The hope, though, is that the trees I replace them with will
far outlive me, and may in fact outlive my grandchildren, if I have any. I
dreamed of them, while doing the hard work of cutting down trees and clearing
brush. Sitting under apple and almond blossoms in the spring, baskets of
yummies in the fall, the pleasure of watching them grow and ripen all summer
long. Plumbs, peaches, apples, and pears; made into jams and chutneys, sliced
and put up in gleaming jars, dried as slices or fruit leather. Bottle after bottle
of homemade wine and melomel. Nuts, hulled and stored, or roasted. Homemade nut
butter, which has got to be one of the most delicious things on earth. That’s
all a few years down the road, however.
This year, we must work to bring the dream to fruition.
Dreams remain only that, until you put in the sweat to make them a reality. And
sweat we did, let me tell you. We worked all day. First, we strung a line from
marker to marker along the property boundary, to make sure we didn’t cut down
any trees that don’t belong to us. It took longer than you might anticipate, as
the underbrush is a dense mixture of blackberry bramble and mountain laurel.
Then we stopped, and did some math. It’s all well and good to jump in with both
feet (and you all know what a fan I am of doing precisely that), but orchard
planning requires a bit more in the way of, um… actual planning. We measured,
and found that the distance between the driveway and the property line is about
eighty feet, give or take the amount of curve in the driveway. Thirty feet of
that space (again, give or take) is already lawn. So if we cut back a strip
from the edge of the lawn to the property line, eighty feet long, that would
give us an eighty foot by eighty foot cleared space for the orchard, with the
edge right up against the driveway. If we then gave ourselves a twenty foot
border of open space all the way around, to prevent shading of the trees, and
keep the fruit from hitting cars in the driveway, that gives us forty feet
square; enough for up to twenty-five trees. I have to assume that twenty-five
trees will be more than enough. Though, my kids go through applesauce faster
than a horde of locusts.
Now, do I really want to cut down nearly 1/10 of an acre of
trees and brush all at one go? Frankly, no I do not. Plus, we have to consider
the cost. I could afford to put in all twenty-five trees this year, provided
that they are all small. In which case, I would spend the next ten to fifteen
years waiting for my harvest. Alternately, I can buy a lot fewer trees, but older
ones that are ready to fruit immediately - as in this year, or next, depending
on how well they transplant. I spend the same ten years building up my orchard,
but I get fruit during that ten years. I think I know which way I want to go on
this one. So we will be buying six trees this year; two Hall’s Hardy Almonds,
one Chicago Hardy Fig, and three apple trees (we are still conducting delicate family
negotiations as to which varieties). All of that boils down to the fact that we
marked out about half the orchard to cut down. That may seem a lot for only six
fruit and nut trees, but some of the trees we have to remove are quite large,
and they need to come down in such a way that they won’t wipe out power lines,
the house, or our fledgling orchard. Hence taking the time to do the math at
the beginning of this adventure.
So with that in mind, we leaped into action. We managed to
cut down about thirty small trees, and clear out most of the brush from our
forty foot by fifty foot section. I say about, because most of them were the remaining sap-suckers of trees that had already been cut down and left as rotting stumps by a previous property owner. And well, then there are about a dozen large
boulders we were working around. Holy hard slogging, Batman. You know, you
never realize how out of shape you are until you start doing that kind of work.
Three of us worked all day. My aunt and my cousin’s daughter were up visiting,
so we roped in the young’un while Auntie kept an eye on children, livestock,
and pets. That’s what happens when you come to visit. I’m not shy about putting
people to work. I’m also not shy about being grateful, or feeding people,
either, so it tends to work out. I’ll tell you, we needed the help. We ended
the day with three piles of wood and brush laying in the clearing; one for
firewood, one for just branches (I’m going to try my hand at wattle fencing a
little later in the year, for the herb garden), and one yet to be trimmed and
sorted. The last tree was also left lying where I had dropped it, because I was
simply too tired to operate the chainsaw safely. I actually felted a pair of
hand knit socks inside my wellies. I had to cut them off my feet. So a nice hot
shower, dinner, and bed were all well in order.
I had every intention of getting up early and starting again
the next day, never mind that it was a Monday, and Shawn had to work. There was
work to do, and I was going to do it myself. I’m a big strong girl, right? Ohhh
boy, was I ever wrong. The next morning, I felt like a ninety year old lady who
had been through the trash compactor. I whimpered just getting out of bed.
Chainsaw? Not going to happen. I could barely lift my water bottle. Couldn’t I
just do laundry instead? Um, I couldn’t even touch my toes, so… maybe not. Look
up over-do in the dictionary. You’ll find my picture.
So I settled down with my knitting, all the while grumbling
about the fine weather, and not being able to work in it. At least I could
replace the pair of socks that had been sacrificed. I could always get back to
clearing for the orchard tomorrow, right? Well, as it turned out, the next day
it rained, and not a little bit, either. I think we got something like an inch
and a half of rain. The ducks were happy, but I was muttering under my breath.
So, I spent the day wrestling with the household budget, trying to bring
everything into order before our fiscal year (which starts June 1st)
comes to an end. I wasn’t very successful. It seemed like every small thing
that could go wrong, did, and every tiny task took ten times longer than it
should have. It was one of those days. I usually have them when I am struggling
with the inevitable, instead of surrendering to it. BUT THAT’S OK, because I
was going to get outside and start moving my way through those brush piles and
stacking the firewood in the morning, by hook or by crook.
Well folks, I got up this morning to an entire yard covered
in ice, and a two hour school delay. Seriously??? It is SPRING dangit. Someone
up there is having a pretty good chortle at my expense, I must say. So today I’m
going to knit, and wrestle with financial information. I will not be so foolish
as to try and work on ice-coated trees. I will also try and take this delay in
good grace. Because at least there is always tomorrow…
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