Bob and Mary Donnan were looking for a retirement project. They wanted to do something with a parcel of land they purchased 2 years ago. After researching the soil and speaking with the area extension agent, they landed on putting in an orchard and working with a cidery in the area. A large part of choosing this pathway was the support provided by Casey Johnson, orchardist and GLC Vice President. Casey and Mitchell Britt, a hard cider producer, gave a presentation at an Ag Breakfast talking about the possibility of growing apples for cider and Casey explained the high density espaliered planting used at the prison. The Donnans decided to put in an acre of trees using the method and chose 4 different varieties to evaluate for the area: Goldrush, Triumph, Winecrisp and Winesap. These varieties are also suited for fresh eating. They have varying maturity dates but their bloom time still overlaps enough to ensure good cross pollination.
The advantages of the system are a faster return and ease of maintenance. The first picking should be in 4 years with full production in 7 to 8 years and the trees should be productive for about 35 years. The high density and dwarf trees allow for easier picking and maintenance and the orchard is spaced so that a single drive row services 2 rows. The high density means higher yields per acre. The downside is a large up-front investment. The cost for 1000 trees, support posts, wire and deer fencing was around $35,000. That doesn’t include the cost of labor.
The orchard is off to a great start. Loses this first year are only 10 out of 1,000 trees and most of those were human error- accidental mowing or other damage.
The trees were just starting to bloom in mid April. They won’t let them set fruit this year to encourage energy to go to tree establishment. Building bee boxes to encourage pollinators is on the to-do list before June. Honey bees are actually not the best pollinator for apples so they are encouraging a solitary native bee, the mason bee, that does a better job.
The Donnans will be a part of the Ag and Art Tour again this year and they are eager to share their experiment with the community. Cider used to be an industry here, maybe it can be again.
