February 21, 2011

Pruning fruit trees

After spending a couple of days in Texas to visit La(Verne) last week, and a couple of days getting there and back, we are back home. It is good to leave the ranch from time to time, spend some time with family, and get out of the routine. It is invigorating, as well as fun because we get to eat out, which we don't get to do out here in the boonies.

We are having a springy day today, and I found the courage to tackle the fruit tree pruning. Last year was the first year in the ground for these trees, so no pruning was required, but they grew a lot over the summer. I also got two pear trees from Georgia that arrived quite tall, with their branches starting at 5 feet or so. In reading, I found out that I could trim these trees back to 12 inches to promote branching lower down, which will make fruit picking a lot easier. It took some courage, but trimmed they both were.


Dan meanwhile was nice enough to start tilling the garden beds that had manure spread on them, and I see pea planting in my future. Next week perhaps. It's great to be back outside in the dirt.

1 comment:

webb said...

Don't you just love the way it feels to start over every spring? it's a lot of work, but you learned so much from the past year(s) and have plans for change this year. It's one of the most invigorating things in life.... at least for me.

Welcome home!