The Solstice PPatch Orchard was not part of the original garden design and has never been a “planned”  orchard. Instead, it has been a happy accident of sorts with donated trees to kick it off and with other donations from gardeners over time so that it has grown into a thriving orchard with

 

Apple Trees

The four large apple trees, which were planted in 2004, were donated by a nursery that had lost the tags. So, we don’t know what varieties they are but we suspect we have Macoun and Liberty on some of the trees. The apples are great for cooking or eating out of hand if you like them on the tart side. There is a very small dwarf apple with three varieties on it that I donated several years ago. We're not sure of the varieties – but we think Akane and Liberty at least. It must be permanently staked because it has such a small root system.  

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Our orchard lead has been grafting different, sweeter varieties onto the large trees over the last several years. Some of the grafts have started to produce a few apples: Hudson’s Golden Gem, and Ashmead’s Kernel. Other varieties that have been grafted are: Melrose, Silken, Ginger Gold, and Karmin de Sonneville.

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Three young apple trees were planted more recently: two are trees believed to be Akane that were planted by Karen Lyons. The grafts for these trees came from a very old tree on Beacon Hill believed to have been planted by early Japanese immigrants. Because the tree had to be removed for development, the “scion wood” was saved for grafting on to new rootstocks in order to create new trees of this variety, some for replanting at the community orchard at the Amy Yee Tennis Center. The third young apple is a Hudson’s Golden Gem that was grafted on to a semi-dwarf rootstock.  

 

Plum Trees

The two red plum trees are the Asian “Hollywood” variety that were donated by one of the gardeners – Mardi Clements. These are early dark red plums that bloom in February or March, depending on weather. Because they are so early, some years they don’t get pollinated enough to produce fruit, but when they do produce the plums are large and very sweet. The third plum tree is a young Italian prune plum (behind the new grape trellis).  It was donated by the Pike Place Market Garden when it became too large for its pot.  It is just starting to produce plums.

 

Pear Trees

There are two young pear trees, also donated by the Pike Market Garden. One is a Bartlett and the other a Bosc.

They have started to produce a few pears, but last year the Bartlett was plagued by pear rust which reduced its yield.  

Grapes

A red, seeded grape, similar to a Concord grape grows on the trellis near the upper picnic table area.  The trellis was made by P-Patch gardener John Niedoborski.

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Two new seedless white grapes were planted two years ago behind the compost bins and are not yet producing.  One is an English Suffolk (donated by a gentleman who likes to visit the garden). The other, that I grew from a cutting of a grapevine I liked a lot, is maybe “Interlaken”.  Whatever it is it will eventually produce very sweet smallish round golden green fruit.

 

Pest Control in the Orchard

We practice organic methods for pest control. Our biggest problems on the apples are Codling Moth and Apple Maggot (stay tuned for more information about these pests).  

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Methods we use to control these pests include: netting the trees, covering each apple with a nylon “sock” or “bootie” (formally called “apple maggot covers”) and spraying with a non-toxic clay mixture which fools the moths and flies so that the flies and moths won’t lay their eggs on the fruit. (stay tuned for more information).

 

Tasks in the Orchard 

When the trees bloom in the spring and when the fruit starts to form we thin the fruit. This means snipping off the fruitlets to leave only two apples per cluster. This needs to be done to get healthier, larger apples.  It is non-strenuous work but admittedly a bit tedious.

 

Shortly after finishing that task, we net three of the large trees and apply booties to one of the large trees and the dwarf tree. Netting requires help from 4-5 volunteers to lay out the nets, lift them up and over the trees using bamboo poles, propping with bamboo poles and then fasting the open edges to keep the bugs out. Applying the booties is also non-strenuous, but time-consuming work.