North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["fuwa fuwa usagi" <fuwafuwausagi@muchomail.com>]

Preface:

So the fluffy one is strongly kicking the tires on establishing a small 
commercial orchard.   As a result I likely shall be inundating the list with 
asinine questions that only a rabbit who does not know his fluffy little tail 
for a hole in the ground can do. 
  
Question #1:

Does anyone have any studies that show the yield for espalier orchard 
systems, I am thinking in particular about 3 to 4 tier horizontal cordons 
(i.e. 6-8 arms)?  In general my reference point are apple yields. 

Additional information related to the question: 

I have been looking strongly at the New Tall Spindle system for apples and 
really like it, but I am deeply concerned about the ultimate height and one 
of goals is to have a truly pedestrian orchard (for one I am deathly afraid 
of height, I get on a kitchen chair and I get nervous, couple that with age 
and deteriorating knees, it seems to me pedestrian is the way to go.  Also on 
the limited acreage I am considering I don’t think I could manage the cost of 
a self-steer platform). 
Hence I started thinking of horizontal espalier.  Since I will be managing 
the pruning myself, the skill factor is not as much of a concern as it 
typically would be in an orchard.    My instincts tell me this is a bad idea, 
as the French would not have started looking at fruiting walls etc if the 
yields were acceptable. But I am very open to people's experience. 

Kindest regards to all,

The fluffy one




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