Resources for home orchardists
Apples were brought to North America by colonists in the 17th century. In 1625, Reverend William Blaxton planted the first apple orchard in New England.
Michigan’s tradition of commercial fruit orchards is as longstanding. Fruit stands, farmers markets and grocery stores are full of Michigan-grown apples, cherries, peaches, and pears, among other tree fruits.
According to the Michigan Ag Council, there are more than 11.3 million apple trees in commercial production in Michigan, covering 35,500 acres on 825 family-run farms. There are also hundreds of acres of abandoned orchards turned wild across Michigan backyards, roadsides and nature conservancies.
While we’ve been growing grapes for many years, we are incidental orchardists. We began our apple-growing journey when we bought the home farm, 50 rolling acres well-suited to growing grape vines with 5 acres of 50-year-old apple trees we are rehabilitating and will be using in Folklor ciders.
We are approaching our rehabilitation project in a slow multi-year process.
First, we are clearing away any dead or diseased branches. These are easily-identifiable dry, brittle and broken branches.
Next we are making a couple of big cuts to open up the canopy to increase airflow and sunlight penetration. This reduces disease pressure and helps with bud development.
Finally, we are selectively topping large limbs to encourage limbs to grow and fill in below.
You can follow our orchard rehabilitation project on Instagram.
Some of our favorite orcharding resources include:
The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way by Michael Phillips
Pruning Demonstration with the Heritage Apple Conservancy
Training and Pruning Apple Trees Guide by C.G. Forshey, Cornell University Extension
The New Cider Maker's Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur
Pruning Apple Trees by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chemung County
Mike Biltonen’s Know Your Roots Biodynamic Orcharding Newsletter
Apples of Uncommon Character by Rowan Jacobsen
Tree nurseries are a great resource too!
If you are planting new trees from scratch, remember that it will take 2 to 3 years for trees to bear fruit. To learn about apple varieties and stock availability, visit a nursery such as:
