To wrap up my spring break, I spent the day with Frank, Melanie, & Bryce, learning about their orchard and attending a tomato grafting workshop at the Kansas State University- Olathe Research station.
1. Here are some of the younger peach trees. Notice the red tint? Those are the branches that will produce peaches this year! Each of these tiny branches will set about 20 fruit, which will need to be thinned to 3 or 4 so the weight of the peaches doesn’t break the branches.
2.Here are the strawberries- a new crop for the orchard this year. The strawberries are planted in the fall and grow, then are covered for the winter months with large sheets of white plastic. Here, the rows have just been uncovered and are ready for sunshine! The fence surrounding the rows are to keep the deer from stealing the crop. The plastic fabric around the plants will keep the fruit from sitting directly on the soil which can cause rot.
3. Dr. Cary Givard tells us about the healing chambers used for grafted tomato plants at the KSU Olathe Research station. Tomatoes are grafted to promote disease resistance, increase yields, and create stronger plants with a sturdy root system and high yield scion (upper part of the plant.)
This summer, I will be working at Gieringer’s Orchard, learning about peach, blackberry, plum, sweet corn, and tomato production, as well as how they work as a local business. I am so excited to finally put my studies to use! Frank told me they try to do at least one new thing every year to always keep growing. These are my kind of people! :)
To learn more about them, check out their website: www.gieringersorchard.com or their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/GieringersOrchard
No comments:
Post a Comment