The last few seasons here on the farm have been spent transforming the landscape from a more conventional grass (like) mowed lawn and tilled gardens to a more natural habitat, utilizing permaculture principles and methods, no till gardening, and just listening to the earth.
Mounds of mulch have made way for lots of earthworms and soft soil for planting underneath. A massive planting of raspberries last fall (69 plants) is slowly breathing to life amidst the warm days of spring and the plentiful rainfall that we’ve seen lately. That patch was started by piling leaves on the area of grass I wanted to kill, then smothering anything that started to grow through the mulch with more leaves. The result was soil soft enough to dig in and plant the raspberries.
I want to grow elderberries. After checking around, I couldn’t locate any plants nearby so I ordered cuttings….100 cuttings…..
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is a powerhouse of nutrients and healing. The syrup is used to prevent and treat colds and respiratory type illnesses and is also used to make wine and jelly.
Propagating elderberry is supposed to be relatively simple. Cuttings are taken before the plants leaf out, and the cut ends can be dipped in rooting hormone although I’ve read it’s not necessary. I did it anyway since I have the rooting powder and need all the help I can get!
The bottom end of the cutting is dipped in hormone then stuck in a pot of super secret rooting mix–okay, it’s just vermiculite and potting soil in approximate half and half amounts.
I put 3 cuttings per pot just to save space in the already crammed full seed starting greenhouse. The buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) cuttings were done the same way as the elderberry to encourage roots to grow. Buttonbush looks like a bush covered with golf balls when in bloom, and the blooms are oh-so-fragrant and LOVED by honey bees and other wild bees. It grows in wet areas and there are several soggy areas around the farm just begging for bee-loving plants!
I’ll keep you posted as the roots form…. begin final Jeopardy music….
Wild Things Farm 