CLOUD FOREST FARM

 Sunday, September 24, 2023 

Cloud Forest Farm 

Cloud Forest Farm – Perennials, fruit and nut trees, and berry bushes to grow your own perennial food forest!

You may know Ramana, who sells edible plants at Canandaigua Farmers' Market (Saturdays 9-12).

Cloud Forest Farm is a plant nursery located south of Canandaigua, NY.  They grow fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and native perennials. Their plants are grown outdoors without pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. They have a variety of raspberry, blueberry, elderberry, cranberry, and strawberry cultivars selected for the Great Lakes Region. Hybrid hazelnuts and chestnuts as well. They also offer well-behaved non-natives such as Chicago hardy fig and honeyberry. Native perennials include cardinal flower, columbine, phlox, blue flag iris, beebalm, hyssop, and blue lobelia.  

We will be meeting at the Sly Street parking lot behind the Ontario County Courthouse at 12 noon and carpooling to Cloud Forest Farm in Middlesex where Ramana will give us a tour and answer questions and concerns.  Some plants will be available for purchase.  

Gracious thanks to Ramana for having us visit and tour Cloud Forest Farm on a misty afternoon.   

Cloud Forest Farm is a new adventure for Ramana hoping to bring edible trees and shrubs to people in the Finger Lakes region.  She shared her successes and challenges (broken wrist while she was establishing her business) and ideas for the future.

direct sow garden in front of lawn that was not mowed for two years

Ramana

more direct sow gardens

Aster that grew when lawn remained unmowed

Peppers for her personal use

cranberry

Ramana describes various plant in her nursery

Ramana will happily accept used pots for reuse.  They can be brought to the Canandaigua Market on Saturday mornings.

Here's more information if you'd like to purchase plants:

Cloud Forest Farm – Perennials, Fruit and nut trees, Berry bushes

PO Box 128,
Middlesex, NY 14507
Email: cloudforestfarmny@gmail.com
Cloudforestfarmny.square.site

Grow your own perennial food forest! Cloud Forest Farm is a plant nursery located south of Canandaigua, NY. We grow fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and native perennials. Our plants are grown outdoors without pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. We have a variety of raspberry, blueberry, elderberry, cranberry, and strawberry cultivars selected for the Great Lakes Region. Hybrid hazelnuts and chestnuts as well. We also offer well-behaved non-natives such as Chicago hardy fig and honeyberry. Native perennials include cardinal flower, columbine, phlox, blue flag iris, beebalm, hyssop, and blue lobelia.

Ramana Callan

Instructor, AIP

Biology/Project Dragonfly

Miami Universit

A visit to the Canandaigua Vista Nature Preserve

 These are images from a walk around the Canandaigua Vista Nature Preserve on Monday morning, September 18, 2023.  Taking walks throughout the year can be great inspirations for what you might want to plant in your own property.  

Brown hooded owlet caterpillar

Mapleleaf viburnum

White pine sapling

white wood aster

buckthorn :(

shagbark hickory

Joe pie weed

forest is carpeted with Pennsylvania sedge

Culver's root past bloom

Bracken fern

blue stem goldenrod

Calico aster?

Red Osier dogwood with goldenrod and asters

New England Aster

Pollinator talk at Wood Library on September 20, 2023

Something you may be interested in.  Registration required: 

https://woodlibrary.librarycalendar.com/event/its-time-we-talked-about-pollinators

SESQUICENTENNIAL PLANNING MEETING

 Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 10 AM

  Wood Library's third floor Ewing room

Our next Sesquicentennial planning meeting will be on Thursday, September 14th at Wood Library from 10 AM to 12:30 PM

  All are welcome to attend. You do not need to attend the planning meetings to help.

 Please let us know if you'd like to help plan our sesquicentennial celebrations.  There's certainly something for everyone to do. 

