Doll's Orchards, LLC

Our “to-do” list last week was an all out effort to finish the final cleanup of the apple orchards. Our U-PIK orchard is located along a State Highway (SR# 229, north of Oldenburg, Indiana). So besides cleaning up tree prunings and debris in the orchard, we are also faced quite a bit of roadside litter and trash. Most of us agree that roadside litter is a real problem in our communities. Besides “de-beautifying” the countryside, litter and trash is damaging to the environment, poses health and safety concerns, and can reduce property values.

Picking up litter and other people’s trash is NOT our favorite thing to do, but a challenge that needs to be met by us as property owners if we want to keep our community beautiful and “green.” Much of the litter we pick up along our fence line and road ditch is comprised of plastic films, grocery bags, food wrappers and snack bags. Probably fast-food drink cups and plastic beverage bottles make up the major items picked up. Since the pandemic, however, we have also had to deal with discarded face masks and latex gloves. Uggh!

It is a time consuming chore to pick up road side trash and litter. It’s not “once and done” but an ongoing challenge during the entire year. One styrofoam drinking cup chopped up by a mower becomes tens of pieces of litter less than four inches in size. Smaller litter may be less visible, but it’s more difficult to pick up and possibly more damaging to our water supplies as it washes down waterways easily and almost undetectable.

People can choose not to litter. It’s so simple. Think and don’t automatically toss litter out of your vehicle’s window. Just take your litter and trash with you. Dispose of it in a trash container. Learn to recycle and reuse. The EPA has reported that the rate of recycling and reuse is about 32% and account for approximately a half million new jobs and $37.8 billion in wages. Properly managing litter and trash cleanup, recycling when possible, is a win-win for our environment and economy.

When starting the tree pruning several months ago, we wondered if we’d ever be able to say, “finished.” We were facing a daunting challenge as the heavy harvest caused extensive limb breakage and the trees had tremendous growth. However, this past Saturday, March 5th, was a day of celebration. The last trees were pruned and what an awesome feeling it was, knowing that other than maintenance, the equipment could be put away for another year.

Now that the actual trimming is finished, the prunings (brush) laying under the trees will need to be stacked in the aisle ways and mulched. Quite a few labor hours are involved in the clean-up process. Besides stacking the larger limbs in the aisle ways, we rake all the debris from under the trees. This involves the smaller prunings that were cut as well as dropped apples, leaves, weeds and whatever else that took up residence under the apple trees. After the raking is completed the tractor and mulcher are used to pulverize the debris in the aisle ways. Eliminating debris under the trees lessens diseases that may hibernate in the soil, fungus infection and allows easier application of fertilizer and herbicides. Rather than collecting the brush and removing it from the orchard setting, the actual mulching process returns nutrients to the soil.

An important point to remember is that although we prune each tree individually with hand held pruners, the size of our orchard and its topography allows this method of pruning to be conducted. Larger orchards having more acreage and thus more trees, would find our pruning method unfeasible. These orchards rely on more automated pruning methods. However, no matter what method is chosen, proper tree pruning is essential to the overall production of good fruit.

We have spent a great part of January continuing to prune apple trees. Whenever the weather cooperates we don our winter apparel and out we go. At this point we feel that we have completed about two thirds (2/3) of the pruning work. The heavy loads of apples on the trees last season caused the trees to suffer heavy limb breakage. Thus, there is lots to prune and trim to get the trees back in shape in anticipation for this year’s production. The good aspect to all of this is that there is ample apple wood available for those who like to smoke meat.

The peach orchard will be the next challenge for us. It needs quite a lot of attention to pruning as well. The peach trees are nearing the end of their life span and every year we lose five or ten trees. We have made several efforts to replace the trees lost but not much success at doing this. Old orchards suffer replant disease and we face that problem. We continue to explore alternative planting areas and methods.

We have had several nights of single digit temperatures and one night where temperatures dropped below the zero reading. Peach trees suffer crop losses when temperatures dip below the zero degree reading. A professor at Purdue University’s School of Horticulture stated that peach trees can sustain their crop potential until zero degrees. Any thing below zero degrees creates a percentage of crop loss. His findings indicate for every degree below zero, ten (10%) percent of the peach crop is lost. Thus, ten degrees below zero could potentially wipe out an entire peach crop. We have found these statements to be factual. We think so far, so good for the peaches this year.

The month of February usually brings less cloud cover, brighter days as well as more daylight hours. Looking forward to having warmer temperatures and more daylight. Extended hours of daylight make brush cleanup easier for the grandchildren to tackle after their classes at school or on the weekends. They’re not usually overly excited about the task but they “step up to the plate” and try their best.

Single digit overnight temperatures and daily wind chills have slowed down the progress of tree pruning. The equipment doesn’t work properly when temperatures are so cold. Not only does the equipment not function well, neither do the operators! Up to this point, however, progress was good.

