Friday, October 22, 2010

Planting the Orchard

We decided to plant an orchard (or at least the beginnings of one) before winter so we bought 3 apple and 2 pear trees from a local nursery.

And since we dont have running water on that side of the lower pasture we got a 550 gallon tank and plumbed in a spigot at the bottom so we can gravity feed water to the trees. Eventually we will put a manifold on the spigot to run multiple water lines and we hope to fill the tank with a rain water collection system we are adding to the pole barn shop we will be building in the spring right behind this tank.

we cleared part of the lower pasture aand marked each tree location to ensure 15 foot separation.

The propane tank in back will be used for the heater in the pole barn.

We can fill the tank from the hose frost free hydrant over by the trailer (using 200 feet of hose)

There is enough drop from the tank to the orchard to give us a good flow of water.

And we will be close to the barn which gets electricity in the spring.

Boo Boo was on hand to supervise as usual...he has gained a little weight but has been really knocking out the mole problem so we dont make too much fun of him (he is sensitive).

We staked them all and then surrounded them with chicken wire to discourage the rabbits which are so plentiful. Deer for some reason dont come this close to the barn yard (probably the dogs scare them off).

Holly and Judy planting a tree

We still cant believe we are living our dream like this. Its been such a long journey but its so very satisfying.

And the orchard is planted. Next spring we will greatly expand it but I think its a good start.

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