All the pieces of our orchard have finally been coming together the last few months.
Two years ago (2016), I tried my hand at grafting my first apple trees. One year ago (2017), I grafted a LOT more. This year, 2018, voles and mice decided to reduce our nursery stock by about a quarter – so I grafted a handful of trees, once again. The loss was disheartening, but my goal was still well within reach: the year for planting had come at last!
The past couple of weeks have been a weather whirlwind, but between the rain, wind and snow I stole a few days to transplant. It was sad to see some of the trees girdled in the nursery bed – so thouroughly, no rescue would be possible. Others were only nibbled on a touch, and may yet survive. This was my fault, for not securing the tree guards well enough, or in some cases, for not getting them on before the snow fell. The voles and mice were merciless, but I learned a lesson in the process. Tree guards will be well-secured in the future.
The orchard is now home to 90 trees: 25 varieties of apple and 3 varieties of pear:
Kingston Black
Dabinett
Golden Russet
Yarlington Mill
Honeycrisp
Esopus Spitzenberg
Bramtot
William’s Pride
Keepsake
Porter’s Perfection
Wickson
Black Oxford
Ashmead’s Kernel
Fallawater
Northern Spy
Calville Blanc d’Hiver
Bitter Pew
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Pound Sweet
Harry Master’s Jersey
Chestnut
Opalescent
Westfield Seek-No-Further
Windham Russet
Wagoner
Brandy
Bartlett
Beane Hill Pear
There’s also a row of hazelnuts, because this orchardist loves Nutella.
Ninety trees isn’t the limit of the orchard; there’s room for 30 more trees or so. Some of that was planned, so that I have room for additional varieties next year (or perhaps a few more peach trees?). I also had much more room than I thought I had, which allowed for longer rows of trees. And of course, some varieties succumbed to the plague of voles. Poor ‘Wickson’ – of 5 trees, only 1 made it through this past winter.
The next hurdle for these trees will be avoiding deer browse until they’re tall enough to escape damage. My best defense here is an electric fence system. Baited with peanut butter, the deer get a surprise shock when they go in for a taste; startled, they dart away, hopefully avoiding the area in the future. Of course, the peanut butter can wash away in the rain, and without it the deer will simply jump the fence and go about their business. The trick is getting them to stop for a treat – and the ensuing shock.
Things are looking greener and greener here every day, and the trees are already showing signs of bud break. Before long, hopefully I’ll have some signs of life to share. For now, it looks a bit like a plastic forest, but in a few years, I’m hoping the trees will have gained a few feet in height, and the understory will be filled with flowering shrubs and plants. Daffodils, lavender and comfry are most certainly on my list.
Beane Hill Farm 