Category: Nursery
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What is Nature Farming? What does a Nature Farmer Grow?
I originally wrote this post back in 2018, but I need to update it to show how Nature Farming applies to what I’m doing nowadays, too. What I mean by ‘Nature Farming’ is not the same as ‘natural farming’, ‘organic farming’, or ‘natural farming methods’. Explanations for all of these things come up when you…
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Potted Ginseng Seedlings in Arkansas
So I have some help this year with the ginseng nursery from a pair of young organic, permaculture enthusiasts who are ready to learn about being good ginseng stewards. That means I will after all have some potted ginseng seedlings available throughout spring! They’ll have to be picked up in the Kingston square, by appointment.…
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Oh no! The Virginia Snakeroot babies are all gone!
I went out to check on the Virginia snakeroot nursery the other day and was mortified to find nothing. Not. One. Plant. Virginia Snakeroot … What’s That? Now, you might be wondering just what’s so important about a plant that really looks like nothing much more than a weed in the woods. It’s a plant…
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A Week at Wild Ozark … No, I’m Not Lost
I’m just mired neck deep in a To-Do list of my own making, trying to get organized and into some sort of a groove now that market season has begun. Since I haven’t written in a while, I figured I’d write up a summary of a typical week at Wild Ozark. This is my first…
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2018 Spring Awakening Watch – First Native Flowers of the Ozarks
It’s mid-March 2018 and I’m watching for the first native flowers of the Ozarks to start blooming. I particularly love the ephemeral blooms of early spring, like the bloodroot and Dutchmen’s breeches. Scroll down to see pictures and keep up with what’s blooming at Wild Ozark. If you’re looking specifically for the ginseng unfurling/blooming, you’ll…
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Virginia Creeper Seedling in my Ebony Spleenwort Fern
There’s a Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) seedling creeping up toward the light in my spleenwort fern (Asplenium platyneuron) container. I watched it for a few days with a suspicious eye as it unfurled, because I thought it might be a poison ivy. Virginia Creeper This isn’t one of my favorite plants. I’m only fascinated with it…
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Armadillo Dilemma: To Kill or Not to Kill
So an armadillo moved into one of the ginseng nursery beds & it’s been a destructive force since it arrived. What would you do? Kill it or let it live?
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Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
Thimbleweed is a graceful, interesting native Ozark plant that grows along forest edges (also native to many other areas of the eastern United States). It is most often found in the dappled shade of liminal spaces between forest and clearing. Before sending up flower stalks, the plant is only about a foot tall. The long…
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Sleuthing the Bellwort. Sessilifolia or Perfoliata?
Sessilifolia or Perfoliata? Three species of bellwort are found in Arkansas: Uvularia grandiflora, U. sessilifolia, and U. perfoliata. The one I see most often around here is the grandiflora, or Large-flowered bellwort as it’s commonly called. Bellwort in the Ginseng Habitat Bellwort often grows in the ginseng habitat, which makes it one of the ginseng…
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April 2015 Newsletter
Welcome to the April 2015 Newsletter from Wild Ozark! For a plant lover, spring is an exciting time of year. This morning I found trout lilies blooming and blue cohosh unfurling! I try to get out to the woods every day to see what’s new that I didn’t see the day before. Business is…
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Plants with Strange Names
Devil’s Walking Stick. Strawberry Wahoo. Green Dragon. Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Fire-Pokers… All plants with strange names. Sometimes my friends and family think I make these names up. I remember coming home one day after running errands in town. I always drive really slow on the dirt road leading to Wild Ozark, and not just because the…
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It’s A Good Day to Plant Seeds in Winter
Yesterday I took a break from figuring taxes (yes, I’m still working on taxes) and went outside to enjoy the warm-ish winter’s day and plant seeds. On the seed list today: American ginseng Echinacea purpurea Echinacea tennesseensis Comfrey (officinale) Poppies These plants all need to be seeded while it’s still cool outside so the seeds can…
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Ginseng, strawberries, and Google+ listings
Handy wild strawberry/ginseng comparison graphic Yesterday I posted a handy image for those of you trying to tell the difference between wild strawberry and first year ginseng. I keep forgetting that when I post a new page to this website, post subscribers don’t see it. So here’s the link to it. Please pin this photo…