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Friday, April 25, 2008
How to Plant an Apple Tree
Tree planting, like everything else at our orchard, is a family affair. We put in the last batch for 2008 on Wednesday, April 23. The trees were scheduled to be delivered between 1:30 and 3:00 at the Kroncke Rd orchard, so Frank and I got there about that time. The trees had arrived a few minutes before and Kim was feeding Capri (age 2 months), so we took Cedi (age 17 months) out with us to get started. Cedi has just learned the difference between a tractor and a skidsteer and immediately pointed out that "Grampa" was on the "skidsteer".....the first of at least 100 times I was to hear about the skidsteer that day. Jared was on his way home from work, so we started without him. He's a surveyor as well as an orchard owner.
While Frank attached the tree spade to the front of the skidsteer, Cedi and I opened the big box.....183 pounds.....I can't wait to see the shipping bill. When we buy trees, we ask for the largest available. They come with bare roots and are frequently already branched out. We usually get some from Adams County Nursery in Pennsylvania every year, then if we need some variety we can't get there, we order from somewhere else. These particular trees came from Van Well in Washington state. They looked wonderful. Nice size and lots of branches.
We picked out 20 Gingergolds to start with. We take only a small number of trees with us at a time to keep the roots from drying out. We put these in the back of the Ranger pickup and sprayed the roots with water, then wrapped them with an old sheet and covered them with an old furniture pad. We already had a supply of stakes in the truck. We have used pipe for stakes in the past and continue to recycle them as we remove trees, but have not had enough the last couple of years, so Frank has taken logs up to Neil Miller's Amish sawmill and had them cut into 1 1/2 inch square posts about 8 feet long. Locust works great because it doesn't rot.
Cedi said she wanted to go in the truck with Gramma, so I belted her in. Capri was in the little red wagon by this time, and Mommy pulled her up the hill while Frank took off in the skidsteer.
When old trees are removed, we deep till the rows to pull out as many old roots as possible. Then we wait at least 2 years before replanting with trees. Replanting immediately means the trees are susceptible to replant disease, which can severly stunt or even kill them, so we try to never do that. Sometimes we plant other things like pumpkins or squash or gourds or just oats as a cover crop in these areas or just allow the ground to remain fallow.
In the last days before planting, we till the ground where the new trees will go. Frank starts at one end and digs holes with his tree spade. This is the first year we've had the tree spade and we really think it makes a nice hole. When we first started out we dug by hand. Hand digging makes a nice hole but is alot of work and we're not as young as we used to be. Then we used a post hole auger for a few years. This went faster, but tends to "shine up" the edge of the hole, so we'd use a shovel to cut some grooves to help the roots break through the hole edge. The holes also were wide all the way to the bottom, so we needed to be sure to fill the corners well so there were no air gaps down there. The tree spade makes a lovely hole 3 feet wide at the top and tapering to a point at the bottom. Perfect.
Frank lined his tree spade up and began making holes. The distance between depends on the rootstock the trees are on. Ours are usually 8 to 10 feet apart. Cedi decided she'd like to hang out in the truck for a while (with the keys gone and the emergency brake on and the side windows half-way up). Capri was in her car seat in the red wagon trying to get a burp out. First we put a stake in the hole and push it down with the skidsteer until it's stable enough to support the tree. Then we put a tree in the hole and check the depth. The graft union needs to be at least 2 inches above ground level, so Kim added a little dirt in the bottom of the hole when it looked like it might be too deep. Kim is a shovel person this year and by next year expects to have it figured out that sandals are not really the footwear of choice when planting trees. Once the tree was at the proper level, Kim added more dirt until the hole was full, then I walked it down all around to get rid of any air gaps. Some areas of the Kroncke Road orchard have very heavy clay soil, so we try to break that up and use the topsoil down near the roots.
We continued to move down the row and soon Jared arrived on the 6 wheeler. He helped with the shoveling duties and we were moving along faster. One thing about Jared is that he's worth at least 2 of any of the rest of us when it somes to physical work. Jared went for more trees and we moved down the hill to a new spot. Capri was fussing in the wagon, so we laid an old quilt in the back of the 6 wheeler so she could kick and Cedi decided it was time to get out and get her hands dirty. And more trees went in the ground.
