By Jade Greene
Tree fruits are in the headlines this year due to April’s freeze impacts so we sat down with a local apple orchard to get their thoughts and feelings.
BCFA: Hello! Thank you for meeting with us today!
Orchard: YOU ARE WELCOME! WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU AMONG US.
Solebury Orchard
BCFA: Let’s get started, what exactly is an orchard?
Orchard: WE ARE A COLLECTIVE OF TREES. OUR FARMER PLANTED US ALL IN THIS ARRANGEMENT TO GROW LOVELY FRUITS FOR YOU. WE ARE FUTURE-ORIENTED, YOU PLANT US AND MUST WAIT FOR FRUIT. OUR FARMER LOVES US AND TENDS TO US.
BCFA: Would you mind finding one tree representative to speak with us, it is loud to have you all speak together like that.
Orchard [just one tree]: OK. Is this better? This is weird.
Farmer pruning
Much better! How do your farmers tend to you?
Our farmer knows what is best for us. Without our farmer, we would grow wild and in many directions, just like our roots. They prune our branches and flowers to help us grow best. We love to be pruned. It is like getting a human hair cut and it tickles. Maybe we would love to grow wild and be called a crab apple. [pauses thoughtfully]
Our farmer gives us water, we need lots of water. They give us nutrients, we are always hungry. We will make fruit for you.
How long does it take to make fruit?
We are apple trees. We wait until we are at least five years old to make fruit. First, we must focus on our roots and trunk. We need time to become strong. Our fellow tree fruits also need years to bear fruit.
Growing an orchard requires thinking long-term. Our farmer knows we are worth the wait.
What pollinators support you?
Yellow jackets are excellent pollinators and predators
Where would we bee without pollinators? [laughs] I am a funny tree. We rely completely on pollinators so our blossoms can be fertilized and turn into fruit. Honey bees are a big one but there many more we need like on bumble bees, all those lovely native solitary bees, and even flies, beetles, and wasps. We love the spring-time when all the insects visit our blossoms.
And although they can seem a little intimidating and bothersome, wasps are important to us trees. They are both excellent pollinators of our blossoms and adept predators of our insect pests so essential! Before winter arrives, they get their last burst of energy from our fallen fruit, most die off over the winter but their queens live on to form a new colony next spring. All creatures matter.
What is your favorite season?
We do not think about time the way humans do. We live in each moment and experience every season fully. There is a time for rest, a time for pruning, a time for growth, and a time for harvest.
But if we had to choose, perhaps fall. So many people come to visit us. They smile, laugh, climb, and enjoy our fruit. It is nice to feel appreciated.
Why do you keep saying “us”?
All of us in the orchard were planted around the same time, though some trees are replaced as needed. We grow and are pruned together so all fit together above the soil. In the soil, we are all connected through a fungal network [BCFA note: you can read more about that here] so we can communicate and share resources. We all flower together and fruit together and rest in the winter together.
We are also grafted. We are two trees put together. We are all one.
Grafting, from Fine Gardening
You can’t just plant an apple seed and get the same kind of tree. Can you tell me more about grafting?
Yes, that is correct. One more reason we love our farmer. If you plant a seed from one of my fruits, it will be completely different from me. So farmers graft to get the kind of fruit they want. There are two parts to grafting, the scion and the rootstock:
- The rootstock is the part that is planted in the ground and determines our mature size, winter hardiness, and even resistance to disease and pests.
- The scion wood determines what kind of fruit will grow.
- The rootstock and scion will heal together and grow into one tree.
Sometimes I wish I had a community as connected as yours. It must be nice to have that support network as you recover from the cold snap that froze your blossom.
We are saddened by the loss of most of our blossoms. Nothing quite like this has happened to us before.
Frozen blossoms, from Styers Orchard
We are strong, but the cold was stronger. After a long winter, we were so ready to bloom. So we did. Then the cold returned. Most of our blossoms froze and died. Without blossoms, we cannot make fruit.
The few apples we produce this year will be precious.
As we said before, we live in the moment. We know next year will be different.
Our farmers understand that seasons like this can happen. They have prepared for challenges. They grow many other crops and continue to care for us.
Even if there isn’t much fruit this year, you can still visit the farm. Walk among us. Sit in our shade. Be part of our orchard.
You are so right! It is very important to support our orchard farmers, even though fruit is limited this year. BCFA is also running a fundraiser to help support these farmers.
That is so kind of you and all your supporters. Our farmer will be grateful for the extra support.
Our farmer grows many wonderful things besides fruit. Come visit the farm. Walk among us. We will be here.
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