Rick and Ellen's Ranch Orchard

Started by rick91351, October 22, 2011, 11:26:56 AM

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rick91351

This week end we went up to start winterizing the orchard.



We rototill around each tree, rake the soil back.  Then fasten tree guards around each tree so the burrowing under the snow critters like voles, moles and mice will not strip and eat sweet bark of the fruit trees.  I use tie wire but you do this on 80 some trees your fingers and hands are stating to get a little marked up and sore.  Come spring we remove them as we have had some galling.  The metal tree guard work very well for us.    



Ellen she comes along and fertilizes the trees with a local brewed liquid that is concentrated.  We mix it one cup to one gallon and one gallon per inch at four foot.  We do this twice a year.  It does seem to work.  We get very little wild growth from the shoots in the spring rather the limbs seem to be bulking very well and growth is very lush.  Then she waters it in.



Finished tree.  We will come back in a month and tie limbs to prevent damage from snow and winter winds.




This year our Snow Sweets were in the ground three years!  So we left a few blossoms, next year we will leave a few more.



Honey Crisps and Galas next year will have a few apples.  As will the nectarines and peaches.        

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

Redoverfarm

Rick we have more trouble with deer browsing when the snow is on and horning the trees when the bucks rub their velvet off.  Good Luck on the trees this winter.


rick91351

Quote from: Redoverfarm on October 22, 2011, 03:49:29 PM
Rick we have more trouble with deer browsing when the snow is on and horning the trees when the bucks rub their velvet off.  Good Luck on the trees this winter.

Thanks John we will take all the luck we can get with these fruit trees.  This is a heavy snow region and the deer migrate out as soon as it starts to fall.  We did have about thirty head of elk winter close in there two winters ago.  But they never encroached the fence.  Less pressure from the wolves that close to humans.  There is a full time home about a half mile away, above the orchard. 

Here they are all mule deer and they are hardly territoriality.  They range over a huge area.  We however do have the Idaho Fish and Game required 8 foot netting or field fence all the way around.  We have never had a deer track in there yet.  We did have some heavy buck tracks up by the fifthwheel the other day.  ::) ::) And we were not there.

The trees really get a work out when those bucks start rubbing there velvet off don't they!     
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

Yesterday we had to arrange for hospice care for my dad.  He had had fallen recently and broken his sternum and his weight was trailing off.  So goes 96 year old.  After the paper work was done.  We got away to the ranch in the afternoon with a lot to get done.   

When we got up there we found a real cold snap had hit us hard.  The drip irrigation system controller and manifold had froze and the manifold had broken.  Something on the pressure tank housed in our garden shed  broke and  the floor inside the shed was all wet.  I could not find where that was coming from.  We drained and rolled up hoses.   

I could not get the union from the big tank to the jet pump broke apart.  So I had to go borrow a size huge pair of channel locks.  Neighbor told me that it had been two nights of 15 or 16 degree weather.   



Shed and tank are level!  I am leaning or the camera was challenged.  This is where the tank and jet pump for the orchard is at.  I got that all unhooked and the jet pump off its mount and loaded on the pick up to come out.  The 2 inch line there had a large chunk of ice.  We loaded up a load of fire wood to bring out.  Ellen went to the fifth-wheel to fix something for us to eat.  It had not froze thank God!  After I ate I went to winterize that and found out the new water heater drain plug is 1 1/8 and the socket set I had with me did not go that big.  So off to the neighbors again.  It was dark when I got the pressure tank drained and the well pump shut off.     

It was dark thirty by the time I got his socket back to the neighbor and we still had to drive out.  Home by 22:30 may be 23:00  YAHH!  Wow I will be glad to retire and move up there and kill this drive time thing.

Neighbor was not in a good mood.  His truck with the self log loader, the steering assist on his old Peterbuilt had went out on him $600 +.  He had broken the front rear end on his transport truck an old Kenworth and they we scouring the country to find one that matched up.  So he was like a caged lion that is sort of hamstrung.                   
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

NM_Shooter

Nice looking orchard!

Rick, I am sorry about your dad.  But it is nice to hear that he's hit 96!  Hoping we all get the best part of a century.  Love 'em while you got 'em.   

Cold at my ranch too.  I am buttoned up for the winter, but I am hoping to make it up one more time. 
"Officium Vacuus Auctorita"


Gary O

 Man I got a lot of respect for farmers and ranchers. Amongst a myriad of obvious talents and tenacity you need to have, you better be a pretty good mechanic, plumber, electrician, and carpenter.
Hats off to ya Rick, Frank, and all you red blooded Americans that are dependent on Mother Earth and resistant to all her decorative elements for success....and some work elsewhere just to keep it goin'.....
I'm headin' to the fridge and stove right now as a salute.
........just doin' my part........