Cedi was taking off up the hill and Grampa said she could have a treat if she came back. She made a quick turn and came running down, but I think she expected those treats Grampa had in his big truck....the one down by the buildings. He had given her a piece of candy from his stash in that truck earlier. The treats we had now were teddy grahams, animal crackers, and saltine crackers and she didn't want any of those. She was not happy with us. I offered to read her a story and picked up Capri, who was also fussing. So Gramma and girls sat on the hillside and read a story. The dogs, Barney, Mali, and Jackson sat nearby and listened, too.
Capri finally let out that burp we'd been looking for and promptly fell asleep in the wagon on the next move. Cedi was ready to load up in the Ranger with Daddy to pick up more trees and head to the next planting area. I took the 6 wheeler by the house to pick up a blanket for Capri and grabbed an apple on my way through the breezeway. It was an Idared left from last year. I ate the skin off on the way back out to join the crew and gave the apple to Cedi. Apparently this was an acceptable treat and she ate on it for quite some time. I know it was picked up out of the dirt several times and rinsed off with the drinking water we had in the truck. Last I saw of it there wasn't even much core left, but she was till eating it.
We made an interesting procession moving from place to place in the orchard with our 4 assorted modes of transportaion and 3 dogs racing among us. With each move, we planted more trees and got more efficient as the day went on. And my exceptional grandchildren made not another peep, except around 4:30 when Capri reminded Mommy it was time to eat. Cedi helped add dirt to the holes one little handful at a time and by about 7:00 all the girls headed to the house while the guys finished the last couple of trees.
Kim had some brats in the slow cooker and we were all ready to eat. Cedi finished all but about an inch of hers, so I'm guessing she had worked up an appetite just like the rest of us. It was a good day and a good day's work was done.
Frank came by the next morning and watered all the newly planted trees. That's really important to settle the soil around the roots. Kim and the girls will go out in the next few day and tie each tree to its stake and give them all their first pruning. Someone will also palce a circle of hardware wire around each trunk to protect it from mouse and rabbit damage. Soon they'll all start to grow and in 2 or 3 years will produce fruit. If they bloom this year, we'll pick the blossoms off so the energy will go to grow the tree instead of to produce fruit.
While Frank attached the tree spade to the front of the skidsteer, Cedi and I opened the big box.....183 pounds.....I can't wait to see the shipping bill. When we buy trees, we ask for the largest available. They come with bare roots and are frequently already branched out. We usually get some from Adams County Nursery in Pennsylvania every year, then if we need some variety we can't get there, we order from somewhere else. These particular trees came from Van Well in Washington state. They looked wonderful. Nice size and lots of branches.
We picked out 20 Gingergolds to start with. We take only a small number of trees with us at a time to keep the roots from drying out. We put these in the back of the Ranger pickup and sprayed the roots with water, then wrapped them with an old sheet and covered them with an old furniture pad. We already had a supply of stakes in the truck. We have used pipe for stakes in the past and continue to recycle them as we remove trees, but have not had enough the last couple of years, so Frank has taken logs up to Neil Miller's Amish sawmill and had them cut into 1 1/2 inch square posts about 8 feet long. Locust works great because it doesn't rot.
Cedi said she wanted to go in the truck with Gramma, so I belted her in. Capri was in the little red wagon by this time, and Mommy pulled her up the hill while Frank took off in the skidsteer.
When old trees are removed, we deep till the rows to pull out as many old roots as possible. Then we wait at least 2 years before replanting with trees. Replanting immediately means the trees are susceptible to replant disease, which can severly stunt or even kill them, so we try to never do that. Sometimes we plant other things like pumpkins or squash or gourds or just oats as a cover crop in these areas or just allow the ground to remain fallow.
In the last days before planting, we till the ground where the new trees will go. Frank starts at one end and digs holes with his tree spade. This is the first year we've had the tree spade and we really think it makes a nice hole. When we first started out we dug by hand. Hand digging makes a nice hole but is alot of work and we're not as young as we used to be. Then we used a post hole auger for a few years. This went faster, but tends to "shine up" the edge of the hole, so we'd use a shovel to cut some grooves to help the roots break through the hole edge. The holes also were wide all the way to the bottom, so we needed to be sure to fill the corners well so there were no air gaps down there. The tree spade makes a lovely hole 3 feet wide at the top and tapering to a point at the bottom. Perfect.
