Strawberries and a permanently build asparagus bed would do very well. Also
garlic seems to do well. Have fun with the blueberries. Dwayne


"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
I have come into posession of a piece of property, 10+ acres, Zone 5B in
Western New England. I'd like to begin clearing it and planting fruit and
nut trees, preceding construction of a new home. The property is solid
eastern white pine, with infrequent occurences of wild cherry, poplar and
white ash. I'm assuming the soil is highly acidic, as the pines can
contribute to this, and I have been told that the land was once open and
covered with wild blueberries. The soils are very sandy, almost gravelly,
and dry, although there is a permanent swamp/wetland in one corner
occupying
about two acres of the property.

I am looking for ideas, either as a resource in print for a planting
guide,
or web site, or simply some suggestions about what types of species of
plants for edibles will do well in that type of soil. I plan on clearing
about half or less of the property. Right now it's a bit
"sun-challenged",
and really doesn't have a good exposure in any direction.

I'm planning on putting some blueberries in, and I am familiar with the
acid-loving nature of azalea and rhododendron, but what else will survive?
--
Jon Endres

"Dwayne" wrote in message ...
Strawberries and a permanently build asparagus bed would do very well. Also
garlic seems to do well. Have fun with the blueberries. Dwayne


asparagus will not do well in acid soil. I had to pull out my own
asparagus bed, which I had prepared well and covered with wood chips (
now grow radicchio in there). From the encyclopedia of organic
gardening, here are the veggies which have a pH range down to at least
5.5.

tomatoes
zucchini and winter squash
various pale winter root vegetables (parsnip, rutabaga)
chicory (radicchio)
garlic and some other allium but not onions
all salad greens (specially mustards, tatsoi, arugula, mizuna)
potatoes

Asparagues has a lower limit of 6.
It is not a bad selection, and fits my experience to a T (I have not
grown the root veggies). Add lots of berries, grapes and most fruits
(apple, cherry, pear, and plum should do well according to the book),
sorrel and rhubarb, chestnuts, twenty stumps injected with five or six
varieties of mushrooms, and a herb patch, and you will do wonderful.
If you are willing to spend the money in one place, Edible Landscaping
will probably be able to help you with a selection for your site.


"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
I have come into posession of a piece of property, 10+ acres, Zone 5B in
Western New England. I'd like to begin clearing it and planting fruit and
nut trees, preceding construction of a new home. The property is solid
eastern white pine, with infrequent occurences of wild cherry, poplar and
white ash. I'm assuming the soil is highly acidic, as the pines can
contribute to this, and I have been told that the land was once open and
covered with wild blueberries. The soils are very sandy, almost gravelly,
and dry, although there is a permanent swamp/wetland in one corner
occupying
about two acres of the property.

I am looking for ideas, either as a resource in print for a planting
guide,
or web site, or simply some suggestions about what types of species of
plants for edibles will do well in that type of soil. I plan on clearing
about half or less of the property. Right now it's a bit
"sun-challenged",
and really doesn't have a good exposure in any direction.

I'm planning on putting some blueberries in, and I am familiar with the
acid-loving nature of azalea and rhododendron, but what else will survive?
--
Jon Endres

Thanks all for your replies. I've always had trouble growing 'taters, I
think it's been a case of overly alkaline soils. Wonder if pine needles
will work well for a potato mulch?

Jon

"simy1" wrote in message
om...
"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
Strawberries and a permanently build asparagus bed would do very well.
Also
garlic seems to do well. Have fun with the blueberries. Dwayne


asparagus will not do well in acid soil. I had to pull out my own
asparagus bed, which I had prepared well and covered with wood chips (
now grow radicchio in there). From the encyclopedia of organic
gardening, here are the veggies which have a pH range down to at least
5.5.

tomatoes
zucchini and winter squash
various pale winter root vegetables (parsnip, rutabaga)
chicory (radicchio)
garlic and some other allium but not onions
all salad greens (specially mustards, tatsoi, arugula, mizuna)
potatoes

Asparagues has a lower limit of 6.
It is not a bad selection, and fits my experience to a T (I have not
grown the root veggies). Add lots of berries, grapes and most fruits
(apple, cherry, pear, and plum should do well according to the book),
sorrel and rhubarb, chestnuts, twenty stumps injected with five or six
varieties of mushrooms, and a herb patch, and you will do wonderful.
If you are willing to spend the money in one place, Edible Landscaping
will probably be able to help you with a selection for your site.