BTW, your dad sounds AWESOME!
I'm enjoying all that I own, the moment.

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." Emerson

rick91351

Quote from: Gary O on October 29, 2011, 09:59:38 AM
Man I got a lot of respect for farmers and ranchers. Amongst a myriad of obvious talents and tenacity you need to have, you better be a pretty good mechanic, plumber, electrician, and carpenter.
Hats off to ya Rick, Frank, and all you red blooded Americans that are dependent on Mother Earth and resistant to all her decorative elements for success....and some work elsewhere just to keep it goin'.....
I'm headin' to the fridge and stove right now as a salute.
........just doin' my part........

BTW, your dad sounds AWESOME!


Thanks; mom and dad after I became an 'adult' we truly had a dream relationship.  With dad we were more than father and son we were best friends and confidants .   I hope he thought / thinks as highly of me as I do of him.  We farmed and ranched together for a number of years then I went to work with his blessing on the railroad.  He also was a trucker around saw and planer mills some times I worked for him and sometimes for the planer mill growing up.  So we were sort of jacks of all trades and masters of none. 

So I took the easy way out making a living out side my roots.  But in so many ways today I see it is true.  You can the boy out of the country, but you can take the country out of the boy.  My wife and I both so want to return to that way of life while we still have good quality of life.  We so enjoy it and life, and what ever is God's plan for us.         
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

We received trees and grapes today from a new to us nursery.  Ol' Jarhead pointed them out to me.  Holy cow I think they are a real treasure for anyone that is looking for cold zone trees.  They do not sell anything but that.  They are a small nursery in New York State.  You want or need to get your order in very soon right after the first of the year because they sell out very quickly.  It is sort of old time ordering as well.  They do not do web orders or telephone orders from what I understand.  Your check has to accompany the order no CCs.  The orders ship starting right after April 1 and they ship via USPS not FexEx or UPS.  It is registered mail and insured someone has to sign.....

Having bought over 100 bare root trees in the last few years we are starting to get an idea of how trees should look and quality.  Theses were great.  Roots were well taken care of and I seen no sign of distressed and broken roots.  The trees above the bud union looked wonderful and the bark had good color and the wood seemed very alive and wanting to get up and grow.  I really like my old nursery but this I think this place has it beat.

They came with a very good booklet on planting and pruning for those of us that need all the help we can get.

With bare root trees it is scary how much they can ship.  The following two parcels have 25 trees and ten grapes. 

10 American Chestnuts
5  Super cold hardy apples
6  Bali Pie Cherries
1  Montmorency Pie Cherry to replace one we lost due to high wind and malfunction.
3  Adirondack Gold Apricots

5 King of the North Grapes
5  Somerset Seedless



Notice how well marked each tree is.  Well excluding the 10 American Chestnuts.  The one with the black root protector.  They were all tied very meticulous to a hard wood sticker for protection. 



The ground is still frozen up there so I had to heel them in.  I used their instructions rather as I have done in the past.  I learned to heel them in standing up.  They instructed them laying down roots in a shallow depression or hole.   I figure it is their product.  They know how they want them handled.   



I laid a layer of loose soil over the roots and watered in very well then did a wood shaving and soil mix on top of that and watered well.  The chestnuts close to the bottom were worked the same other than I had a half bag of shaving left and pour them out and water them in.



Hopefully next week the frozen frosty ground will be more workable.  Then the work begins....... 

Anyone looking for cold weather fruit trees, nuts and shrubs, and edible landscape and wants to give this outfit a try PM me.  I will give you the web address or any other info I might have.

My hat is off to Ol Jarhead....  Thanks Erik! 



           


 
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

We had some bad winter damage on one tree.  One tree I neglected to put a trunk guard around.  I still do not understand how it got left off.    As luck would have it, it was one of my prized trees.  A Crimson Gala I had planted for Ellen because she loves Gala Apples.   :(  Some rodent like a snowshoe rabbit or maybe a porcupine girdled the tree.  It was dead as it stands....... 





Another Crimson Gala a sister had some bough damage



You can if the bark is pliable and the distance is not too far work a couple carefully veed scions under the bark of the butt and the upper trunk and make a bridge graft.  Secure the bridge scions with a couple brads.  In this case the bark was not really pliable to get it loosened up.  Plus this was almost twelve inches of trunk we were having to bridge.

So the other alternative was to make a cleft graft.  This is done just to save the root system and maybe graft another verity to the stump.  Or maybe a something happened to the tree and you do not want to replace it without at least giving it a chance.  After all I would be out a couple years no matter what. 

So cut the tree off hopefully leaving about a foot of stump.  I could not do that; in this case more like eight inches.



