An orchard’s beginnings
Driving to the garden store, we packed the car with fencing, T-stakes, and fruit tree saplings and headed north to Colorado. We arrived late in the afternoon. Brian, a medic and coworker on the ambulance wanted to come along for a little adventure. The mission; explore the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, get lost for a week camping and plant fruit trees. I have looked forward to this moment for a long time; the ability to plant as many fruit trees as possible and watch them grow.
Over the last decade or so, I’ve lived a life largely based out of a backpack, moving for education, jobs, and adventure. When given the chance of six months or more in a place that is moving into summer, I’ve made it a point to start gardens wherever possible.
Always bitter-sweet to move on from such an effort, yet I’ve never regretted leaving a garden. I’ve always enjoyed watching things grow. Do you remember that activity in 1st grade where you would put a Lima Bean in a bag with some water and hang it in the window? I was fascinated with how quickly the roots and shoots would emerge from the bean with this simple example that demonstrates the tenacity of biology and life.
Planted Pear, Cherry, Plum, Peach, and Apple…. Will see what works best and plant more of those species.
It is empowering to grow one’s own food. From the physical effort to the regular attention one gives, it all culminates in delicious organic and free fruits and vegetables. I would equate gardening to a sort of daily meditation. If you are not convinced of what gardening can bring to a community or how people are empowered by it, it reminds me of a more memorable TED Talk I would recommend watching, the guerilla gardener , Ron Finley.
So, when finally given a chance to plant roots and start my own garden, the first thing that came to mind was to plant fruit trees. I hope that if I can keep the effort going, there will one day be an orchard. If you have ever planted any food crop, it is the fruit tree that requires minimal attention and yet, generates so much produce. Suddenly, one finds themselves up to their elbows in frozen fruit, fresh fruit, jams, pies, dried fruit, even gift baskets of fruit. If given the choice of planting a single fruit tree today or 10 trees, 10 years from now, which would you choose?
We put a 6ft fence, 2m in diameter around each tree to protect against elk and deer. The scientific method hard at work. 6 trees and counting…
In crafting a sustainable future, we could all take a page from Johnny Appleseed and plant fruit trees often and everywhere. Interested in a tree planting adventure?
