Yakima, WA – After months of snow and freezing temperatures, Domex Superfresh Growers® is excited that spring in finally here. Now that that the ground has thawed, the orchard team is busy catching up from the long winter. The first project on the menu is planting a new orchard with Autumn Glory® apple trees. The Superfresh team met with Dave Gleason, Chief Horticulturist, to learn more about the latest in the orchards.
“Planting trees is a magical experience,” Gleason passionately explains. “It doesn’t seem like there is any life to the tree; they look like dead sticks. But, with the right care, within a few weeks the trees come to life, growing buds, and then leaves. Within just a few years we will have full production. It is amazing to turn something lifeless into something everyone wants to eat.”
Gleason explains how the trees are grown in a nursery for two years. The fall before spring planting, the trees are dug out of the ground, roots cleaned, and the dirt is shaken off. The trees are then stored in rooms where temperature and humidity are controlled.
The Autumn Glory trees have been grafted onto a rootstock with characteristics that will create a smaller, shorter and more productive tree. This will be ideal for the high-density orchards that Superfresh Growers is planting. “In the old days, trees would be planted 20 feet apart, in 20 foot rows, and it would take 15 years for trees to grow big enough to produce the same acreage yield that we can now produce in three to four years. We now plant about 2000 trees per acre, two feet apart, with 12 foot spread between each row,” Gleason explains.
This new system is much easier on the pickers and pruners who tend to the orchard. Superfresh Growers is working toward minimizing ladder usage in the orchard, these high density orchards are easier to reach the fruit by ground, or by a platform. By moving the rows closer together, around 12 feet apart, the platform is able to roll down the orchard slowly, with pickers on either side. Attached with a harness, the pickers are able to safely tend to the trees at a more efficient rate. Additionally, this orchard will be optimized for automated harvesters, which are right around the corner.
The orchard crew that joined Gleason last week worked professionally and efficiently. As a team, they worked fluidly with the planting tractor, ensuring each tree was planted straight, deep enough, and with the most access to sunlight.
Source: Domex Superfresh Growers
