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Help Yourself 6th Annual Perennial Plant Sale!
Help Yourself! is 501(c)3 for-benefit corporation that plants and maintains community fruit trees and gardens in many locations around Valley, free for all to harvest from. Each spring, we offer low-cost native fruit and nut shrubs and trees, perfect for hedges, yards and gardens each spring, our proceeds directly funding the year's public planting projects. Over their long lives, they will yield bushels of fresh fruit, beginning in 3-5yrs. Sourced from NE nurseries, they will grow rapidly with good care. Pick up bare root, 6-18” seedlings, with instructions in Northampton, Greenfield or Holyoke early June, details to come. Shipping available by arrangement. All plants 10$ each 5 for $45 10 for 75$ 50 for 325$ Shrubs:
Trees:
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 Help Yourself 5th Annual Perennial Plant Sale! Each spring, we offer low-cost native fruit and nut shrubs and trees, perfect for hedges, yards and gardens each spring, our proceeds directly funding the year's public planting projects. Over their long lives, they will yield bushels of fresh fruit, beginning in 3-5yrs. Sourced from NE nurseries, they will grow rapidly with good care. Pick up bare root, 6-18” seedlings, with instructions in Northampton, Greenfield or Holyoke early June, details to come. All plants 8$ each, 5 = 30$, 10 = 50$, 50 = 250$, 100 = 350$ Order by cash, card, PayPal or check. We're seeking volunteers, stewards and yards to host seedlings as they grow large enough for public plantings. To order, email [email protected] with desired species and quantity, preferred pick up location and method of payment.  Shrubs:
Trees:
Other:
 New Moon Update from Help Yourself The season of gratitude is upon us! We, corporeal beings all, owe the existance of our earthly bodies to those other beings we eat. If you've enjoyed the blessing of eating food once or more in your life, consider paying it forward by planting a public fruit tree, here on Earth! Meanwhile, the winter solstice is fast approaching, and gentle fall rains offer relief to the dry ground, it's a nice time to reflect back on a busy - and parched - growing season. Do you live and eat in the Pioneer Valley? This #GivingTuesday "plant your money where your mouth" is (locally), and invest in our shared future! Plant a public fruit tree today!
  Seaberries coming in @ Micosta Nursery A few weeks ago I was visiting some old friends who run the horse powered Abode Farm CSA in New Lebanon NY. One of them works part time at near-by Micosta Enterprises, a diverse berry farm growing all manner of uncommon fruit - cornelian cherry, hardy kiwi, seaberry, currents, aronia, blueberry, gooseberry, quince and more for wholesale and processing into nutrient dense & tasty syrups and extracts. He mentioned that they'd be pulling out a whole long row of black currants to make room for blueberries for some economic reason or another. The whole row (50 or more) currants would be composted!  Lunch guest helping itself to workers' picnic! Inspired, and looking for an excuse to return, at the appropriate day, a few of us HYS volunteers returned in a 15' UHaul. Over a long, sunny afternoon we dug up 50+ black currants - 'Ben Sarek', 'Titania', and other varieties, and mulched them in on a tarp in the truck. We also scored a bunch of red currants, gooseberries and potted apples and trees that needed homes. We schlepped these back to northampton, where we soaked them and mulched them again. Loaded with fruit, close to midsummer, it was the worst time of year to transplant them, but it was then or never. After harvesting some berries and pruning them back by 50%, I think they will do OK!  Unloading the packed and mulchy UHaul bucket-brigade style... despite all the mulch and earwigs we swept out, no extra cleaning fee was billed! These got ALL planted out over the next few days, along the Help Yourself plantings on the Manhan Rail Trail (b/t Conz and Pleasant St., and across Old S St. from Soo-ra Restaurant), at the Hampshire Council of Governments lawn, and heeled in elsewhere. Many of these bushes were divided 2 or 3 times, so all told, 75 currant bushes were put in at public plantings in the area, which will, of course, yield countless cuttings and berries over the coming years.
