"The last Sheepnose in Haywood county” is what they told my friend Katie's family when they bought this place 15 years ago. 'Sheepnose' refers both to an antique variety that's also known as 'Black Gilliflower,' and more generally to that wider-at-the-top shape fairly common among old-school apples. Is this the 'Black Gilliflower' from 18th century Connecticut, described by one grower as having notes of 'banana, grass, and corn'? Or is it some other variety that picked up the same common name somewhere along the way? I gathered some scion and intend to find out.
Sheepnose is cited as a disease-resistant variety in Appalachia. Despite needing a good pruning, this tree is looking pretty healthy. There is apparently some fruit rot disease going on. For the home grower, both options of spraying fungicide or holistic spraying to boost the tree's immunity are typically unrealistic. However, removing dead and dying branches and pruning to increase airflow and sunlight penetration into the interior of the canopy can make the tree a lot less hospitable for disease fungi. That, along with some amendments to remineralize the soil, should help keep this tree happy.
Another point of interest for Sheepnose is that it's a late bloomer that tends to avoid late spring, flower-killing frosts better than most. With the growing season about 3 weeks ahead of schedule this year and given that weird weather is the new normal, this could be an indispensable trait.
Some of the world's finest open-pollinated hybrid chestnut trees are hiding inside these pink plastic tubes. The trees, planted from seeds of the best trees in Bob Stehli's orchard, (which was planted from seeds of the best trees in his earlier orchard) are coming into their 4th leaf this year. In the coming weeks, we'll give them a good dose of amendments, mulch, and fertilizer to help them jump up above the grasses. As soon as they begin bearing nuts, we'll begin planting the next generation.
95 years from now, when our lease here comes up for renewal, I'm hoping we'll be planting yet another generation of improved chestnuts from these trees' distant descendents.
@acornucopiaproject is now on Insta and, as you may have guessed, it's nuts! Here are some of the tree crop flours the AP is bringing to the world. This is a little taste of some of the niche nuts the NBC is growing in our orchards, future crops the AP is foraging and developing markets for in the present.
Over the last couple years, the Nutty Buddies have worked hard to help birth the Asheville Nuttery, the first in the regional (or national, or global!) network of cooperative processing facilities envisioned by the Acornucopia Project. The nutty notion is that, from within the shells of these little known nuts, a whole new food economy is waiting to sprout. A food economy that sequesters massive amounts of carbon, brings nutritious foods to communities, good livelihoods to anyone willing to pick up some nuts. And it's starting to happen! Follow our squirrelfriends @acornucopiaproject to see for yourself and learn how you can be a part of the nuttiness.
#treecrops #foraging #permaculture #asheville #nuts #climateaction #slowfood
