You can not do that! It will not work! I know those thoughts where running through your mind once again. You see, we are all programed with how to grow fruit trees based on the commercial orchard where you seek maximum size for maximum yield. However, that is not the case for a backyard orchard. Instead we are seeking prolonged harvest of tree-ripe fruit from a small space in the backyard. This is done by planting an assortment of fruit trees close together and keeping them small by summer pruning.
I know those where my same thoughts when I first learned about the backyard orchard since it went against everything I had learned about fruit trees, but we are giving it a try in our urban farm. Granted I haven’t had much success with fruit trees in the past, then again based on our studies over the past year, I was doing it all wrong.
Phase one of our urban farm was the design and implementing of an expanded area to grow crops. This included a greenhouse for the ability to start plants from seeds and to have plants grow during the winter. Simultaneously, the design and preparing the area for phase two was occurring. What is phase two? It is the start of an orchard and vineyard. This may take us a couple of years to complete.
Bare Root Tree
One week ago today was the official kick off of phase two. Our order of bare root fruit trees and grape plants arrived. So I took the afternoon off to pick them up and plant them.
Planting Fruit Trees
Our focus this year was the west orchard. We planted four apple trees ( 2 Anna and 2 Dorset Golden) and then four peach trees (2 May Pride and 2 Desert Gold). All our fruit trees need less than 200 chill hours, so they should produce fruit every year once they are mature.
Olla Awaiting A Grape Plant
Once the trees where planted, we raced the clock to try and plant eighteen grape plants. We finished after dark. We planted a row of Thompson grapes (6 plants), Flame grapes (6 plants) and Crimson grapes (6 plants). A few days later we finished up the vineyard by stringing up a high tension wire for the bottom row of grapes. The next step to finish the west orchard is to plant a lemon tree which should occur next month.
Sunday night brought an end to our nightmare project, building a 10 x 10 foot greenhouse out of EMT conduit. It helps if you design it properly the first time and order the right parts. Our first design was for a flat roof like on a shade tent, so I ordered the parts. In the meantime my brain kept analyzing the design and realized I would have a problem on the rare occasion when it would rain. So we redesigned the greenhouse with a low sloped roof and ordered the parts needed to make the change. When those parts arrived we laid out the parts to make sure we had everything we needed. Then we discovered I had ordered the wrong parts, so in went a new order. At last they arrived and we started the assembly process only to discover that once again I had ordered wrong parts. However, this time we had enough parts to adjust the design around the one piece we didn’t have. Pipes where cut to the right length and the roof was assembled. Then we discovered the ground was very sandy and we needed some different foundation support. Thus the portable base was designed. Ten bags of cement mixed and the forms poured and made. A week later we finally found time to set up the frame.
We tried to set the assembled roof onto the nine support polls. Big mistake!! Fortunately none of us ended up in the ER. We disassemble the roof and re-assembling the greenhouse from the floor up. In the process we discovered some of the roof poles had been cut to the wrong length. Other than having to cut extra pipes to the correct size, the process of putting it together wasn’t as difficult as anticipated. Our next dilemma was that evening was rapidly approaching. We pushed on and put up the greenhouse film which was attached to the frame with clips. The project was completed well after dark but just in time to start another week of work to pay for the greenhouse.
The portable base for our greenhouse – each weighs over 60 lbsThe frame of the green housePutting greenhouse film on frameClamps used to hold the greenhouse film to the frameThe finished product
Um, did you see that picture of the watering system for the vineyard? I think the sun has started to effect his thinking, I thought he put in pipes for a drip system. Yes, I know all that was running through your mind.
In addition to the drip system, we are incorporating one of the oldest watering systems know to man after the flood other than rain: the olla. Ollas (pronounced “oy-yahs”) are unglazed clay pots fired at a low temperature which are in the shape of a bottle or a tapered shape (also known as a urn). They are buried in the ground with their necks exposed and filled periodically with water. The water seeps through the porous clay, directly irrigating roots and not the surrounding area and weeds. This method of watering is very effective and efficient. It has been used historically in areas near desert regions.
Why use them with grapes? Well, after studying watering system designs for vineyards and the watering requirements for grapes, I became frustrated and figured I would destroy my grapes by either over watering or under watering. Well I discovered the Romans used them to water their grapes, so if it was good enough for them, I figured it was good enough for me. Plus they are easy and simple to install and maintain.
We first learned about ollas last year from the “Little Homestead in the City” (http://urbanhomestead.org ) and then purchased some while in Albuquerque. We then experimented by using them with various plants outside of our normal garden area. We fell in love with this ancient method of watering. Projections are that by using them our water bill for the garden could drop up to 50%. However, the cost of purchasing ollas is high. Financially we are prohibited from using them exclusively. The ollas are being selectively used and the hope is to eventually replace the drip system with them. We are currently using ollas made by Growing Awareness Urban Farm, a micro-enterprise of East Central Ministries in Albuquerque, NM (http://www.growingawarenessurbanfarm.com/ ) and Dripping Springs Ollas out of Texas ( http://drippingspringsollas.com/ ).
AZ Caretaker 