From a Tuscan Hillside: Feeding time in the orchard

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Feeding time in the orchard

Feeding the Trees

This is the time when you must feed the trees, before the growing season starts again. Last year and this I have supplemented my organic feed (compost and manure) with something stronger, called simply 'Gold' here.

"Complete feed in every granule" so they say. It seems to work well.

Our fruit trees were sorely in need of extra help because our soil is stony and poor, winters harsh and summers hot.

I feel like Florence Nightingale, wandering around the wards, offering succour to my ailing charges.

Now I trust their roots will stir and strengthen as they benefit from this extra care. Actually, the trees look happier already!

The next treatment will be copper sulphate and lime (bordeaux mixture) which I will spray on them, to ward off weevils, bugs and parasites.

early morning light

Responding to Explicit's comment below, (re bordeaux paste painted with a brush onto just the trunk of the fruit tree...): an excellent idea but what about the airborne bugs? In any case Explicit has kindly sent a photograph of this rather striking experiment. The trees are daubed in woad, like the Picts of old, ready to face Caesar and all other invaders. This reminds me of the much-beloved nectarine tree in Panzano which for a large part of the year is a glorious bright blue...

going native

1 comment:

ExplicitFebruary 15, 2013 at 7:43 PM
An Italian friend of mine espied me spraying my fruit trees with copper sulfate and propoli. He said I was wasting my time. Before the end of January, one is supposed to mix potiglia bordolese with a little water forming a thick paint that is almost like a paste. One paints the solution onto the trunk only of the fruit tree with brush. Do not bother with the branches. Back to work again tomorrow!
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Situated on a hillside, Le Ripe in Chianti has an orchard with heritage fruit trees, an organic vegetable garden, a row of 18 olives, wild figs, wild grapes, dozens of lavender bushes, a medieval hortus conclusus,a shrubbery, English roses and drifts of bulbs, all requiring labour and love but giving much pleasure in return.

The farm buildings, once home, stable, sty and byre, now renovated, host our friends and family. The cottage, a former barn, and two apartments in the main building, once stable and stall, are rented to guests who come by the week or longer. For more information on staying at Le Ripe, see our rental website.

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