How to Plant a Fruit Tree (Because Now Is the Best Time to Plant One!)

What could possibly be better than the chin-dripping, syrupy sweet organic peaches from your local farmers market?

Why, the ones growing in your own backyard of course.

While some fruit tree types prefer cooler climates, and some like it hot, there are lots of varieties of peach, nectarine, apple, apricot, cherry, pear and plum trees that are well suited to grow here  in Charlotte, which is in USDA cold hardiness zone 8a.

Already dreaming of plucking supple plums or cherries from the laden limbs drooping over your patio? November through March is the best time to plant fruit trees, so let’s get to it!

HOW TO PLANT A FRUIT TREE

As in real estate, location is important. Once you’ve selected an ideal place, well suited to the light requirements of the fruit tree variety you’ve chosen, and properly prepared the soil before planting, the tree won’t need much help after that to get established and grow to bear fruit.

But it is crucial to take the time in the beginning to get the tree off to a strong start.

Like most plants, fruit trees require fertile soil for good growth, and a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Hand held digital pH meters are an inexpensive, fast and accurate way to find out what you’re working with. You can also examine the established trees and plants around the site. If they look healthy, then you’re off to a good start. Avoid areas with heavy clay soils or soils with poor drainage.

-Trees are commonly sold and shipped bare root, which means that the roots are exposed. Soak the roots for an hour or two in a tub of water while you dig the hole, but never for more than six hours, and NEVER expose the roots to below freezing temperatures.

-Dig a hole about 2’ wide and about 2’ deep, saving the topsoil in a pile nearby.

-Mix garden compost, dehydrated cow manure, coco fiber, or peat moss into the pile of topsoil, adding about 1/3 the size of the original pile.

-Fill the hole, putting the topsoil back in first. You can avoid creating air pockets by working the soil carefully around the roots and tamping down firmly.

-Create a rim of soil around the edge of the hole about 2” from ground level. This will help collect water and allow it to soak into the soil.

-Water your tree with deep thorough soakings. Once the tree is established, you can add soil to fill the hole back up to ground level.

Ready to take on the ‘harvesting the fruit’ part yourself, but would rather leave the ‘planting the tree’ part up to the pros? We can help.  At Microfarm, we don’t sell the actual trees, we simply offer professional tree installation and maintenance. We highly recommend buying fruit trees, nut trees, and berry bushes from Stark Bros. Once you’ve selected the fruit, nut, or berry varieties you’d like to grow, we can happily plant, maintain, and prune them for you. Write hello@microfarmgardens.com or call 704.568.8841 with any questions, or to schedule your tree installation.

Mr. McGregor Finally Outsmarts Peter Rabbit

The term ‘electric fence’ can conjure up images of watchtowers, searchlights,  and concertina wire, but low voltage electric fencing has been used for a long time in agricultural applications, even as an effective tool for the backyard gardener to control common garden raiders like pets, squirrels, rabbits raccoons, and deer.

In a final chapter that Beatrix Potter never saw coming, Mr. McGregor finally used his opposable thumbs and superior intellect to create an affordable, easy to use solution to protect his prized vegetable garden:

Mr. McGregor’s Fence.

Mr. McGregor’s Fence is a 100% effective child safe, pet safe and wildlife safe solution to the frustrating problem of hungry wildlife that help themselves to your garden. The system features a simple design that combines an 18” high barrier fence, with an electric fence placed just inches outside it that zaps any critter that tries to climb over or dig under with a mild tingle. Mr. McGregor’s Garden Store sells electric fence kits, or the parts to make your own custom electric fence, and you can choose from AC, DC (Battery), or Solar powered fence energizer models.

Need to protect berries and fruit trees, or pond fish from marauding birds? Mr. McGregor’s Garden store also has garden and pond nets, as well as proven audio/video scare deterrents for birds including Big Eye Balloons and Tangle Foot Holographic Ribbon.  

If larger animals are the problem, they’ve got electric fence solutions for bears, horses and dogs, as well as fencing products and ultrasonic, taste, and smell deterrents for deer.

And when you need to call in the heavy artillery, there’s the Scarecrow ; a motion activated water cannon that sends a sharp, unexpected burst of water that sends animals scrambling for cover.

Microfarm can happily install a Mr.McGregor's Fence or any of the other deterrents available at Mr. McGregor's Garden Store. Write hello@microfarmgardens.com, or call 704.568.8841 to schedule your installation.

Microfarm Gift Certificates : Much Easier to Wrap Than a Greenhouse

Want to grow your own organic produce, but not sure which side is the business end of a spading fork? Longing for your own backyard chickens, but the only time you ever see your backyard in a few precious hours on Sunday? Maybe you want your kids to learn that carrots don't come prepackaged in bite sized little nubs, they actually grow in the ground. Or perhaps in the fast paced holiday excitement, someone on your list still isn't checked off. For all these reasons and more we offer gift certificates in any amount. Write hello@microfarmgardens.com to purchase one, and give a memorable gift that will never wind up buried in the closet.

