Today in the orchard
The cold weather that’s been with us for the last few weeks has given way to somewhat warmer temperatures. Monday and Tuesday were zero F at dawn. Wednesday was 20F. Today, about the same. Skylar and I began the process of inventorying last season’s growth on all the fruit trees on the farm. With clipboard and pencil in hand, we made our way through most of our snowy Finley Lane orchard. Our primary mission was to look for available scionwood for distribution this winter.
We train our eyes to focus on this past season’s new growth. That is the growth out at the end of most branches. On some branches there’s lots. On others, almost none. We ask ourselves a series of unspoken questions as we move from tree to tree. How does last summer’s new growth look? Are there long shoots that are begging to be snipped off? Are they “redundant” or angling off in the “wrong” way? Is the new growth plump or skimpy in diameter? Should we offer this one in our list of scionwood for sale? Each tree gets a check or a dash—or a squiggle if it’s iffy—and we move on to the next.
A December excursion through the orchards is also an opportunity to get out into the orchards and be there with the trees. I don’t do that nearly as much in the off-season. Today was one of those perfect opportunities to see how the trees look. Without the foliage, the trees reveal their form—and health—in a way that’s so easy to miss in the summertime with all those leaves in the way! And, it’s just plain fun to be out there with the trees in the snow. If I listen carefully, I can hear them say, “Hey, welcome back!”