It was with great trepidation I pulled off the “gopher guards” installed last Fall to see if there was any damage. This was a two person job, done with caution so as not to scratch the young tree’s bark. With great rejoicing and thanks to God, not one tree was harmed – by either us or the evil voles! Father found a clever storage solution for the black drainage pipes that had been cut to match the height of each trunk – the handy dandy post we’d installed next to each tree. At this time we also did some weeding, and reshaping of the bowls around the base of each tree. Currently, we are still hand watering. Someday there may be a watering system… ~cue dreamy music~
Here in Zone 5b, the first day safe to spray my homemade dormant oil was in the beginning of April – it stayed above 40 degrees for 12 hours, and didn’t rain or snow! We made our own batch from a recipe using dish soap, canola oil, baking soda, and warm water. I was spraying particularly for red blister mites that had afflicted my Red D’Anjou Pear last year. My research declared it is best sprayed while dormant, when the little buggers are tucked away in the little leaf buds for the winter. The oil coats their breathing holes, and they suffocate – hopefully! We had trusty little helpers for this task.
After killing 4 apricot trees I want to pass along some life-saving information: NEVER PRUNE APRICOTS IN SPRING!!! They are susceptible to a bacterial canker, or worse, die back. So, with this costly lesson behind me, I set out to prune everything else. This is the third year for some of my trees, so pruning was minimal for them. The newer ones are still being shaped for wide open centers, and low limbs for easy picking. Our property came with three unruly, uncared for old trees that have been carefully restored. The pear even recovered from fire blight which pleases me greatly.
One of my favorite spring tricks to bring color into the house is to collect the young branches from pruning that are about to flower, and bring them inside. Put them in a vase, or jar with water, and in a few days you can “force” the bloom, and enjoy them for about a week!
Now we have the glorious task of watching the trees grow! The blossoms have come and gone. Tiny fruits have set on the branches. The kids mowed the long paths between trees, and I carefully weed-whacked around the bowls, taking care not to touch the bark lest I girdle the tree, and kill them as effectively as the voles! Ann has begun the rewarding task of trapping gophers (who claimed my poor Italian Prune!).
Leviticus gives the standard to not keep the fruit for the first three years. Many orchards and nurseries agree that the first three years the flowers or fruit should be pinched off to promote tree growth. This is the first year that we get to let some of the trees keep their fruit. Already their little boughs are bending beneath their ambitious productivity. Methodically I pinch off any misshapen fruits, any too closely clumped, any growing on too tender a twig. I can’t work in the orchard without being reminded of its similarity to our role as parents. It is our hope that our children grow to lead fruitful lives! We applaud their youthful attempts to mimic Daddy and Mommy’s work. We introduce new responsibilities to broaden their shoulders. We are also keenly aware of the danger of too much weight! How careful we are to remove extra burdens, to prevent what might lead to damage and decay. Just as with the orchard, we weed, water, nourish, protect, then someday, Lord willing, we enjoy the fruit! It is our opportunity to mimic our Heavenly Father!
How often God speaks in agrarian terms in His Word, even calling Himself “the husbandman” – A farmer; a cultivator or tiller of the ground. In His parable in Luke 13, we even get some orchard advice from the Creator!
“He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”
Jesus said in John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” What a good husbandman!
There is a wonderful reward for this work we’ve been given! Wether we’ve been called to be homesteaders or parents, we can take heart in Paul’s encouragement to faithfulness to Timothy. 2 Timothy 2:6 says, “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”
So as we work the soil, tend the trees, and labor in our parenting, remember, that we are about our Father’s business! It is a holy work with a rich reward – keep on keeping on.
~ Mother
Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Rosehaven Homestead 
Leave a comment