3R Home and Barn Project

[thunderworks]

Originally Posted by rox

Looking good Rob, looking good. As we grow almonds over here for a cash summer crop I have done quite a bit of research on them. Please let Loretta knwo that she will have better success with almonds if she plants two different varietals tha pollinate each other. If oyu plant allt he same type of almond tree you won't get very many almonds.

The pollination issue is common. Many varieties of Pomme fruits (apples, pears etc.) will not self pollinate well. It's usually recommended to plant several varieties of fruits to assist with the pollination. I have 4 different varieties of apples in my small orchard.

[3RRL]

OK thanks for information,
I will pass it along to Loretta. She was telling me that only the pears she got needed 2 trees to pollinate. The others are supposed to be self pollinating?

[thunderworks]

Rob,

You might find it helpful to get Loretta a book titled:

"The Backyard Orchardist", but Stella Otto. It's a fantastic source of information for the small orchard grower . . . Gives info on which varieties self pollinate, which don't. Really a useful book.

R.

[MtnViewRanch]

Originally Posted by 3RRL

We will have several apples, pears, lemons, oranges, cherries, almonds and a pomegranate tree.

Rob, I don't think that the citrus is going to make it at your place. Or are you guys putting in a green house for them?

Good luck

[3RRL]

Originally Posted by MtnViewRanch

Rob, I don't think that the citrus is going to make it at your place. Or are you guys putting in a green house for them?

Good luck

Brian, I'm pretty sure they'll be OK.
My neighbor is growing them pus, did you see all the citrus orchards on the way to the house? They are all oranges, lemons, grapefruit and there must be millions of trees up the 65 and 198.
We are worried about the cherries not growing up here?
Rob-

[MtnViewRanch]

Rob, I didn't think that it snowed on the groves down from you, does it? The trees won't make it were it snows, are you going to use smudge pots, fans to keep the air moving. I know that it isn't that cold at your place that often, but I think that it is cold enough, often enough that the citrus isn't going to make it. I hope that I am wrong. I don't know anything about cherry trees, aren't they deciduous? How long has your neighbor had them, do they produce?

[3RRL]

Thanks for your concern Brian.
I don't know anything about cherry trees either other than George Washington cut one down.
I know they grow them in your area around Julian. That area might be a similar climate to what we have year round here. The neighbor has orange and lemon trees which produced every year so far as I know. And you're right that it doesn't snow down on the 198 at the lower elevation (perhaps rarely?). We don't plan on smudge pots or fans so we'll just have to see what happens I guess.

One of our projects coming up will be to run irrigation on that garden area.
We're thinking of gravity irrigation using our 5,500 gallon water storage tank for that. For the garden plants, any ideas for terracing, dams or dikes to do something like that will be appreciated. We have seen crop rows where they flood rows between the plants. That's what we want to do in our garden of peas, tomatoes, corn etc. It's a small garden.
The fruit trees will have a circle around them to fill up with water.
There are only 10 of them total.
How often and how much should we water?

[charlz]

Flood irrigation takes a lot of water, I prefer drip in the garden. I have 4' wide raised beds. For closely spaced crops I make a 'header' and run multiple drip pipes down the bed. For widely spaced/single row crops I run one drip pipe down the bed and plant on the emitter.

[MtnViewRanch]

Originally Posted by 3RRL

Thanks for your concern Brian.
I don't know anything about cherry trees either other than George Washington cut one down.
I know they grow them in your area around Julian. That area might be a similar climate to what we have year round here. The neighbor has orange and lemon trees which produced every year so far as I know. And you're right that it doesn't snow down on the 198 at the lower elevation (perhaps rarely?). We don't plan on smudge pots or fans so we'll just have to see what happens I guess.

One of our projects coming up will be to run irrigation on that garden area.
We're thinking of gravity irrigation using our 5,500 gallon water storage tank for that. For the garden plants, any ideas for terracing, dams or dikes to do something like that will be appreciated. We have seen crop rows where they flood rows between the plants. That's what we want to do in our garden of peas, tomatoes, corn etc. It's a small garden.
The fruit trees will have a circle around them to fill up with water.
There are only 10 of them total.
How often and how much should we water?