 * a full calendar of field trips and events (lead, arrange, host, present, attend)

 * help with a printed program

 * designing/obtaining commemorative SWAG (Stuff We All Get)

 * recognition of financial supporters

 * press releases, advertising, articles, promotions, mailings

 * planning, preparing, setting up, cooking, and cleaning up for our June 7th celebration

 * coordinating connections with New York State organizations

 * possible sesquicentennial displays at OCHS, Wood Library, Canandaigua National Bank, etc...

 

The best way to let us know you want to help is by sending an email to canandaiguabotanical@gmail.com

Native Garden Tour, Naples, NY

 Native Garden Tour

Naples, New York, Saturday, August 26, 2003, 10:00 AM

This tour is at the home of the Sullivan Family. Maura Sullivan and Jun Liu, who designed the gardens for the Sullivans, will show off their creation and explain the “how” and “why” of native plant gardening. This includes conversations about gardening for biodiversity, native plants, ecosystem health, and more.
 Maura is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation and Horticulture at Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC). Her specialties are: botany, invasive species, wetlands and resource assessment, among others.  Jun Liu is a part-time garden designer and gardener. She has a doctorate degree in mineralogy from Germany, is a Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional by NYS Nursery and Landscape Association and earned her Horticulture Certificate at FLCC. She has a great love and passion for nature and gardening. Her gaden designs focus on low maintenance, sustainability, and aesthetic harmony by carefully selecting plants suitable for each specific site and using high density planting combinations.

We will carpool from the Ontario County Courthouse parking lot on Sly Street - meet at 9 AM.  If you are driving yourself you may meet us at  171 N Main St, Naples NY 14512.

WOW!  What a wonderful visit to the Sullivan gardens on a sunny Saturday morning.  

Maura and Jun shared their vision and plans of developing the gardens.  Jun explained about soil testing and a goal to use low water and fertilizers.  They explained the benefits of using native plants which reduces the need for commercial mulch as natives push out weeds.  They also discussed considerations of plant needs and growth heights to allow the plants to shape the gardens.  They desired plants to provide interest and structure throughout the four seasons.  Maura explained that she often selects plants based on what excites her from her past and what she sees in natural settings.  Maura claims to be a "lazy" gardener who prefers not to weed or water.  She believes that our landscapes should also support our ethics.  We had a discussion about native/introduced/invasive/nuisance/desirable/undesirable/etc.  Sean printed out plant lists and we made our way around the gardens with Maura and Jun.

Anise Hyssop

Jun explains early planning stages

Maura's Mom, Maryellen, who baked delicious cookies for us!

Jun shares sketches and garden plans

North side garden with challenges.  goatsbeard is happy here

maple-leaved viburnum

Taller plants are hoary mountain mint

sea oats

pearly everlasting

Shooting star (past bloom)

echnicae

bottlebrush grass

small oak volunteer to be moved out in the yard when it's bigger

areas for future gardens, including a slope and a wall

plans to paint the wall, allow cascading plants (Virginia Creeper) and shade lovers

box elder

lots of wooded property with plenty of invasives and 40 new native trees

The tall yellow cup plants are very happy here. 

blue lobelia and orange coneflower

Redbud tree

petty spurge

oak gall with stones and leaves

silverweed

vegetable garden

touch me not / jewelweed

American burnweed

showy tickclover

wild sweet William and Rudbeckia fulgide

 The list Jun and Maura shared with us can be shared via email.  It will be sent to all on our email list by Sunday, September 10, 2023.  Please let us know if you did not receive the attachment or would like us to send it to you (we'll need your email address).

We were invited back for future visits and would be sure to find plenty of delightful differences depending on the time of year we visit.  We are working to gift Maura and Jun with some Anemone virginiana (tall thimbleweed) plants in appreciation for touring us through their gardens.   

 Native plants for local planting can be found at 

AMANDA'S GARDEN

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

and WHITE OAK NURSERY

Thanks to Emily for these images!