In this Issue...

• Annual General Meeting
• Black Walnut Seed Distribution
• Looking Back at this year's Winter Meeting
• Ecological Farming and Nut Trees - Can they Co-exist?
• Spring is Coming
• The Nut Cookbook
• Trees Still Wanted at the Baxter Nut Grove

The Chapter Executive is pleased to announce the Chapter Annual General Meeting to be held inthe Interpretive Center at the Baxter Conservation Area located just south of Kars, Ontario, onSaturday March 21st, 1987 from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

Business in the morning and Technical sessions in the afternoon. This year there will be postersessions as well. Bring your lunch 11:30-1:30. The meeting is open to all, including members,family, friends and the general public. For more information, call any member of the executive.Welcome, One and All!

Black Walnut Seed Distribution

Watch your local Community Newspaper for any information or announcements on the Chapter'sBlack Walnut Seed Distribution this year. You will recall that this year Cobjon Ent. Inc. ofOttawa will be handling the distribution on our behalf. The Chapter Chair, Hank Jones, is writingto the more than 40 community newspapers in eastern Ontario and western Quebec explaininghow the distribution will be handled, and asking the newspaper to inform its readers. If you seethe letter in print, or an article based on the letter, please cut it out and send it to the NutteryEditor. It will be much appreciated. Make sure the name of the newspaper and the date ofpublication are noted. For more information on this project, call Hank Jones, Ottawa, 731-5237.

Looking Back at this year's Winter Meeting

It was held at the Ottawa South Community Center in the Old Fire Hall on Sunnyside Ave. onWednesday 21 January, 1987. The room was comfortably large and well appointed. Amongst anumber of interesting events, the evening has two noteworthy highlights. The first was a panelwith George Joiner, Fil Park and Alec Jones leading a group discussion on the arboriculturaltechniques used at the Baxter Nut Grove. There were many questions from the audience, andexcellent answers from the panellists. This method of transferring specialized knowledge andexperience was well accepted and should be used more often. Thanks to George, Fil and Alec fortheir skilful and knowledgeable presentation.

The second highlight, equally stimulating and informative, was Mark Schaefer' s speech. Heexplained the Master Gardeners Program, mentioning its Hotline at 828-5264. The programprovides expert advice on individual's gardening problems, drawing on the accredited expertiseof the Master Gardeners. He talked on many other topics as well, including white pineinterplanting, the problem of Buckthorn, growing walnuts from cuttings, the maximum distanceseed should be transplanted from its source, and he brought many useful documents. Our specialthanks to Mark.

The evening was a great success.

Ecological Farming and Nut Trees - Can they Co-exist?

The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario is growing rapidly in numbers, spreadingoutwards from southern Ontario, much like our own SONG. At theannual general meeting of theCanadian Organic Growers, held at Kemptville College of Agricultural Technology on Saturday28 February 1987, the President of the EFAO, Laurence Andres, spent about 2 hoursoverviewing the current procedures used on some ecological farms in Ontario for growing annualcrops. The point was strongly made that ecologically sound farms, unlike intensively(chemically) crop managed farms, can sustain production year after year.

No mention was made of trees on those farms except as simple windbreaks. Nut tree crops surelyshould have a place, certainly for ecological reasons, but specially for their contribution to thehealth of the family and to the economy of the farm.

As part of the Chapter's interest in promoting nut tree growing, we should consider the role ofnut trees on contemporary farms in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Certainly, in the past,tree crops were an integral part of the family farm, especially soft fruits like apples, plums,cherries, tec. Only during this century has tree/forest use and agriculture split, to the detriment ofboth. Nut trees grown for their nutritious crops, their valuable wood and their other productsbelong on the farm as much as the grains and other grasses. Agroforestry and Permacultureaddress these issues, but generally lack the full appreciation of the benefit of ecological stabilityin their application.

As a Chapter of SONG, we have now contributed to nut groves in theRideau Valley, the SouthNation River Valley and as far away as Newfoundland. Is it time for us to start tp planecologically sound, on-the-farm demonstration Nut Orchards, Woodlot and reafforestation nuttree interplanting, and the possibility of nut trees incorporated into wind shelter belts for thefarm? What do you think?

Spring is Coming

Are you starting to think about this spring's planting, where you might get seed or stock,and how best to plant it? Remember the Baxter Nut Grove Field days, usually held in early May.Plan to participate and learn about the special techniques developed at the grove for germinating,transplanting and caring for the young growing trees. At Baxter, it's all hands-on experience.Look for the special Poster at the AGM on this subject. Call George Joiner at Ottawa 749-2468,to get on board.

Do you have trouble with squirrels digging up your seed? Check with George Truscott about themany protective techniques he has tried and proven at his White Lake plantation. George will beparticipating in the AGM's poster session this year. Talk to him at the AGM about your squirrelproblems.

If your tree growing area is good land, but tough to handle, plan to join Irene Woolford at thenew South Nation Nut Grove site this spring. This fresh site has many challenging problems tobe solved, and much to teach. Succeeding here will take knowledge, ingenuity and some hardwork. Look for the Poster Session on this topic at the AGM at Baxter. Call Irene at Winchester774-3385 to tackle the problem of growing Black Walnut in the South Nation River valley.

How Long does it take to get your Nuttery? If your Nuttery takes more than 2 days to reach you,jot down the date you received this issue and inform the editor. We can then determine the bestshipping date that will ensure all members get their copies well before chapter meetings.

The Nut Cookbook

The Chapter's first regional Nut Cookbook is now available! The Applications SIG has justpicked up 200 copies of its first cookbook, called Recipes in a Nutshell, from the printer. Manycopies of this print run have been presold at the regular price of $5 apiece. If you want copiesbefore the AGM, call Polly Forrestall-Jones, Editor, at Ottawa 233-5189 right away to reservethem.

The book will be on sale at the AGM. Any copies you want to sell or give away, you buy themfirst, then keep the money you collect. This is thought to be the simplest method of handling thefinances. If we run out of copies, arrangements will be made for a second printing as quickly aspossible.

Some of you are already talking to health food stores and to non-profit groups who might helpsell the book, or thinking that it will make a welcome gift to friends and relatives. Please givethese ideas some thought. Needless to say, the more copies we sell, the better off will be ourcoffers. Some of the money could be used to buy special tree stock, to arrange special field trips,to buy specialised equipment that chapter members wouldn't normally buy for themselves, thencould share, and so on.

Trees Still Wanted at the Baxter Nut Grove

The last issue of the Nuttery contained a list of the trees selected by the Planning Group for thefirst phase of the Grove's development. That list was generated from a checklist of nut treesgrown at the Dominion Arboretum, plus some others recommended by Hubert Rhodes. Forvarious reasons, acquisition of some of those on the list were deferred until a later stage in thedevelopment of the Grove. At a meeting of the Chapter on 21 January, it was decided that thedeferred list should be published too, in case some members wished to try growing some of thespecies listed. They are shown below:

(continued)See the current list.