Frank lined his tree spade up and began making holes. The distance between depends on the rootstock the trees are on. Ours are usually 8 to 10 feet apart. Cedi decided she'd like to hang out in the truck for a while (with the keys gone and the emergency brake on and the side windows half-way up). Capri was in her car seat in the red wagon trying to get a burp out. First we put a stake in the hole and push it down with the skidsteer until it's stable enough to support the tree. Then we put a tree in the hole and check the depth. The graft union needs to be at least 2 inches above ground level, so Kim added a little dirt in the bottom of the hole when it looked like it might be too deep. Kim is a shovel person this year and by next year expects to have it figured out that sandals are not really the footwear of choice when planting trees. Once the tree was at the proper level, Kim added more dirt until the hole was full, then I walked it down all around to get rid of any air gaps. Some areas of the Kroncke Road orchard have very heavy clay soil, so we try to break that up and use the topsoil down near the roots.
We continued to move down the row and soon Jared arrived on the 6 wheeler. He helped with the shoveling duties and we were moving along faster. One thing about Jared is that he's worth at least 2 of any of the rest of us when it somes to physical work. Jared went for more trees and we moved down the hill to a new spot. Capri was fussing in the wagon, so we laid an old quilt in the back of the 6 wheeler so she could kick and Cedi decided it was time to get out and get her hands dirty. And more trees went in the ground.
Cedi was taking off up the hill and Grampa said she could have a treat if she came back. She made a quick turn and came running down, but I think she expected those treats Grampa had in his big truck....the one down by the buildings. He had given her a piece of candy from his stash in that truck earlier. The treats we had now were teddy grahams, animal crackers, and saltine crackers and she didn't want any of those. She was not happy with us. I offered to read her a story and picked up Capri, who was also fussing. So Gramma and girls sat on the hillside and read a story. The dogs, Barney, Mali, and Jackson sat nearby and listened, too.
Capri finally let out that burp we'd been looking for and promptly fell asleep in the wagon on the next move. Cedi was ready to load up in the Ranger with Daddy to pick up more trees and head to the next planting area. I took the 6 wheeler by the house to pick up a blanket for Capri and grabbed an apple on my way through the breezeway. It was an Idared left from last year. I ate the skin off on the way back out to join the crew and gave the apple to Cedi. Apparently this was an acceptable treat and she ate on it for quite some time. I know it was picked up out of the dirt several times and rinsed off with the drinking water we had in the truck. Last I saw of it there wasn't even much core left, but she was till eating it.
We made an interesting procession moving from place to place in the orchard with our 4 assorted modes of transportaion and 3 dogs racing among us. With each move, we planted more trees and got more efficient as the day went on. And my exceptional grandchildren made not another peep, except around 4:30 when Capri reminded Mommy it was time to eat. Cedi helped add dirt to the holes one little handful at a time and by about 7:00 all the girls headed to the house while the guys finished the last couple of trees.
Kim had some brats in the slow cooker and we were all ready to eat. Cedi finished all but about an inch of hers, so I'm guessing she had worked up an appetite just like the rest of us. It was a good day and a good day's work was done.
Frank came by the next morning and watered all the newly planted trees. That's really important to settle the soil around the roots. Kim and the girls will go out in the next few day and tie each tree to its stake and give them all their first pruning. Someone will also palce a circle of hardware wire around each trunk to protect it from mouse and rabbit damage. Soon they'll all start to grow and in 2 or 3 years will produce fruit. If they bloom this year, we'll pick the blossoms off so the energy will go to grow the tree instead of to produce fruit.
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Friday, April 18, 2008
Tree Planting
The first round of trees are in the ground. We got most of them in a long afternoon on Wednesday, then finished up with the help of Kim, Cedi and Capri yesterday morning. Frank has a new tree spade we're using to dig the holes this year and it really works great. We were glad to get them planted before the rain started and, also, to get a little break before the next batch comes...probably today. Kim and the girls are going to take care of tying them all to their stakes and giving them their first pruning.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Mac 'n' Tosh
In early December of 2006, Frank and I were enjoying a normal day at the orchard, when Tim pulled into the driveway with his livestock trailer. Tim hauls a lot of cattle and frequently stops by for our special "13 caramel apples for the price of 12" deal. But instead of heading right inside, Tim said, “Come and see what I have in my trailer.” Frank and I went over and looked inside. He had 2 emus! I said, ”What are you going to do with them?” And Tim replied, “They’re just what you need. We’re going to barter for them today.” Thirteen caramel apples and a bag of potatoes later, 2 emus were added to the farm.
