Edible Woody Crops Nursery
Special Offer: 10% discount on plant orders placed before February 1, 2012
We offer bare-root dormant nursery stock of food producing and woody crop plants, catering to the larger scale "woody agriculture" and Permaculture grower. The parent plants of our seedlings have been producing reliable, high-quality crops in southwest Wisconsin through all extremes of weather and climate (-52 to 112 degrees, droughts and floods) for the past 12 years. We sell only species that have been successfully cropped on the home farm. Most of our plants are well adapted to USDA Hardiness Zones 4-7, with many adapted to Zones 2 & 3.
In order to encourage the planting of enough edible woody crops to produce a significant quantity of food, and in order to keep our cost per plant as low as possible, we sell only un-graded (not sorted by size), wholesale quantity bundles of stock. Smaller plants may be in bundles of 50, while some of our larger fruit trees come in bundles of 5.
Order Form
Payment & Shipping Policies
Choosing a Site for Your Nut Trees
How Soon Will They Yield Nuts?
Deer Protection
Hazelnuts
Chestnuts
Pine Nuts
Fruit Trees & Shrubs
Nitrogen Fixers
Woody Florals & Ornamentals
Other Nut Trees
Hazelnuts
Hybrid Hazelnuts (Corylus spp. hybrids); Zone 4.
The parents of our strain of hazelnuts come from breeding programs in Alberta, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Our own breeding goals include: high yields, pest & disease resistance, suitability for low-input and certified organic conditions. Our seed is all open pollinated. Seed is selected from the top producing plants and only the best are allowed to shed pollen in our pollen-controlled breeding plots.
Nut clusters in their fringed husks (involuchre) are very ornamental. Autumn colors can be anything from yellow to red, orange and even pink.
Nutritional equivalent of a soybean with 3 times the oil by kernel weight.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000
Chestnuts
We sell Chinese Chestnut seedlings, American Chestnut seedlings and open-pollinated Chinese x American hybrid seedlings. The seedlings are sold as ungraded, 1-0 bare-root stock, typically shipped April through May.
See plant descriptions and prices of chestnut nursery stock below.
Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima); Zone 5.
Chinese chestnuts have NOT produced reliably on the home farm in SW Wisconsin, since they tend to freeze back during our brief extreme cold-snaps. They do not appear to be as aggressive as the hybrids in low-maintenance, certified organic conditions. The only surviving Chinese chestnuts producing seed in our breeding plots (the toughies!) are seedlings from Skookum, Layeroka and Skioka varieties.
Grown from open-pollinated seed collected from superior mother trees, selected for nut size and cold hardiness.
Resistant to chestnut blight. Worth experimenting with in zone 4.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $5.00 ea
Graded Seedlings 18”+ tall
Bundles of 25 $5.50 ea
Hybrid Chestnuts (Castanea spp. hybrids); Zone 4.
The parents of our strain of chestnuts originate in Minnesota and are the only chestnuts to produce reliably on the home farm in SW Wisconsin. Our breeding goals within our own seed plots include high yields, large nuts, pest and disease resistance and suitability for low-input and certified organic conditions. Most nuts are NOT as large as Chinese chestnut. Some hybrids will be susceptible to chestnut blight depending on the expression of their American genetics.
Chestnuts are high carbohydrate and low oil. Corn that grows on trees!
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 10 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)
Once an important hardwood timber tree, the American Chestnut is highly susceptible to chestnut blight, caused by an Asian bark fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) accidentally introduced into North America in the early 1900’s. Although the tree still exists in the eastern US as stump sprouts, it is nearly non-existent as a seed-producing tree.
One of the most rapidly growing hardwood trees in North America, reaching up to 150ft tall and 10 ft in diameter. It formerly ranged from Maine and southern Ontario to Mississippi, and from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio Valley. It is now widespread throughout North America.
The American Chestnut is a prolific bearer of nuts enclosed in a spiny green burr. Typically flowering aroud 4th of July in Wisconsin, the nuts develop through late summer and the burrs open in late September to early October.
If you live outside of the chestnut’s historic range, or have no chestnut stump sprouts growing in the woods nearby, it is worth planting American chestnut. American chestnut will in all likelihood eventually get the blight and the top die back to the roots periodically.
Our seed comes from blight-free nurseries in Oregon and Washington.
Help preserve one of America’s most threatened trees species by planting more!
