Chronicles of Scrubland Farmz

Chronicles of Scrubland Farmz Edible Medicinal Plants and Trees, Propagation, Growing Your Own Food, Pasture raising Chickens

Kayaking a lot lately in multiple places and can't get enough of it. It's nice when you don't have to turn National Geog...
08/09/2025

Kayaking a lot lately in multiple places and can't get enough of it. It's nice when you don't have to turn National Geographic on your TV, it's in your back yard to interact with 1st hand. Plus there are no commercials. There are so many natural springs, rivers, ponds and lakes around, it's all for the most part free to explore. Just slip in at your closest boat ramp.
You don't need kayaks to get out and enjoy nature. There are so many hiking and biking trails around too. So far from what I've seen, Marion, Alachua, and Putnam counties have done an amazing job at preservation with still making trails extremely accessible to everyone. Most of them don't cost anything at all. Just your willingness to go explore and learn. Get out there and see the real Florida. A little sweat won't kill you, just bring lots of water. Get ready to be amazed!!

Next steps after picking the correct cuttings to propagate. See pics for details. Please ask any questions you might hav...
08/09/2025

Next steps after picking the correct cuttings to propagate. See pics for details. Please ask any questions you might have for clarity. I'm sure I missed some details.

Russian White mulberries can be a little more difficult than the typical mulberry. Some mulberries you can just stick in...
08/08/2025

Russian White mulberries can be a little more difficult than the typical mulberry. Some mulberries you can just stick in the dirt and they will take but by no means are all like this. When rooting mulberry cuttings or any species for that matter, for me it's extremely rewarding to get a high percentage of success rate. Especially when propagating 100 or more at a time. It's a lot of work, so I want a good return. There are a few different variables that can be involved. One of the biggest reasons for achieving a high percentage is decisions made at the very beginning of the process. Picking cuttings correctly is crucial. Choosing the right ones will make all the other steps easy. 1st, they really need to come from healthy trees that are ready for pruning and also in a growing phase. 2nd, choose 1st year growth. These have the most auxins. Auxins are the building blocks for creating roots, tree growth as well as healing wounds. Old wood can be done but take a lot longer to achieve. Too green of wood can dry out and then rot quickly. The perfect wood is the 1st year branches that have gotten a nice tan or woody with fresh buds. The buds are important. You want them completely intact. If old, almost petrified looking or broken off the new growth has nothing to come from, even if roots have formed. Sometimes they will eventually wake up but not often enough like fresh buds and the cuttings just sit there. Remember it's the success rate we're going for. Why waste the time on those that are questionable? Just disregard those. At the right time of year the perfect cuttings will react quickly with a high degree of success. I added a few examples in the pics. The ones written with green wording will work the best and the ones in red are less likely to take. These really aren't worth your time. I hope this helps some of you that are new to this. Learning propagation can help fill in that Food Forest without spending all the extra money. Good luck.

A friend of mine recently sent me some pics of their annual garden that was absolutely wrecked by Root Knot Nematodes (R...
07/27/2025

A friend of mine recently sent me some pics of their annual garden that was absolutely wrecked by Root Knot Nematodes (RKN). The whole entire bed destroyed with the exception of the Comfrey (with its root system that was perfectly intact). Observation is screaming here. Secondly, another friend of mine sent me a study out of India that was done in 2022 on the effects of using Mexican Sunflower on RKN with the result of killing 99% of the eggs and juveniles (I'll add the study below so you can read for yourselves). With this information I'm convinced this is why I'm not having the issues others might be facing. This is exactly what I've been using for fertilizer, plus other things when I have them. Along with mulching regularly which will keep the mycelium strong to bring in the beneficial nematodes to destroy RKN and maintain moisture in the ground. Root Knot moves in when it's dry. It seems to be a complete system. I do have RKN on the property but only in undeveloped areas. So it is present just not interested in what I have in the ground. I would strongly recommend making your own amendments with Comfrey var. Blocking 14 (Symphytum uplandicum) and Mexican/Bolivian Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) if for nothing else RKN prevention but you will get other benefits. I'm certain other plants can do the same like mustards but these 2 are what I've been using. I suspect this would also be great for coating the roots in containers (which RKN can find its way into). I hope you find this as interesting and as eye opening as I have. Sincere thank you to my friends (not adding names because I'm not sure if they want to be mentioned) that shared the information with me when they found it. Between all of us sharing the info relative to our area, we will figure this out together. Have a great day.

