All in the Timing: The Orchard is Planted!

Years ago I saw an off-Broadway play called All in the Timing, which was a series of brilliant short plays that spoke about how onstage and in life, timing is often everything.  Timing can make or break anything from a stunning comedic moment to an orchard.

So speaking of brilliant, about three weeks ago Byron and I decided to order 23 fruit trees for the orchard we were planning to plant in an otherwise useless piece of our property.  Byron had already planted three Granny Smith apple trees we'd bought locally, but I needed to order the others online to ensure that I got varieties that were hardy and appropriate for our area (we're zone 7).  So we decided, three weeks before we were scheduled to close on Other House, to place the order.  Like I said, brilliant timing.

When they arrived two weeks ago from Stark Brothers, I called in a panic, realizing that the bare root stock trees were not going to be planted anytime soon.  We had to pack and move the rest of our belongings from Other House.  We had to dodge April showers.  And we had to eat and sleep (maybe).  The lady at Stark Brothers assured me that the trees could be kept in a cool space, with the roots wrapped in damp newspaper for up to two weeks, in the original plastic packaging.  A relief, but I knew two weeks would be pushing it.

Enter My Hero (Byron) stage right.  He spent every spare moment for the past two weeks planting our little orchard, and since he's meticulous in all he does, it involved more than just digging a hole and plopping the tree inside.  He made sure the better soil and composted manure were mixed in near the roots, spread the roots, checked and re-checked to make sure the trees were straight, mulched, watered, and hauled away extra dirt and rocks.  And oh yeah, he metal detected for that CSA belt buckle we know is waiting to be found!  I'm guessing it took him anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to plant each tree.  You can do the math...this was not for the faint of heart!

Tree # ????

Leaf mulch from last fall.

One side of the orchard.  See all the little sticks?  Those are the trees.  They look sad now but should bear fruit in 3-5 years.

Other side of the orchard.

My hero and the last tree!

Click here for more info on the varieties of apples, peaches, nectarines, and cherries we planted.  And I can't wait to be able to update you on how they fare in the years to come!

In other news, we closed on Other House yesterday!!!