↓
 

Episode-1547- Of Blackberries, Muscadines, Cider Apples and Bush Cherries

The Survival Podcast Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (14.8MB)

Fence Grown Muscadines, A Southern Tradition Goes Permaculture

Fence Grown Muscadines, A Southern Tradition Goes Permaculture

Today I am going to discuss some of our upcoming installations and plans for the homestead.  Mostly at this point we have planted a huge diversity of plants, species, cultivars, etc.  We are still doing that in a way with these plans but we are now moving to a planned production of volume, utilizing mostly edges.

Our plan includes the use of several hundred feet of fencing to act as muscadine, table and wine grapes.  On that same fence row we are planting bush cherries about 5 feet away from the fence, mostly Nanking Bush Cherry.  Along the fence we are also planting triple crown blackberry.

Then in the next two weeks we are also planting over 30 varieties of cider apples into a fenced area where we just installed zoned irrigation.

Today I will discuss how these design choices fit into our long term plans for food and beverage production, along with how some it may be monetized in time.

Join Me Today to Discuss…

  • What is a muscadine
  • Self fertile and female, pollination requirements
  • Why muscadines over conventional grapes
  • My Choices in Muscadines
    • Magnolia (self fertile – bronze)
    • Hunt (female – black)
    • Tara (self fertile – bronze)
    • Late Fry (self fertile – bronze)
    • Cowart  (self fertile – black)
    • Supreme (female – black)
    • Noble (self fertile – black)
    • Carlos (self fertile – bronze)
  • Wine and Table Grapes
    • Cynthia – Wine Grape, Considered the Cabernet of the South
    • Red Flame – red table grape
    • Thompson – the green grape in every market
    • Black Spanish
  • The other stuff
    • Triple Crown Blackberry
    • Nanking Bush Cherry
    • Butternut Squash (until grapes are established)
    • Hyssop (just heard about this)
    • Some other low bush fruit, TBD
    • Across southern run, full on trees on the north side
  • The apple orchard
    • 35 varieties going into the fenced orchard
    • A total of 80 varieties to be planted in the next 2 years
    • What we are looking for in cider apples
  • Long term plans and possible monetization

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council you can address your calls to. If you do this you should email me right after your call at jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with expert council call in the subject line. In the body of your email tell me that you just called in a question for the council and what number you called in from. I will then give the call priority when I screen calls.

Join the MSB Today

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

Comments

Episode-1547- Of Blackberries, Muscadines, Cider Apples and Bush Cherries — 17 Comments

  1. Might those holes you’re looking to fill be decent spots for some of the mandarins Bob Wells carries that were Plant of the Week less than two months ago? They’re rated for 8-12 feet but I’ve heard the height of midsize citrus is fairly easy to control with pruning.

  2. Excellent show. I began listening to TSP for the survival/preparedness topics and now I mostly care for the permaculture shows, which I suppose we could label as prepping 201.

  3. I first saw hyssop planting in the vineyard in Israel… when I asked why, I was told that they attract honeybees and butterflies, stimulate production in the grapes (not sure why), and provide a natural insect repellant effect. It has been done since biblical times!

  4. Those bear claws you mentioned for shredding your pork are well worth the small cost. They work great, they cut the time down so much. When you’ve spent 8 to 12 hours smoking some pork shoulder the time it takes to shred it and finish everything is a little annoying. These help a lot.

  7. Try aronia. Grow well in NM. Someone in Mora, NM, harvests their aronia berries and sends them to a local winery.

    • Pretty dang obvious since I am growing them here already and know they do good, DUH! Sometimes we don’t see the bush for the fence line I guess, thanks for pointing that one out.

  8. I had a grapevine for red table grapes. It produced well for a couple of years, but on year 3, it caught something and began shedding the leafs. It almost seemed like autumn arrived in June because the leafs went from green to reddish to dried brown. The sun burned all the grapes on the vine as the foliage fell. I looked up the problem and the closest I could find was a virus name leaf curl. I pruned it back, but next year I had the same problem.

  10. I planted two Muscadines (including a Cowart) last spring and have 5 bush cherries arring on Friday. Can’t wait to see how they do here!

  11. For folks not trying to make a massively productive plant, you probably don’t need any fertilizer at all for your muscadines. They’re so productive at least here in MS) that you have a tough time keeping up with them.

    Propagation is simple, snip off vines in winter, stick them in something that is not air or water. I have a couple of vines that I just tossed in an empty plastic planting pot (from a nursery tree I planted) that had filled up with leaf drop from oaks/pine. I intended them to be trash. Nope… All growing. Transplanting them this year.

  12. Does anyone have a sketch of the way Jack was describing the setup of vines? It may have been my fault for listening while working in the yard but I can’t ‘git’ what he’s verbally drawing.

  13. From what I understand, hyssop (member of the mint family) is planted as a grape companion to stimulate root growth and improve the flavor of the grapes. Bees love it and it is said to give honey a hint of anise flavor. Some varieties are drought and poor soil tolerant and are reported to somewhat self re-seed where mass planted in full sun with good drainage.

    Hyssop has many medicinal uses and herbalists in your area may provide a market.

↑