Sure, you can do two inches. The baby trees won’t care for a year or so and some will die in the meantime. You want the largest possible population because not all will survive the dry summer and only a small percentage of those will survive the first winter.
You may even accidentally get two foot spacing!
When I did my peach hedge I used transplanted trees that had already survived their first winter as the base.
Cool! That’s exactly what I was thinking. I figured I’d plant way too many and do nothing whatsoever to help them along. Anything that survives will totally deserve to.
And if I barely get any surviving saplings this year (or none), hey, I’ll just plant more seeds!
I’m super curious to see what happens.
A peach hedge sounds delicious, too.
I am actually working on a population of Northernmost Pawpaws from the original Corwin Davis genetics (some of the earliest known cultivars were bred or selected by Corwin in the wilds of Central Michigan). Those original lines were then mixed and crossed with Northern Illinois custard frutis etc. Ongoing. I am 6 degrees N latitude so it is a wee bit of a tall task BUT hope springs eternal. So far, I have 82 seeds sprouted. I am aiming for, at minimum 500 seeds and seedlings to start with. Paw-Paws are extremely interesting in that, much like ‘shumac’, they are stoloniferous and colonizing. The main Mother tree typically has a 20-25 year life expectancy before She ultimately succumbs and the bark peels; the heart wood blackens, and she dies. BUT, there are so many interesting things to play with amongst the colony; the lateral pruning; the selecting; and, naturally, the seed selecting and fruit selecting. In the interim, or I guess alongside, I have been sprouting D. virginiana (American persimmons) from similar northern stands. The persimmon seeds act slower and are quite a bit more tempermental. On the side, I am still working several banks of plum genetics. To give you an idea of selection process: my mentor, Ken Asmus of Oikos Treecrops, started many of the F1 parentage of several of his plum strains by working out from 5-10K seedlings. It’s a lifelong process. He started in the early 1980’s.
Back to the Pawpaws:
I currently have two banks of seeds. The ‘wild’ or all seedling seeds are germinating like gang busters. They arrived pre-stratified but I then re-refrigerated them for 3 months. I also got a bank of 200-300 seeds of what ‘Peaceful Heritage Nursery’ (Kentucky - why the heck not Kentucky State is a hotbed for Pawpaw breeding) terms their ‘Ultra Select’. These are essentially F1 genetics from fruits taken from known cultivars. To give you an idea of the comparisons: Currently Oikos seedling genetics have sprouted 91 seeds. Ultra Select ONE. It’s crazy the difference. It may not end up meaning much - ie it could just be they are slower. BUT, it is certainly discernible in terms of vigor. Same treatments. Everything. Those seeds also arrived pre-stratified.
I planted over 100 pawpaw seeds here in northern Minnesota, and a few came up, but then they didn’t bud the following year. I’d love for your project to be a success so I could try to build on it.
Oh shoot, I have 40 stratified pawpaw seeds I bought for my move, but they’ve been sitting in my fridge since I didn’t move. They’re Canadian east-coast stock from the folks in the Canadian pawpaw group’s best plants, and were part of a Ukraine fundraiser. Would either @Bizarro or @clweeks be interested, or I could split them between you? I haven’t been sure what to do with them since they’d for sure die here. They’ve been in the fridge so long, I bet they’ll sprout in the mail.
As far as apple seedlings, I’m enthralled by the diversity so far. I’ve been putting them outside every morning once it arcs up to freezing or higher, and bringing them in nights when it frosts (which is all nights except one so far). They are happy and healthy. A surprising number of my own seeds sprouted to very red, I imagine the crabapple did a lot of pollinating? There’s a ton of diversity in all of them, and some have for instance pink stems and green leaves, while others are very red. Different sizes, different first leaf shapes (which doesn’t mean much).
I may just transplant them out in June instead of waiting for fall or next spring.
I’m working with a store of diverse and gorgeous crabapple seeds for next year too. Such a fun project!
If you sent them to me (and they made it across the border), I’d plant them for sure. But since my last try all died, I don’t currently have a pawpaw project, so sending them to @Bizarro might make more sense.
I’d give them a chance @Greenstorm . It’s entirely up to you whether you want to send them or not. Hopefully, some of those crabapple seeds I sent you germinated 
@Bizarro i would like to hear more about what youre doing with plums. I would like to grow plums as well, and currently have some seeds that i am trying to sprout. Any tips along with your overall strategy and sourcing would be appreciated!
Plums plums and plums AND more plums. I’m working with several of Ken Asmus’ plum genetics from Oikos Tree Crops. He is a plum guru as far as I am concerned. He has bread a lot of the fungal and related rot issues out of most of his strains through simple selection. I would highly recommend going to his website and supporting his nursery. He has adjusted all his seed lot orders SO you’ll want a heads up: the seeds are not cheap and they come in larger lot. He used to sell packets but no longer does that because, well, it was making negative money for his nursery. Even though he ‘retired’ last year, he is still in the seed game and we are extremely lucky to have the resource.
This season, I am working with about 8 strains of Oikos plums (?) Some were freebie packets with my orders of things like ‘Goosehaw’ and ‘Briana Beach Plum’. Those freebie packets will take longer to get going, obviously, as I am working with like 10-15 seedlings. But, again, I can’t recommend his seeds highly enough. He takes immaculate care with the right intention of all his woody crops. I notice a discernable difference in quality. And, it’s not just those, honestly. Even his tree collards that flower and seed sprout 10x more vigorous than standard Dinosaur, Purple, or Merit tree collards from the Tree Collard Project. It’s truly uncanny. I joke with him that I refer to it as ‘The Asmus Effect’.
