by Erin Schneider, Hilltop Community Farm;

1 Getting Started with a Small-Scale Mixed Orchard - an overview at Hilltop Community Farm by Erin Schneider, Hilltop Community Farm; www.hilltopcomm...
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Getting Started with a Small-Scale Mixed Orchard - an overview at Hilltop Community Farm by Erin Schneider, Hilltop Community Farm; www.hilltopcommunityfarm.org Overview: Woody fruit crops, because of their perennial nature, are potentially appealing to both farmers and conservationists since they do not involve the annual soil disruptions of tillage and cultivation. However, apple and other tree fruit growers in the Midwest face a variety of insect pests and diseases that are big challenges for organic production. A grower of a single type of tree fruit is also more vulnerable in years of bad weather or a low crop price. Profitable production for the organic grower is therefore often a challenge. Undertaking an orchard project will involve a variety of factors and considerations before you plant. Key among these will be marketing and site selection, but also understanding: plant communities; soil fertility; insect, weed, and disease management; fruit thinning and harvesting; record keeping; and your own capacity to care for an ecosystem. Our biggest challenges so far have included budgeting for start up costs, managing cool season perennial grasses, learning equipment needs, and developing an effective orchard understory and groundcover. Getting Started: We are a small-scale diversified CSA (community supported agriculture) farm located in La Valle, WI. In 2009 we began to plant our dream of growing fruit and building community, transitioning an acre of land to include more fruit crops. We also already had a community of apples, pears, raspberries, and hardy kiwi on our farm and we wanted to meet some new fruit neighbors. Using a combination of agriculture and forestry practices we set out to assess the sustainability of growing eight uncommon yet marketable fruit crops: Russian Quince, European black, white and red currant, Saskaton, Seaberry, and American Elderberry. These species are high yielding, environmentally friendly, exceptionally nutritious, and exhibit strong potential for organic production. Their widespread adoption could lead to increased economic viability for small farms and greater food security for our region. Currently we working with other farmers in the region to explore the best direct market options and pricing of small berry crops such as honeyberry, saskatoon, currants, and elderberries. Going Further Public participation, education and co-creation is a significant part of our farm and fruit adventures. Our approach to growing our orchard has been to engage, invite, involve and get feedback from other growers, our CSA members, friends, families, networks in helping us develop products, markets, and ideas for our fruits. We provide outreach opportunities and educational resources through field days, workshops, and grower to grower exchanges. Long term it is our goal to develop markets for our fruit, through CSA and direct sales to artisan food processors and have our farm be a place of learning, relaxation, and exchange. Forest Gardens as our Orchard Design Tool: Diverse Fruits interplanted in existing or new orchards make use of different nutrients in the soil profile, add to a farm’s complexity to help mitigate pests and support habitat for beneficial insects/ pollinators, and lead to more resilient production and greater income stability. A key innovation in our orchard is the use of forest garden guilds as a design tool. A forest garden guild is a perennial polyculture of multi-purpose plants that partition resources and create networks of mutual support. A forest garden is not a new idea but an idea whose time has come. We can consciously mimic and apply principles of plant community function and structure to our farms and gardens and grow our own food, fiber, fuel, fodder, farm-a-cueticals, fertilizer, and fun. Forest gardens have much to offer on a practical level, and they have much to teach us about how to live in community as free and interdependent beings in a functional way.

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[email protected]; web: hilltopcommunityfarm.org

