orchard – Page 3 – Peacock Orchard

Seed Collection on the Farm

Our plans for future orchard expansion now include pre-planting of Kraters far in advance of tree arrival. For this we need seeds, lots of seeds. Luckily I’ve been purchasing and tossing out seeds for ages. Collecting specimens for the new Kraters is a breeze. All you need is a bucket, some willing hands and guard dogs in case you should come upon…..well nothing, they’re useless.

So far collected specimens include: Sainfoin, sweet clover, alfalfa, asparagus, various grasses, bachelors button, vetch, various other clover varieties and odd plants I find along the way and simply throw into the bucket. Those plants include flowers, herbs and vegetable seeds. We’ll see what happens to grow from this cacophony of seeds. I’m hoping everything.

I’m feeling pretty good about this move. As I’ve said in a previous post, things aren’t working quite right as they are now. I think a big step is preparing the kraters ahead of planting. I have every hope it will make a big difference. Only time shall tell.

How the trees are dealing with unseasonable weather

It’s hot. It’s even been in the 90’s a few times. This is not Wyoming weather. This is…..this is weather unfit for human kind. It’s also dry. Spring is when we get our rain. August, September and October are our dry months. We can go without a lick of rain that entire time. Now though, now is not good. This heat, this drought, this is not good on my young trees.

I’m discouraged. I can’t water. I don’t have the water rights to water. I’m taking water out to the most desperate trees but otherwise, I’m just praying. Praying for rain that is missing us every single time.

The kraters and swales do their job admirably. I think if the trees were established better the whole system would be stable against drought conditions. The trees aren’t established though. The most established tree is on it’s 3rd year. All the others are going on their second summer or even their first in a few cases. Their roots aren’t established enough to survive this.

They are drooping. They are yellowing. Their leaves are falling off. I’m near despair. Please, rain, please.

I think I need to mulch. I haven’t for various reasons. Ok, I actually have. The very first year I mulched the trees and it was utterly pointless. It all blew away. I haven’t bothered since. I think I need to try again though. Straw being my best bet. Perhaps fresher straw and not the half decomposed straw I used the first time.

Still, perhaps this is a lost cause. That’s the thought at the very back of my mind. That I’ve done something foolish thinking it was something brave. That I’ve spent years and thousands of dollars proving all of the nay sayers right. If a single dry spring can kill all of my work than this system doesn’t work.

It’s not all dead though. It’s simply dying. Come rain. Come and restore my plants and my spirit. We are all waiting for you.

Varieties in the Orchard

I thought some might be interested in what varieties we currently have growing and my opinions of some of them. It is a long list. I’m somewhat eclectic. I do enjoy buying everything and seeing what flourishes. So prepare yourself some coffee as this is going to be a long one.

Apple Trees

Stark® Lodi Apple Stark®– This apple has done the best by far in the orchard. It is our oldest apple variety and the tree is beautiful all around.
Starkspur® UltraMac™ Apple
Honeycrisp™ Apple
WineCrisp™ Apple Co-op 31
McIntosh Apple
Pound Sweet Apple– Alive and well in a Krater. I am excited to see this fruit!
Stark® Golden Delicious Apple– I have quite a few of these (they had a good sale) and they are hit and miss. Some are doing quite well but others are not. They also haven’t branched out at all. They are still stick looking with leaves. It’s a little odd.
Macoun Apple
Freedom Apple
Snow Apple
Hidden Rose– I was over the moon to be getting this variety but sadly neither apple survived. I bought them as whip grafts and I had some issues with both planting and protecting them. The rabbits got to a lot of my whip grafts. I hope to try this variety again.
Dabinette– Cider apple
Jonathon
Fuji
Dr. Matthews
Grimes Golden– I had a few of these and have one survivor. They were also whip grafts. They are said to be top of the bushel as far as taste and cider making ability. We shall see on that. It is still only a few feet tall.
Melrose
Caville Blanc D’Hiver– I keep trying to acquire this variety but it has been a difficult one. I finally bought a single whip graft which sadly did not survive.
Kingston Black– Cider apple
Sops of Wine
Golden Russet– Cider apple
Northern Spy

Cherry Trees

Blackgold® Sweet Cherry– This cherry is proving to be an easy keeper. Both trees survived and have flowered in their second year.
Hansen’s Bush Cherry
Stark® Montmorency Pie Cherry– These trees keep dying on me. I’m not sure why, but they do.
Stella– Bought a single tree from a home improvement store. This is our first year with it but so far it has survived Wyoming winds.

