Category Apple Orchard

Here on the farm, me and Brent collaborate each year on ways to grow and expand our produce production. Over the past couple years, we planted two apple trees closer to our house that were an old-fashioned type, which were given to me from my sister. Those two trees triggered our new adventure idea for this year, which would be to start an apple orchard. My Dad had apple trees for a few years that my sister and I loved helping with. He learned how to grow them from talking to different people who had trees. The knowledge I gained through Dad has been unbelievably valuable. With that and our own research, we started our orchard.

Plans for Our Apples

In any new project, it is important to have a vision. Use that vision to establish and obtain your goals. Our goals for the orchard include the following:

• Fresh consumption
• Canning
• Dehydrating
• Making fresh cider from the variety of apples (personal favorite!)
• Selling to customers

Apple Tree Supplier

In the beginning of the process, it is a good idea to establish a relationship with suppliers. Our supplier, Rusty Mangrum Nursery in McMinnville, TN, grows a large variety of apple trees. We previously purchased blueberries from Rusty and decided to also buy our trees from him for our orchard. This year, we decided 18 would be a good number to start with. The trees were purchased in mid-March and planted a couple weeks later. Additionally, in December, we plan to plant more trees. This advice, to plant in the winter, was given to us by our supplier. Planting in winter allows the trees time to absorb all of the winter moisture, increasing their growth in the the spring.

Orchard Locations and Lot Dimensions

The area we cleared for the apple orchard is located on the southeast side of the farm. After that, a designated part of our field was cleared and mowed that would allow for 18 apple trees. We started with two rows, the first has twelve trees and the other has six. The space between the rows is approximately 23 feet while the space between the trees is 15 feet and 7 inches. Since we planted in a slight diagonal path, the row distance varied between 21-23 feet. However, this leaves plenty of room to drive a vehicle between or any kind of ATV.

Types of Apple Trees We Planted

We planted three trees of each of the following types: Arkansas Black, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, and Winesap. Later this year, we plan to add Granny Smith to the orchard. Pictured below, you can see the trees growing, flowering, and budding.

Follow along each week with updates from around the farm as our journey continues.

I cannot wait!