An orchard walk today revealed many blessings.
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It appears that weeds and grass do not steal/rob and all those other words.
Most folks cannot fathom this coexisting.
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I think most people who say that dont consider mowed grass a nutrient or beneficial to the trees. It is a fine line because the weeds do rob and steal water until they are mowed off, and they are at the base of your trees like the leaves, woodchips, etc. .Mulch adds fertility ,water, prevents erosion,prevents sun scald etc. .Many pros spray with roundup around their trees then mulch with woodchips. There is nothing wrong with that if you dont mind eating or spraying the roundup.
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Its been awhile but if i remember correctly Stephan noted some studies about high grass insulating the ground and less water was lost than mowed grass or bare soil. Not to mention taller grass has deeper roots etc.
This past weekend was the beginning of a heat wave… i saw my neighbors braving the elements looking miserable to get their grasses mowed.
I looked at my 3 week unmowed grasses as protection and nature seems to be wiser than me so far.
Other than ruminants or fowl grazing im not sure if grasses are meant to be mowed as humans do.
I did a little ‘weeding’ of my berry rows… probably 50 or more different kinds of weeds and grasses somehow some way want my little swath back.
I cant help but notice that my wild brambles on my banks and hillsides are much more advanced and thriving than my cultivated ones… those brambles are competing with many 10s if not hundreds of other species.
Just my observation… not to mention your healthberry has decided to invade my Iowa White peach area… they seem to be friends as far as i can tell. The canes are resting on its branches and roots are likely intertwined. Both are thriving despite the ‘weeds’.
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Ayers- sister to ten
Ten - the real one that is a sister to ayers
Lazy J - virtually unknown outside this small area in Kansas. @39thparallel thank you! @Phlogopite this photo is for you
Chojuro
Williams aka bartlett
Shinko (i think)
Pai li @tonyOmahaz5 thanks for this advice
Harrow delight @olpea @alan thanks for this
harrow sweet - @alan @olpea thanks i love them
Clarks small yellow pear
Perry pear ? @39thparallel
Duchess D’ Angoulme
Large seckel - @39thparallel i love this one!
A favorite pear of mine grafted on harbin and topping out around 8 feet after 8 years. Love the taste and everything about it. I will figure out the name from my grin order.
@39thparallel this is a mystery pear i got from you. To say we have grown hundreds or a thousand plus pears here at my place might be an understatement. I have no idea yet what that is.
Drippin honey
Ohxf87 - we have lots of people ask about the fruit. Now you know its not productive and we will taste it .
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@39thparallel 39thparallel apples, i love these
The things we dont know in life sometimes matter. You never know where your enemy or the things that might hurt you will turn up. The feral cat and i eyes said plenty to each other about my little dog. I will give the cat some dog food later in payment for his mousing.
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Nice food forest,!!
Tony
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Your orchard looks great, Clark! It’s especially interesting to see pictures of the overall “orchard ecosystem” showing the grass/herbaceous plants, trees and their spacial/height relations to each other. Are these grafts on seedling roots? Looks like you have things spaced somewhat closely together, but everything looks happy.
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That is correct for rootstocks wild callery, bet, harbin, bartlett, ohxf333 , ohxf87 ,ohxf97 i have them all. Thank you! I quit taking pictures because i dont want to fill up @scottfsmith server space. i have a lot more pears i could photograph. I might photo some rarer ones soon. It is all spray free right now with the exception of cherries they get one or 2 sprays ayear with immunox for leaf spot when needed. Have not needed to spray them in 3 or 4 years, but this will be a spray year. I know i take too many pictures, but every time I say that someone says im glad you posted that, i can’t find a photo. Many experts or authorities on pears dont even grow pears. If i take one photo they want more to decide which ones they like. It is a big decision and its great to know which pears you want to grow in advance.
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@clarkinks … looks like you are going to have a very bountiful harvest of pears alone… and several other fruits.
Other than fresh eating…
What all do you do to preserve that huge pear harvest ?