Peach Trees

Contender Peach– Has survived another winter. I thought keeping these peach trees alive would be an issue but they are hardier than I had expected.
Intrepid Peach
Reliance Peach>Both of these peach varieties were dead upon planting last year. One has come up from the rootstock but that is it. They were replaced and we shall see how they do this year.

Pear Trees

Starking® Delicious™ Pear– I am not sure I will plant any more pears. Not a single one survives the winter. I’ll stop thinking about poached pears and move on to something that can handle our conditions.
Starking® Hardy Giant™ Asian Pear
Colette Everbearing Pear
Forelle- I’ve grown this tree and the following trees from seed. They are tiny but doing well so far. Time will tell.
Colette
Seckel

Plum Trees

Bubblegum Plum®
Superior Plum– I bought two of these plums my first year from Stark Bros. They are both still alive, some of the only survivors on the berms (Which I have decided are not a good place for planting in dry Wyoming). They both flowered profusely this year, though very early. I believe that is also due to being on the berms. We had many snows during their bloom and I doubt we get anything from them.
Starking® Delicious™ Plum
Ozark Premier Plum
Methley Plum
Shiro Plum– We have quite a few of these and they are all doing well. This is their second year. Their branching out is much slower than the Superior Plum but they are sturdy and growing so what else can a girl ask for.
Oullins Plum– We bought 4 of these trees this spring. I expected them to be whip grafts. I was quite surprised when they came in the mail and were a good 4 feet tall. The root mass on them was also impressive. I have never received trees in quite this condition before. One Green World is where I got the Oullins, Nichols and Italian plums. I’ll be purchasing from them again. The price is a bit larger than Stark’s but they carry different varieties. They are a few dollars cheaper than South Meadow Fruit Gardens but South Meadow simply delivers whip grafts. So, for the price these trees can not be beat.
Nichols Plum
Italian plum

Other Fruit Trees

Mango Paw Paw– Had a tough time of it last year. I had a single survivor which daughter quickly broke in half right after I took the picture and rejoiced after it. I suppose the lesson here is that two year olds should not be released upon unsuspecting trees.
Briana Apricot– These things were teeny tiny when I bought them. Scarcely a few inches tall. Not much has changed BUT they are still alive, so success.
Cathay Quince– I just bought one of these, not figuring I’d require much more than that. It’s alive and well in the Krater farthest from the house. That krater gets the least amount of water so I’d say these trees must be quite hardy.
American Persimmon– These were also tiny trees upon purchase. I have no idea if they’ve survived their first winter yet. I will say they must taste awful as the rabbits didn’t eat them.
Osage Orange- Planted in a dry, desolate part of the property they have thrived in total neglect. They were small trees though, and some of them snapped under the weight of our last heavy snow fall.

Nut Trees

Black Walnut– A few survivors the first winter only to be completely consumed by ground animals.
Hazelnut– Rabbits love them.
White Oak– They don’t like getting hit by trucks.
Timbur Chestnut– Also tasty to rabbits.
Michigan Pecan– Perhaps the tastiest.
Russian Almond– Eaten but coming up from the root. A nut that is hard to crack (making a joke).