Next you need to make a cleft cut.  They make special tools for this.  However anything will work from a machete to a meat cleaver.  As a nurseryman told me one time you do not have to have a degree to operate on a tree.  You mainly just need to be willing to try and fail.

Here I use a machete and a rubber mallet. 



You need to cleave the stump where it splits down about six inches.



Next trim two scions.  In this case I used the damaged tree.  There were a lot of good subjects to pick from.  Choose a small branch with lots of buds.  Trim the bottom end into a long narrow vee.  With more material on one side than the other.  Also I have read blunt the end and don't blunt the end of the vee.  The scion should be about eight inches max.  And have at least three good healthy buds. 

Next open the cleft with a screw driver or chisel.  Place the scion into the cambium layer of the stump the area just inside the bark.



Tape well.  You do not have to use grafting tape.  Vinyl plastic electrical tape will work well.



I have read where you can just cover the wound with dirt.  I cheated and used a grafting material made in Wenatchee,  Wa.



That basically is a cleft graft.......
         

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.


Redoverfarm

Rick too bad on the trees.  But even with the wrap the one tree it wouldn't have made any difference being that high.  I pretty well went low tech on my wrap.  Used rabbit wire formed and connected together with about 1-2" clearence between the tree.

When my dad grafted trees he would always use wax to cover the incisions.  He normally just bought some cheap toilet wax seals and pulled apart what he needed to cover and prevent insect and water penetration.  Seemed that when the tree got older (several years) and it would fail because of heavy fruit or wind that the grafted portion was the weakest to give way and split.  He would always find the older variety trees were the best to his liking.

If you have time would you PM the company name or site.

Thanks for sharing


peternap

Looks like you're taking care of the inevitable damage Rick. It will always happen but can always be corrected somehow.
You have a beautiful place!

I'm still playing with the idea of a small orchard but I just don't think I have enough time for it to start producing.

Mother Nature is cooperating somewhat this spring. I got my Buckwheat in and it actually rained AFTER I put it in.
These here is God's finest scupturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here!

OlJarhead

Great post! Thanks :)

We were late getting our order off and there were 1600 ahead of us!!!  But I wanted mine to come late anyway ;)

Thanks for the post on grafting!  I wanted to know how that was done.

Erik

considerations

#12
I had a teenager help me weed eat when the apple trees were really young. He practically girdled one of them, the bark is so thin on the saplings.  I thought I would lose that tree.  I was out here on a shoe string and no extra $'s for any of the "right stuff" to try to repair or protect that wound.  Instead I soaked a rag in honey and wrapped the trunk where it was damaged, just used an ace bandage to hold it on.  Took it off the following spring and the tree was healed and 4 years later making apples.  Dumb luck.

Forgot to mention that honey has antibacterial properties..that is what made me think of it in the first place.

Sassy

I'll have to remember that one, considerations!
http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free


rick91351

There are several ways you can save a tree by grafting a scion between the root and the area above the girdling.  However the poor tree I showed there the girdling was over a foot and the bark would not allow me to loosen it up.  If the area is not completely girdled I have read moist peat wrapped in a gunny sack also works.  Keep the peat moist by pouring water on it or wet down with a hose once a day or so.

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

Great to be back and working in the orchard.  We have planted more trees it is now officially full it can not handle any more!

Early apples all bloomed



Our bees seemed to do a good job pollinating this year.  However it was a very early bloom due to a very hard but hardly any snow year.  So the early blooming trees all bust forth in beauty much to early.  Mothers day here was more like around Fathers Day.  Mothers day here it should be muddy and sloppy.   



But sorry to have to report the bloom was a bust due to a last freeze and I mean freeze down to 22 in places around here.  26 or 28 here.  Sad lost those early apples and the pears. 

 

I did find a weird spider in the apples.  It had a bee in its clutches most all day.



Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

OlJarhead

How old are the apples that bloomed?

rick91351

Quote from: OlJarhead on May 29, 2013, 08:25:01 AM
How old are the apples that bloomed?

They have been in I think about six years now.  They are all on EMLA7 root stock and do very well in our heavy clay soil where the orchard is located.  EMLA7 claim to root sucker but we have not seem a lot and most of our 80 some apples are grounded on EMLA7.     They we 5/8 to 3/4 inch when I purchased them from Adams County Nursery.  They are a great place to mail order from as far as I am concerned.  Two years ago we let a few tree have apples but we abort most of them.  I am trying to establish a lot of root growth, we avoid over watering that causes the roots to grow deep and anchor.  Aborting the fruit does help some but gives more energy to tree growth.  We are really getting some nice growth now on them.  Those from St Lawrence seem to love it up here as well.  I talked to Bill the owner operator the other day and told him we sure like his trees and what he is trying to do for those who live in places that are very cold climate challenged.   He sure seemed to appreciated the good word.     
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

This is the year for the Idaho 17 Year Cicada.  I am not taking any bets as to the mortality rate of the young trees in the orchard.  Between them the Cicadas and the 100 degree days which we do not get very many of them up here normally and July has been an convection oven.  Coupled with wells and springs up here going dry at an alarming rate. 





