FRUIT
TREES
Happy Bear installs orchards of all sizes in any number of contexts--residential yards, public parks, school courtyards, & rooftops. An orchard can be as small as one or two trees or as big as twenty to fifty trees. It all depends on pollination requirements of the trees, available space in the landscape and, of course, the client's tastes!
**We will always emphasize the importance of native and "no-fuss" species of fruit & nut trees that do not require hyperactive management and spraying throughout their development.
**That being said, we are willing to meet clients where they're at and empower them with information and/or a management plan to care for their more high-maintenance plantings.
Here are just a few of the fruit & nut trees that we like to work with!
-
Apple (Malus domestica)
-
European Pear (Pyrus communis)
-
Asian Pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
-
Hybrid Plum (Prunus salicina x Prunus americana)
-
Siberian Peach (Prunus persica 'Siberian C')
-
Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus)
-
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
-
American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
-
Red Mulberry (Morus rubra)
-
Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)
-
Serviceberry (Amalenchier canadensis)
-
Hybrid Chestnut (Castanea sativa x crenata)
-
Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima)
-
Hybrid Hazelnut (Corylus avellana x americana)
-
Carpathian Walnut (Juglans regia
VEGGIE
GARDENS
HB specializes in raised beds - constructed with dimensional lumber and filled with a custom grow mix of compost, soil and organic amendments.
These beds can be used for growing a variety of vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers.
We also install: drip irrigation systems and custom deer fencing.
OUTDOOR
MUSHROOM
CULTIVATION
Happy Bear specializes in outdoor mushroom cultivation.
That means growing mushrooms directly on "inoculated" logs in shady, wet places within the landscape. This is a very low-maintenance way to grow delicious, nutrient-dense mushrooms and diversify home-scale food production.
These mushrooms are growing on oak logs which were inoculated in Spring '22.
Why should you grow mushrooms in your landscape?
1. Log-grown mushrooms like shiitake are tastier and more nutrient-dense than conventionally grown mushrooms available in supermarkets.
Edible mushrooms like shiitake, oyster and lion's mane are saprophytic fungi, meaning they eat (decompose) wood. When we grow mushrooms directly on logs, the fungi is able to consume exactly what is has evolved to consume. These mushrooms are more nutritious than store-bought mushrooms which are generally grown on sterilized grain substrates.
2. Mushrooms grow in shady portions of the landscape which generally go unused.
Mushroom logs thrive underneath trees (especially conifer trees) where it is damp and too dark to grow other food-producing plants. The logs do a good job of bringing people in to those otherwise unused spaces.
3. Mushroom logs are incredibly low-input, low-maintenance and will produce mushrooms for years.
After inoculating the logs and siting them in a shady area, there isn't much else to do other than play the waiting game. One year after inoculation, the logs will begin to "fruit" mushrooms. From then on out--depending on diameter--logs will consistently fruit for 3-5 years.
There is zero need for plastics, electricity, or other materials.
