Posts by feralmaker96

William Hall2 said:The plantation is located right near the high school. If anyone happens to have some decent literature on growing walnuts or hazelnuts, please let me know. I’m quite interested in getting into fruit cultivation myself.
That said, I haven't really heard from any seasoned pros yet. Is it actually worth the investment, or am I just chasing a pipe dream?😘

I think I know exactly which farm he's talking about.

Bradley Phillips35 said:This year is honestly terrible for planting firs and spruces...

Yet everyone and their mother is still out there planting them right now.😁

I’ve got 18,000 units in the ground. I’ve been doing this for 12 years, so I actually have an established market where I can move everything I grow. It’s easy enough to plant them, sure, but you actually need to know how to sell them. Everyone jumps into the business, but then they struggle to find buyers, which is why they come crawling to me—they know I can clear my inventory. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing when I first started, but after a decade of doing this, things have leveled out.

Anonymous said:If you don't mind me asking, which specific varieties did you go with and how did you set up your planting?
I'm actually getting ready to plant about 5 acres (this coming spring) out near Des Moines. My consultants are suggesting I stick to just three types: Seival, Drenovo, and Jupiter, split roughly 20%, 30%, and 50%.

What’s your take on the variety count and the ratio? Also, where did you pick up your saplings?

By the way, do you need an irrigation setup, and are you using hydrogel or something similar?

Thanks!

Solid advice. Honestly, the vendor doesn't matter nearly as much as the actual quality of the saplings.
I do irrigate, though it really just depends on whether we get a decent summer or if the rain actually shows up.
I'm planning to install a full irrigation system soon; I've already dug a large reservoir and it's currently full. Now I'm just hunting for the perfect irrigation solution. If anyone has a smart idea, let me know.

Bradley Foster38 said:I mean, I’ve been thinking about putting some money into a snail farm lately... I hear it's actually a pretty solid way to go!

From what I've heard, most people just got burned. Everyone was talking about how easy it was, but the only ones who actually saw any real money were the early adopters who jumped in before the hype took off.

200 plants for $3,500?😬 Who on earth is selling those? They must be desperate for cash because I’d happily drop that kind of money just to pick up 3 acres of prime farmland.
Any chance we can find out where this little plantation is actually located?😁.
A while back, I planted about 4,000 firs and spruces, and in the next few days, I’m putting in another 100 walnut trees.
I was completely clueless when I started, but after eight years of studying the craft and spending plenty of time out in the field, I finally know exactly what I'm doing. It used to eat up all my free time, but now that I've got the rhythm down, the whole process is much more streamlined.

The farm is out near Columbus. I worked my tail off yesterday 😈 cleaning up, spraying, and painting everything in sight—it’s enough to drive you crazy, but man, things are growing like weeds 👍. Only problem is, some people have started planting stuff they really shouldn't be touching 😠. I was planning on finishing up the perimeter so I could finally get a fence around the whole plot, but then some old lady (who can barely walk) decided to plant corn just to hike up the property value. Now that corn is already about a foot high. Then you've got guys trying to raise turkeys 🤣; if they actually tried that, they wouldn't have anything left by morning, I'm telling you. Anyway, I'm currently prepping the soil.

Olives are the way to go—if you've got the land, plant them. It's a total win 👍
. If you're already running a plum orchard, stick with it. Don't go mixing things up; at least that's my take
. A buddy of mine has an orchard with about 100 trees, and he's still planting more and making a killing
. I didn't have any plums last year, but the year before, we processed about 120 gallons of pure plum brandy
.

Listen, I’ve been planting walnuts for a long time now, covering about 20 acres total. People keep claiming the subsidy is $26667 per acre, but they’re dead wrong (just go back and read this thread from the top). If that were true, 20 x $80,000 would equal $218667 🙏. That is the amount of cash I was expecting to see, and it hasn't happened. The payout is significantly lower than what people are claiming. It’s not like the US government is just handing out massive piles of cash for no reason. In fact, the USDA—or at least the inspectors—comes out to my place every single year to check the orchards, make sure everything is organized, and audit the paperwork. The government offers help, sure, but they are incredibly strict if you try to cut corners or play games 😈.
The saplings run anywhere from $70 to $33, and you really have to be careful about which variety you pick depending on which part of the country you're in. Textbooks are fine for getting a basic idea, but they’re pretty vague and don't offer much substance; real-world experience tells a completely different story. You see people plant walnut trees, sell them off after two years, and then act totally shocked when the trees dry up and die later on. They come asking why it happened, but honestly, you only learn how to prevent that through hands-on practice.

I’m actually kicking myself for missing that agriculture segment—you know, the one about the guy who planted 1,000 trees. Every year, I deal with inspectors coming out to check on my own crops. If you're just planting sunflowers on your own dime, fine, nobody cares. But the moment you take a government subsidy, expect an inspector to show up at your door to make sure you aren't cutting corners. I’ve been growing walnuts for ten years now, and even then, I still lose about 30 trees to various issues every season.Walnut trees are incredibly finicky. It takes three or four years just to get them established, and they require constant attention. You can go through a decade of work only to end up standing there with a chainsaw 🙏 because everything died. Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I’d probably just pack it in and head home. 😁

If you're thinking about planting walnuts specifically for the harvest, there's one particular variety that thrives if you give it plenty of water; it grows like crazy—I actually just picked up a specimen on the side. When it comes to the actual yield, varieties from Mexico or Bulgaria have consistently performed the best, though that really only holds true in the Midwest where the soil quality is top-tier. You definitely need to get your soil tested first to figure out exactly what nutrients you'll need to feed it before you even think about putting those trees in the ground.

If you're thinking about planting walnuts specifically to harvest high-quality fruit, there’s one particular variety that thrives if you give it plenty of water—it grows like crazy. I can't even recall the specific name; someone just handed me a sapling one day. As far as the actual crop quality goes, varieties from Mexico or Bulgaria have consistently performed the best, though that really only applies to the Midwest, where the soil is significantly richer than the rest of the country. You really ought to get your soil tested first to figure out exactly what nutrients it needs before you even think about putting a walnut tree in the ground.

It turns out that soil preparation is easily the most critical factor here, though obviously, the quality of your saplings—specifically the variety and height—is just as vital. As for choosing specific varieties, it really depends on which part of the US you’re calling home. About 90% of the nursery stock is officially certified, but I wanted to see how those other seed-grown options would actually perform in the field. You have to keep in mind that walnut trees aren't exactly easy to establish; unlike certain other types where you can just toss a nut in the dirt and hope for the best, that simply isn't going to work.
I don't think you'll get anything out of this venture if you just plant them and walk away.😠 I'm well aware that there's a massive waiting game involved and a lot of upfront investment required, but it eventually pays off. I planted my first batch of walnuts eight years ago and my most recent set just two years ago, and some of those varieties are already producing fruit.👍

Let’s talk about walnut orchards for a second.👍 I’m a bit late to this particular conversation, my bad.
I’ve already got 1,660 saplings planted across about 20 acres. The plan is to expand by another
6 acres soon enough.