How to build nursery boxes for starting native perennial seeds

I learned about these seed starting ‘nursery boxes’ some years back and have posted about them in an earlier blog post (‘Planting the seeds’ from May of 2023). These boxes are amazing for planting seeds that require stratification, which includes so many of our native perennial seeds here in our region and beyond (we’re in western NC, zone 7).

Many perennial seeds need to be in the soil for months or even years before germination so that they get the warm and cold cycles they need to break out of dormancy. The chance of these seeds being eaten by a critter or dug up by a squirrel goes up drastically compared to when you’re sowing quick germinating annual seeds in the spring. These nursery boxes keep your seeds safe from nut hoarding squirrel friends along with foraging mice, chipmunks, and birds, and they also keep larger animals such as deer, turkey and bears from compacting or digging around in the seed bed. It also keeps your seeds and seedlings safe from falling limbs, or in our case in the fall of 2024, falling trees! We were hit hard by Hurricane Helene here in Swannanoa that fall. We were very fortunate to have had minimal damage to our property compared to many, but most of our newly built nursery boxes didn’t make it. Amazingly most of the seedlings within them lived, thanks to those strong little walls!

Here’s the shopping list we used to create four nursery boxes with lids.

Builds four 3’x3’ boxes

This is what we used because the materials are relatively affordable and easy to come by, and there’s minimal waste when we make 4 at a time. Just remember that this is not the only way! Let us know if you come up with something that works great for you!

*We used galvanized hardware cloth. If you can afford it, stainless steel hardware cloth will last way longer and is better for the environment.

Steps to build four 3’x3’ boxes:

We will start with the base of the boxes:

• From each 12’ 2x6 cut two pieces to 37” long

• Now cut the remaining pieces of 2x6 in half

• IF you are charring your wood, do that after it is cut, before assembly.

• Assemble box with the 37” pieces opposite each other, with the two other pieces between them. You may want to fasten them together with clamps while you drill the holes for the screws.

• Drill holes for screws, three on each end.

• Screw them together

Next

• Roll out some hardware cloth onto the box so that there’s around 1/2” wood border on all three of the sides. We found it easiest to staple it down on the three sides until you get about 6” from the end that needs to be cut. Cut to fit, then finish stapling. Ta-da! That’s going to be the bottom, where you’ll be putting the soil and planting the seeds.

Now for the lids:

• From each 12’ 2x4, cut two pieces to 37” long (just like we did before).

• Cut remaining pieces of 2x4 in half

• Char (optional)

• Now rip 1/2” off of the edge of each piece of 2x4 to be the screen edge cover (depending on the tool you’re using you can do this before or after cutting them to size). Unlike the bottoms, you’ll be coming into contact with these lids, so it’s nice for them to have this little trim piece to keep you from getting cut by the wire ends when handling the lids.

• Pre drill holes for all of these just like the others, including the trim pieces.

• Do the screen just like you did for the bottoms.

• Add screen edge cover and screw down.

That’s it! You’ve made your own nursery boxes. Now you’re ready to plant seeds and grow native plants in your forest or front yard. Place the boxes in a place where the plants you’d like to grow would thrive. Just be sure to pull any plants and especially vines and briars out of the soil where you’ll be placing your boxes, since some plants might remain in the nursery boxes for months or even a year or longer depending on the species. The fewer ‘weeds’ you start with, the better, for the seedlings.

Happy Growing!

How to plant an American Ginseng plant.

Maybe you’re reading this after finding me at market and purchasing a Ginseng plant, or perhaps you’ve found one for sale elsewhere. Some plants seem a little intimidating when we’re first meeting them, and Ginseng is on that list for many of us. It’s kind of like making a new recipe in the kitchen though, it seems scary but once you’ve done it a few times, it’s a piece of cake! Well, I’m not sure if growing Ginseng is really ever described as being as easy a piece of cake, but it’s all about giving it what it needs (the right soil, amount of light, spacing, drainage), and keeping away what it doesn’t (predators, disease).

When planting your Ginseng plants, site selection is key. I’ve added the following excellent site selection info from the United Plant Savers website.

Ginseng is typically found growing on north, northeast, and east facing aspects under a mature forest canopy that provides approximately 75%-90% shade (Davis and Persons, 2014). Within these baseline conditions, Ginseng prefers sites with well-drained soils that are rich in organic matter yet maintain a slightly acidic soil pH (5.5–6.0) (Davis and Persons, 2014). Good soil drainage is essential for healthy Ginseng plantings. Ginseng is susceptible to several species of water-borne pathogens, and the accumulation of excess water in the growing site can contribute to the spread of diseases that can decimate Ginseng plantings. As we have previously discussed, planting sites with gentle to moderately sloped terrain will help facilitate soil drainage and can go a long way to helping keep your ginseng plantings healthy.

