Orchard Floor Management - the Key to Producing High Quality Fruit

[@Thomas_Sewell]

Legend, these are the best videos I've seen for understanding how to set up an Orchard, please keep producing your quality content.

[@nyghtly-derek]

This series is incredible! So much better than most of the click-bait trash all over KZbin.

[@ucscagroecology]

Thanks for watching.

[@meneelyhouse]

My wife and I bought a previously very abused (overgrazed) goat farm 5 years ago and immediately ceased grazing on it. The soil when we moved here could barely grow weeds it was rock hard and hydrophobic even though we live in the PNW rainforest. The subsoil was a 14’ thick layer of hard sandy clay before getting down to bedrock and not a worm in sight. For three years we let it go totally fallow and all kinds of weeds and shrubs (mostly hardhack) grew in then last spring we bought a flail mower for our tractor and mowed down the 5’ tall sea of hardhack that had grown in. The roots had clearly gone down feet into the ground plus all the woody stems and leaves was quickly gobbled up by the new decomposers that had moved in. We were stunned by how a pasture of meadow grasses quickly sprang up and within 3 months, the farm needed to be mowed again, only this time we were pretty much mowing down perennial grasses. All that thatch also decomposed over a winter and we’ve just mowed again. The grass cover is nearly 100% now and the drainage issues I was previously thinking were going to require subsoil drainage lines to be installed have virtually remedied themselves. Best of all, I recently dug a few test pits and was shocked at how loose soil is now and how it has gone from grey clay to a friable medium brown soil that only gets sticky at about the 12”+ depth but it is full of fine roots, crumbles easily and the top 2” now are a black layer of organic material and topsoil!! I couldn’t believe the transformation with absolutely zero tillage or amendments. Just growth then mowing + time. The water draining qualities of the soil now are truly a wonder. In the future we plan to graze sheep on it to help break up the thatch but we will be extra careful to split up the space and rotate grazing frequently. Anyway the roots of shrubs and grasses are a great tool for any farmer to put to use. Highly recommend.

[@ucscagroecology]

Thanks for sharing a great story and example of the amazing restorative "powers" of soil. If you're so inclined, get your soil tested over the next few years and watch the levels of nutrients and organic matter. It will likely continue to improve.

[@frozenlake9140]

Best demonstration of a PHD (Post Hole Digger) I love your videos.

[@ucscagroecology]

Thanks 👍

[@richarddetriquet9642]

An outstanding presentation! Thank you Mr. Martin.

[@juliecampbell9730]

AWESOME! My little 10 tree orchard thanks you!

[@houssemaddinafoufou3369]

Thank you from Algeria. Here we have a cold region which is famous for growing apples called Auras lately As a farmer, I am a good follower of yours, and I have gained knowledge from you. On the account of my modest knowledge of the apple tree, I noticed that the fruiting buds differ from one variety to another.. For example, golden delichieus and red delichieus. The first produces fruiting buds on the woody twigs or the main branches, and the one-year-old branches also produce it, but red delichieus is produced on the main branches only and with fruiting buds attached to the woody branch, which are three years old, and it does not produce on the one-year-old branches. Except in the old tree and it has a sinking float. Do you have an explanation or a method for pruning this variety from winter and summer pruning? Is this problem related to climate and nutrition?

[@cindyhollings2079]

Thankyou very much for sharing your knowledge and skills, first time I have seen demos of tool usage which was enlightening!

[@ucscagroecology]

You are very welcome.

[@rogerstrickland8922]

Dude you are so rad. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and energy.

[@sf-gs3iz]

So I live in the northeast and have regular grass in my rows. Should I till it up and plant rye then tramp it instead if cutting it ? Also the predominant wood chips around here are from soft woods which I stopped using around my trees because the take nitrogen from the soil?

[@ucscagroecology]

You can keep the grass you have and just mow it as needed. If you want to plant another grass, use a perennial - the rye in the video is an annual grass. We use softwood chips a lot at the UCSC farm. There's no issue with taking nitrogen from the soil as long as you leave the chips on the surface. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically” You'll also find videos about cover cropping and top mulching in other places on the list. agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

[@mra7857]

Nice information thanks for sharing

[@ucscagroecology]

Yer welcome. Glad it was helpful. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

[@jarrodlambert3914]

Awsome videoes

[@ucscagroecology]

Thanks!

