Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Fox, Dan" <foxd@sunyocc.edu>]

Hi Harvey, Paul and everyone else,

 

Our Romney flock will chew some bark off a tree here and there, if they have a mind to, which isn’t too often. They seem to prefer young trees no more than 4” in diameter. Ours have gone after white pine and spruce, eating both the bark and the finer branches, along with the needles. I protect young apple trees with cattle panels bent in a circle around the tree, tied to a single stake with baling twine. I have two orchards of “teenage” trees that I am planning to move the sheep into soon, and I intend to protect the trees with wooden hurdles similar to ones that I use for penning tasks, but shortened a bit.  I have seen sheep in a mature orchard with no fencing around the trees at all. Considering the time and care it takes to plant and nurture a nice orchard, I think I would at least protect the trunks with hardware cloth or chicken wire. That’s probably all that would be necessary. I prefer the hurdles because they don’t provide a possible borer habitat that the close-to -the-trunk wire would. Borers have killed some of my trees despite my best efforts.

 

Other than that, I think that sheep and orchards are a great pairing for many reasons.

 

I don’t have your book yet Harvey but its high on my list!

 

Dan Fox

Fabius NY

 

From: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Harvey Ussery
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 7:56 PM
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
Subject: [Livingontheland] Sheep and orchard trees

 

I'm preparing for another printing of my book, sending a few minor needed corrections to my publisher. I've read in a number of sources that a good "stacking" strategy is: graze sheep in orchard to take advantage of the grass ground cover between the fruit trees.

Here's a statement as currently printed in my book (in a section on "Stacking Species"):

"Use sheep to mow your orchard (unlike goats, they won't chew off the bark), then follow with chickens to clean up dropped fruit and any parasites in the sheep manure."

Barry Koffler of feathersite.com advised me to correct that--he says that in his experience sheep will also chew bark off orchard trees.

Anybody out there with sheep: Have you found them to be compatible with orchard trees?

Thanks if you can help me out.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Virginia
www.themodernhomestead.us

My book The Small-Scale Poultry Flock was recently published by Chelsea Green. Check it out at
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_smallscale_poultry_flock:paperback