Starting an Orchard

We decided to plant an orchard of 10 fruit trees in the garden pasture. The 3 standard size apple varieties are Golden Delicious, Gala, and Granny Smith. The 2 sour cherry varieties are Montmorency (standard) and North Star (dwarf). We picked 1 semi-dwarf plum variety called Stanley, and 2 standard size pear varieties called Seckel and Ambrosia. Last but no least are 2 standard size peaches: Red Haven and Reliance. I spaced them all 20 feet apart.

I bought them bare root online for about 20 bucks each. The granny smith was broke so they shipped me another one - I planted both so we are up to 11 new fruit trees that are currently 3 feet tall and will take 3-5 years to start producing. We chose these varieties because research shows they are the best for this region. I guess I will be wrestling some deer this year!

Starting a Garden

First I bought a Rear-Tine Rototiller in October, marked off a 71' x 32' area (2,272 sq ft) in what was previously a horse pasture, and started tilling the ground. I tilled again in March and one final time in April right before planting.



The last picture shows the the first 4 rows staked off (2 rows of radishes 2 rows of carrots). I hope they grow!

Tomato Plants

Tomatoes at 2 months old...

Potting Seedlings

After the seedlings start showing their leaves its time to re-pot them. I did this in mid-March which was 1 month after planting the seeds.

Seed Starting

First I bought these handy seed starting trays and some seeds from Henry Fields. I planted them on St. Valentines Day. We had fun watching them germinate in the kitchen....

Planted: a 72 cell flat of Roma, Delicious, and Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes, a 72 cell flat of 4 kinds of peppers, a 72 cell flat of 4 kinds of onions.

My own blog!

Since the Mrs. took over my blog at House of Brungardt - I have been forced to start my own. This is a fu fu free blog.