Orchard - 2007

As part of our backyard garden design, we decided to create an Orchard and food forest along the back wall.

Here are photos of the Orchard:

View of the original backlot wall, with lava rock gravel and sectioned brick areas. Two Cherry Trees were already there, so we decided to keep them and build an Orchard in that area.

The biggest problem was removing all the lava rock, beneath which was plastic and then nothing but desert hard-pan dirt.We needed to do some serious mulching to prepare the soil...

The removal of straight brick trim and creating a natural edge. For the orchard, we decided to use rocks for edging.		Sheet mulching. Through our work with farm animals, we are lucky to have endless access to straw with sheep and chicken manure, which we put directly on the lawn, then covered with cardboard and newspaper, then a layer of compost, grass or leaf clippings and straw.
Sheet mulched area - in left corner you can see next section of lava rocks to be removed and then mulched.		Further mulching in progress, Fall '06.
An early Spring '07 shot of the orchard, fully mulched.		Once the beds had a few months to work, we were ready to begin planting other fruit trees and berries.

As this was the first year, we didn't expect fruit, instead we concentrated on building soil
and attracting wildlife.

Start to Finish:

Mulched and newly planted trees and berries.		The result: a wonderful mix of plants and cover crop. Cover crop such as clover, vetch and sweet pea help build the soil and bring in bees and hoverflies.

Before and After:

Shots from February and July, 2007...

This year we are re-mulching and re-planting the Orchard, with a stronger path through our growing forest garden.