Orchard Work Continues

This time of year it sure feels like we spend a whole lot of time out in our hazelnut orchards!  Last week during all the freezing weather, while we were flailing, we were also knocking trees over.  Which may seem strange, but it was time!final-18

Filbert or hazelnut trees need a certain amount of room to grow.  The sun needs to get down into the branches and those branches need to have room to stretch out in order for them to produce to their highest potential.  Our trees have been in a constant cycle of removal for about the past 8 years.  We have done it in cycles mostly because of the windows of opportunities that you get, when we have the labor, and also when we have the time to get this job accomplished.final-19

Well last week we took out the last trees that needed to be removed, and I can thankfully say, while this job isn’t over yet, it’s well on it’s way.  I’ll say here that one of the hardest things about tree removal is all mental.  When the prices are good for nuts you want to leave the trees in, knowing that for the first few years you will have a dramatic decrease in yield until the trees that remain can catch back up.  So more nuts, is more money.  But then when the prices are down you think, “Shoot I can’t take the trees out this year, we need all the nuts we can get because the price is so low.”  You see what I mean…it’s a battle.  So this year while harvesting we noticed that the yields were dropping in the areas we hadn’t thinned, the trees needed the room, it was time (no matter what the price!).  final-21

Here is a video of how the thinning was done.  We planted originally on a square grid of 18′ by 18′.  Then we thinned, or pushed over the trees on a diagonal.  Leaving a diamond pattern of 18′ by 36′.  This will give room for the tree branches to stretch, and the sun to get into the canopy.

Meanwhile we are also out pruning suckers that grow from the base of the tree, and pruning out blight.  Basically from the day we finish harvest in the fall until spring, there isn’t a day that we don’t have someone working out in those trees.

Next step will be pulling those trees out of the orchard, which is another blog post in itself. And hopefully not a too muddy of one. Who knows, maybe more freezing weather will help us get that job done with little mess too!

Flailing in the Freeze

The work around here never really ends, it just changes with the weather.  We always have jobs lined up for “Once the sun comes out”, “Once the rain stops”, “Once the water goes down”, or “Once the ground freezes.” Flailing the orchards was on the list for this week’s freezing weather, currently it’s in the 20’s here.  (And yes I know…that’s basically balmy when compared to the rest of the country).

When the leaves fall in our hazelnut orchards we try to find opportunities to get out there with the flail and break up the leaves.  Unfortunately once the leaves fall, not far behind is usually that famous Oregon rain.  We don’t want to rut up our orchard floors because of the mud, so our opportunity to go out and chop up the leaves is saved for either very dry weather or very cold weather. This year we didn’t get much dry, so we were looking froward to some cold.  And this week we got what we were looking for.final-17

So why bother flailing at all?  Well, flailing up the leaves helps them to break down faster, putting nutrients back into the soil.  It also acts as a mulch for our orchard floors.  It helps us too when we go to push brush out of the orchards from pruning.  If we try to push through all those leaves many times we just pull them out of the orchard with the branches.  When the leaf pieces are smaller they tend to fall back down and stay on the ground.  Good for us, good for the worms, good for the soil!final-14

We don’t always get the chance to do this project, but I can tell you being the one inside a tractor when it’s only 20 degrees is about the best job on the farm right now!final-13

Stay warm out there!! Happy Friday!

 

Making the Most of the Only Time I’ve Got, Hello 2017!

Every year my mom gets me a Mary Engelbreit calendar.  It’s one of those that you get to daily tear off a sheet and each day has some great little picture and quote.  I love it, mostly because some are hilarious, and some just fit with life as it comes at me.  Today as I tore into 2017 this is what January 2nd looked like…

“Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time you’ve got.”

I wanted to share this today because 2016 ended with some of the worst of times for our small town, losing a great friend and incredible man to a very tragic car accident.  I needed to read this today to remember that even in the worst of times you must use the time that you have to love on all those who are in your life.  Life can be short, unpredictable, wonderful and awful…so make the most of all of it.

I know that Rob did all of that and he loved life and his friends and family with all that he had.  He was a good husband and a great dad to an almost 2 year old little boy.  The fact that he was taken too soon can’t be denied, but what we do with his legacy, that is up to us from now on.

Rest in Peace Rob, cheers to your life and your love, I promise we won’t let it fade.  And for you 2016, thank you for all the good and for all the bad.  May 2017 bring what it will…

And in the words of one of my favorite writers,

“As we celebrate. As we grieve. As we kiss. As we rage. As we dance. As we continue on. As we say goodbye, we thank God that things also begin. If I’ve learned anything this year and any other year and especially this week with heaven gaining so many precious angels- it’s to tell the people you love that you love them, often.”

Truer words were never spoken Laney Brentano!

Please say a prayer for Rob’s family during this difficult and trying time.  And you find it in your heart, there is a GoFundMe site that has been set up for his wife and little guy.  Click here to learn more.

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