An Orchard Is Born

We are moving on to the next stage in planning our fruit tree grove with biodynamic orchardist, Joe Haley.

The orchard will be about 45 by 55 feet with four semi-dwarf apple trees running the long way on each side with a row of s pear trees running up the center. All varieties will be cedar apple rust resistant. We do expect to have some issues with near-by cedar trees but their proximity is a fact of life in suburban Nassau County so we are simply selecting varieties best suited to ward off this blight.

Planting will occur early in April, just when the ground can be worked and danger of hard frost has passed.

Here is an interesting fact about starting new apple trees. New plantings cannot be started from the seeds in the fruit. Instead, a graft is made from the tree itself for the new stock. Stay tuned to this blog for more on the process of fuit production. We will take you along for the ride, ups and downs included.