One way to speed up the pruning process is to just remove entire trees. We have actually done this to several rows of older trees in the orchard. Not really to speed up the pruning process, but to make room for new plantings in 2023. Everything in nature has a life cycle and the trees that were removed were getting to the end of their productivity. After caring for them for over 30 years, it was hard to see them go but new and more popular varieties will be planted in their place. Our plan is total removal of all trees and roots and plant a cover crop. Letting the ground lay fallow for a year will allow it to better accommodate the new plantings

Pruning is as much as an art as a science. Probably the most frequently asked question when we are at the seasonal markets is “how should I prune my backyard fruit tree?” There is really no definite answer to this question except open it up to sunlight and airflow, and NEVER prune a fruit tree like an ornamental tree or a shrub. Fruit trees should not look like a bush. Every tree is different and different circumstances create unique challenges to the person trying to prune it. Pruning is a skill and it takes time to develop that skill. To date we have logged over 190 hours in manual pruning labor and are perhaps fifty percent finished. This year we are training a younger generation in the technique so hopefully we have someone in the wings ready to replace us.

We haven’t attended many post-harvest trade shows but have kept abreast of new tree varieties, fertilization programs, insecticide and herbicides applications through the local extension service and sales representatives. Local extension offices are an excellent “go-to” for questions relative to planting, pruning, fertilization and chemical applications. County offices support back yard gardens and orchards with publications, programs and on site demonstrations. It is always worth making contact with your local extension agent when doing gardening or planting trees.

These first days of January, 2022 have sneaked up on us. The past year, 2021, is in the history books and in some ways, a very good thing. Small business owners have had to deal with challenges unlike any in the past decade. Although, our fruit business was seasonal, our challenges were similar to and in many ways compounded by factors we could not control because we are small. Overall, though, we were fortunate that we could rely on good friends and family to help us and good customers to buy our product.

What a difference a year makes! We ended our season in a positive way. Our harvest, although intense and exhausting, was bountiful and we were able to set up at numerous Farmers’ Markets, tractor and/or trade shows. It was really uplifting for us to see our customers, old and new, and get reacquainted with them. The U-PIK location was well received and we are making plans to make it an even better experience for our visitors in 2022.

We haven’t been too conscientious about maintaining this website with updates. “Begin Again in 22” is our new motto as we start this year. Our goal is to reach out to all with more frequent updates on this website and also keep our Facebook account more up to date as well. Not being too “tech savvy” is a real drawback in this world of social media, but we promise to make efforts to do our best.

Well, it’s January and that can mean only one thing. Yes, get out the pruning equipment and let’s go! Weather in our region has been good and that makes a difficult job more easy with which to deal. We’re moving right along with trimming the apple trees. We still hand prune each tree. The grandchildren call the process, “giving the trees a haircut.” That’s about what we do to each tree in our orchard. Not all orchardists prune in this manner but that’s what we do. It is an arduous job but we’ve been doing it for over fifty (50) years and probably won’t change the process at this point. Prior posts describe what we do and why we do it and referring to those posts will pique your interest. Pruning is probably one of THE most important jobs to perform in the orchard so onward we go for another year.

Please consult our Facebook site (Doll’s Orchard) for updates and posts regarding our product availability, updates on marketing, hours of operation and events planned for the general public. We appreciate all of our customers as we continue striving to bring a good product at affordable prices.

Here it is almost the middle of September and apple harvest is well underway. Peach season is over and now we are onto apples. A tremendous crop of apples await to be picked in the orchard. This year’s harvest will be plentiful with almost every variety in abundance. Quite a difference from this time last year!

We are working on Gingergold, Gala, Honeycrisp, McIntosh and Cortland. Hopefully, this week we will be picking the Jonathon, Empire, Fuji and Grimes Golden. Apples are ripening later than our normal schedule so we are not picking our Golden Delicious yet.

Great response and feedback from those who have visited the U-Pik location. We are working to transition all weekend sales to this location to get patrons acquainted with it. Picking is an option at that site. We also have a display of our products available that anyone can choose their favorite variety and still enjoy a visit to an orchard that is designed for a walk-through on a beautiful fall day. The U-Pik hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Weekday sales will still be conducted at our home location. Hours at the home location is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 9:oo am until 6:00 pm and Wednesday from 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

We will be setting up at several festivals and tractor shows over the next few weeks. We are looking forward to being able to be back and seeing our many friends and acquaintances that we have made over the past years.  It is really a busy time for all of us here at the orchard.

Heading into August and getting ready for busy, busy days ahead. Our peaches have been slower in ripening this season. This area experienced cool temperatures right after their bloom and undoubtedly this delayed their development. Just started to pick this past week. Until this time we were “spot picking” the riper ones and now are progressing down the rows and clearing trees. Peach crop looks good. Currently filling orders and taking peaches to our local markets.

While the peaches are good, the apples are absolutely awesome, a tremendous crop. We are working to getting things organized for the harvest season, checking equipment, getting packaging supplies ordered and coordinating workers. We will begin “spot picking” the Gingergold and Zestar this week but plans right now are to begin harvest in earnest next week.

