An Update on My Orchard
The orchard at my Bedford, New York farm is filled with gorgeous fresh fruits.
A couple of years ago, I planted an orchard around my pool - one with a variety of apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear and quince trees. Last year around this time, the young trees were already producing lots and lots of beautiful fruits. This year, our bounty has doubled - even tripled on several trees. Fresh fruit is one of nature's most delicious products - I am so thrilled with how these trees are doing. We've harvested many wonderful sweet and nutritious fruits to share with my family and friends.
Enjoy these photos.
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- My orchard surrounds three sides of my pool and a purple columnar beech tree hedge. This photo was taken last summer – the trees are doing well, but still quite small.
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- And this is a photo taken just yesterday – the trees are developing excellently. Look at how much they’ve grown. I am so pleased with how much fruit I see. A lot of the success is due to the nutrient-rich soil.
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- Look at these beautiful peaches. Some of the peach varieties in this orchard include ‘Garnet Beauty’, ‘Lars Anderson’, ‘Polly’, ‘Red Haven’, and ‘Reliance’.
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- When choosing to grow fruit stock, it is important to select those that are best for your area’s climate and soil.
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- Peach trees thrive in an area where they can soak up the sunshine throughout the day. Peach trees prefer deep sandy well-drained soil that ranges from loam to clay loam.
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- These trees are filled with peaches. Growing peach trees are self-fruitful, which means the pollen from the same flower or variety can pollinate the tree and produce fruit, so you only have to plant one. I have more than 15-peach trees in this orchard.
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- The exact time to pick peaches is determined by the cultivar, but generally, they are harvested from late June through August. Color is a great indicator of maturity. Peaches are ripe when the ground color of the fruit changes from green to completely yellow.
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- Some of the peach varieties have a red tinge to the skin. This peach will be ready in a few days.
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- I also planted many types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia. These trees include Hosui, Niitaka, Shinko, and Shinseiko.
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- Some of the other pears in the orchard are Bartlett, Columbia, D’Amalis, Ginnybrook, McLaughlin, Nova, Patten, Seckel, Stacyville, and Washington State.
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- This is a plum – almost soft enough to pick. My plum varieties include ‘Green Gage’, ‘Mount Royal’, ‘NY9’, and ‘Stanley’.
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- Some of the plums I am growing are hybrids, such as ‘Black Ice’, ‘Grenville’, ‘Kaga’, ‘Pipestone’, ‘Toka’, and ‘Waneta’.
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- This plum is Prunus ‘Waneta’. ‘Waneta’ produces well the first season after planting, and is one of the best market plums. Its fruit is large, sweet, juicy and of good quality.
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- These plums are not ready yet, but they grow and ripen more a little each day. The surest way to know the time is right for picking plum fruit is by its firmness and flavor. The plums will be soft to the touch and the taste will be sweet and juicy.
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- Many of the trees are staked for added support.
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- And of course, I have a section of delicious apples. I already grow hundreds of apple trees here at the farm – some that were here when I acquired the property and others I planted soon after moving here. These new apple trees include Baldwin, Black Oxford, Cortland, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Esopus Spitzenburg, Fuji, Golden Russet, Grimes Golden, Honeycrisp, Liberty, Redfield, Roxbury Russet, Windham Russet, and more.
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- Apple trees need well-drained soil – nothing too wet. The soil also needs to be moderately rich and retain moisture as well as air.
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- And the best exposure for apples is a north- or east-facing slope. We are going to have a very productive apple season this year.
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- Fruit trees need a good amount of room to mature. When planting, be sure to space them at least 15-feet apart. I am very fortunate to have such an expansive paddock space to grow all these trees. In another section, I have quince, apricots as well as sweet and sour cherries.
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- I am so pleased with this orchard – what fruits do you grow? And how do you like to eat your fruits – in pies, tarts, or just off the tree? Share your comments with me in the section below.
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