If you've been hoping to connect with the Help Yourself project, either by helping as a tree steward, helping on planting or work days, donating, or planting on your lawn, there's no better time than now! Meanwhile, happy mulberry picking!
This spring, we've made another large plant order from One Green World, Twisted Tree, Cold Stream Farm, and other nurseries in the northeast. We'll be planting them in nursery beds in volunteer lawns in Northampton and beyond. This will take the stress off immediate need for planting, and give them a chance to mature over time - letting us plant hardier, bigger stock later, while being able to afford a large quantity of small saplings.
We've already broken ground along the bike path in Northampton. After pruning the 175 Concord grape vines, we're starting the cuttings in a propagation bed. More apple trees went in there, some to Just Roots community farm in Greenfield, whose HYS plants will be moved this year to a large public orchard on the farm. Four Rivers students planted paw paws and hickory trees at the Green River Rec Area, also in Greenfield. There are many exciting projects to expand this year, and of course, such potential to expand. Volunteer to be a tree or garden steward! This Sunday 4/26 from 12-2 we'll be tending to the PYO medicine plot at the Florence Organic Community Garden. Stay tuned for upcoming meetings and orientations.  A Fall Fun(d)raising Festival to benefit Next Barn Over Farm and Help Yourself's growing goals of local food security. Be a local hero and help us raise 2,500$ to plant 50 PUBLIC ACCESS FRUIT TREES in Holyoke and support Next Barn Over's food justice in partnership with Gardening the Community." Please RSVP if you're thinking of coming, for a head count!
PLACE: Next Barn Over Farm, 15 Lawrence Plain Rd, Hadley MA DATE: Sat., 10/18 TIME: 2-11pm (see events below) COST: Suggested donation for all you can eat mutton and music - 10-20$. This is a fundraising festival with the goals listed above. If everyone pays just the sliding scale, it will probably just cover the cost of the sheep. We are asking folks to consider making a significant contribution, which is a direct investment in local food equity and security. What about donating 1 day's worth of work? One week? Remember, there may come a time when all the money in the world can't buy fresh fruit. Consider that each 25$ plants a new tree! BRING:
AMAZING LINE UP OF EVENTS:
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/287252654797622/#  On June 11th, HYS volunteers joined faculty and over 70 students at Hampshire Regional HS in Westhampton to plant 75 perennials at the school! We established a large orchard to the NW of the school, creating a big 'no mow' area, planted fruit trees in fruit of the school, and a shady fruiting hedgerow along the schools western edge. Gazette article about the planting. The students, directed by team leader Scott Green, broke into groups and got to work weeding, digging, planting, mulching, staking trees and sowing clover seed.  A proudly planted persimmon. All told we put in:
 Planting a Siberian pea shurb.
 This is a big step for a public high school, and sets a great precedent for what's possible in Hampshire County. This fall, as we look forward to a similar sized planting at the HS in the Montague school district, we hope to set a trend in which school grounds become not only outdoor classrooms, but learning opportunities and assets for the surrounding community, offering food and medicine plants as well as demonstrating permaculture planting sites.
 Beautiful black aronia berries! We're offering low-cost native plants that produce berries, roots, nuts and herbs for yards and gardens with a spring plant sale. They're from NH and NY state forest nurseries, and Cold Stream Farm in MI. The large volume of plants we ordered them qualified us for great discounts, and the overflow stock we can sell at reasonable prices to offset our costs.
The proceeds will fund public planting projects this spring. Over their long lives, they will yield hundreds of pounds of fresh food. Plants are small, 1-2 ft. seedlings. Expect 3-8+ years for fruit. Pick up BARE ROOT plants in Northampton 1st weekend in May. All plants 5$ ea or 5 for 20$. Email [email protected] to order, or use the form below! Species Available:
 It's time, people! The cardinals are singing, the robins are out of the woods, and... farther south, rumors of crocuses. Spring is around the bend and it's time rub the winter out of our eyes and gear up for another planting season. Well, maybe in a few weeks. Below is our incoming laundry list for this spring! Stay tuned for planting parties!
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