The presence of certain companion plants and other indicator species can also be used to identify and evaluate potential production sites. Species that are commonly found growing in association with Ginseng, include, but are not limited to, Tulip Poplar, Sugar Maple, Basswood, Black Walnut, Red Oak, Slippery Elm, White Ash, Spicebush, Trillium, Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Goldenseal, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Maidenhair Fern, Rattlesnake Fern, and Bloodroot (Apsley and Carroll, 2013; Burkhart, 2013).

Soil calcium content has been shown to be highly beneficial to the growth and development of Ginseng plantings, contributing to increased root growth and disease resistance (Hankins, 2000). Evidence suggests that Ginseng plantings thrive in soils with calcium levels ranging from 2500–5000 lbs/acre (Beyfuss, unpublished). Many of the species listed above, such as, Tulip Poplar, Sugar Maple, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Rattlesnake Fern, and Maidenhair Fern (Burkhart, 2013), are all calcium loving species and can help you identify calcium-rich production sites. Phosphorus, which is used by plants to absorb and process calcium, is another important factor to consider during the site selection process. Phosphorus levels of 90 lbs/acre are recommended and can be augmented by supplementing with rock phosphate (Hankins, 2000).

Second year American Ginseng plant (seeds started in fall 2022)

One great thing about planting a nursery grown plant rather than a rootlet, is that you won’t need to worry about whether you’re planting deep enough, or too deep, because you’ll simply plant it so that the soil in the pot is flush with the soil you’re planting into. You’ll want to mulch with some nice light leaf material from a tree like Tulip Poplar or Maple, but most any deciduous tree leaf will do. I like to grind or smash my leaves up with my hands so they don’t cover the small plant, only the soil beneath it.

I prefer to plant when it’s nice and cool out, in the morning or the early evening, and bonus if it’s right before a rain. If rain isn’t coming within the hour, plan to water them in well (after mulching with leaves). Be sure to check on your plants so that they don’t get dried out as they’re becoming established, although if you’re planting where it wants to be planted, the soil should stay nice and moist under the forest canopy unless we have a serious drought (it could happen). The picture above is a mature, seed producing Ginseng plant. You can expect to see your plant get to this stage in a year or three if all goes well (the plant you’ve purchased is probably two-three years old already). You’ll want to keep it protected if you have deer, rabbit, vole or slug pressure, or even pets that will step on it (learned this the hard way). You can use anything from fencing to fallen limbs to keep it protected. This is where we can get creative! If it is protected from animals but declines over a year or two you might want to consider what isn’t right about the soil or location, or check for disease (Ginseng is very susceptible to fungal pathogens). You can always send in a soil test to the NC Cooperative Extension Service if you want to be sure about it, just be sure to check the appropriate box on the form so they know you’re testing forest soil for Ginseng, not field soil for tomatoes. Also, just as United Plant Savers mentions, planting in an area where there are indicator plants will darn near assure you’ve got a good spot.

Happy planting!!

Mushroom logs in the forest

Matt and I have been experimenting with mushrooms for a few years now and we’re slowly learning what works best for us here. Last year we got some nice flushes of Oysters in September and late October, as well as our first Chestnuts, and a lone Shiitake.

Warm Blue Oyster Pleurotus ostreatus

(past their prime) September 20th, 2024

We’ve been ordering our spawn from Mushroom Mountain in GA for a couple of years now, and I picked up some sawdust spawn and tools from them last spring at the Organic Growers School Spring Conference, allowing us to start using the sawdust instead of the wooden dowels. It’s more cost effective, easier, and we’ve had better success with it, so it seems like it was well worth the small investment.

Here are the steps we took to inoculate this last batch (winter-early spring of 2024), which we got some mushrooms off of (Oysters and Chestnuts) in the fall of the same year. We only got that one Shiitake so far, but I’m hopeful we’ll see more of them later this year.

First we cut down our tree(s). This year we harvested a small Oak that was going to get hit by a dead standing White Ash when we cut it down (we have the Emerald Ash Borer here in WNC, decimating our Ash populations leaving huge, dangerous dead trees in their path). We also took some limbs from a number of Tulip Poplar trees. We like using the log cabin method of stacking so we measure each piece so they will stack nicely.

I use my Instant Pot to melt my jar of wax, that way I can just put the jar of wax away when we’re finished and get it out the next time we’re doing this and get it pre-heating (I like to start the wax at least an hour before we’re starting to drill holes). I generally use beeswax but that’s just because I can get it easily locally. It’s definitely not the most cost effective wax to use. I believe many people use cheese wax, soy wax or paraffin.

After plugging and waxing we soaked these logs for a bit since they were on the dry side and there was no rain coming for a few days. This soaking may have been the difference since these logs did better than any we’ve innoculated before.

Things we learned this year'-

• Warm season Oysters get eaten up fast by little insects. They’re great to have around for personal use but they would be tricky to get to market looking good, so I may focus on cool season Oysters and other species of mushroom from now on.

• Soaking after inoculation is a good idea if you’re in a dry spell.

• Sawdust spawn is faster, cheaper and easier to use

• The fancy drill bit is worth the investment.

• Mushroom inoculation is so fun, and what’s even more fun is when you go for a walk and find them fruiting!