Going through the file box of old newsletters, I found this little gem Frances wrote, I think in 1998.  It is hard to imagine our farm without our beautiful orchard, but in this article Frances is telling us about the first steps taken creating it!

“During October and early November Nigel ad Martin worked on our new 10 acre orchard at the Sievers ranch.  They loosened the soil to 24” depth where the tree rows will be then made berms for the trees.  Planting trees on high berms, 2’6” keeps the tree roots out of wet soil and away from root rotting disease.  It also helps the soil around the roots warm up faster in the spring.  

Next, in the spaces between the berms they hired a seeding machine called a Brillion Seeder.  This works well for small seeds such as clovers and alfalfa.  The mix they used was New Zealand White Clover, Trefoil, perennial Rye grass, Fescue, Alfalfa, Assylum and Triticale.  The seeder is 14’ wide, one pass between berms was enough.  Now we have had some rains our ‘Green Carpet’ is emerging and looking very good.” — Frances