So if I lived closer to my orchard (I live three hours away) I’d definitely be on the lookout for tree service (including asplundh) and go ‘hey guy’s, here’s a place you dump wood chips, for free…and in season if you say pretty please there’s fruit to go with that too’
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Around here I can order 15 cu.yd. of cured wood chips for $115 including delivery. Wish you had such a service within reasonable distance of your orchard.
I’ve ordered mulch before and I’m sure I could get wood chips if I really had.
The last I time ordered mulch the big issue was bad cell phone service in the area and I was only up there a couple days a month.
My orchard’s in an area that for PA is lightly populated. I live near Philly, the joke when my parents go up there is that going someplace like a grocery store which is an impulse whenever we want something where we live up near my orchard is something we’d have to plan our day around…and stuff like unreliable cell phone service mirrors how lightly populated it is.
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Enjoyed the pictures and I can see you have done a bunch or work.
Those 3 or 4 acres should produce at least 20 tons of peaches in a few years.
That should translate into more than $100K of revenue but it’s going to take some infrastructure and equipment to reach the goal.
Our acre (or a little more) of peaches requires about 10 hours a week picking, 10 hours packing and 10 hours selling during the production season. It’s taken quite a few years to develop efficient work processes and marketing. Customers will drive a long distance and pay high prices for superior peaches but a regular spray program will be required.
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I know I’ve seen other growers here post about timing varieties throughout of peaches, apples etc cetera throughout the season so I know what I’m going to say isn’t groundbreaking.
I have Rich May, Desiree, Garnet Beauty, Spring Snow, Redhaven, Raritan Rose, Klondike White, Lady Nancy, 24C cold hardy, Sunhigh, Fairtime, Cresthaven, Victoria and September Snow planted with Earlystar, Glenglo and Lucky 13 on order for next year.
The idea being on my part that the harvest season is paced from July through September; I’m questioning how well September Snow and Victoria are going to hold up for me…time will tell.
Hopefully the work’s paced so that I can the work with some help and not go completely nuts.
Equipment’s on the horizon…I’m skittish about buying stuff without having a means of paying for it.
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Every situation is different but I can share what we have learned by mostly trial and error. Its not too hard to grow, pick, pack and sell peaches from 150 trees but I could not manage 300 without some hired help.
Perhaps @Olpea can share his experiences too.
Staggered ripening dates helps average labor requirements but early and late peaches may not do as well as midseason varieties. We removed our early and late peaches. Early peaches were prone to frost loss and split pit and the late peaches were prone to insect and disease problems. Flame Prince is our last peach which can be too late.
We also noticed a loss of interest in peaches around mid August which is back to school time here. Seemed like it took a lot more work to produce less revenue so we quit.
Do you have an area where you can sort, grade and pack the peaches?
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Late season peaches I have become leary about…seems to be they end up suffering from competition with apples…the latest season peaches I have are Victoria and September Snow, I’m suspecting I may have quality issues with September Snow to begin with, but at this point I’m not ready to hang the thief until he’s caught and convicted. In total my square footage dedicated to Victoria and September Snow is dwarfed by the square footage I have dedicated to everything else… especially Redhaven…dammit if that isn’t the industry standard for a reason… it’s been holding up up reasonably well, despite the deer damage I faced in the past and the stubbornly low pH…and Redhaven has the quintessential ‘peach’ flavor
As for early season peaches…I’ve worked on other orchards (in PA) and closely monitor (I like visiting other orchards in my free time) even Rich May crops decent fruit reliably here even though some years (like last year) the crop is light
I have a spot where I can do that…what I need is an area that’s food grade safe that I can store the fruit…I’ve given thought as to how to overcome that challenge before
What a great thread.
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Those are some serious challenges, in addition to the distance from the orchard. I can see why you haven’t sprayed for weeds, especially if you are still getting some growth on the peach trees… I can also see why you have used barrier methods and physical methods for weed control. I’d probably do the same in your shoes.
I concur with that. Like Rick, we grow other crops. Some are more labor intensive than others. Tomatoes are pretty labor intense. They have to be mulched and weeded. Tart cherries are super easy. Pumpkins take a little work to prepare the ground, and plant. Then most of the work is just keeping them sprayed. I find them fun to grow and fun to sell (Upick). People have the best time coming out and cutting their own pumpkins. They fill up their cars with them. Blackberries aren’t too much work. We have to weed them some, but not too much. Prune and spray them a little bit, but not bad.
Peaches are probably the most labor intensive. The pruning, thinning and picking takes a long time. Upick peaches obviously help alleviate some of the labor. I’d say Rick is pretty much spot on. 150 mature producing peach trees would be about the most anyone could handle by oneself. And those would be very long days at times. Picking all morning and selling in the afternoon. Spraying/mowing in the evenings. Along with all the ancillary stuff of working on equipment. Counting the daily receipts, making deposits, managing social media, answering texts from customers, etc. etc. Very long days.
I also agree that water will eventually be a requirement at the new orchard.
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I just got to my orchard for the weekend. Despite only getting 2 inches of rain since the beginning of May(most of which happened in the last week) I’m registering at least 2 feet of growth on some of the trees…a couple Rich Mays and to my surprise a handful of Redhavens are putting on excess of 2 feet of growth…
Basically all of my established trees are putting on solid growth…and they’re not done yet.
You know what this means?
Lime works.
I had a row that was planted in Loring…it didn’t take too long for the Lorings to die…I’m suspecting Lorings doesn’t like acid soil even more than some of the other varieties I’ve grown.
This also means I’m pruning some of the growth this weekend.
The birds say Happy 4th!
Have a good one everyone!
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you look dead serious about the trees, I love it.
how much lime did they like? they’re gorgeous
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i just kinda look serious…I guess that’s why i’m 38 and periodically someone confuses me with being 50
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I’ve been using roughly 30 ounces a tree…over 750 trees it works out to 1,500 lbs…and yes I have 925 trees…there’s a handful that are in what I call ‘sweet spots’ that seem to put on a ton of growth without lime…go figure
Thank you! for telling me they look gorgeous! for someone who spends as much time trying to grow fruit as I do, I get concerned sometimes when all the effort doesn’t result in a corresponding amount of fruit.
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I figure I’ll never get as much as I want as soon as I want and try to be happy when the trees look good. and yours look very happy
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You’re too kind!
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I’ve hacking the living daylights…that is, er summer pruning, my Rich May trees…darn things want to grow straight up and down … Penn State’s been trialing Krymsk 98 and controller 6, 7 and 8 in several locations…I want to say controller 6 has been showing the most amount of branching?
The scion Dr. Schupp has been using had been Flamin’ Fury Lucky 13…Rich May is very much it’s own beast…and I mean that with the upmost and dearest and most undying respect to Floyd Zaiger possible…
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We have about 280 peach trees…right in that sweet spot of not being able to do it ourselves…even though we do. No wonder we are exhausted! As much as not having fruit this season is a big financial hit…in some ways it has been a huge relief. The vegetative growth this season without fruit and a lot of rain has been tremendous. Pruning for next season should be fun…
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It’s the love of the game!
There’s a reason I haven’t quit my day job!
Best of luck!
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I’m wrapping up the long weekend at my orchard…
Somehow I always get more visits from wildlife, I just wish turtles didn’t like roads so much…
And I wish the people before me (and technically my friend, since he owns the property) would’ve taken better care of the existing trees…
The hickory tree fell over because it was rotten all through the middle, it had a huge cavity
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