We were back at the orchard last Wednesday morning, January 25th, and it was time to finish what we had started two weeks prior; pruning our Crimson Pear trees, and seeing if we could tackle the section of Cherry trees. Having had some great instruction from Kent Mullinix on the 11th of January, many of us were feeling a bit more confident with our pruning skills. Pruning can be a bit of daunting task, as a mistake can have dire consequences that could take several years to recuperate.
Being students, we are new to this, but very eager to learn! Like Kent said two weeks ago, that’s what these trees are here for, for us to learn and hone in our skill sets, and hopefully get a good crop in the process.
.....And a Piper in a Pear Tree |
The Seven Shear Itch:
So, we started with the Crimson Pears as we had two weeks
prior, using the Steep Leader system, tries to encourage a Goblet formation of three leader branches. Taking
away any branches that were coming into the centre of the Goblet, and anything
going straight up into the sky. Assessing if any branches were shading out
other branches, and trying to find that balance of vegetative and reproductive
growth. As mentioned in Eric’s post of our first orchard adventure, these trees
are about 7 years old, and bit behind schedule in their production, and we are
hoping to get our first real pear crop this year.
Gummosis infection |
Infection Day:
The cherry trees are a different story entirely. There is one row of trees by the ditch that
have very clearly been maintained last year.
The other trees, however, were a hot tangled mess. This is when Rebecca
explained that we have been having some trouble with a severe case of Gumosis,
a bacterial infection, and she was not optimistic when talking about the future
of these trees. We all began to prune the trees that seemed like they could survive another year. With further
inspection, we ceased pruning as there were signs of gummosis on these trees as
well. Rebecca believes they will need to be removed. A part of me wanted to continue pruning the
trees just for more practice. It would be nice not having to worry too much about making a
mistake, as these trees have now been condemned. But class is only three hours long and there were many other tasks that needed to be completed on our second day at the orchard.
Pruned in 2016 Left to their own devices |
Started from the bottom now we’re here:
Our next big challenge of the day was to tackle the currant
bush, which resides very awkwardly behind a sign. Rebecca had mentioned that she has been
wanting to tackle this bush for several years now. I imagine, that as our
program is still pretty small, and this is the biggest Agro-ecosystems class so far, that
there hasn’t been enough man power to get everything finished in previous
years. Getting my first glance at this
currant bush, I wasn't surprised why Rebecca was so determined to prune it
this year! Plus, the added bonus of being able to teach a different pruning
style. Currant bushes have new growth coming from the crown, and we want to
encourage an upright structure, and not horizontal growth. New growth comes from the crown, and by making cuts from the bottom, we are able to encourage new growth from the crown. The
diameter of the branches coming from the crown, and the “gnarly” bark will help
you determine the age of the wood. We wanted to keep some branches that were in
the ideal fruit producing years of about 3-5 years. Getting rid of anything
older, to keep the bush from getting too overcrowded. There was a lot taken off the bush this year, in the next few years there will less to prune.
Before After |
Aimee goes the hole nine yards |
Burning the Midnight Soil: Next on the itinerary were some soil evaluations at a few
different areas of the orchard. With help from Torin, our farm manager who was
the muscle who dug all the holes, and Aimee, our Soil Scientist.
REDOX reactions |
Our second hole was in the cherry tree orchard. The hole was
80cm deep, also with a 32cm water table, and was found to have a pH of 6.1
throughout the horizons. The A horizon ended at 14 -20cm, and was a silt clay
loam. The B-horizon was a clay loam, and the Bf horizon was found to be sandy
clay, you could even hear the sand grains grind against the shovel. This variety of soil textures at the different horizons is probably due
to the fact that there is no tilling in an orchard; therefore, there soil isn’t
artificially mixed up.
Testing the pH |
Our last hole was in the F-block section. We are not sure
how deep the hole was, because the water table was found to be 24 cm, and the
hole filled with water. The texture of
this soil was clay or silt clay, which has a huge water holding capacity. We are planning to plant some potatoes in this
block this year, and hopefully we can add some organic matter to this soil to increase drainage, and the overall health of the soil.
AB3 Block Cherry Pit F Block |