Working in the orchard

2018-2019 counts as a test winter for us. We had one night when it dropped to -18F and another about a week later when it dropped to -16F. This is a pear named Shenandoah.  Shenandoah is marginally hardy for these kinds of lows, at least on P. betufolia rootstock on my soil and fertilizer program.

This pear tree is in Salamander's orchard. The ladder is about 15' tall for reference.

I topped out the tree because it will shade one row of the new trees we are putting in. It will be easier to harvest the fruit now that it is shorter. This tree has a few different cultivars on it. Once I have them labeled I will leave Sheldon and take out everything else.

Re-using wire cages that protected grapes last year.

Those wire ends are pokey.