Hello there, Reader!

This week, 240 trees went into the ground at Bethany Farm.

It happened because of a grant from ContourLines.org, an organization founded by Thomas Leonard, who believes deeply in something that is both very permaculture and surprising.

• Plant Trees and perennials on contour (because it's the best way to capture water into the landscape)
• Plant the trees close together (We were doing about a foot apart. Shocking, I know!)

This second point runs counter to the rules in the tree-planting-rule-book. We've been taught to give things room. Space to breathe. Space to grow.

But trees, (and honestly most plants) it turns out, are not like that.

Trees love closeness. They support each other through root networks, shared soil biology, and the shelter they create together. Thomas plants them tightly on purpose, and then, just like we do with our vegetables, we "thin" over time by "pollarding" or "coppicing" them as the main/larger trees establish.

There is something quietly beautiful about that.

Several of the trees we planted fix nitrogen into the soil, feeding everything around them. The Eastern Redbud does this. So does the Blue False Indigo. The Black Locust does it better than almost any other tree. but it's thorny, and we already had some on the property, so Dave chose something gentler for this planting.

Here is what went in the ground this week at Bethany Farm:

If you are a "permie," Reader, what would you add to this list?
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Some of these will feed us. Some will feed the soil. Some will feed the birds and the bees and the fungi beneath our feet. All of them will do things we won't fully understand for years.

That is the nature of planting trees. You do it for people you may never meet. You do it in faith.

We are so grateful to ContourLines.org for making this possible and are excited to chat about two things that touch on our work this weekend, on tomorrow's webinar: Soil & fruits

The reason we're smooshing two big topics into one webinar is becasue Dave and I couldn't decide what we wanted to talk about the most. So half of the webinar will me presenting what I continue to learn about soil and half will be Dave sharing his recommendations for berry and fruit varieties for different climates. He has nerded out about this on this blog if you want a sneak peek.
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If you have a specific question on either soil and fruit you'd like us to answer on the limited time we have tomorrow please hit reply and we'll make sure to include it in tomorrow's talk.

And if you can't make it due to timezones, family needs or just much needed rest, send us your question, register anyway, and get the replay.
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See you on Zoom soon and thanks for growing your food!
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Nicky & Dave