For example, instead of using soil amendments for plant health, the inclusion of a single lovage or comfrey plant per square meter around a crop plant employs their soil-mining capabilities to provide all necessary nutrients to the crop, save nitrogen. But this can be provided by nitrogen fixing plants such as seaberry, guomi (for drier sites) purple prairie clover, or blue false indigo. Planting field borders and wind-breaks that include such species as bergamont, bluestem, hazelnut, and white spruce creates habitat that attracts beneficial insects and pollinators while helping regulate air flow, buffering temperature extremes and providing shelter from wind, sun, and snow. Plant Considerations and Sequence represented in our orchard. Site assessment Acres – just under 1 acre Soil: La Farge Silt Loam; some Valton Silt Loam series represented Slope: 16% Aspect: S & SW facing – as a result, our site tends to be warmer, drier (greater evapotranspiration in the afternoons) with; good potential for persimmons, other zone 5 transitional fruit tree species. Irrigation: Rainwater captured/stored from barn roof, gravity fed through series of hoses to orchard. We also have constructed mini berms at the base of each forest garden to capture, store, and slow the flow of water. Heavy mulch of woodchips and no exposed bare ground, also help to reduce runoff/erosion. Prior land use: Oak savannah; stewarded by Ho-Chunk Tribe through 1880's; original acres confiscated and sold for $1 by US Gov. - Series of landowners from 1880's – 1920's, land use unknown; 1925 – first recorded dwelling built/recorded on Sauk Co. Platte book; Abandoned dairy farm in 1940's; 1964 Lake Redstone reservoir built, resulting road constructed/broke up property from 80 acres to 59 acres; horse pasture then rotationally grazed with beef cattle beginning in 1970's – 1990's; early 2000's abandoned pasture, primarily cool season grasses; in 2002 25 acres adjacent to orchard restored to prairie and managed through CRP program; 2009 – cover cropped with winter rye, buckwheat and oats (do not recommend buckwheat); 2010 - present– plantings of fruit trees, shrubs, understory, groundcover layers. Other: Installed a solar electric fence around the perimeter; this helps for keeping deer out, though we have had issues with woodchucks. Wire mesh/hardware cloth at base of trees to prevent rodent damage. In the winter we also add additional fencing around fruit trees. Design Considerations: Have fruit available sequentially from June – October; be fruits we are interested in growing and personally like to eat. All of fruits/plants integrated in our orchard serve multiple functions (for example, direct and value added potential-season extension, less intensive input/management regime than apples, minimal inputs, serve complimentary functions. Have fun and invite others in helping us along every step of the management process from orchard design, planting, eating, market development – in other words we are learning with others, don't claim to have all the answers, are open to risk experimenting with fruits that might not work out in the long-term. Market Outlets – Currently the place where we are spending much of our R & D. At present most of our fruit is integrated into our CSA, direct 'bulk fruit' sold via word of mouth or during on-farm events by the pint or pound, some wholesale (primarily apples, pears, currants) to Quince and Apple. Current Management priorities: Managing invasive species; monitoring for insect/disease; keeping fertility on-farm – compost teas; establishing effective orchard understory and groundcover mix; establishing field borders/habitat for pollinators; 3 – 5 year plan-integrating animals. Integrate fruits into our CSA and build a list of interested friends/customers in buying bulk fruit by the pint or pound. Develop and get feedback on pricing system. Breakdown of Orchard Design: Since much of our work is done by hand, a little up front work in design/site assessment will go a long way. For our 1 acre orchard we replicated 23 forest gardens in 4 different planting strips (planted on contour due to the 16% slope of our orchard). The bulk of our forest gardens were planted in 2010. Since then we prepare future plantings by sheet mulching.

Canopy layer – we did not plant large canopy nut trees in our orchard due to space, rather our fruit trees serve the function of a canopy layer. That said, in 2013 we plan to plant 2 hardy pecan trees and experiment. We also have an iconic 'big mama bur oak' at the bottom of our orchard slope who 'keeps an eye on things'. Adjacent to the orchard is another 3 acre slope where we have planted black walnuts, and red oak trees. Understory – fruit trees – Quince – 17; Apples – 4; Cherry – 4; Persimmons – 2 Shrub layer – 20 seaberry; 23 elderberry; 32 saskatoon; 60 currants – planted along the drip line of understory layer; 20 honeyberry; 60 aronia berry; in each forest garden we have 1 nitrogen fixing shrub (seaberry); medicinal plant – elderberry. Gooseberries did not take, substituted 20 honeyberries for gooseberry plants in 2012. Understory mix: dynamic accumulator plants – comfrey, some lovage; horseradish root in swale; Mt. Mint where apples are planted; purple prairie clover/blue false indigo; leadplant; direct seeded/transplanted chives, dill, yellow coneflower, NE aster, black-eyed susan, penstemmon, prairie phlox. Groundcover: primarily white clover, chewings fescue, and red fescue mix (can sub meadow fescues) and pernnial rye at 30lbs/acre. Roots/bulbs: daffodihls Vines: none in orchard, though we do have hops and grapevines trellised adjacent to our CSA gardens. Mushroom: Winecaps – inoculated woodchips in a 3 experimental apple/peach food forests. Mulch treatments; wood chips, compost, leaf litter, cardboard/newspaper, and forest duff incorporated in plant root zones at initial planting. We started using straw, though have had much better success with woodchips. 2012 started with seasonal applications of compost tea. Swale: red osier dogwood, viburnum, horseradish root, (yellow cone flower, golden rod, asters 'just showing up'), mixed grasses. Other – we have other food forests planted on our farm though not integrated into our orchard area, these include plums, peaches, apricots, pear, and cherry guilds and have a more intensive planting of culinary herbs/native cut flowers that we harvest for our CSA, and some medicinal herbs that we harvest for our own use. In general, the fruit trees are at the center of the forest garden, with white, black, red currant and honeyberry planted along the northern drip line on 5 ' centers. Three aronia plants are located on 5 ' centers on the southern dripline of the fruit trees and planted on 3' spacing. The seaberry is planted with the southern most facing exposure 6 ' from the honeyberry, with elderberry at the northern most tip, 6 ' from the red currant shrubs, and the saskatoons on the NE corner of the guilds. Seaberry, elderberry, and saskatoon are on 6 – 8 ' centers. Each guild is spaced approximately 12 – 15' from the next. For a more detailed synopsis of production highlights and challenges see NC SARE Final Report #FNC08 – 718 at ncsare.org/farmerranchergrants Project Highlights: • 358 trees/shrubs planted • 320 trees planted as part of windbreak (black cherry, plum, white spruce, hazelnut) • 43 species of native, warm season pollinator plants sown as part of 2.1 acres field border • 436 volunteers and participants served through events and workshops (May 2010 -2012) • Total project hours from 2009 – March 2011 – 486; total costs $6,000; total in-kind $5,180 • Funding Support: NC SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program, the Organic Crop Improvement Association International, Micro-grant program, WI Farmers Union Foundation, plus lots of sweat

equity and support from friends, family, and CSA members. Labor Breakdown: (May 2010 – May 2012) • Site preparation and project installation (Erin & Rob) – 189.25 hrs. •

