Orchard Supplies

Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts is a one-stop compendium of the most productive, edible fruit-and nut-bearing crops that push the boundaries of what can survive winters in cold-temperate growing regions. While most nurseries and guidebooks feature plants that are riddled with pest problems, veteran growers and founders of the Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano, focus on both common and unfamiliar fruits that have few, if any, pest or disease problems and an overall higher level of resilience.

Inside Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts you’ll find:

•   Taste profiles for all fifty hardy fruits and nuts, with notes on harvesting and uses
•   Plant descriptions and natural histories
•   Recommended cultivars, both new and classic
•   Propagation methods for increasing plants
•   Nut profiles including almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, and pecans
•   Fertilization needs and soil/site requirements
•   And much more!

CropSil® is a silicon-based plant nutrient in a Monosilicic Acid form that acts as a bioregulator in the dynamics of plant cell growth, metabolism, and enzyme production. Extensive scientific research and field trials have proven Monosilicic Acid strengthens plants cell walls, increases vigor and improves resistance to stress, resulting in better rooting and crop quality. It interacts positively with other nutrients like macro and micro-nutrients and trace elements enhancing their agronomic performance and efficiency. It also enhances plant processes such as hydration and chlorophyl production.

CropSil as a plant process enhancer gives your plant more of what it’s looking for!

CropSil® works as a transport agent bringing nutrients from the root zone to the rest of the plant.

CropSil® also increases uptake of available CO2 and H2O enhancing the metabolism of plant nutrients.

• Optimizes input performance such as fertilizers and biostimulants
• Increases bio-mass of plant’s branch, stem and roots
• Improved ripening, higher brix and nutritional value with a longer shelf-life
• 100% biologically available and highly beneficial to all plants
• Easy to use as a foliar spray or irrigation additive
• Can be mixed with chemical, biostimulants, fertilizers and micro-nutrients
• Suitable for seedlings with starter, sapling transplanting treatments

CropSil® is stabilized silicic acid used to supercharge your spray medium. By adding a small amount of CropSil® to your water, you can improve the performance of watering and foliar spraying your crops. CropSil® also optimizes all other inputs in a tank mix allowing for a reduction in the usage of chemical inputs. With a super charged solution, plants build stronger cell walls, larger more erect leaves with increased chlorophyll production and increased root mass that will optimize the improved uptake of nutrients, leading to more natural vigor and an increased resistance to stress. Therefore, the need for copious amounts of fertility and protective chemical inputs that also damage and toxify our soils is greatly reduced. Thus, enabling plants and crops to grow in a more natural way to produce healthier, productive and sustainable outcomes.

Bio-available mono-silicic acid Si(OH)4 the only form of silicon (Si) utilized by plants

Silicon is the second most abundant element on earth and can be found in all soil. The belief is that plants are unable to use silicon in its most common form and are still able to grow to maturity without the use of silicon (Si). Silicon is not considered to be essential to a plant’s growth and is not recognized as a primary nutrient for plants like NPK. However, the truth is that silicon does play very important roles in the growth cycle of all plants (vigor, production, stress resistance, etc.) as is being researched and discovered by academia. Studies have shown that silicon has a positive influence on uptake and vascular transport of micro-nutrients as well as improving the mechanical strength (structure) of the plant. Helping plants to resist stress and improve growth. Natural weathering process turns a very small portion of silicon into plant available silicon (PAS), known as Monosilicic Acid (MSA) or Orthosilicic Acid (OSA) the only form of silicon utilized by plants. However, silicic acid is very unstable and in a soil environment rapidly binds to itself (polymerizes), quickly becoming once again unavailable to plants and leading to silicon deficiency and plant stress. What research has shown is when stablized into a mono-silicic acid form and introduced to plants it can have very profound affects on many plant processes. In particular cell growth, nutrient transportation, hydration and chlorophyl production.

Label

SDS

We use this in our orchard for all trees (both in our experimental orchard and nursery stock) as the effective microbe component of our holistic spray system. You can download the holistic spray recipe here.

EM-1 contains three groups of beneficial microbes (Yeast, Photosynthetic Bacteria, and Lactic Acid Bacteria) that work together to improve soil and plant health. By increasing the number and diversity of microbes in the soil, EM-1 helps to increase nutrient bioavailability for plants. It also improves the health of other beneficial organism like mycorrhizae and earth worms. Apply as a soil drench or foliar spray. 

