A Short Discussion about Shade for Your Forest Medicinal Herb Garden

Many gardeners are interested in planting shade gardens, especially to grow native forest botanicals such as ginseng, goldenseal, and black cohosh. Many questions arise about how to provide that shade, how much there should be, and what to do if there is no natural shade on the property. That topic is covered in detail in the new home gardener section of my book, Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals. Here is a small excerpt: "Do you have a naturally shaded area to plant your garden in? The ideal site has a hardwood canopy with trees such as poplar, sugar maple, white ash, oak, beech, maple, and birch, and an understory of trees and shrubs such as dogwoods, elderberry, and witch hazel. Is it all deep shade? Are there open areas? Are there different degrees of shade, e.g., dense, light, or partial shade? Partial shade means the area has direct sunlight for three to six hours each day. Pay attention to when the area gets that sun. Three hours of direct late afternoon sun can be hot and damaging to shade plants. Light shade or dappled light is filtered light that works it way through the canopy of deciduous trees. There are patches of direct sunlight that get through at different times of the day, but they are small. This is a preferred state for many of the plants covered in this book. Areas of dense or full shade get less than three hours of direct sunlight each day, with filtered light the rest of the day. Dense shade is not totally dark. Few plants grow on the forest floor under dense shade. If you have full shade, you will probably have to open up the tree canopy a bit through some judicious pruning or tree removal. If your canopy is very open and there is too much light, now is the time to think about planting some trees that will add more shade in the coming years.
     "If you don't have any shade right now, you can create some that is temporary until the trees you plant fill in, or it can be the permanent shade. Construct an arbor or pergola and let vines cover it to simulate the natural opening and closing of a tree canopy that occurs when leaves come out in the spring and fall off in autumn. Use lattice fencing to protect an area from late afternoon sun or put up a shade sail or canopy made of woven polypropylene shade cloth. If you can't afford to build shade right now, consider planting on the north or east side of your house."

Springtime on Our Tiny Farm, plus "the Book" and "See me at the Fair!"

2013 was a trying year on Our Tiny Farm. The rain wouldn't stop, so we had few vegetables for sale; we lost most of our hives, and a family member was dealing with serious health issues. But, 2014 has started out well and we are optimistic that this will be a great year! We are happy to report that with much love and attention, our bee hives are rebounding nicely and we expect to have honey for sale this year. The garlic and shallots look fantastic, so plan to try both this year. We will sell some fresh and some dried. Leeks and potatoes are being planted now. All our beef quarters are sold. Sorry if you missed out on them; the meat is excellent! But our two young Black Angus steers came through the winter looking great. They are enjoying the new spring grass very much.

You can see that our mini-donkeys are all grown up now. We are starting to train them so they can eventually pull a small cart. I have a dream for them to be therapy donkeys, too, but that might have to wait until I have more time. We have a new pony coming to board with us this month; we are excited for that. This spring we will fence in the new pasture area. Haven't decided just what will go in there yet. Could be more cattle, more boarders, a chicken coop, goats...the family needs to make that decision.

My new book, written with coauthor Scott Persons, is scheduled for publication in May! Technically it is a major revision and expansion of our first book, Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Medicinals. But with a new publisher, many new chapters--including ones for home gardeners, and a beautiful new layout, photos, and cover--I consider it a new book. You can preorder it now through various on-line booksellers.

I welcome you to hear my presentation on Growing Woodland Botanicals at the Mother Earth News Fair at the WNC Agricultural Center in Asheville (across the street from the airport) this weekend. I will give that presentation on Saturday at 5:30. On Sunday I will speak on hops production at 2:30. And other times you can visit with me at the All About Herbs booths (7010-7015) near the Mother Earth News Stage. Hope to see you there. It will be a beautiful spring weekend.