Starting an Orchard
If you have a large amount of land that you have not put to use, you may consider planting an orchard. If you've had previous experiences with planting and maintaining trees, that is an added reason why you would be perfect for maintaining an orchard. It might seem like an overwhelming thing to undertake, but it is actually fairly simple. All it takes is some commitment.
If you've never grown a tree on your property, you might not want to make the time and money investment of buying lots of trees. If you are inexperienced, you will want to start with just one or two trees so that you can get a feel for the growing process. Once you have seen one tree along all the way to adulthood successfully, you are probably experienced enough to handle multiple trees. You should never plant so many trees that you are going to be overwhelmed, though. Only plant what you can handle.
Generally if you are getting started on a large amount of trees, you will want them to all be the same type. If they all require the same amount of water and nutrients, you won't have to spend as much time catering individually to the different types of tree. As an added benefit, you will become very familiar with the process of growing that specific tree. You won't be overwhelmed by having many different types, but instead you will become a master of that specific type.
If you already have a tree growing on your property that you have maintained from its childhood, then you know that the soil is acceptable for that type of tree and ones similar to it. Since you've already been through the process of growing that type of tree before, you shouldn't have any problem testing all of the soil to make sure it is similar to the segment you already planted on. Then it is just a matter of growing more trees and causing the process to be the same as it was before. Since you've already dealt with the same problems in the past, you probably have a good idea of how to deal with any pests that might come about during growth.
Generally in an orchard, the trees are planted in a row, then pruned to be in a two dimensional shape. This is known as either a fan or an espalier shape. There is one main branch in the center that is completely vertical, then multiple branches that go off to the side. If the side branches are horizontal it is known as an espalier. If they are sloped, it is known as a fan. Generally these 2 shapes are used in orchards because of how compact they are. By using them, you allow for many more trees to be in the certain amount of space. However, if land conservation is not an issue or you're not looking to be efficient, you should probably stick with the traditional tree shape.
To aid in the watering of your trees, you should install either a sprinkler system or an irrigation system. The sprinklers require more maintenance, but if you dig an irrigation ditch then it is really easy to just run the faucet for a few minutes every day and reach all the trees. It's just a matter of what you would prefer.
Once your tree collection starts to bear large amounts of fruit, you can consider starting a fruit stand or participating at the farmers market. Instead of letting the fruits go to waste or trying to eat them all (which can lead to some bad stomach aches), you can let the rest of the world enjoy the product of your intense labor. If you become a popular vendor, you might even make back a decent return on your investment. However, you can't count on making very much money. Starting an orchard shouldn't be a capitalistic investment. You should only start one if you have a passion for trees.
PPPPP
(Word Count: 667)
|
Caring Properly for your Fruit Tree If you have just recently planted a new fruit tree, I think it is ... read more
Dealing with Barren Trees One of the most frustrating things that can possibly happen to someone who has slaved for ... read more
Dealing with Bird Problems If you are lucky enough to have a cherry tree in your yard, I am sure ... read more
Dealing with Moths Having a steady supply of fresh fruit from your backyard is quite a nice thing. Many people ... read more
Different Types of Apple Trees In the past, there have been only a couple different kinds of apple trees that ... read more
Finding Drought Resistant Trees If you live in an area that is slightly parched of water, you know better than ... read more
Growing Trees for Shade If you are currently trying to plant trees in order to shade your garden, you will ... read more
How to Prevent Small Fruits The one thing that usually shocks new tree growers is the fact that the fruits ... read more
How to Safely Spray Pesticide If you want to protect your fruit tree from pests during the summer, this is ... read more
Maintaining a Healthy Young Tree Making sure that your fruit tree stays healthy is very important, but not as hard ... read more
My First Tree Almost everyone's first tree experience has some embarrassing events. Nobody can be an expert right away we ... read more
Picking the Ideal Spot for your Fruit Tree When growing a fruit tree, choosing the right place to plant it ... read more
Picking the Right Orange Tree If you live in a hot, humid sub-tropical zone like Florida or California, you have ... read more
Planting and Caring for a New Tree When you have decided on which kind of fruit tree you would like, ... read more
Preventing Diseases in Fruit Trees If you maintain any pitted fruit trees such as plums, peaches, or cherries, I'm sure ... read more
Protecting Trees with Bird Netting If you have a problem with birds, you have probably tried many solutions. Some of ... read more
Pruning Your Trees If you have just entered the tree growing world, you have no doubt heard the term “pruning” ... read more
Removing Old Trees Sometimes a tree gets to the point where it is necessary to say goodbye to it. It ... read more
Selling at Farmer's Markets Usually the main motivation for planting a fruit tree is just the joy of maintaining a ... read more
Shaping Trees for Different Situations Through the use of pruning techniques, it is possible to shape your tree to a ... read more
Staking a Young Tree When a tree is in the young stages, one of the most vital things you need ... read more
Starting an Orchard If you have a large amount of land that you have not put to use, you may ... read more
The Many Types of Cherry Trees One of the most pleasant trees you can possibly maintain is a cherry tree. ... read more
Training Branches to go where You Want Many people associate pruning with changing the structure of your tree to fit ... read more
What to Look for when Buying a Tree Although the process of growing and caring for a tree is generally ... read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to Starting an Orchard. In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|