https://www.thepharmajournal.com/archives/2022/vol11issue8S/PartM/S-11-8-80-473.pdf?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLhG5lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHo7gzlI5F-0p61JZ1JfzKS-3cjBYEDrkA3TDOZZBJxx9JI9DPN8vhXrkjWNT_aem_UDRvRloMmXWybI-nUnq-zA

Not out of the woods yet but what we have here are roots showing from this mature Black Jabo cutting. Not sure on the ot...
07/24/2025

Not out of the woods yet but what we have here are roots showing from this mature Black Jabo cutting. Not sure on the other 49 yet, and not going to check...yet (fear damaging roots that are so small). 1st one had promise so the others should be doing the same at this phase. Success so far!! One step closer to knocking years of wait off the Black Jabo. That is my goal here with this. Sabara typically takes 8-12 years from seed if we can knock that in half, that would be amazing. Happy Thursday!!

I had the absolute pleasure of being invited over for a consultation to Cyndy Burton and her husband Mike's home last Fr...
07/14/2025

I had the absolute pleasure of being invited over for a consultation to Cyndy Burton and her husband Mike's home last Friday. I pulled through their front gates, I'm thinking, what possibly could they need a consultation for? Am I getting the consultation? Everything looked incredible. I was in a food oasis. They started working hard on their food forest back in 2019, laying out the infrastructure. Started off huge beds and islands exactly how you should. Then decided to start adding paver walkways so they didn't have to watch their steps every time they went in. Brilliant idea. So many mature trees, most only being a few years old. When they bought the house it was completely grass. All the work and design was completely done by them a couple of neighborhood kids that needed some extra money. They did need a consult after all about a couple of trees but what an experience. I had to share the inspiration they gave me. Truly an amazing job. Also my apologies these pics really don't do it justice. I plan to go back over and do a little filming in the near future. Thank you Cyndy and Mike for having me over, I was the student here.

If you ever wondered how to tell the difference between Taro (Colocasia esculenta) and Malanga (Xanthosoma sagittifolium...
06/30/2025

If you ever wondered how to tell the difference between Taro (Colocasia esculenta) and Malanga (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) it's pretty simple if you pay attention to the leaves. The stem on Taro will meet the leaf about 2-3" from the back. Malanga will connect right at the edge. Both are edible and should always be cooked thoroughly. Where the problem could come into play is telling the difference between Malanga and Ornamental Alocasia (Elephant Ears). Both stems meet at the exact same place. Alocasia should never be eaten, they are toxic. To make sure you have the edible Malanga, it's safe to get the corms from the grocery store to grow out in your food forest or landscape. They are beautiful and give that tropical feel. Be safe!!

Costus Spiralis- I believe. It's difficult to nail this exact species for me. I won't propagate it until I know for cert...
06/10/2025

Costus Spiralis- I believe. It's difficult to nail this exact species for me. I won't propagate it until I know for certain. There are more than 150 in this genus so it can get a little confusing. It's definitely not c.woodsonii, the plant is much taller than that plus the bracts are more orange and larger. The stem doesn't have much curl to it like a normal spiral ginger. What I do know is that the petals taste like a green grape, nice sweetness with a little tartness. Any suggestions? I'm ready to go deeper down this rabbit hole.

Illinois Everbearing are starting their main crop push. Young trees right now but hopefully next year will bring a huge ...
06/10/2025

Illinois Everbearing are starting their main crop push. Young trees right now but hopefully next year will bring a huge summer crop. These start in June and will produce through the end of August extending our mulberry season greatly. Kokusa mulberries will fill the gap a little between the majority of mulberries spring crop and the summer Illinois. Would love to have at least 6 full months of mulberries. I don't ask much. Happy Tuesday.

06/10/2025

It only rained for a few minutes but it was music to my ears, and the thunder as a huge bonus. Grateful but we need more, lots more. I'll take whatever we can get, beggars can't be choosers.

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