The Orchard

This year I decided to take advantage of the extra space in the orchard. The trees are still small (but oh SO much bigger than last year!) so they don't cause too much shade. It's fenced, so that makes it deer proof. NOT gopher proof, but that's a different story. I had The Lovey till down the center of the orchard. We won't be able farm this for too much longer, maybe one more season. The trees are young, so this did not affect the tree roots.

Then I planted winter squash and pumpkins down the center of the patch. To give you perspective, the center patch is 165 feet long. To the north of the mounds, I planted a line of shelling beans. All different varieties of shelling beans.

Mounds for winter squash and pumpkins amended with compost

The squash last year took over the field, so I thought they needed a place of their own. I won't need to get to the beans until harvest time - when the plants are brown and crunchy. So, I've made my own pumpkin patch. I'm not sure how well it will work, but I've got to give it a try, right?

And - here is a little peek into what's growing on our little 2 year old trees.

NectaPlum!

My very dark red apple

Quince. Look at this fuzzy little fruit to accompany the fuzzy leaves!