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 10 $5.50/plant
100-900 plants $5.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Pine Nuts
Korean Stone Pine (Pinus koraiensis); Zone 3
The only nut pines to survive our variety trials and begin producing cones are the Korean Stone Pine. Growth in the first few years is slow, but once established their growth rivals that of their near look-alike, Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus). Korean Pine has been our most difficult seed to grow and has been the most problematic to transplant. Many growers put a handful of pine forest soil in the planting hole in order to inoculate the roots with the appropriate mycorrhizal fungi. We find that excellent weed control and adequate water work wonders.
Excellent for a multi-purpose windbreak.
2-0 Seedlings, 6-12” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50 ea.
Fruit Trees & Shrubs
Mulberry (Morus sp.) Mulberry trees are native the eastern half of North America and yet will thrive just about everywhere. The trees were widely grown in the 18th and 19th centuries to host silkworms, to supply the lucrative silk trade. Mulberries are generally eaten fresh, but also can be made into jelly or syrups for flavoring ice creams, yogurts, or cakes. The trees are rapid growers from 15 to 50 feet.
Mulberries are very high in protein for a fruit, and are used in Silvopasture systems especially as forage for chickens and hogs. Cattle readily browse the foliage which has superior feed value to corn.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa) A large, wide-spreading shrub with glossy green foliage. It is native to northern China and Japan. Hardy to zone 3, it will grow to 8 feet in height and width.6-8ft x 6-8ft. This cherry is a VERY cold hardy, semi-sweet cherry (we have grown it successfully in Mentasta, Alaska). It withstands winds and is fairly drought tolerant. It will grow in shade but blooms better when grown in full sun to partial shade. Crops are larger when planted in full sun, but hot, dry conditions can cause them to desiccate rapidly especially in drought years. Shade-grown bushes poduce fewer flowers and fruit, but the fruit tends to hang on longer and stay succulent
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $5.50/plant
100-900 plants $5.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000
Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) 1 Gallon Pot, 2 Year Old Plant – We grow exclusively Minnesota “half-high” blueberry varieties which are just about the only ones that will survive in our hot summers and sub-zero winters. (-52º in 1996!)
These 2 year old plants are grown in a 1 gallon pot (6”x 8”) peat bark mix, which promotes excellent root growth and branched top growth. Plant height varies according to the variety, from 12” to 24”. We’ve tried all different sized containers and these are the best!
Plenty of super cold hardy varieties: Blue jay, Northblue, Patriot, Northland, Blue Ray and Elliot. We tend to sell out of these quickly so order early!
1 Gallon Pot, 2yr old plant
Mimimum order 6 plants $16.00/plant
100-900 plants $14.50/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Apple rootstock: We have a wide variety of apple rootstock available in various diameters. In our own cider orchard we prefer Antanovka, a standard rootstock, for its windfastness, cold hardiness, drought tolerance, ability to thrive in heavy sod, clay soils and in polycultures with a minimum of care. Our second favorite rootstock is M-111 for many of the same reasons. Others available: Emla 7, Emla 26 and Geneva 30.
1-0 Rootstock, 1/4" diameter
Bundles of 25 $4.00 ea
1-0 Rootstock, 3/8” diameter
Bundles of 25 $4.50 ea
Apple scionwood: Our cider orchard once hosted over 119 different varieties being tested for their performance in low-maintenance, certified organic conditions. The survivors of this brutal regimen are quite likely to survive similar neglect at your place!
Ask us for our scionwood availability list!
Scionwood, approx 8” (good for 2 or 3 grafts) $3.00 ea
Hardy Kiwi, Montmorency Cherry, Pear Rootstock, Highbush Cranberry, Serviceberry (Juneberry), and Elderberry
E-mail for prices and availability
Nitrogen Fixers
Siberian Peashrub (Caragana arborescens), European Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
E-mail for prices and availability
Woody Florals & Ornamentals
Various colored Pussy Willows, Curly Willows, White/Yellow/Black/Weeping Birch, Lilac, Rugosa Rose, and Forsythia
E-mail for prices and availability
Other Nut Trees
Buartnut, Butternut, Russian Walnut, Black Walnut, and Hickory
E-mail for prices and availability
We offer bare-root dormant nursery stock of food producing and woody crop plants, catering to the larger scale "woody agriculture" and Permaculture grower. The parent plants of our seedlings have been producing reliable, high-quality crops in southwest Wisconsin through all extremes of weather and climate (-52 to 112 degrees, droughts and floods) for the past 12 years. We sell only species that have been successfully cropped on the home farm. Most of our plants are well adapted to USDA Hardiness Zones 4-7, with many adapted to Zones 2 & 3.
