The Orchard

Once the garden has been planted and everything in place, we are ready to move to the orchard. We have just purchased about a dozen fruit and nut trees for planting. Although we have used soaker hoses in the garden, irrigation is going to be our greatest hurdle in the orchard. Trees will be spaced about 20 feet apart with rows spaced wide enough for a tracktor to pass for spraying and grass mowing.

First we measured each row 30 feet apart. We used string and stakes to insure straight rows when we began digging holes. Next we used an auger attachment for our Bobcat and dug the initial hole for each tree.

Then using a post digger, we made each hole at least twice the diameter of the root ball. While planting the trees, we added peat moss and top soil.

Following is a photo of the orchard, week 1.

5/14/07 update. The trees seem to be doing Ok, although some have a few dried leaves on them, even though we have watered and had a good amount of rainfall in the last week. Also, since we have planted the berries, the raspberries have started putting out stems already, so I am hopefull.