Outreach, research, and education events – 135 hours



Intern (support with installation and project monitoring May – July 2010) – 22 hours



In-kind (volunteer) – primarily site preparation and orchard installation – 182.5 hours



In-kind - outreach/technical support – networking, editing education resources, event promotion etc. 140.5

Budget Snapshot (our top 6 expenses, excluding labor) from May 2010 – May- 2012): •

$1346 - Plant material – (Source Aronia – Knight's Hollow Nursery, Middleton; Ribes sp., Seaberry & Saskatoon – St. Lawrence Nursery – NY – organic rootstock); Elderberry – Sauk County LCD – Quince – Jungs Garden Center; 222 native prairie plants from Ion Exchange & Agrecol Nursery; Honeyberry from Burnt Ridge Nursery (WA) and Baley's nursery in MN).



$1,100 - Outreach/Education for 2 field days, est. 50 participants each (for catered lunch, honey bucket rental, personnel, some travel stipend).



$910 -



$745 – Plant material for 2.1 acre field border, includes warm season native pollinator seed mix plus 320 trees (source – Seed mix Agrecol – they will list county of origin for species, Stoughton, WI; trees $1.00 a piece through Sauk County Land Conservation District – NRCS WHIP cost share)



$566 - Organic grass seed 200 lb mix plus 200 lb. Organic cover – crop (source – Frank's Seed Supply in Jefferson, WI & Cashton Farm Supply used for both site prep & orchard groundcover).



$447 - Solar electric fence (high tensile poly-wire plus 50, 6' T-posts, grounding rods, insulators, (20 year lifespan)

Irrigation – 1550 gallon cistern ($460 at Farm n Fleet) plus 500 ' hose/tubing/drip)

Funding Opportunities & Resources (focus on Beginning Farmers): Not a comprehensive list, but the following programs listed are ones that I would recommend and have helped our farm on our path to growing food sustainably and building community. Grant Programs: North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NC SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program: http://www.sare.org/Grants (additionally, they have an excellent database of past projects). Organic Crop Improvement Association International – Micro-Grant program – supports education activities to further organic agriculture. http://www.ocia.org/ Raising Organic Family Farms – Seed funds for beginning farmers to support purchase of equipment, scholarship for education or to be put toward land acquisition. We were rejected on the first round of funding cycles, though the program has an annual RFP. Website: http://raisingorganicfamilyfarms.com/ crowd-funding opportunities: check out article on overview of 13 crowd-funding websites/programs to kickstart you business.

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2853-13-Crowdfunding-Websites-to-Fund-Your-Business Cost Share Programs: USDA Conservation Reserve Program – status of this program may change in the upcoming farm bill Natural Resource Conservation Service – Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program – cost share support for helping seed and install our windbreaks and field borders. Other NRCS programs include EQUIP and Conservation Stewardship Program, Organic Cost Sharing program

Contact county level NRCS office. General Program information can be found at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ Beginning Farmer Programs: National Farmers Union Beginning Farmer Institute: Great program to connect with diverse farmers nationally. Participants help shape the agenda and structure of the program, include 3 intensive sessions at various nation-wide locations. Great access to resources at nat'l level.

http://www.nfu.org/news/209-outreach/905-nfus-beginning-farmer-institute-now-acceptingapplications Land Stewardship Farm Beginnings Program - http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/farmbeg.html MOSES – Young Organic Stewards Program -

http://www.mosesorganic.org/youngorganicstewards.html Iowa State Beginning Farmer Program: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/bfc/ Other: Beginning Farmer Loan Programs: USDA Farm Service Agency: Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loan; contact local FSA office for application http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=fmlp&topic=bfl National Agriculture Library – Start to Farm Resources:

http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-community/beginningnew-farmers (note the national agriculture library is an awesome resource for marketing information as well) National Cooperative Business Association Farmer to Farmer Exchange Program: For those interested in traveling abroad and learning from/supporting farmers in other countries.

http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/what-we-do/farmer-to-farmer Local Networks our farm is a member of, who have been most helpful with sharing ideas/supporting work. Wisconsin Farmers Union - http://www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com/ Farmers Raising Ecologically Sustainable, Healthy Food: http://www.freshfoodwisconsin.org/ Organic Tree Fruit Association: http://www.otfa.org Family Farm Defenders: http://familyfarmers.org/ Women Food and Agriculture Network: http://www.wfan.org/ Don't underestimate the power and support of your neighbors, family, and customers! We would not be where we are without their help, support, feedback, and encouragement.2

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[email protected]; web: hilltopcommunityfarm.org