A beautiful rainbow over the orchard!
|
|
A beautiful rainbow over the orchard! |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 CHAPTER 3 And so another exciting year begins! Navigate to the
year you prefer here! They are not all done :-)
|
|||||||||
 53 foot seacan for more storage in from Edmonton loaded with irrigation hose and other stuff. |
 Dragging it home 5 miles from the unload point - good thing it came on skids |
||||||||
 Possibilities for a new (to us) freezer unit! |
 The start of Phase 3 - another 5 acres of Haskaps and 15 acres of Saskatoons. |
||||||||
 Rototilling on the new Saskatoon rows. |
 Looking back across the freshly rototilled rows (usually done 4 or 5 times) - the yard in the distance across the orchard. |
||||||||
 Snow on May 1st made things a little more challenging- and messy! |
 Top of the bins view of phase 3 Haskaps rototilled. |
||||||||
 Top of bins view new Saskatoons (dark area )looking across phase 2 Haskaps! |
 First pallet of the original 6,000 - 3 year old bare root Saskatoons. |
||||||||
 But there were more pallets! Takes a lot at 50 trees per box! |
 First Saskatoons in the ground! Trusty Bear on patrol. |
||||||||
 Practiced the first evening to see what worked best |
 Crew is here this morning. Start by making the rows with the V ditcher! Finally a job Jojo could excel at! |
||||||||
 The crew hard at work!  |
 One of the dogs Bull getting in on the rest break action! |
||||||||
 Showcasing one of the bare rooted 3 year old Saskatoons that we are planting! |
 First you plant then you need to water. Haven't got the drip tape and irrigation set up yet! |
||||||||
 The rows seem endless! |
 May 24th and our 6 year old second year transplanted Indigo Gem in bloom. Amazing they survived being ripped out of the ground and transplanted! See home page for amazing root system! |
||||||||
 Even our recently planted first year Haskaps blooming like crazy! My hand :) |
 Using the mulch laying machine to put down plastic for the new rows of haskaps in phase 3! |
||||||||
 Looks pretty with the sunset shining over the plastic of the new rows! |
 Think a 2 year old Aurora looking impressive in bloom! |
||||||||
 U-Pic Saskatoons in full bloom! |
 Look closely among the dandelions to see our orchards' resident Killdeer on her nest! |
||||||||
 Our momma killdeer protected her nest looking as formidable as possible! Murray had to mow around her for many weeks! |
 Top of the bins view of phase 3 after we laid the plastic mulch! |
||||||||
 Japheth & Toto helped plant lots of phase 3 Haskaps because the delivery came during seeding! |
 Teamwork on phase 3 Haskaps! |
||||||||
 Thumbs up from the weary planters as the last Haskap is planted! |
 When not in the 30 acre orchard I'm also doing my real job:) In this case cleaning out a grain bin of oats using the drag auger and shovel!! |
||||||||
 June 4th shows both leaves and a few blossoms on the new Saskatoons - Amazing! |
 Drip tape laid down - now chopping straw bales to use pitchforks to spread around the young Saskatoons for weed control and to preserve moisture! |
||||||||
 Sometimes it's tough to see the job you are doing while chopping straw - makes it a lot harder! |
 Then there was the big rain that helps the watering but makes it tough to do anything else! |
||||||||
 A close up of the honey bees at work! They sure loved this pine tree!  |
 June 23 shows a productive Beast variety in action! |
||||||||
 The first year attempting netting to save the berries by laying it on top of the bushes - Big mistake! Live and learn :) |
 Top of the bins view of most rows netted in phase 1 but not phase 2! |
||||||||
 Opposite view of netted rows with trusty dog Bear keeping company! |
 Flatlands Paintball is another sideline that looking beyond the Amazing Hulk player you can see netted rows in the background! |
||||||||
 July 2nd view of young Aurora variety! |
 July 4th of a Blizzard variety - named for it's blizzard of flavour! |
||||||||
 Then there's a view of a decent sized garden! Potatoes anyone! |
 With the harvest approaching I purchased and dismantled a walk in freezer/cooler for on farm storage - another work project! |
||||||||
 An aerial view using Murray's drone! |
 First variety Indigo Gem on July 6th. Harvest has started! |
||||||||
 Another drone pic that includes paintball fields! |
|||||||||
 Raeanne and Murray putting up more netting! |
 Remember the walk in freezer we bought? Built a floor for it and now moving it into the shed! |
||||||||
 Now start to put the puzzle pieces back together again! |
 Impressive weather threatens again! |
||||||||
 It's coming together!! |
 July 16 shows a branch of lovely berries! |
||||||||
 Another weather system - Saskatchewan style! This one brought a downpour about 10 PM! |
 All the moisture helped make big berries and big mushrooms too! |
||||||||
 Putting the netting on is a lot easier than taking it off! Not FUN!!! |
 Berries good in the tray but lots knocked on the ground and some damage to the plants too! Homemade half row harvester is here.We weren't happy with the job it did! |
||||||||
 July 27th and the U-Pic Saskatoons are coming along nicely as well! |
 July 29th and manually harvesting Haskaps. Found out doesn't work well in extreme heat! |
||||||||
 Aug 4TH showcasing some of our Beauty variety! |
 Then in early August world famous Pointe Tango dancers Erin and Alex came for a visit to play in the orchard, eat berries and try out the paintball guns.Hardly recognize them as the same people! |
||||||||
 Alex and Murray catching up on old times! |
 What fun to have new folks discover the orchard! With purple fingers from taste testing ALL the berries! |
||||||||
 Even a toe point while target practice shooting at paintball, then to dig some potatoes in the garden...... |
 And even loved feeding the horses before heading back to their next show the next day! coming soon! |
||||||||
Saskatoons at our U-Pic looking good! |
 Aug. 9th is a nice view looking back across the orchard is peaceful and green! |
||||||||
 Picking Saskatoons with Rascal the kitten sitting on my boot to keep me company! Dogs close by too! |
 We use reciprocating saws when manually picking the bushes to shake the trees! |
||||||||
 Awesome picture on Aug 13th using Murray's drone! Yellow field in background is blooming canola! |
|||||||||
 Very cute "Rascal" keeping me company in the raspberry patch! |
 September 2 treats! |
||||||||
 Variety Aurora - our sweetest berry! |
 Raeanne and Murray manually cleaning berries in the cooler section of the walk in freezer! |
||||||||
 Sept. 13 planting 5 plants of each of many varieties as part of a Variety Trial! |
 Caught in the act of planting the variety trials with trusty dog Bear close by! |
||||||||
 Potato harvest too! |
 Grain harvest almost done! |
||||||||
 Nov 18 with big snow so it's time for some rest and sleep! |
 Dec. 7th still has me working pruning in the U-Pic Saskatoons |
||||||||
 Google was nice enough to have their satellite fly over and to give us a nice new picture of the yard and the orchard! |
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
How
to find us! |
 Renouf Farms, Melfort, Saskatchewan. |
| Copyright (c) 2016 Flatlands Paintball and (c) 2021 Renouf Farms Ltd Melfort SK 306-921-8265 |