They don't look like they cause any harm right?









This coupled with the spring we use to water the orchard, the raspberries and the blue berries is dwindling as never before.  We are water rationing five gallons for the smaller trees per week and ten for the larger ones.  I really would like to do five days instead of seven as hot as it is.  Hopefully the roots on those that have been growing there for four to six years will have roots deep enough to help them through this.  Literally measuring out  five gallon buckets.



I have written many time about the importance of knowing what you are buying root stock wise.  Our first major purchase was bought 25 Snow Sweets in a Semi Dwarf and 25 Honeycrisp also in a Semi Dwarf.  Turned out the 25 Honeycrisps were on dwarf root stock.  Our mortality rate up here with our winters we lost over half the first winter.  Most of the rest after the second winter.  After the end of I think six years this is the only one left.  It never has offered to bud or bloom.  If I was a real orchard guy I would pull it and throw it in the burn pile but anything that tries this hard to live.........



This tree is the same age.....



This has been a real expensive learning exercise.  Planting and the losses and the learning but refusing to quit.  The most trying has been our blue berries in this clay soil and learning how to amend it.  But we are starting to see some results!!!  We have been through six years of plantings and failures and reordering and reading and rereading.     

           
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

OlJarhead

How are your Russian root balls doing?  So far mine are loving it!  They are growing gang busters but admittedly I have better water by the sounds of it.

I was able to turn my drip irrigation down to once a week for 90 minutes (about 4 1/2 gallons) because of rain but today I'll change that to 72 hours to give them 6+ gallons a week for the dry part of the summer.  Though that will only give me 3 weeks before they run out of water in the cistern (I need to get my float valve installed!) and then I have to run back out and pump it full again.


rick91351

Quote from: OlJarhead on July 12, 2013, 08:01:52 AM
How are your Russian root balls doing?  So far mine are loving it!  They are growing gang busters but admittedly I have better water by the sounds of it.

I was able to turn my drip irrigation down to once a week for 90 minutes (about 4 1/2 gallons) because of rain but today I'll change that to 72 hours to give them 6+ gallons a week for the dry part of the summer.  Though that will only give me 3 weeks before they run out of water in the cistern (I need to get my float valve installed!) and then I have to run back out and pump it full again.

I am finding that the Russian root stock is great for up here.  Unfortunately the Cicadas think they are great as well.  I am sure we will suffer through.  I told Bill there at Saint Lawrence Nursery I liked his trees a lot and what he is doing for people living off like we are.  I think he gets a lot of complaints about the size of his trees he sells.  But that said go to Walmart or HD and their 'knowledgeable staff' and try and get a super cold hardy apple of pear.  About the only thing those people know is an apple is something their moms put in their lunch sack. 

The main thing about your situation watering do not be so much influenced by anyone.  Find out what is going to work for you up there.  When we were living down in the valley and were able to come up here once a week or when it got real hot twice a week just to water.  It was an hour and half drive to two hour drive.  We had a local agreement on our run because of a manning issue we had 24 hours between trips and no assigned days off on a rotational pool so it was the best for us.  Just so happened that it also was the way the orchard and nursery people were telling us to water.  Then there is the acre of orchard on a drip system.   $$$  Then kick in the blue berries and the raspberries.   $$$$$$     On a normal water year it could be done by the way this year all bets are off.  We will be lucky if it is not all black and sooty up here by the end of September.

Another reason I like the the one at a time watering as you stand there and wait for the hose to run about five gallons or so - you take time to look at the leaves and the trunk and see if there is any insect stuff going on.  Is there any weather stress going on?  At times I agree spending a couple hours on the end of a hose is crap.  Your mind says lets get it over with and other times it is very enjoyable.  Main thing is keep on planting and improving your space and the world one tree, one bush at a time.     
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

rick91351

The Cicadas seem to have lived their lives were are not seeing many now!  But the damage is done and I am sure there is a lot of it.

The blueberries after years and years of trying and soil amendments and soil testings and listening to people tell us;  "Well if there has been pine trees there the soil is great for blue berries!!!"   I wish to say do not plant until the soil is ready and you have proof.  Last year was the first year that we really seem some improvement.  We have hauled in sulfur for the last several years.  It finely paid off







Some of the blue berries are sending up new shoots  [cool]



The raspberries are also really bearing heavy for no more water than they are receiving. 

             
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.