Since it seemed to have done so well, I thought perhaps I should get some more dwarf trees so it wouldn't look so lonely. A couple of months ago I ordered two more trees: One Fuji and one Gala. My favorites! Fujis are late and Galas are early, so I thought it might give us a steady supply of apples each fall.
From what I understand, a dwarf apple tree only yields about two bushels when it's mature. We'll see.
When I ordered these last two trees, I was told they'd arrive in November. I also ordered three Heritage raspberry plants that I planned to put in the garden area, but later found out they can't be near certain garden plants.
Yesterday the UPS truck came by with my trees and vines. Instructions told me to soak the raspberry plants' roots in water for at least an hour and the apple trees' roots for at least six, but no more that twenty-four, hours.
I soaked the berry vines and dug holes for them in the back yard near the fence. It was rough going, because we haven't had rain in over a month. But I got the job done. In order for the apple trees to have their roots in water as long as required, I either had to plant them in the dark or wait until this morning. I chose the latter option.
I awoke to the pitter-patter of rain, a welcome sound indeed. Running out to the rain gauge, I saw we already had over a half-inch of rain; it was coming down slowly, just the way I like it. It showed no sign of letting up.
Finally I put on my coveralls and a sock hate and slipped into Cliff's Muck boots (because it hurt my ankle trying to get into mine) and went out to plant trees. I figured I could get the job done before Cliff woke up; that way he wouldn't feel forced to plant the trees for me. It wasn't, after all, his bright idea to buy more trees.
The coveralls and stocking hat were soaked through by the time I finished, but I got the job done. At least it had rained enough to make my digging easier. Now all I have to do is wait for spring and watch for buds that will tell me the trees lived through the winter.
There's my little apple orchard.
