The honeybees have already arrived and are busy producing raw honey.  The honeybees will play a major role in the pollination of the fruit trees and plants around the property and the community.  The fruit orchard will contain apple, peach, pears, plum, cherry and various other trees that will dot the landscape.  Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes and strawberries that will also help feed the community with the freshest of fruits for years to come. 

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The fruit orchard is intended to help supply the community with fresh fruits.  Not only will it provide seasonal fruits but it will allow us to supplement the food pantry and soup kitchen with fruits during the winter months with canned goods, such as apple sauce,

pie fillings, preserves and much more that has been grown locally. 

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Project Update

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Every project has it's challenges.  This setback we did not expect but should have considered as a potential problem.  The school is almost 100 years old and the areas where we intended to plant the trees have very poor soil and are too heavily compacted for the trees to become well established.  We are praying that the project will be able to move forward next spring.

 

We were able to plant one apple and two pear trees this year but the soil even with some soil modifications combined with lack of rain has failed to keep the pear trees alive.  The apple tree is struggling and may not survive the winter.  The soil will require major modifications for fruit trees to become established and flourish.

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Before we can attempt to plant anymore fruit trees, each location will need to have the soil modified in a 5 foot radius of the tree trunks and to a depth of at least 3 feet.  That is about 10 cubic yards of modified soil per tree.

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We will need to use a backhoe & loader to dig the areas to be modified.  Then we will need to screen the soil to remove rocks.  Then using the loader mix topsoil, compost and sand  with the screened soil to fill the areas back in.

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Once the soil has been modified we would prefer to purchase fruit trees that are 3 to 5 years old of various kinds for quicker fruit production.