Cutting brush

One advantage of having the orchard longer in the east-west direction is that it is less affected by shade.

I got permission from the person who owns the land where our hunting lease is to put in a 1/4 acre orchard.

The dirt-colored double line is the two-track that passes through the hunting lease.

Elevation lines are every 2 ft.

Area outlined in yellow is approximately where the orchard will go.

Blue ovals are areas that will be shaded for part of the day and the fruit trees will have to compete with forest trees for moisture and nutrients. Oval on the east (right) must contend with Black Walnut trees, so those will be American Persimmons.

Some Before/After Pictures

Some ash trees dropped across the two-track

This area was chosen for the orchard because there is not that much brush to clear. Unfortunately, that mean the soil is poor. This shot was from the southeast corner looking north.

Fruit trees are pigs for sunlight. No sunlight equals no fruit.

This shot is looking west up the two-track.

I was working to a schedule and only cut for about forty minutes. Still, it was long enough for my hands to get cold!