I’ve been working on a video from all the photo’s and video clips we’ve collected while establishing the orchard. I have so much media that I’ve split the video into two parts. Part I has posted if anyone would like to check it out: Making Maggies Orchard - Part1 - YouTube
Part II has posted if anyone would like to watch:
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Very cool Andy. Has your fencing seemed adequate so far? Anything you would do differently?
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I’m going to ad two additional lines (currently 4). I have deer on the trail cam running at speed and jumping between the two top wires. I may also add T-Post caps with a wire holder and ad another top wire. Otherwise it’s working Okay but deer get in if they want. Go through this thread if you haven’t already: Solar Electric Fence Charger
I’m still uncertain about the effectiveness of the coyote scarecrows.
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I work with a lot of wood chips and learned a hard lesson about getting aspergillis in my lungs. It is a fungi that grows in wood chips and I am on my 5th month of treatment to get rid of it. Use a mask when you work with Old Chips.
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I guess using “I Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Farm No More” would not have been a good sound track.
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ha! I had check with my friend Mr. Google to see if that was a real song…imagine my surprise when it not only is a song, but from one of my favorite performers! The poet, the man, the legend! (Bob Dillon). Nice song…Andy surely must play this when those deer find a way in or other frustrations come! Heaven knows I’ve said I’m not going to work on mine a few times. ha
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Put out 4 bluebird boxes @ Maggie’s a few days ago. Yesterday I was cussed out by a barn swallow for getting too close to one of the boxes. Oh well, they eat bugs too.
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Ya…it seems those boxes are about 50% barn swallows at my place too (last fall I even had a mouse pack it full of ferns and overwinter in it), but like you I don’t mind.
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I’m happy you can get away with a short fence. Our veggie garden with a few fruit trees in Redway CA needed 14’ chainlink plus the triple barbwire toppers.
I do need to ad wires and possibly some height. So far it hasn’t been mass destruction.
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A few pics of how things are looking as of the end of Aug 2022:
Wolf River on B.9 (just the one ! )
Red Baron on G.890
Dudley aka North Star on G.210
Breaky on G.222
Cherry Cox on G.222
Apicot Apple
Jonagold on B.9
Luscious Pear on Quince:
Red Vein Crab on B.118
Fameuse / Snow on M.111
Hewe’s / Virginia Crab on M.111
Liberty on M.111
Keepsake on a wild seedling - bird pecked
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I see that the codling moths favor your Apricot apples just as they do mine. It’s a bit surprising, considering how hard they are.
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First year fruiting for me, I believe they are on G.210. I have 2 fruits I failed to notice, and my spraying was ill timed. The fruits are larger than I had anticipated. These trees are still in the nursery bed and are overdue for transplanting to the orchard. It’s helpful to know I can expect CM pressure each year, thanks jerry.
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Those first apples are always exciting. Thanks for posting them.
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The Cherry Cox and Dudley were bird pecked so I picked them, neither was close to being ripe. All 4 Breaky’s were off the tree, 3 were missing and one was on the ground. Seeds of the Breaky were very dark, and the taste was very nice, sweet, not very appley, difficult to describe, something made me think strawberry for an instant.
Awesome. You do good work.
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Got a slow start today, but I got row # 8 marked out for tree spacing and a straight line for tree placement. I had time to get 12 trees dug up from the nursery bed and planted out. This row will be about 50% M.106 and 50% P.18 rootstocks (one end is wet in the spring, with standing water, so that section gets P.18 rootstocks) with a total of 49 trees. Rows 9, 10 & 11 are also tilled and ready to be planted, we’ll see if the weather cooperates this fall. Hope to get some drone timelapse tomorrow to show progress on the new rows.
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I finished row # 8 and marked out row 9 tree spacing. Planted 25 more trees today. One of those days when you get too warm with a sweatshirt on and get cold without it. All of the trees on P.18 are planted out, as well as those on M.106. Started planting out the trees on G.890.
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