"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
I have come into posession of a piece of property, 10+ acres, Zone 5B
in
Western New England. I'd like to begin clearing it and planting fruit
and
nut trees, preceding construction of a new home. The property is
solid
eastern white pine, with infrequent occurences of wild cherry, poplar
and
white ash. I'm assuming the soil is highly acidic, as the pines can
contribute to this, and I have been told that the land was once open
and
covered with wild blueberries. The soils are very sandy, almost
gravelly,
and dry, although there is a permanent swamp/wetland in one corner
occupying
about two acres of the property.

I am looking for ideas, either as a resource in print for a planting
guide,
or web site, or simply some suggestions about what types of species of
plants for edibles will do well in that type of soil. I plan on
clearing
about half or less of the property. Right now it's a bit
"sun-challenged",
and really doesn't have a good exposure in any direction.

I'm planning on putting some blueberries in, and I am familiar with
the
acid-loving nature of azalea and rhododendron, but what else will
survive?
--
Jon Endres

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message et...
Thanks all for your replies. I've always had trouble growing 'taters, I
think it's been a case of overly alkaline soils. Wonder if pine needles
will work well for a potato mulch?

Jon


very well. so do wood chips - they provide similar acidity and better
fertility, but needles will work just fine. In my case, potatoes have
naturalized in my back yard.

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message et...
Thanks all for your replies. I've always had trouble growing 'taters, I
think it's been a case of overly alkaline soils. Wonder if pine needles
will work well for a potato mulch?

Jon


Last post on this: two other things you should consider for growing in
acidic, sandy soil are strawberries and peas. I am always looking for
low maintenance solutions, and I especially like the fact that wood
chips come free in cubic yards quantities (in trucks, so some access
is needed). I also like that one can spread cubic yards in one hour
with a fork, if the pile is well centered on the site. Finally, I love
the way they retain water and suppress weeds for years at a time. I
could imagine preparing an area with one foot wood chips, long
trellises, and fencing (the fencing goes in after the wood chip truck,
or else make sure you have a really large gate).

I would put down a root barrier around the raspberry patch and the
herb patch (spare vinyl siding works very well). I would try to make
birdnet supports along the blueberry and raspberry rows, and rather
that group them by vine, I would group them by growing season, so I
have only one row to protect at a time (all early season blueberries
go with main season raspberries, etc). I would inject
all chips with three types of mushrooms. I would have a Jerusalem
artichoke patch, and most of the ares would be used for potatoes and
peas. I think that both crops can be had from the same patch, as one
could plant potatoes in May, and peas are gone by early July as the
potatoes leaf out (at least the main season ones). Garlic-radicchio
(either alone or interplanted) patches would also thrive in this
setting. Potatoes, garlic and peas are good for the whole year (peas
freeze incredibly well), and radicchio has also a very long season (I
eat it october-december and april-may).

In another patch, fruit trees also go under a foot of wood chips, with
the Concord grapes, cherry and mulberry trees trained espalier, so
they can be birdnetted efficiently (good luck training a mulberry!).
Under the espalier it will be sunny enough to grow early potatoes, and
under the vase-shapes pear and apple trees it will be shady enough to
have a few logs with other varieties of
mushrooms.

Wood chips are "medium fertility" amendments. They will typically not
change the pH of a soil with a pH in the 5. By medium fertility I mean
that their P/K content after decomposition will be around 200-250 ppm,
or twice what you expect from a very fertile soil. The N content will
vary, depending on the bacterial flora doing the work, but is
generally adequate. A pea crop or two, with the plants shredded and
broadcast over the chips, will be all the extra amendment is needed.