Market Farming

[Chrys Ostrander <chrys AT thefutureisorganic.net>]

Mark,

Mulch is an excellent treatment for fruit trees (and most other 
growing things).

Yes, you should pull the mulch back 6 to 8 inches away from the base 
of the tree and protect the base from winter rodent knawings by 
wrapping the base of the seedling with metal window screen.

Chrys

At 08:42 AM 11/19/2008, you wrote:
> A few weeks ago, I put in a small peach orchard - 22 trees.  To 
> shave off a year or so from the time before the first harvest, I 
> planted 5 gallon potted trees - yes, it did cost more, but felt it 
> was worth it this time.  Bare root will be used for further expansion.
>
> When planting, close attention was paid to where the ground level 
> met the base of the trees, but I'm not sure about putting mulch 
> around them.  Should I pull the mulch back away from the base of the 
> trees, or is it ok to leave it?  The mulch I'm using is wood chips 
> and is between 6 and 8 inches deep.
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
> TxBeeFarmer (Mark)
> West Texas Zone 7b
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This message originated from or was forwarded by:
Chrys Ostrander
Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy
Organic Micro-permaculture
33495 Mill Canyon Rd.
Davenport, WA 99122
509-725-0610
chrys AT thefutureisorganic.net
http://www.thefutureisorganic.net

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