Rob, sounds like we are learning something here. If your neighbor has had them for awhile and they are making it, that is great. Mark and I have seen many citrus trees die due to frost, I was thinking that no way would they survive any snow, but then again it does not really have to be all that cold to snow. We just hate to see you put a bunch of work into them just to have them die in a more severe winter.

As far as your garden, I cannot really help there. As far as the orchard, I can tell you that with the trees that I planted awhile back, I was able to cut down how often I watered by more than half just by putting about 8" of mulch in the watering troughs. Just another reason for you guys to have and use that chipper. Different times of the year are obviously going to dictate how often you will need to water.

I asked Mark about the cherry trees and he laughed, said that the cold wouldn't be a problem. Might be coming up your way later in April, won't know for sure for a few more weeks.

[firefighter9208]

Originally Posted by 3RRL

Thanks for your concern Brian.
I don't know anything about cherry trees either other than George Washington cut one down.
I know they grow them in your area around Julian. That area might be a similar climate to what we have year round here. The neighbor has orange and lemon trees which produced every year so far as I know. And you're right that it doesn't snow down on the 198 at the lower elevation (perhaps rarely?). We don't plan on smudge pots or fans so we'll just have to see what happens I guess.

One of our projects coming up will be to run irrigation on that garden area.
We're thinking of gravity irrigation using our 5,500 gallon water storage tank for that. For the garden plants, any ideas for terracing, dams or dikes to do something like that will be appreciated. We have seen crop rows where they flood rows between the plants. That's what we want to do in our garden of peas, tomatoes, corn etc. It's a small garden.
The fruit trees will have a circle around them to fill up with water.
There are only 10 of them total.
How often and how much should we water?

Rob,

This is what the vegetable growers around here use. Dripworks - T-Tape (Drip tape) For Drip Irrigation . It would work great with a gravity system and is very easy to install. I used it last year under my pumpkins. After planting the plants and letting them get established I placed the tape in a shallow trench (dug with a hoe) in the furrow beside the plants. I then pulled dirt in on top of the tape. It's relatively inexpensive ( $175.00 for a 6000' roll at the co-op) The ends that you attach to a water hose are re-usable and the pressure is so low that you just tie a knot in the other end of the pipe ( at the end of the row) and cover with dirt. Here is a link to the ends: Dripworks - T-Tape Fittings for Row Crop Drip Irrigation . They just hand tighten.

The hardest part is finding a water pressure regulator that will go down to 5-10 psi. Most that you buy at home depot etc... only go down to 35 or 40 psi. I had to go to a farm supply house to get a 0-25 psi regulator. Here is a link to one, but I found mine much cheaper. Watts Small Water Pressure Regulator 26A, 3/8" (0103197) - PlumberSurplus.com . Oh yeah, make sure you get a guage that goes up to about 50 psi or you will blow up the guage when you turn on the water without any of the hoses flowing.

Basically I made a system with a regulator and then hooked the regulator to one a brass 4 way valve ($15.00 at Walmart) and then used short hoses to run to each row. I could water 4 rows at a time. I bought the 10 hose remnants at Wal-Mart for about $5.00 each.

The best way to lay the hose is to stretch it out and put on the ends. When you get 4 rows done attach it to the water supply and fill the hoses. This will make them straighten out. Then I cut off the water and cover up the hose before the water all drips out.

The greatest thing about this type of hose is that it won't clog like a soaker hose.

I think I ended up with about $100.00 in my whole regulator set-up. My grandfather gave me enough of the t-tape to do my 1/4 acre pumpkin patch.

If you want I can take a picture of my regulator set-up this afternoon and post it for you.

Sorry to be so long winded.


Hey, I just noticed that the placed I quoted in my links is located in California.
Chris
Hill Farm Boer Goats