. Just don't eat them if they're poisonous. Some people, including me, are growing mushrooms in poly culture beds now

Thank you Andrea! That list really helps!

For everyone else's reference:


   S. alba 'Vitellina'
   S. fragilis 'Belgium Red'
   S. triandra 'Black Maul'
   S. viminalis
   S. viminalis 'Superba'
   S. wolfii

These are listed as "historically used." There's also a list of more unconventional choices that can also be used:

, S. integra 'Hakuro-nishiki', S. cinerea 'Tricolor' or S. purpurea 'Pendula

What cultivars are good for basket weaving? Bonus if they make pollen for bees!

I planted some blue elderberries on my property and now that they're grown I would like to propagate them for some kids who are interested in gardening.


Can they be grown from cuttings? I've heard mixed things for blue elderberry but know that black will root fine. I don't have enough black elderberry locally unfortunately

Kathleen Mendez wrote:I used cinnamon in my yard it worked! We had no flees for a year. I just picked up 3 bottles from the dollar store and shook it all over my back yard. I was worried the rain would wash it away. But we had no flees for over a year!

Interesting! Diatomaceous earth has always been my go-to. Maybe mixing in a little cinnamon would help with future deterrence

I'm wondering about Elderberry as well, now that I think about it. I know that black can thrive in wet conditions, but I've only seen our native blue on dry lands

I get asked all the time about possibilities for sites that are not quite wetlands, but that are saturated in the winter time. Conventional wisdom holds that these places are too wet to grow food, but I know it can be done. Here are some plants that I have heard of and/or seen used on wet sites. Please feel free to add to it, or tell me what your experience has been with them.

Note: This is for sites where earthworks can’t be done for one reason or another, and the site has to be used as-is.

American Persimmon
Mayhaw
Pacific Crabapple (as a rootstock for other apples)
Willow (basketry, medicine, rooting hormone)
Aronia
Quince (as rootstock for quince and other fruits)
Black Walnut
Heartnut

I have seen people plant in mounds (berms) with some success, though even with plants on them these tend to erode over time. Building hugelbeds in the forest garden seems to wick away excess moisture and improve fertility.

I would just say no, and insist they stay elsewhere. They're already coming to Montana (usually from elsewhere), surely they have the means to figure other accommodation out, even if it's just camping. It just sounds like a human-headache to me otherwise

I find animals and their feed to be very situational.

I've seen chickens devour mycelium and mushrooms, but I totally believe that some flocks would spurn it. I have ducks that don't like slugs, but in the past I've had flocks that devoured them. I think it's worth a shot, and if it doesn't work right away you can try to teach them or get a different breed line.

I hear that a great deal of acreage in Iowa was wiped out because of a recent storm (10 million acres, according to a friend in the Midwest). My aunt was there and saw the devastation. I suppose that would also lead to the US importing more soybeans from Brazil