Thank you everyone who attended the Bullock’s Homestead Tour back on October 10th, 2015.  The tour was completely booked and we sold out tickets months in advance.  In late spring or summer next year in 2016, we will most likely offer this organized tour again for those of you who couldn’t make it for this.  Click here for the meetup page commentary.

If you have not been to the Bullock’s Homestead and have an interest in food forests and permaculture, I would highly recommend visiting them at their gorgeous site on Orcas Island, because my pictures and description can only tell so much.  This was my second visit to The Bullock’s Homestead.  It is homesteaded by three brothers with the last name Bullock; Doug, Joseph, and Sam with their wives and family.  They also have a dozen or so volunteers helping them out with various tasks such as nursery management and catering for large groups such as ours.  My first visit was led by Doug Bullock back in May 2015, but the following photos were taken from my more recent visit earlier this month with Sam Bullock.

Here is a map of the site next to a picture of some logs inoculated with shiitake mushrooms.  My next blog entry will elaborate on this process.

Check out this double graft the Bullock’s brothers have been using.  This was a hawthorne root stock that did not require copicing or any sort of intensive pruning.  I am really inspired by this because one of the most difficult obstacles I have faced when grafting trees is getting permission from the tree owner.  This method does little to no damage to the existing tree and the scion is less likely to dry out being connected at two points instead of just one.  This is just one of several different innovative grafts used all over the site that I have never seen or heard of in any horticultural literature.

The pic in the middle shows their method of “winterizing” nursery plants by surrounding their potted plants with sawdust.  I have already started doing this for the permaculture and native nursery I manage at 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living in Woodinville, WA.

Can you guess what the third pic is of?

Abundant fuzzy kiwis next to one of their big solar panels and Sam Bullock showing me his fruiting persimmon tree.  This was my first time trying a freshly picked persimmon!  Thank you so much Sam for the great tour.  I think all of learned a lot from you.