Farm, interrupted

8/20/25 Driving back from the hospital and stopping to see
just how overgrown it was

We had a medical emergency 2 weeks ago. One of us became ill enough to go up mountain to the hospital and the other drove back home alone and promptly dropped her laptop on her foot. It was a 5 day stay, and during that week, nothing got done on the farm. One ill, one hobbling, and then our senior cat died. Not a great week. 

8/20/25 2 year olds starting to be overrun.

The weeks before this happened had been rainy and grey, and both of us felt like avoiding the upkeep that was literally growing out of control.  On the other hand, we were relieved that the willow was being watered without us. We knew it was getting time to mow and trim and weed the beds, but the right day didn’t come. 

So this is the worst consequence of the delay: the overgrown vines in the bed have climbed into the willow and are dragging them down. I believe this is bindweed, because that is exactly what it is doing - creating 3-6 strand coils around the willow that resist breaking. It will take awhile to get it all out. 

9/2/25 Bindweed, or whatever this is,
starting to drag down the willow.

Now that we are both staring to recover, we’ve been back at the farm this week and have trimmed, mowed and started to get the bindweed out of the beds. I’ve tried unwinding on the new slender willows, and it takes about 15 minutes per plant. I tried cutting the vines but not unwinding them on some of the 2 year old plants, but even dead, those vines are like iron. Luckily the vines haven’t taken over more than 15% of the new bed and less of the older beds. 

An enterprising local guy was bush hogging the cross-creek neighbor’s creekbed and offered to do ours and then bush hog the areas where we hadn’t managed to clear yet.  Without heavy machinery, we have to call someone up. Now, at a great price, we are looking spiff! 

9/5/25 So thankful for guys with heavy equipment!
This is the view from the back of the property, across the creek.

 Going forward, there's some jobs still to do, plus a lot of vines to cut out, but we are projecting November or December for harvest. We are hoping to find a few folks to help with that and setting up the new beds, paid with willow or cash. Gotta feed the community. Old Fort, by the way, is really growing right now. Soon it will be leaf season too. Get in touch!

 GoodWillowFarm@yahoo.com

August Update: We are growing!

All photos taken on 7/26/25. Click on photos for close-up. 
 Good Willow Farm,  freshly mowed, all current beds doing great!

 

So here we are in August already. The last time I posted, the willow was just getting started and we were diligently watering and cleaning up and crossing our fingers. The best thing to happen, did. It started to rain, regularly. Luckily, our valley was avoided by the torrential rain that flooded nearby areas, but yes, it has been plenty wet, alternating with sunny hot days. The willow loves it, but also, we didn't have to lug water jugs out there to keep the new babies hydrated. We lounged at home, celebrating the willow's ability to thrive in the weather this year. 

Our current new babies. 

We did have a few problems with fungus, and there are still some evidence of die off in some varieties, but it's not widespread. There is evidence of leaf munching at the taller tips, and one variety - Harrison B - has been infested with Japanese beetles. But overall, the damage is minimal. 

We are grateful to not need to be out there in the extreme heat. Keeping the grass and  weeds in check is another story. They also love the wet weather and it has been a struggle to get out there to mow, trim and weed. The photos with the beautifully mowed lawn still has a bank of weeds to mar them, because it was just too damn hot to do more than one thing at a time. A riding mower is going to needed and soon, if this heat and rain continue. 

I'm also getting close to an irrigation system and a plan for a storage building is next. By fall, I also hope to line up some helpers for harvest and preparing next year's new planting. Oh to be young again! these old ladies exclaim!

Summer and winter seem to be down-time for willow in general. I see other farmers turning to other endeavors during this time as well. We are still dealing with our RV rehabbing and packing up the house, and hopefully can get most of it done before November, when we'll start harvesting.

Two year old bed in front, 3yr olds 
peeking out in back, Rubykins on the left.

Last year I posted photos of growth winners in the 1st year beds, and our 1yr beds are matching and exceeding those measurements! But the exciting news for me is the 2yr and 3yr old growth winners! 

Miyabeana is just loving this property! Even in the middle of the summer, our 2 yr olds are 11+ feet! I planted a solitary stand of Miya - just 11 plants in a 10 foot row - in a low place away from the other beds. I wanted to see what kind of hedge it might make.  I guess the answer is yes! a good one! 

2 yr old Miya. I'm holding a 10 ft PVC 
pipe for measurement. Zoom in to see.

Another view of the 2yr Miya.

3yr old Rubykins. The wind is not
cooperating but just under 10ft. 

The other winner is the 3 yr old Rubykins. About 9-10ft tall, but so dense and so straight!  I love everything about this row, which is outperforming all the other varieties I first bought. 

Overall, we are really happy with the progress. I'll do another inventory in September, but with an estimate based on last year's harvest, our new bed will reproduce itself times 3, so potentially about 1800 new stalks. I don't have any idea of the output of the 2 and 3yr old beds, but say it's just 200 plants times 4 - 800 new stalks. So, potentially 3600 new plants. Hence, needing helpers for preparing and planting new beds. *Deep Breath* We might even be able to sell some this spring! Stay tuned. 

While we are off-duty, I've been making row
ID plates for the beds, using oven-bake clay. 