[@davidmcpike8359]

I'm wondering, what about perennial grasses in the alleyway. Why annual rather than perennial?

[@paulmvn5431]

You'll kill the perennial grasses when you flatten them with the roller and not chop it up with a mower.

[@hcrone]

I have the same question. I don't understand this answer.

[@DavidOlshan]

Mulch is great but I have heaps of common voles and they love it and go on destroying my trees...

[@Nightowl5454]

You need some non-venomous snakes that prefer rodents and smaller sized owls like Barn owls to deal with the rodents.

[@vnickcolvin4971]

Is there a spring cover?😊❤

[@ucscagroecology]

There are lots of different cover crops to use in different seasons. Here's a good resource for more information on cover crops in orchards: intermountainfruit.org/orchard-floor/cover-crops#:~:text=Grasses%20are%20the%20most%20common,access%20even%20when%20headed%20out. Another one: ucanr.edu/sites/soils/files/307168.pdf Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

[@thechaosgardener]

Why not use arborist mulch?

[@ucscagroecology]

I assume you mean wood chips? Yes, we spread wood chips between the trees in-row. When the chips are left on the surface to decompose, they work great.

[@joshuahuff5429]

What type of wood chips do you prefer

[@ucscagroecology]

Ramial wood chips, if we can get them. But, at UC Santa Cruz, we have an abundance of mixed wood chips delivered for free to the farm from our campus landscape crews. We know the chips are free of pesticides and usable in a certified organic system. Here's a good article on ramial chips if you can get them: www.mofga.org/resources/mulch/ramial-chips/

[@kdegraa]

Grass in my orchard is a problem. The grass is setaria which I think is an African grass. This grass is clumpy and grows around half a meter a month to over two meters tall. The only good thing about this grass is when it’s cut it covers the ground with around 20cm of organic matter that rots down into the soil.

[@MagyarTerminator]

Get some goats

[@kdegraa]

@@MagyarTerminator goats will eat the trees. It’s what they do. Goats deforest areas they inhabit.

[@goodboyhuney]

​@@kdegraa if they have other feed they often prefer that

[@kdegraa]

@@goodboyhuney have you ever watched goats eat all vegetation in an area? This what they do, jumping up trees to do it. There is a reason why no orchardist wants goats in their orchard. In a couple of days it will no longer be an orchard. Cattle are bad enough. One of them gets the taste of leaves then it’s all over. Goats actually like eating leaves and branches.

[@anjumaziz8562]

well 3 to 5 twice a year, wouldn't that raise the bed?

[@milesgiehtbrock8510]

I want to try kernza

[@ucscagroecology]

.

[@PANTTERA1959]

Should run cows through there 2,3,4 time a year.

[@ucscagroecology]

We don't have cows at the farm and don't know about running them in an apple orchard. Did a quick search and found this: "Cows are too destructive for orchards and will make you weep in despair. Even when your trees are huge, only a few part-time grazers should be let in, definitely not a hungry herd who will chew the bark, pug the ground, and rub on orchard trees, killing big old trees except, perhaps, ancient plums". Are you running cows in your orchard successfully?

[@PANTTERA1959]

@@ucscagroecology Just leave them there 1 day enough to eat 60% of grass. You would be building better soil BUT also more grass. What youre doing works great. Youre an orchard,focus on that.I was using a homestead brain.Looking forward to the Spring set.Hope it goes well brother.

[@nickka2009]

hi, why not clover instead of rye for orchard floor mgt, especially when you mentioned grasses are the hardest to eradicate?

[@ucscagroecology]

Clover is fine, too. Just don't let it go to seed or your will have clover coming up for years, afterwards.

[@nickka2009]

@@ucscagroecology thank you

[@douglashackett4282]

@@ucscagroecology Won't the clover add nitrogen and carbon to the soil in an ongoing manner? Why don't we want clover coming up for years?

[@leahrenata4820]

@@douglashackett4282that’s a good question! Seems like a great solution to not have to buy cover crop seed every year