I thought you’d like to see what the orchard is looking like these days. We planted these bare-root trees on February 20th, and this area was looking quite bleak, with just (what looked like) sticks in the ground. Thanks to all the rain this winter, and the good rich soil we have provided, the trees are positively bursting with leaves and vitality. I don’t expect to get any fruit this year at all, but that’s ok - we actually want the roots to establish well this first year, and then next year, hopefully we’ll start seeing some harvests.

Tom and I both consider this project a great success. We can already see how, as these trees grow, they will provide a nice shade cover on this side of the garden, which is very hot in the summer. It’s going to be a lovely place to sit and enjoy. I am not doing any pruning at all until winter, and even then it will probably be fairly light. I will do a larger pruning next summer to control for size.