🌻July in the Vegie Patch + Worm farm FAQs + Pruning fruit trees🌻
I well remember those early pruning years - when trees looked like a jumble of branches and leaves, and I felt like I may as well shut my eyes and cut anywhere for all the sense it made.
The thing that brings clarity and ease is to stop worrying about where to cut, and instead to learn these 3 things about each of your fruit trees:
- what the first year wood looks like (pg 7 and 153 Homegrown Fruit: A Practical Guide)
- where the tree fruits - 1st year wood, 2nd year wood, or fruit spurs (pg 8-11 Homegrown Fruit: A Practical Guide)
- what the framework looks like - i.e. be able to discern the leader and scaffold branches amongst all the other branches.
Trust me here, and one fine day you'll go to your trees and know exactly what to do. Just start... all is coming!
Yours in the earth,
❤️
July in the Vegie Patch + Greenhouse
Even when its cold and frosty there’s plenty of food to be had from the garden. Here’s a quick round up of what we’re harvesting to inspire you to a four seasons vegie patch.
Kath Irvine
Free!
July’s Fruit Tree To-Do List
The two most important jobs in July are: assessing first-year wood on your fruit trees to decide whether or not to prune this winter, or add compost in spring, and planting - support plants, shelter and fruit trees.
Kath Irvine
For paid subscribers
Worm farm FAQ’s
Successful worm farming is a numbers game. More worms = faster consumption of food scraps + warmer worm farm, which together = healthy farm. The road to more worms is to keep your farm in good health, so that worms breed prolifically.
Kath Irvine
Free!
How to Plant + Prune Deciduous Fruit Trees
Planting has a huge impact on tree health and productivity. And as for pruning - that first cut at planting is a once-in-a-tree-time opportunity for stone fruit and espalier - not all fruit trees need it!
Kath Irvine
For paid subscribers