when the student farmers are pruning!
Today we worked with a professional pruner and semi-pro comedian Brad to learn the basics of tree pruning and orchard care. The whole day... in the sun, amongst the trees. It was delightful and tiring. First we looked at and worked on the apple trees at Sentinel Elm
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| Sophia high in the tree |
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| Caitlin getting advice |
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| Looking at the trees at Sentinel Elm with Brad |
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| Brad consulting Maggie on her trees |
Later, we visited Maggie and had a chop at her trees and when we were done there, we drove down to an apple orchard in New Salem Massachusetts. Here we found some very old trees that Brad has been working on to bring back to life. Trees can get old and tired; in particular, they can be over-grown and all of their fruiting wood worn out. With the judicious pruning, trees can be encouraged to grow new wood and then new wood produces "fruit wood" which actually bears the apples. One technique we learned was taking new growth "suckers" and twisting them back on themselves or nearby suckers. Once this sucker is no longer going vertical, it begins making fruitwood. Here are some photos of some beautiful old trees with braids and pretzels.
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| Two arching braids |
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| Tyson, taking a few good cuts |
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| Plenty of pretzels |
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| Student farmers, all working on one tree |
And we celebrated Brian's birthday--no longer a teen!
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| Birthday boy enjoys pruning an apple tree! |
And two new lambs.
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| Older brother up and running, new sister still slimey |
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