Berry Plants

Autumn Magic Aronia Berry– Both aronias survived but only as they are coming up from the root now.
Viking Aronia Berry
Illini Hardy Blackberry– By far the best berry I have as far as survivability. Takes an eating and keeps on kicking.
American Cranberry– I fell in love with these at first sight. So dainty. So unexpected. So dead. Dang it!
Black Consort Currants– I have three. Two survived. One could even be said to have flourished.
Adams Elderberry– A single survivor and only then as it came up from the root.
Johns Elderberry
Vermilion Sunset™ Goji– So easy to grow. I didn’t expect that and only bought one. It was eaten to the ground but is coming back just fine.
Borealis Honeyberry– Honeyberries are supposed to be native to my area. If they are they just hate me.
Cinderella Honeyberry
Issai Hardy Kiwi– Not sure I’ll bother trying these stupid vines again.
Fall Red Everbearing Raspberry– Yet another berry that should be native but won’t grow.
Latham Red Raspberry
Leikora Seaberry– Doing great in a moderate krater though it’s pollinating buddy bit the big one.
Seaberry Pollinator
Red Mulberry– Unknown. Not sure if any survived yet. Probably not but I like to give them a try.
Apple Rose

Nitrogen Fixing– Nothing more be said about these I think.

Black Locust
Caragana

Plum out of luck?

The plum trees are blooming. For Wyoming, it’s early. Too early.

The 5 acre orchard in front of the house is a learning experience for us. Everything we do here is ground breaking in our area. The plum tree currently in bloom is planted in one of our swale berms. Another plum tree close to bloom is planted on the side of a swale. The trees in the Kraters are not yet old enough to bloom, so the verdict is out on the success of that. Knowing that there are various ways you can plant trees to get desired results. I believe the plum trees, being early bloomers, should be planted in the bottom of the Kraters, to keep them dormant long enough for our late Wyoming storms to be over.

Wyoming often has storms up until, and sometimes through, the end of May. I was excited to see the plum blossoms, our first fruit, but nervous as well. When I heard the news, an expected foot of snow, I was even more nervous about the possibility of getting fruit. I kept tabs on the trees during and after the storm. It was not as bad as expected, a few inches of snow at most. Lots of wind and ice though.

The blooms seemed to be fine in spite of the ice.

There was a lot of ice as well.

After the storm the blooms that had not opened were fine, but those that had been open during the storm had shriveled and died.

Lots of blooms left, lots of time left for more snow and ice. Time will tell.

Early planting, many hopes!

Sometimes you just can’t pick when your trees arrive. You know that in spite of your zone planting before Memorial day is plant suicide. Unfortunately your zone tells everyone else that you can plant early April. I hope for late shippings but we got a box already. Six trees have arrived. These are replacements for trees that died last year. I am fairly certain they suffered root death during transport as they were poorly wrapped and bone dry when I got to them. They nicely replaced the trees and so, after two days in a bucket debating, we planted.

Now I’m debating if it’s even worth it to go mulch them. It’s still horribly windy. Mulch sure does love to blow. I’ll debate it some more as I watch the weather and hope, oh hope!

Some of my hopes have been answered though. Every time I go out to survey the orchard I find things I thought were dead quite alive. Many bushes coming up from the root. Some trees doing so as well. I’ll re-graft them.

I have many seedlings growing away indoors waiting for Memorial day. That magic time when suddenly it’s not quite so risky to venture out of doors. I suspect we will get a few more good snows. Hopefully no freezes though.

I have a special lot of trees shipping. Trees I will plant close and baby. Trees I’m really excited to get fruit from. I sure do hope they will do their best to ship late, as I requested. Please, please ship late!

Now I know this should have been an egg cooking post but I think trees are far more exciting than chocolate souffle. Even though my souffle is amazing!

Springtime in Wyoming

Spring is in the air. A constant state of confusion lays heavy over the land. Will it be warm? Will it be freezing? It could be both, all in the same day. Summer clothes have already been donned this year. Now we’re back to snow suits and gloves. Back to animals too smart to leave the protection of the barn and me hauling water to them all.

Thankfully the barn is large and I’m healthy enough to be carting the necessary liquids. Solids too, since the pigs kept breaking into the food bins and I had to move them to the garage. Since we are currently in possession of an attack turkey the kids prefer to occupy themselves out of the barn while I’m feeding.

I’m particularly glad that weather has never stopped the kids from venturing outside. We are a tough lot, the kind willing to live in howling winds and unpredictable weather. A versatile lot as well. The wagon has been retired for now, in order to accommodate the snow. Strolls around the property have to be maintained, after all. Pictures must be taken! Trees checked.