Foliar Spray: 5-10L/Ha 

Soil Remediation : 5L/m²

You can extend the use of this product by brewing it following these directions.

Learn more about theses beneficial microbes here. 

Certified Organic. MSDS. 

The first in-depth guide for farmers and gardeners who have access to an established woodland and are looking for productive, innovative ways to create a natural forest ecosystems that produces a wide range of food, medicinals, and other non-timber products.

Farming the Woods covers in detail:

• How to cultivate, harvest, and market high-value non-timber forest crops
• Comprehensive information on historical perspectives of forest farming
• How to mimic the forest in a changing climate
• Cultivation of medicinal crops
• How to create a forest nursery
• Harvesting and utilizing wood products
• The role of animals in the forest farm
• How to design and manage your forest farm once it’s set up

Buddy tape is a flexible, rubbery tape holds bench grafts together and keeps in moisture! We have two options available:

1. Packs of 50 pieces - each piece is 25mm x 70mm (some packs may have 30mm x 70 mm pieces)
2. Individual rolls (perforated) - each roll is 60m long and has ~850 pieces of 25mm x 70mm sections of tape

To use this tape, simply wrap it around the graft union slowly moving it up and down around the union to ensure none of the cambium is exposed to the air. You can then rip a tiny bit off the end and use it to seal the tip of your scionwood as well so it doesn't dry out. A single piece of tape is often suitable for one graft, although those newer to grafting may use a couple of pieces per graft as needed.

The tape will naturally biodegrade over time and fall off from the tree. However, be careful not to wrap the tree too tightly such that the tape becomes a thin strand rather than stays flat. This may begin to girdle your tree, a lesson we unfortunately learned the hard way.

GRO BioDiverse Compost is a locally made compost certified for use in organic operations! This 100% natural amendment has a variety of benefits including:

• Improved water retention
• Better plant growth
• Increased soil fertility and health
• Better soil structure
• Improved soil biology through the addition of beneficial organisms such as protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi

This product is not sterilized.

Note on Pricing and Shipping:

Due to the size and weight of the bags of compost, shipping it adds an additional $10 in shipping fees. We have included this in the price of the compost so please select either the Pickup Only option below if you are purchasing a bag for pickup or the Shipping Only option if you want your order shipped. 

Are you thinking of growing fruit trees? Are you in a hurry to enjoy a delicious organic harvest? Fruit trees don’t grow overnight, but the choices you make and the care you give them can speed up the process. You don’t need a degree in horticulture, and you don’t need to use toxic sprays. Growing fruit trees successfully is simply a matter of knowing what to do and when to do it—and if you know what to look for, your trees will tell you exactly what they need.

This book is for you if you:

• Want to grow fruit trees (like apple, peach, pear, cherry, apricot and plum)
• Are looking for easy techniques that will give you abundant harvests
• Don’t have a lot of time to devote to fruit tree care
• Have never planted a thing
• Are an experienced gardener
• Want to avoid the frustration of trial-and-error learning

If your goal is to grow fruit trees fast, take an hour to read this book. Follow the simple steps inside and you’ll be enjoying a healthy harvest in record time.

Growing Figs in Cold Climates is a complete, full-color, illustrated guide to organic methods for growing delicious figs in cold climates, well outside the traditional hot, arid home of this ancient fruiting tree. Coverage includes:

• Five methods for growing figs in cold climates including overwintering
• Cultivar selection for cool and cold climates
• Pruning techniques for a variety of methods of growing figs in cold climates
• Pest problems and solutions
• Harvesting, including ways to speed ripening, identify ripe fruit, and manage an overabundance
• Small-scale commercial fig production in cold climates.

Fresh figs are juicy, full-bodied, and filled with a honey-sweet flavor, and because truly ripe figs are highly perishable, they are only available to those who grow their own.

By choosing the right cultivars and techniques, figs can be grown across cool and cold growing zones of North America, Europe, and beyond, putting them within reach of almost every gardener. Easy and delicious — if you can grow a houseplant, you can grow a fig.

Fruit trees are delicate and need specialized care, especially when they’re planted in an urban environment, which comes with its own unique challenges. Whether you want to plant a single fruit tree or an entire orchard, this book will show you how to save time and money and be successful right from the start.

Susan Poizner lives in Toronto, and is an excellent resource to anyone seeking to plant fruit trees in their back-yard. We find her book easy to read with clear, concise information and excellent pictures and diagrams.