Since we knew almost nothing about emus, we went in search of information. Most importantly, they make a regular emu feed… and a local feed supplier stocks it. So at least they wouldn’t starve to death while we were still learning. We soon also figured out that we had a male and a female, and our daughter, Karma, came up with the perfect names. Given that they’re part of an apple orchard, it seemed only fitting that they be named after one of our most popular apple varieties, the Macintosh. So, Mac is the male (he makes a grunting sound) and Tosh is the female (she makes a booming sound, similar to a bass drum). Together they make the friendly pair of Mac ‘N Tosh.
DID YOU KNOW….
Emus can run up to 40 miles per hour!
One emu egg is equivalent to a dozen chicken eggs!
When sitting on the nest, it’s the male that does the sitting.The female emu is larger than the male.
Since we knew almost nothing about emus, we went in search of information. Most importantly, they make a regular emu feed… and a local feed supplier stocks it. So at least they wouldn’t starve to death while we were still learning. We soon also figured out that we had a male and a female, and our daughter, Karma, came up with the perfect names. Given that they’re part of an apple orchard, it seemed only fitting that they be named after one of our most popular apple varieties, the Macintosh. So, Mac is the male (he makes a grunting sound) and Tosh is the female (she makes a booming sound, similar to a bass drum). Together they make the friendly pair of Mac ‘N Tosh.
DID YOU KNOW….
Emus can run up to 40 miles per hour!
One emu egg is equivalent to a dozen chicken eggs!
When sitting on the nest, it’s the male that does the sitting.The female emu is larger than the male.
The Lapacek Orchard Story
Many people have asked for the story of how our orchard came to be.
In the late 60’s Frank was in the Navy, and was stationed at the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington state. The family of one of his navy buddies had an apple orchard near Wenatchee and the two of them would often go over the mountains to the orchard to help pick apples on weekends. Frank really enjoyed this time and hoped that one day he would have the opportunity to have an orchard of his own.
Frank and Diane met in April of 1976 and were married in December of the same year. As part of a job transfer for Frank, they moved to the state of Washington. On the weekends Frank and Diane spent time at the local orchards and really enjoyed just driving and looking at the beauty that an orchard could provide. Frank told Diane of the times he used to spend picking apples and how he hoped that when they moved back to Wisconsin, they would be able to find land suitable for an apple orchard of their own. In 1979, two of their dreams came true… they had their first child, Frank Jared, who would later be the owner of another orchard, and they purchased the land that would be their very own apple orchard, which you can see today. Frank and Diane planted their first trees the following spring and continued to plant some trees every year until 1989 when about 700 trees were planted.
In the early years of the orchard, not only were all of the apples hand picked (like they are today) they were also hand polished. For several years, the apple cider was made with a hand-cranked press, which can be seen in the store. Jared and his sister, Karma, grew up helping with all parts of the orchard, including selling apples. Prior to the current store, a hayrack was used as a roadside stand, which was often manned by the kids after school. Occasionally someone still comes in and wants to know what ever happened to those tow-headed kids that used to sell them apples.
In 2002, Jared was searching for the perfect home, when another local orchard was put on the market. He decided that this would be the ideal supplement to his full-time job and shortly thereafter he purchased Hazard’s Orchard, which included about 2900 trees.
Today, in order to continue to have a great orchard, trees are replaced annually with young trees, which will produce higher quality fruit with less labor than older trees. A dwarf apple tree’s most fruitful years are over within 20 years. There are now 3 generations of Lapaceks as Jared's wife, Kim, and daughters, Mercedi and Capri are also part of our family business.
In the late 60’s Frank was in the Navy, and was stationed at the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington state. The family of one of his navy buddies had an apple orchard near Wenatchee and the two of them would often go over the mountains to the orchard to help pick apples on weekends. Frank really enjoyed this time and hoped that one day he would have the opportunity to have an orchard of his own.
Frank and Diane met in April of 1976 and were married in December of the same year. As part of a job transfer for Frank, they moved to the state of Washington. On the weekends Frank and Diane spent time at the local orchards and really enjoyed just driving and looking at the beauty that an orchard could provide. Frank told Diane of the times he used to spend picking apples and how he hoped that when they moved back to Wisconsin, they would be able to find land suitable for an apple orchard of their own. In 1979, two of their dreams came true… they had their first child, Frank Jared, who would later be the owner of another orchard, and they purchased the land that would be their very own apple orchard, which you can see today. Frank and Diane planted their first trees the following spring and continued to plant some trees every year until 1989 when about 700 trees were planted.
