In which Hal sows wildflowers and lentils, and learns about planting fruit trees at Lorane Permaculture Farm

This morning I dumped together various clovers, bee-friendly mix, Northwest native wildflower mix, and six kinds of lentils, mixed them with playground sand, and broadcast the mix with the hand-held rotary spreader above and below the white-flagged contour line, along the gully, around the Oak Grove, and below the road in the lower meadow on both sides of the gully.  I covered about 1/3 of the meadow.  Sand did not work well; it penetrated the gear box and gummed up the works and made the sowing difficult.

In the afternoon I went to the Lorane Permaculture with Mike Brunt's permaculture meet up group and we planted a dozen apple and pear trees.

With a string trimmer, Alden mows away
excess grassfrom the area around the
bamboo stake which marks the location
for the tree.

The sod is dug out in a 3-4 foot circle and placed upside-down
in a semicircle downhill from the hole.  This is sometimes called
a fish-scale swale, especially if staggered on the hillside.

Mowed area around the stake
ready for the hole to be dug

A barrow-load of composted leaves in dumped in and
dug in to the soil. The bare root tree is planted with
the crown at or a little higher than ground level,
with micorhizal inoculant on the bare root and the
surrounding soil in the depression; then the soil filled
in to make a flattened gumdrop shaped mound
surrounded by a moat.

I learned a useful trick this afternoon- it was easier to remove the sod with the broad blade of a pick axe than with a shovel.  I'll have to try pickaxe vs eye hoe in my plantings.