Community Orchard Fig Cuttings

A few weeks ago some fig cuttings were potted in one-gallon Root Pouch grow bags and set in the garage until Spring.  These are mostly Sister Madeline's Green Greek and a couple dozen of other fig varieties that were traded for or donated to the project.

Today we began to pot up some more that will stay on the front porch for the remainder of Winter.  These two rows are of Unk Pear Jelly and Sister Madeline's Unk Dark.  When finished filling in the border with pots it will all be covered with hay that neighbors donated after the holidays.

I suppose we should mention the construction of fig mounds in the back yard that will be used to get air layers from to be planted in the orchard.  

It's a very simple process I kind of learned by trial.  Some extra fig cuttings were buried out in the back yard in a small compost pile during early Winter of 2014, just wanting to see if they would sprout in Spring.

They did sprout and formed an instant fig bush that has provided many air layers. So it was decided to do the same with other varieties that will benefit the orchard

Fig cuttings are laid horizontal on a pile of compost and covered.  That's it. The fig sprouts have no trouble of reaching up through several inches of cover when the temperatures become fig friendly.  Having them elevated above ground level ensures they will not stay saturated and remain in the aerobic zone.

Here's a few photo's of newly created mounds and ending with the established Unk Lake Spur Fig mound, partially covered with dead grass and compost as Winter protection.

Unk Lake Spur Fig with Olympian in the background, covered with dry grass clippings in wire fence cylinders as Winter protection.  All exposed wood is dead from severe cold but under the grass is nice, fresh and green.

All varieties of fig need some Winter protection in our area until they form a thick, woody bark.  This is about the simplest way I know of to do it and it has worked well so far.  In Spring the grass will be spread away from the plant a bit and serve as top mulch and worm food that will translate into worm castings fertilizer for the plants.

I spoke with Mr. Travis at the local sawmill today about getting a truck load of pine bark.  He's going to discuss it with those who have say over that sort of thing and possibly make it as a donation for the project.  This would be super magnificent awesome.  He mentioned 18 wheeler. That would be a mountain of pine bark. 

Ending this post with some words of thanks to a few fig friends who have made some nice donations of cuttings toward the project.  You know who you are by these photo's and your kindness is much appreciated!

   

Water Is Life

Everything falling into place for the Coop Prairie Community Orchard. These 275 gallon IBC totes normally sell for anywhere from $30. to over $100. around these parts, depending on quality and what they contained.

Our source is used once, in excellent condition, no toxic or harmful contents held, a whopping $2.50 to pay for the scrap zinc in the support cage. A bank of these piped together will collect rainwater from the church gym roof and distribute to the trees via drip irrigation system.

Once the bank is in place, it will be covered to protect from the heat and UV rays that will degrade the plastic. Hoping to score at least five more of these for the project, a dozen would be welcome. Free would be even better but we're not going to complain over the price of scrap zinc.

Most if not all the majority of trees we'll be planting are considered to be drought tolerant once established. It's the critical first few years to get a tree established that will make a lasting orchard in time.

Having stated the educated obvious, there is one Hardy Chicago Fig, a first-year air layer planted out at the church now and has been since early Spring of 2016. It's in seemingly poor red clay soil, was watered twice all last year, once to apply a dose of fire ant killer around the tree and once to apply a dose of fish & seaweed fertilizer. Other than that, it was in God's hands.

That tree has done as well or better than all our yard trees that I personally pampered all year, including it's own mother tree and made a couple dozen good size and delicious figs!

Figures.

The Idea

I stood there, overlooking a section of unused land many times and thought "there needs to be an orchard here".  Was it a thought from inside of me expressing outward or a thought placed inside me from outward influence?  Divine influence?

Fast forward to a Sunday evening study at Coop Prairie Church a few months ago.  Past years at Coop Prairie, I always knew what I was supposed to be doing.  Was away for some years and returned a little over a year or so ago but up to this particular evening, I didn't have a clue as to what it was I was supposed to be doing.

All I knew was what I wanted to do and blurted it out during a discussion, "What I want to do more than anything is make use of all that unused space and make a community orchard".  Pastor Pete motioned with his hands and a big smile, "have at it!"

So it began, from an idea to a project set in motion.  The first thing was to step off a rough boundary and get an idea of what kind of footage we have to work with...

At fifteen feet spacing, give or take a few, we probably have room for 250 trees. This rough boundary is by no means set in stone.

Soon will begin measuring, laying out lines, measuring some more, digging holes and setting the first year-old, native persimmon seedlings (D virginiana) in the ground to become established and serve as future root-stocks for grafting Asian and Hybrid Persimmon varieties.
Will also be setting other root-stock trees into the ground that have been donated, such as pear and apple. Will have to make room for a couple of Jujube as well.

As Spring arrives, we will be planting a whole new crop of persimmon seeds for the following year, (D lotus and D virginiana). Along with those we have a bunch of Hedge Apple seeds, AKA in these parts as Horse Apple. Never knew there was a use for them until we learned about Che fruit, a relative that grafts onto the Horse Apple root-stock.
We need to propagate tip layers from the Triple Crown Thornless Blackberry at home. Can’t have an orchard without berries!

Did I mention Figs yet? Figs, figs and more figs! Figs will take the majority of the space. Hardy Chicago, Sister Madeline’s Green Greek, Unk Yellow and Unk Dark as well, we hope, and a mix of others that prove themselves hardy enough by coming back to life in the yard after the cold spells we’ve had this Winter.

The Coop Prairie Community Orchard is going to be just as the name implies, a true Community Orchard. A place where people can come and gather from what God provides. It's not to be sold for any purpose other than perhaps to give financial aid to someone who may need it, as we may be led to do so. Otherwise it's to be free for whoever needs it.

Some items have already been donated but we still need some things and I have full faith they will be provided, if not in advance then just in time. Today was acquired a 300 gallon IBC tote for the first tank to provide irrigation from rain water we'll collect from the roof of the gym. I see the need for at least 1,000 gallons.

We need manure and/or compost and lots of it. I plan to contact the City about getting a load or two of the wood chips that are piled by the recycle yard. Anybody with means and the notion to donate any barnyard manure, please contact me. As of now I have no way to haul it but can probably find a way if we have a source.

Will update as things progress.