We have started setting up at some local markets this past week and as harvest continues we will try to bring our produce to all our market locations. Our “U-Pik” location will be open to the public starting on August 20th. At this time our plan is to open the “U-Pik” on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Our home market will continue to be open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. Wednesday our business hours will be 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. While we do not have apples available yet we do have our tree ripened peaches to offer. Remember that shopping from local growers is a win/win for everyone and we highly encourage you check things out.

We’ve survived the ups and downs of the thermometer, the invasion of Brood X cicadas and last week’s flash flooding. As onward we go, hopefully we’ll make it to harvest without too many more challenges.

We’ve experienced seasonal temperatures these past few weeks. It’s good to be passed the point where every dip in the thermometer causes heart palpitations. Warm temperatures increase fruit size by providing conditions that increase cell size. Up to this point the dominant form of fruit growth in the apples is cell division. The fruit has now reached the stage of cell expansion. An apple’s size is determined by the cells that make up the apple. The number of cells, the size of each cell and air space between the cells all play a role in the size of the apple. Some apples achieve a larger size by having a large number of cells, and some by having larger-sized cells. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? More to it all than what you may think. We’re still learning every day.

Just as it seemed the Brood X cicadas appeared one day, they disappeared in the same manner. Their constant cadence for about five weeks was annoying but when it was gone it was somewhat missed. Cicadas do not harm the fruit on the trees but the trees themselves have damage. Cicadas burrow into the tender branches of trees, lay their eggs and after the eggs hatch, the new breed bore into the earth to live on the tree roots for seventeen years. The tender branches of the trees are damaged to the point where they fall off. The orchard aisle ways have branches scattered throughout where the cicadas nested and did their burrowing. One positive aspect of the cicada invasion is the fact that nature is still in balance. If environmental conditions didn’t support their development, the cicadas would not have appeared and continued their life cycles.

Our area experienced flash flooding last week due to six inches and more of rain that fell in less than ten hours. Water was rushing through the lower parts of the orchard. Rushing water is awfully powerful. We lost about four mature trees that were uprooted as the trees had too much weight in too wet of ground. We had some straight line winds as well, but no significant limb or tree damage from it.

The produce crop looks good and we expect to start harvest the first week of August. Until it’s in the baskets, though, an orchardist isn’t really sure of anything.

Brood X Cicadas have been spotted this week in the orchard. Their arrival is somewhat later than had been predicted. Unseasonably cooler temperatures the first two weeks of May kept the ground temperature below 65 degrees. Cicadas favor warm soil temperatures above 70 degrees to emerge from their underground habitat and this past week’s upper 70’s and almost 80 plus degree days were just what was needed for the cicadas to emerge.

After seventeen years underground, where they have been since 2004, feeding on sap from the roots of plants, Brood X, one of the largest broods of cicadas, have emerged across fifteen states including the tri-state area of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Estimates are that a billion cicadas will emerge and invade the area of these fifteen states; not millions, but billions.

When cicadas last appeared in 2004, the adults left behind baby bugs which burrowed underground and lived there for the past seventeen years getting their moisture from the tree roots . These baby bugs are now adults and as part of their natural cycle of life, these cicadas emerge in mass in the Spring of their 17th year. So, 2021 is our lucky year. Males attract mates by vibrating drum like tymbals on the side of their abdomens to produce sound. The sounds that are made can be deafening as the adults can emit sounds between 80 and 100 decibels, equivalent to a low flying airplane or a lawn mower. This sound or noise can be heard throughout the day or night.

Cicadas are not so pretty. Their “bug eyes” are red, large wings and overall a fairly large insect. When a cicada lands on your person, it’s not unusual to hurriedly brush it off. Adult cicadas shed their exoskeletons, attach themselves to the tree branches, mate, lay eggs and die off in about 6 weeks. The lifespan of the cicada above ground is about 4 to 6 weeks. So about late June or early July the adults will die off, while the hatched nymphs will drop off and burrow underground and stay there for 17 years, waiting to repeat their life cycles.

The damage done to young trees is caused by the adults laying eggs in the bark of the trees. At times the trees are riddled by the cicadas’ actions but it is not to the cicadas advantage to kill trees as the trees is their food source when they burrow under ground. Most of the damage we find from the cicada invasion is to the newly planted trees. Some suggest enclosing the young trees with onion sacks or other materials that will deter the cicadas from laying eggs. We’ve done this in the past several invasions but find that cicadas often outsmart us. Our fruit is not overly damaged by cicadas. We’re thinking that the fruit is just developing during the time frame of the cicadas appearance and is of not much interest to them as their main motive is to mate and reproduce. They have a short time frame to accomplish emergence, mating, laying eggs, hatching and reburrowing underground.

We have received several questions regarding collecting cicadas for dietary intake. Supposedly, the cicadas have a unique taste when ingested, similar to shrimp. It is not part of our plan to collect them; however, to each his own and good luck with that.