Catch a wave… of rainy spring days…

1 and 2 yr olds coming back strong as of May 10

And you’re sitting on top of the world! Weeks of rain! And we made it in time. 

Our last cuttings got in the ground last week, just as our planting tool and our backs were giving out. In the end, we got a 12” drill bit/auger and just drilled the last few rows. But we’ve now got 607 stalks planted in the new beds. It took us 6-7 weeks, a few days a week. We were also laying the fabric down during that time - laying, planting, laying, planting and so on.

New stalks after a few days of rain - so far so good. May 10

There’s been some die-off, sadly most of the Packing Twine and Dickie Meadows cuttings  haven’t sprouted. Some other varieties are still struggling. I almost bought another 100 stalks from another farm to fill in those holes in the beds and then decided to just stop here. Knowing your limits is key in your 70s. But overall, a pretty good start to year 2.

After a few days off, we came back and mowed and weeded around  the planting beds and mulched the edges with straw. It looks wonderful, all neat and new. 

5/10 New bed - mulched and mowed 

So the these last few days have been rainy and cool, and we are staying home, happily recovering while the willows grow. And the field grass grows too. We’ll need to get back to mow again for sure. But we’ll also get back to our new-to-us RV and selling off things to get ready to Downsize,Baby!

Below are some shots of the new beds, but also the 1 yr olds and 2 yr olds as they grow  back from February’s harvest. 

3/28 The 1 yr old bed s just starting to revive.

3/28 Most of the fabric is down in the new beds and the first stalks in

3/28 The 2 yr olds are coming back, even the ones in pots. 

This video of a walk around the 1 and 2 yr beds was taken two weeks later, April 10. (Forgive the wonky camera work.I am still learning how to edit) See the photo at the top of the page for that bed one month later.

New Beds going in

The Miyabeana cuttings, coming back to life

4/3-8

For the last 2 weeks, we have been planting the cuttings from our first harvest. It seems frantic, mostly due to the weird weather we are having. Almost no rain, hot  sunny days and cold nights until this week.  I still suspect there will be another cold snap, but since the cuttings are starting to sprout leaves and roots, we don’t have the luxury of waiting. 

The Miyabeanas and Flame cuttings were the most advanced in their spring growth. I got them in first, and they looked peaked for the first few days. We went back to hand-watering and thankfully perked them up enough to survive. Some of the thinner, less robust varieties are turning black - bad sign. I've cut the black parts off where I could, but still not sure they will live. I've been planting them on the edges and trying ad hoc to guess the best layout and location for questionable stalks. What do other willow farmers do when a whole block of new stalks go bad? I had thought of buying some from other growers but it's really too late in the year for purchasing. I guess there will be some holes. :(

We are doing a few things differently from last years plantings. First, to combat the ongoing wind that continues to rip up our landscape fabric,  (regular 30-40mph gusts, everyday) we have put down 1 foot strips of netting on all the fabric edges. Cutting the strips is tedious, and right now we are constantly tripping on them, so those are the downsides. But it holds up to the wind really well! The first test beds did not blow away!  

The other new thing we are doing is using 10” heavy galvanized landscape nails (Amazon :( about $45 for 100)  to hold down the fabric and netting. Very effective, though the nails really need a washer of some kind to hold the fabric without tearing and the netting without slipping. We tried rubber washers but they still allow the netting to slip out, though they are great on the fabric. So right now, the hack of the moment is, wrapping apiece of rope around the nail under the head and using that as a washer.  We did one whole strip with a rope perimeter to try that. Hope it stays - it’s the cheapest solution so far. 

Final change in MO this year: we hacked together a planting tool to preserve our backs. We took two pieces of wood, two of the 10" nails and some bolts and rope and slapped it together. It works, but isn't really strong enough to stand up to hundreds of holes - the nails are bending in the hard clay and then the planting holes are wonky. We have to put in new nails in the tool every new strip we plant, and we are trying to improve it a little each time, but I think we will have to get one forged next year. This year, we are just glad not to be on our knees fighting with the clay. 

Step on the top bar to sink the nails, pull up
with the rope. Inspired by the system used to 
make crop circles 

We are just halfway through, and now that we are getting good rain every few days I am more hopeful that the last stalks will survive. At the outset I wasn’t sure!  And all of our now 2 year old plants are coming back strong, even the ones still in pots! Our now 1 year old bed is coming back now too, though I see we cut some back too short and they are getting caught under the landscape fabric. That's another reminder for next year, cut them a little taller! 

The 1 yr olds, coming back to life. 

Even the potted willows are coming back!

There is so much more work to do this spring! Here's what we had planned before the summer: a storage shed, foundation and install done; a built-up pad for parking an RV (a gravel base with railway timbers supporting it); selling our walk-behind mower and getting a used riding mower; getting some big water totes up with a roof to collect rainwater; and not least, build or buy a catio so we can come live on the farm this summer and close down the house in Hickory. 

However, if our SS checks don't come this month or after, we will have to skip everything above and just move us, the cats and the RV over and shut down all other expenses, including internet. We will hunker down and start a vegetable garden asap. Life will look different, but we and the willow farm will continue. I hope.