In order to encourage the planting of enough edible woody crops to produce a significant quantity of food, and in order to keep our cost per plant as low as possible, we sell only un-graded (not sorted by size), wholesale quantity bundles of stock. Smaller plants may be in bundles of 50, while some of our larger fruit trees come in bundles of 5.
Order Form
Payment & Shipping Policies
Choosing a Site for Your Nut Trees
How Soon Will They Yield Nuts?
Deer Protection
Hazelnuts
Chestnuts
Pine Nuts
Fruit Trees & Shrubs
Nitrogen Fixers
Woody Florals & Ornamentals
Other Nut Trees
Hazelnuts
Hybrid Hazelnuts (Corylus spp. hybrids); Zone 4.
The parents of our strain of hazelnuts come from breeding programs in Alberta, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Our own breeding goals include: high yields, pest & disease resistance, suitability for low-input and certified organic conditions. Our seed is all open pollinated. Seed is selected from the top producing plants and only the best are allowed to shed pollen in our pollen-controlled breeding plots.
Nut clusters in their fringed husks (involuchre) are very ornamental. Autumn colors can be anything from yellow to red, orange and even pink.
Nutritional equivalent of a soybean with 3 times the oil by kernel weight.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000
Chestnuts
We sell Chinese Chestnut seedlings, American Chestnut seedlings and open-pollinated Chinese x American hybrid seedlings. The seedlings are sold as ungraded, 1-0 bare-root stock, typically shipped April through May.
See plant descriptions and prices of chestnut nursery stock below.
Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima); Zone 5.
Chinese chestnuts have NOT produced reliably on the home farm in SW Wisconsin, since they tend to freeze back during our brief extreme cold-snaps. They do not appear to be as aggressive as the hybrids in low-maintenance, certified organic conditions. The only surviving Chinese chestnuts producing seed in our breeding plots (the toughies!) are seedlings from Skookum, Layeroka and Skioka varieties.
Grown from open-pollinated seed collected from superior mother trees, selected for nut size and cold hardiness.
Resistant to chestnut blight. Worth experimenting with in zone 4.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $5.00 ea
Graded Seedlings 18”+ tall
Bundles of 25 $5.50 ea
Hybrid Chestnuts (Castanea spp. hybrids); Zone 4.
The parents of our strain of chestnuts originate in Minnesota and are the only chestnuts to produce reliably on the home farm in SW Wisconsin. Our breeding goals within our own seed plots include high yields, large nuts, pest and disease resistance and suitability for low-input and certified organic conditions. Most nuts are NOT as large as Chinese chestnut. Some hybrids will be susceptible to chestnut blight depending on the expression of their American genetics.
Chestnuts are high carbohydrate and low oil. Corn that grows on trees!
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 10 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)
Once an important hardwood timber tree, the American Chestnut is highly susceptible to chestnut blight, caused by an Asian bark fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) accidentally introduced into North America in the early 1900’s. Although the tree still exists in the eastern US as stump sprouts, it is nearly non-existent as a seed-producing tree.
One of the most rapidly growing hardwood trees in North America, reaching up to 150ft tall and 10 ft in diameter. It formerly ranged from Maine and southern Ontario to Mississippi, and from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio Valley. It is now widespread throughout North America.
The American Chestnut is a prolific bearer of nuts enclosed in a spiny green burr. Typically flowering aroud 4th of July in Wisconsin, the nuts develop through late summer and the burrs open in late September to early October.
If you live outside of the chestnut’s historic range, or have no chestnut stump sprouts growing in the woods nearby, it is worth planting American chestnut. American chestnut will in all likelihood eventually get the blight and the top die back to the roots periodically.
Our seed comes from blight-free nurseries in Oregon and Washington.
Help preserve one of America’s most threatened trees species by planting more!
