Trees Planted as of November 2022
Our actual plantings don't all follow the original map that Karen drew exactly, but you can get the idea.
North is at the bottom of the map and the White River is to the left (East).
The northernmost peach died, but we will plant another one.
Work Party
November 12, 2022 from 10-12
The weather was very cooperative, lovely and warm. We put tree protectors (18" high hardware cloth) around the trunks of the five pears and two surviving peaches to keep mice from girdling the young trees. Then we put wire fences around each of those trees too, to keep the deer out. We emptied the water tank and tidied up our section of the barn a bit.
The fences around the fruit trees are all tied closed with recycled electrical cord (thank you Jon and Judy!), so it will be easier to open them up when we need to get in.
The diameter of the pear fences isn't as big as we'd planned, but we can always enlarge them later if need be.
Purchases (from RH budget):
Matt bought:
Two 50' x 5' rolls of welded wire fencing
Three 5' x 3' rolls of 1/2" hardware cloth
Donations:
Jon and Judy Bouton: a very useful assortment of used wire, and a bunch of painted wooden stakes that we can use to identify trees, bushes, etc.
Kye Cochran: seven 10' lengths of recycled fence, fiberglass poles to anchor the fences, twist-ties
Dylan Kreiss: PUMPKIN ROLL!!!!
Seeding
September 21, 2022
Raked the sods, spread some ProGro and seeded oats quite thickly on what we'd dug on the 16th.
Scattered some plantain seeds.
Scattered oats on the bare patches in the Abenaki garden.
Work Party and Potluck
September 16, 2022 from 4-7 PM
We had a sweet work party in the late summer sun with hints of fall. We cleaned up the guilds around the plum trees and started extending the guilds to form islands that include the hazelnuts and will eventually include other fruit-bearing shrubs and perennials.
We planted the replacement pear tree and put garlic sticks on all the pear trees with the hopeful idea that any deer browsing through will keep going and find plenty of other things to browse on.
We'll plant oats very soon on what we dug up as a cover crop and to begin building up the soil in preparation for spring planting. We welcomed four new people as well as many regulars. Many hands really do make light work!
Thanks to Karen's gift for planning community events and several people contributing food and beverages, we ended with a perfectly balanced and delicious potluck.
More photos in the album.
Update from Cat
Thursday, July 7, 2022
I went back on Thursday because I forgot my hoodie on Wednesday evening.
While I was there, I surveyed trees, looked for sprouts in the field and noticed some new field species (adding pics to the drive), rue, purslane, spurge, St John's wort. At the woods edge wild Elderberry are flowering! Smells amazing.
Some notes to share from my visit:
Dead
1 Bartlett pear
1 Early Redhaven peach
Butternut, Far left in cage - ??? Cat has a replacement
Kye replaced one butternut tree 7/6
Not well
2 Bailey Hardy peach
Next To Do
Rye patch
Pear guilds
Peach guilds
Weed circles
Make mulch and compost
Cage and tube small trees
Post a map, sign and contact info
Sow plantain
Phase 2 Spring Tree Planting
Saturday, April 30, 2022
We planted 3 Bartlett and 2 Clapp's pear trees, 2 Bailey Hardy and 1 Early Redhaven peach trees,
3 hawthorn trees, 8 Jefferson hazelnuts, and 9 Mossbarger & Gideon chestnuts.