In the early years of the orchard, not only were all of the apples hand picked (like they are today) they were also hand polished. For several years, the apple cider was made with a hand-cranked press, which can be seen in the store. Jared and his sister, Karma, grew up helping with all parts of the orchard, including selling apples. Prior to the current store, a hayrack was used as a roadside stand, which was often manned by the kids after school. Occasionally someone still comes in and wants to know what ever happened to those tow-headed kids that used to sell them apples.
In 2002, Jared was searching for the perfect home, when another local orchard was put on the market. He decided that this would be the ideal supplement to his full-time job and shortly thereafter he purchased Hazard’s Orchard, which included about 2900 trees.
Today, in order to continue to have a great orchard, trees are replaced annually with young trees, which will produce higher quality fruit with less labor than older trees. A dwarf apple tree’s most fruitful years are over within 20 years. There are now 3 generations of Lapaceks as Jared's wife, Kim, and daughters, Mercedi and Capri are also part of our family business.
The Lean Comes Down
The weather is finally getting nicer and Frank got a chance to clean up the barnyard. The lean caved in when the snow was piled high on it back in December. Mac and Tosh (our emus) use the barn and barnyard for their winter quarters and move out behind the store for the summer and fall. Fortunately, they were safely tucked inside for the night when the lean came crashing down. Frank and Jared tried to clean it up the next day, but there was so much ice and snow that the skidsteer was pretty much useless. So they shoved the debris up in one end and added a gate so Mac and Tosh could still get outside and waited for better weather. It finally got dry enough this week to haul it all away. This afternoon he's out tilling up the ground where the new trees will be planted. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain again the next couple of days, so I'm not sure if we'll get a start on the planting or not.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Snow in April!
I can't believe it's snowing and it's April 12th! I wonder if it's ever going to end and just get nice out. At the Kroncke Orchard something really strange is happening...the snow is sticking to the trees south of the house (which is beautiful), but not sticking just north of the house...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Trees are in Storage
We've made it safely out east and back. We left Chesapeake, VA, about 4:30 am yesterday. (That's 3:30 Wisconsin time.) Picked up 150 trees in Pennsylvania around 10 am. I think the folks at Adams County Nursery thought we were a little nuts a couple years ago when we first picked up our trees there. We showed up with a sorting table strapped to our roof, then we all tried to figure out how to got 3 big boxes of trees into our mini van. We soon discovered that taking them all out of the boxes and stacking them in the back was the only way they'd fit. We had several of the staff involved before we had them safely ready for the trip back home. The picture above is the van just as we were ready to start unloading. We left Pennsylvania and headed for home and arrived shortly after 10:30....just in time to miss the last minute or so of the NCAA championship game while we were busy petting Barney and Jackson, who missed us terribly. (Jackson....who is Jackson? More on him later. I'm on a deadline here.) We prefer to pick up the trees when we can bring them home and plant them immediately, but that's not the way it worked this year. (We went a week earlier than we would have preferred because I'm off to Chicago tomorrow with 2 of my sisters and one of my nieces. We're going downtown for a couple days, then coming back out to Rosemont for the quilt show on Friday before returning home. My sister, Barb, http://www.quiltsbybarb.com/ has 2 quilts in the show, so we need to go and be proud. This is a HUGE honor.) Anyhow, we got the trees home and the weather is certainly not conducive to planting. So we took them over to the Kronke Rd orchard and put them in an old underground building that was used to store apples many years ago before big walk-in coolers were around. (Never store trees in a room that has stored apples recently!) We put down straw and leaves and wet them, then stacked the trees and added more straw and leaves and made sure the whole pile was good and wet. The trees all come with bare roots and this keeps them nice and moist until we can plant them. So the trees are tucked safely away. Hopefully, we'll be able to plant them by the end of next week.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Time to Pick up Trees
Frank and I will be off before dawn tomorrow morning to head east to pick up trees for this spring's planting. We'll swing down to Virginia and visit our daughter, Karma, over the weekend and pick up the trees on Monday morning in Pennsylvania. I guess that means this endless winter is coming to an end.......FINALLY!!!!!
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