Seed Orchard Planting #1
The first of several seed plantings at our chapter’s first seed orchard site! Thanks to the South Kingstown Land Trust, the URI Master Gardeners, the board of MA/RI-TACF, and the great staff at TACF.
- 5/19/12 Prepared rows – landscape fabric
- The gang is here to plant 330 seeds in our first two Clapper
- Soil under the fabric was plowed earlier
- The deer fence gate is large enough to drive
- Starting cuts in cloth, finishing irrigation setup
- Making the planting mix: perlite, peat, pine forest soil
- Cutting holes in landscape fabric, then using bulb
- The solar-powered irrigation system is in background
- Mixing more planting mix
- Don Wulffe
- Irrigation system connections
- Irrigation system and water tank
- Don Wulffe and Master Gardeners completing
- Irrigation hose arrangement to each tube
- Gordon Jones places the randomized Chinese controls
- Carefully arranging the shelters
- Many hands make light work
- Removing the soil plugs
- Placed ‘miracle tubes’
- Tubes will help keep voles away; sunk 2” down
- Rudi placing tree tubes
- Gordon Jones, Engineering Mastermind
- Gordon checks the map
- In the homestretch! The Tower Hill side
- Placing planting mix in tubes
- Rudi brings planting mix to “top-dress” nuts lightly
- Nut inside 12″ ‘Miracle Tube’ shelter w/bamboo on lower rt
- Nuts were then covered lightly w planting mix
- Watering the planting
- The Tower Hill planting side
- More watering
- Watering complete! Rain in forecast
- Winding down
- The completed planting!
- Wayland nuts in foreground, Tower Hill in background
- Volunteers enjoy picnic afterwards
- Rudi Hempe enjoys the delicious watermelon
- Nanking BC3 orchard
- Nanking BC3s are 2 yrs old; Chinese controls 3 yrs old