Do you give some of that away to friends, family, neighbors ?
Sell any at a farmers market ?
About all we have ever done with pears is eat them fresh… and my wife makes some awesome pear preserves. We have never had much more than a couple 5 gal buckets full.
TNHunter
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I have my pawpaws in two rows. One of the rows is mulched and the other is left fallow with poke weed and large grasses and weeds. The ones surrounded by grasses looked a lot better than the ones that were mulched. This has been true for the hottest days as well as leading up to them.
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Nature is good at what it does. I try to work with it and not against it. Kris is right. Those blackberries correct soil problems and losen the soil. The leaves , bird droppings etc. Make trees grow much faster.
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I never worry about getting it all harvested. I have things working for me instead of nature working againsst me. Hay fields will soon be cut. There is so much diversity now at my properties it is aamazing. The fields and brush offer cover for animals.
This one ssimple reptile eats many insects
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Amphibian? ^^^
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I’m glad you posted this, thank you @clarkinks Clrark and @39thparallel
Clark thank you for sharing with us some pictures of your orchard.
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@Fusion_power is planting pears heavily now. Very soon he will have crops like these. If you see anything you want just let me know Darrel.
Ts - hardy - thanks @TurkeyCreekTrees , @Phlogopite and others are interested in this mostly unknown pear
Taiwan asian pear frim the usda
Orcas
Reddy robin pear
Flemish beauty
Comice - i need to look up which one
Altoona @Chikn thanks its loaded
Conference
Eldorado
Clara frijs - very hard to grow here due to fireblight
Douglas - notice the missing lower limbs that it breaks off every year from heavy fruit loads
Maxine - loaded
Charles Harris
Ya li
Pineapple
Hoskins i think
Potomac
Sunrise
Admire Joanett
Large seckel
Warren
Karls favorite
Having fun in the orchard - random
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I’m going to have fruit from about 5 pear varieties this year. I think the tree with most fruit has maybe 25 pears. Based on tree growth, next year should see a dozen pears with fruit.
One I had looked forward to is Ayers. Fireblight took out the top of the tree. I amputated it about 6 feet above the ground to prevent the rest of the trunk from being killed. Unfortunately, this took out all of the fruit set which was maybe a dozen pears. The tree is still alive and barring incident will have another chance next year.
Varieties I have grafted: Abate Fetel, Ambrosia, Aurora, Ayers, Barlow, Bartlett Nye Russet, Beierschmitt, Bell, Beurre Alexandre Lucas, Beurre Superfin, Blake’s Pride, Butirra Rosata Morettini, Cabot, Chojuro, Clara Frijs, Clarks Yellow, Conference, Daisui Li, Dana Hovey, Devoe, Diamond, Douglas, Doyenne du Comice, Drippin Honey, Duchess, Early Yellow, Elliot, Ewart (Karl’s Favorite), Flame, Foley’s, Golden Boy, Harrow Delight, Harrow Sweet, Harvest Queen, Highland, Honeysweet, Hood, Hosui, Improved Kieffer, Kalle, Kieffer, Korean Giant, Lazy J, Le Conte, Ledbetter, Leona, Lincoln, Luscious, Magness, Maxine, New World, Niitaka, Onward, Orient, Pai Li, Plumblee, Potomac, Red Bartlett, Red Zao Su Li, Rousselet de Reims, Scottsboro Callery, Seckel, Seckel extra large, Seuri Li, Shenanadoah, Shin Li, Shinko, Spalding, Sucre de Montlucon, Summer Blood Birne, Summercrisp, Sunrise, Turnbull Giant, Tyson, Very Late, Warren, Winter Nelis, Ya Li
And Clark, I have 2 trees grafted of Beurre Alexandre Lucas. Both appear healthy so far. If both make it, I’ll send you one next February.
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Couple more i think someone may want to see.
Korean Giant
Improved kieffer
Kosui
Jujube seedlings for breeding rootstocks
Green Jade
Kieffer
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