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 10 $5.50/plant
100-900 plants $5.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Pine Nuts
Korean Stone Pine (Pinus koraiensis); Zone 3
The only nut pines to survive our variety trials and begin producing cones are the Korean Stone Pine. Growth in the first few years is slow, but once established their growth rivals that of their near look-alike, Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus). Korean Pine has been our most difficult seed to grow and has been the most problematic to transplant. Many growers put a handful of pine forest soil in the planting hole in order to inoculate the roots with the appropriate mycorrhizal fungi. We find that excellent weed control and adequate water work wonders.
Excellent for a multi-purpose windbreak.
2-0 Seedlings, 6-12” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50 ea.
Fruit Trees & Shrubs
Mulberry (Morus sp.) Mulberry trees are native the eastern half of North America and yet will thrive just about everywhere. The trees were widely grown in the 18th and 19th centuries to host silkworms, to supply the lucrative silk trade. Mulberries are generally eaten fresh, but also can be made into jelly or syrups for flavoring ice creams, yogurts, or cakes. The trees are rapid growers from 15 to 50 feet.
Mulberries are very high in protein for a fruit, and are used in Silvopasture systems especially as forage for chickens and hogs. Cattle readily browse the foliage which has superior feed value to corn.
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $4.50/plant
100-900 plants $4.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa) A large, wide-spreading shrub with glossy green foliage. It is native to northern China and Japan. Hardy to zone 3, it will grow to 8 feet in height and width.6-8ft x 6-8ft. This cherry is a VERY cold hardy, semi-sweet cherry (we have grown it successfully in Mentasta, Alaska). It withstands winds and is fairly drought tolerant. It will grow in shade but blooms better when grown in full sun to partial shade. Crops are larger when planted in full sun, but hot, dry conditions can cause them to desiccate rapidly especially in drought years. Shade-grown bushes poduce fewer flowers and fruit, but the fruit tends to hang on longer and stay succulent
Ungraded 1-0 Seedlings, 12-18” tall
Bundles of 25 $5.50/plant
100-900 plants $5.00/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000
Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) 1 Gallon Pot, 2 Year Old Plant – We grow exclusively Minnesota “half-high” blueberry varieties which are just about the only ones that will survive in our hot summers and sub-zero winters. (-52º in 1996!)
These 2 year old plants are grown in a 1 gallon pot (6”x 8”) peat bark mix, which promotes excellent root growth and branched top growth. Plant height varies according to the variety, from 12” to 24”. We’ve tried all different sized containers and these are the best!
Plenty of super cold hardy varieties: Blue jay, Northblue, Patriot, Northland, Blue Ray and Elliot. We tend to sell out of these quickly so order early!
1 Gallon Pot, 2yr old plant
Mimimum order 6 plants $16.00/plant
100-900 plants $14.50/plant
Discounts available for orders over 1000 plants
Apple rootstock: We have a wide variety of apple rootstock available in various diameters. In our own cider orchard we prefer Antanovka, a standard rootstock, for its windfastness, cold hardiness, drought tolerance, ability to thrive in heavy sod, clay soils and in polycultures with a minimum of care. Our second favorite rootstock is M-111 for many of the same reasons. Others available: Emla 7, Emla 26 and Geneva 30.
1-0 Rootstock, 1/4" diameter
Bundles of 25 $4.00 ea
1-0 Rootstock, 3/8” diameter
Bundles of 25 $4.50 ea
Apple scionwood: Our cider orchard once hosted over 119 different varieties being tested for their performance in low-maintenance, certified organic conditions. The survivors of this brutal regimen are quite likely to survive similar neglect at your place!
Ask us for our scionwood availability list!
Scionwood, approx 8” (good for 2 or 3 grafts) $3.00 ea
Hardy Kiwi, Montmorency Cherry, Pear Rootstock, Highbush Cranberry, Serviceberry (Juneberry), and Elderberry
E-mail for prices and availability
Nitrogen Fixers
Siberian Peashrub (Caragana arborescens), European Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
E-mail for prices and availability
Woody Florals & Ornamentals
Various colored Pussy Willows, Curly Willows, White/Yellow/Black/Weeping Birch, Lilac, Rugosa Rose, and Forsythia
E-mail for prices and availability
Other Nut Trees
Buartnut, Butternut, Russian Walnut, Black Walnut, and Hickory
E-mail for prices and availability
Shepard Family Farm & Cydery
15662 County Hwy I
Viola, WI 54664
Copyright © 2011 Forest Agriculture Enterprises
15662 County Hwy I
Viola, WI 54664
Copyright © 2011 Forest Agriculture Enterprises