Of those mentioned, I would highly recommend getting (at least) the ‘Nana Beach Plum’ strain. It’s a dwarfish - true to type - seed selection of like 4-6’ Beach Plum trees with exorbitant fruiting spurs and loaded branches. It’s a really fun beach plum type (with vigorous sprouting to boot) that you can use almost in the understory or as a pseudo-shrub. I have a lot of like 300 seeds from another East Coast oufit, and I have like a mere 5 seeds that have germinated. It’s a massive difference. Same treatment and everything.
Mark Sheppard, from New Forest Farm is in Wisconsin and says in his book that he is very interested in cold-hardy PawPaws. He says he has one on his farm, but only one, so no pollination and no fruit. He is a lot into landrace tree breeding (only he doesn’t call it that). Maybe it would be worth reaching out to him. His book is a couple of years old and he might have more PawPaws now, maybe even some seed.
And by way of short general endorsement, his Restoration Agriculture book is a great read, and available as audiobook if that’s your thing.
I read it recently, and I agree. It’s excellent.
I’m enthusiastic about his STUN (strategic total utter neglect) method, too. That seems like a great way to grow perennials that require little care.
My very first professional farming season, way back in the nether times of yore, I lived and farmed at Mark’s New Forest Farm. I can tell you, I don’t find his approach to Pawpaws practical in the least. But, that’s OK. I planted thousand of hazels for him on that farm and elsewhere (this was when he was growing out his own stock on farm from select harvests and the Amish were hired locally to hand harvest. Ahhhh the times were different then). A truly intelligent (if somewhat crazy - in a good way…mostly…lol) and brilliant mind. AND, if you can get his hazelnut or chestnut nursery genetics absolutely do it. They are really really good - the hazels in particular dwarf the quality of Badgerset. I saw it first hand. The genetics are just extremely hard to get a hold of. Regardless, his STUN method is practical when you’re ordering massive amounts of seedlings in 25 pack bundles from Lawyer Nursery. There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to Mark and his methodologies. He and Jen lost their eldest son Eric off the Front Range of Colorado (Boulder) in the past couple of years - a tragic loss. Eric was utterly wonderful and a brilliant human. The last I saw he and Jen, I ran into them at an Agroforestry Conference when I lived and worked near the University of Missouri. Which gets to another fantastic woody crop: the Ozark Chinkapin. I digress.
It is and it isn’t. His plantings are all on contour, keylined, and they get ample rain in the Driftless region throughout the year. IF you have the equipment, man hours, knowledge and labor hours to execute this - wonderful. In a Mediterranean, high-altitude, or inland PNW climate that’s a real tough ask. In the end, it’s really all about where you are - geographically/climatically and in your life. It’s also really romantic to envision enjoying the fruits of this working successfully and then the reality is it’s A LOT to manage.
Part of the backstory of Mark’s thing that is never discussed is a lot of his methodologies also sprouted because he was playing a debt game with banks and credit cards - a lot of this was driven after his original landmates and purchase partners backed out of the project leaving he and his wife and two kids with their acreage, fresh off a life in Alaska, forced to make it work. It was a thankless proposition and that was what worked, then, for he and his family. It’s a testament to their fortitude they made it work. It truly is - he was absolutely integral, for example, to the foundations and success of the original Organic Valley produce pools.
Where I tend to align with Mark, philosophically, is the ecosystem mimicry - it makes boatloads of sense, for instance, that he mimic the remnant Oak Savannah and tailors his perennial plant systems to that naturally pre-existing plant community there. Identify roles. Identify Genus/species and adjust plants accordingly - ie there’s no need to be a ‘native plant’ zealot when plants fill functions. Leader follower systems are another natural component - but, he is far from the first person to propose such a thing. Natives were essentially leader following entire half continents for centuries (which in and of itself is just wild).
Having worked with pasturing animals and perennial systems for the better part of 25-27 years, I found Restoration Agriculture significantly lacking in practical components for people - supplies; quantities; design; and mathematics. It read more like popular fantasy to me - lots of anecdotal ideas and sharing but a significant lack of meat and potatoes components. Where I found practical application of those needed elements, I turned to Holistic Management (Alan Savory) and The Regrarian Handbook by Darren Doherty. FWIW.
We read Mark’s book and heard him speak. (I gushed so much when I met him that he asked me if I was a groupie!) Obviously much of what he does is impractical on a small homestead operated by two aging people using hand tools, in a different climate. But it gave us a lot to think about, and his general principles have been very helpful. Also his sense of possibility and openness to experimentation - he’s much less rule-bound and process-bound than the permaculturists (who we’ve also learned a lot from).
Wonderful to hear @MashaZ ! Inspiration is the best food for all of us. This is truly where Mark and I were kindreds - openness and experimentation.
In so many ways, permaculture can be boiled down to one simple adage:
Walk your land - wherever it may be - and listen. Listen to the land speak to you. And, listen to your heart and how it speaks with the land. Operate from this source.
My general rule of thumb - which is completely counter-intuitive to the STUN methodology - is: Start small and, then, prototype up and out. Operate first where you can actually manage and observe and learn. Then, perhaps, place wonder and joy above and beyond all else. If this finds you planting 100’s of acres? Wonderful. To each their own and may many travelers wander many paths.
I personally love all things Kingston Black - an incredible cider and hard cider apple. Wickson, to boot, also makes incredible cider. I see what’s going on in those dark winter nights of the Northerly lands! Woot woot. 
Not to take this thread into the overly philosophical, but I think gardening is no different than the rest of life in how foundational it is to know yourself, what your abilities are, and what will actually bring you joy (rather than what is supposed to bring you joy).
