We Move the Peach Orchard

The biodynamic calendar said that this was a "specially good" fruit day, so we have planned for a few weeks to transplant as many of our peaches as we could.

Phil had plowed swales a few weeks ago, but started this morning replowing. That went shockingly well: the ground was dry enough to easily work, and he quickly cut most of them. The bolt broke with about thirty feet to go, but that wasn't worth the time to fix it. So we were off!

Phil dug up the first few varieties. I had made notes of which trees were in the ground, and checked each tree to see if it was damaged. Thus, each row was to be an orderly single variety or two. Isaiah dug the holes in the new location, while Phil and I placed the trees and shoveled the dirt back on them.

And the transplanting went so well! Today was warm but overcast, absolutely ideal for transplanting trees. Roots do badly in direct sunlight, so the lack of sun was a definite boon. Especially because some of the peach tree roots were ridiculously large—it was impossible to fit them in a bucket for moisture and protection.

To say that we are pleased with the new layout is a definite understatement. I think it fits the land, aesthetically and emotionally, so much better. Phil is thrilled with the improved access. He can drive the tractor down the rows, and turn at the ends, without feeling tippy. Future spraying, future mulching, future harvesting: it's all much more reasonable now.

We had finished twelve trees when we stopped for a late lunch (every tree was large, and Isaiah was sometimes digging holes to China, which required a LOT of backfilling). We did seven more and then Phil and I discussed what to do. The cloud cover had continued to gather, but we had probably another hour before the light completely failed. We decided to do nine more peach trees that were hard to access in inclement weather, leaving a few more along the driveway for the future.

Phil dug a tree, I carried it to its new spot. Again and again. After about the fourth tree, I realized that we had a problem: one more tree than expected! So we did ten trees.

Isaiah was such an expert by this point, he would look at the position and rootball on the tree, often dig a single scoop, let me set the tree, and then dump out the bucket of dirt. This left very little shoveling, and meant that we completed the task as dark fell. Twenty-nine large peach trees transplanted.

Back in the house, I realized I had misread my diagram notes, and thus every row (except the top) has a tree that belongs to a different row. It made me laugh ruefully. So much for my perfect planting.

But it's okay. I'm learning to be okay with myself when I make a blooper.