The Future Forest Garden Orchard

From Suellyn:

An update the progress of our forest garden orchard is in order. We are coming to the end of the grant period that allowed us to add fruit and nut trees to our CSA gardens. In December, I will send the final report to Alliance for Community Trees and hopefully collect the second half of the grant money.

Left to do: Plant the apple and peach trees that are on order and are scheduled to be delivered in early November. They are bare root trees and will be dug at the nursery when they have gone dormant. If summer lasts much longer in Tennessee, they may not come till later.

In September Michael and Kate Waddell and I, with super help from Elder High School students, cleared the refuse from the area at the Outback where the Red Haven peach trees will go. I may schedule the digging party before they come in so we’re ready to go when the fruit trees arrive. We will be putting protective cones around them for the first year.

Last weekend we harvested perennial root plants (Jerusalem artichoke and burdock root) from the beds by the fence behind the greenhouse to make space for the apple trees. Five or six dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees of disease-resistant varieties will be planted there. Again, Michael Waddell and I had the assistance of five enthusiastic Elder students doing service work.

Already growing:> The elderberry trees and currant shrubs the team planted at the Outback last spring are thriving, though the hazelnut shrubs are struggling a bit in their plot near the greenhouse. Two of the three plum trees near the greenhouse entrance are doing well. One was a little scruffy looking upon arrival, but it is hanging in there.

Since Charles is moving on, we will need to get ourselves up to speed on care and pruning of these trees, and we may have lost a couple of our orchard team. If any other CSA members would like to join us in this endeavor, learning about and caring for these new trees please reply to suellyn7@yahoo.com. I will include you in further activities this fall and again in the spring.