Johnny Appleseed

Saturday, 10:17 PM, 13 March 2010
Temperature 32 F, overcast with a light breeze, occasional showers of rain and hail

Today was largely marked by planting. We obtained 18 trees: Johnny Appleseed (reputedly scions of a tree originally planted by Johnny Appleseed himself) on Dolgo rootstock. The drive was wet, but worthwhile, partly for the reminder of how lovely this part of Washington can be.

Between the morning and evening feedings, we measured where to plant our new bareroot trees, dug their holes and planted them. We filled a couple of barrels with rainwater and transported them up the slope on the truck, along with the tools and trees, but owing to rainfall saw no immediate need to use the water. The barrels were shifted off the truck and left on the hill against future need.

While we were digging and planting, we let the barn cats roam. They discovered competition in the form of a black and white longhair which regards our farm as its territory, and Nibs came hurrying to us, mewing for our attention. When one farmer followed him, he took heart and, with the farmer's presence, saw the interloper off. Nibs is still a young cat, but later he will stand up better on his own.


While we were planting we saw a few dried up remnants of what we take to be an annual flower. Precisely what it is we aren't sure, but we hope to see it growing sometime this season, to see what it is like.

Aside from the trees we had purchased, we also transplanted two volunteer apples (or at least, we strongly believe them to be apples) which were inconveniently placed. Assuming they survive the transplanting, they will be out of the way now. According to a neighbour whose family first settled the area, the entire area was an old apple orchard. It is quite likely that the volunteer apples are descendants of that orchard. At the very least, they should help fertilise our orchards. With a little luck they will add something to our fermentation tanks.

There was little time or energy left for much else, but this weekend we have to do some paperwork. Our sheep have to be enrolled into a scrapie eradication program, we must get a reseller's permit from the state department of revenue (so as to avoid paying sales tax for farm necessities), and we have to organise much of our receipts so as to get our year's accounting on a sound footing.

All this aside, tomorrow the ewes in the lower pasture have to be moved so that they can make serious inroads in the uncropped pasture. It has grown too tall and proud and must learn that farming is a stern business, enforced by the gnashing teeth of dozens of hungry sheep.