Hen House With a View : The Combs Family's Lakefront Coop

The Combs family loves their chickens.  If you add up all the hens, roosters, pullets and cockerels there are well over a dozen of them scratching, pecking, and crowing around a large kids playhouse which has recently been moonlighting as a chicken coop.

“I thought we could build a separate coop area here”, smiles Susanne, pointing underneath the playhouse’s back deck. “ The coop area that we already have on the other side is starting to get a little crowded.”

The area underneath the deck measured about 6’x8’x 5’ high, and the existing framework was well suited for a coop for up to eight chickens.  The lakefront view wasn’t bad either

The first step was to determine the best location for the roost box and the human entry door, as these decisions have a huge impact on comfort of the birds, and ease of entering the coop for cleaning, feeding, etc. We went with an outward opening door at the lakeside corner of the deck, and built a roost box that ran along the opposite end of the deck.

The family had requested a window to give the chickens more sunlight, and the 18”x24” roost box window in that location will let hours of morning sunlight into the coop.

Once the layout was determined, the framework was installed. The budget for this project didn’t allow for cedar, but instead of using pressure treated pine, which isn’t a good choice for chicken coop construction because of possible health risks, we used untreated pine framing lumber, and applied Timber Pro’s Non Toxic Internal Wood Stabilizer, which safely seals the wood and gives it about the same lifespan as pressure treated pine.

We chose to make the roost box wall panels using ½” thick T1-11 siding with deep grooves on 4” centers. The walls were painted to match the existing color on the playhouse siding, and a door was framed and mounted.  We used galvanized roofing material placed at an angle between two of the deck’s floor joists to keep the roost box dry, and funnel rain water outside the coop where it can run down to the lake.

Because they have had issues with large predators like coyotes before, we wrapped the coop with ½” galvanized hardware cloth, which is much sturdier than hexagonal poultry netting.  To thwart any attempts by digging predators, we placed a skirt around the base of the coop, buried to a depth of about 8” and anchored underground with a layer of concrete.

Once finishing touches like the ladder, window, and egg door were finally in place, the Combs’ flock didn’t waste any time getting settled into their new home. With the rascally young cockerels pecking at our ankles, and crowing like horns in a traffic jam, it was time to skedaddle.   

Maybe all that crowing was a persistent suggestion to pack up out gear and leave them alone with their hens, or maybe it was just lots of thanks for their comfortable new home. Whatever the case, the chickens sure seemed happy in their new coop and they’ve got one heck of a lakefront view.

High Capacity Wooden Compost System Swallows Cute Plastic Composter

It’s the time of year again when plastic bags overstuffed with leaves start piling up in front of houses like sandbags around a bunker. Which is a shame, because even if you never grew a vegetable for the rest of your life, you could still convert  those leaves along with your coffee grinds, orange peels, and egg shells into a yard of the month award. 

Seriously, all that stuff can be used to make compost, which can improve the health of any plant on your property, even your lawn.  Don’t know how to make compost? Click here

Don’t know what a high capacity compost station is? Read on.

While the curiously expensive plastic composters hawked by garden catalogs are great for breaking down a few tablespoons of coffee grounds and a half a bag of grass clippings, the typical suburban homeowner will find herself with piles of other yard trash with no place to go. That’s why we suggest higher capacity, multiple compartment compost stations made out of wood, that can receive and process a more realistic amount of organic waste.

Because air exchange is crucial for the initial part of the decomposition process, a design with good ventilation is key.  Shipping pallets are great for building multi bin compost stations this because the spaces between the wood slats offer ready -made ventilation , and for the most part, pallets are simple to connect.  

We’ve made lots of pallet compost stations, some with a galvanized metal lid, and some without. Why the lid? Compost geeks out there can tell you that the anaerobic bacteria that complete the second part of the decomposition process can be killed if the compost heap becomes too wet ( i.e. gets flooded in a continuous rain ) Will the stuff not break down because the anaerobic bacteria drowned? No, of course not, it’ll just take longer.

Imagine you’ve got your compost skills dialed in, and your pile is steaming like a locomotive, and maxed out at a hand scalding 158 degrees. You’re taking pictures with your phone, and everything, when a rainstorm pops up and ruins the party.

That’s what the lid is for. It also looks nice. 

Another reason pallets are great is that they typically measure roughly 4’x4’, and when assembled, give each compartment the ideal amount of cubic area ; large enough so that the mass of the pile helps facilitate rapid decomposition, but small enough so that the material can be turned with a hand held tool like a spading fork. 

Pallets with hooks & eyes make great removable doors for the pallet compost station design.

Want something a little more elegant? We make a cedar version with hinged gates and galvanized hardware.

If you’re handy and patient, you could probably use these photos as a guide to make your own.

Not into wood splinters, working with razor sharp metal roofing,  or looking through a three story tall pile of pallets for a dozen pallets that are the exact same size?

We can help. Pallet or Cedar.  Put your plastic compost bin at the curb with your neighbor’s leaves, and   click here to get started