Perry City Orchard & Nursery

There is light ahead. It is not a destination, but it can help us channel our anger, lift our heavy hearts and realize meaningful action in the chaos. What do we truly have if we don’t have hope?

We’re pretty sure these aren’t just a figment of our imagination, but we’re determined to figure it out for certain...stay tuned! #hightunnelfigs #figsinny

The Farm Stand is open. If you find yourself driving through Perry City and are in need of fresh produce or fruit trees, you should stop by. @ Perry City Orchard & Nursery

One of the silver linings of a drought? Not having to mow the orchard for weeks and weeks and discovering all the deep rooted perennials that were just waiting for the opportunity to emerge and grace the orchard with their beauty. #perennials #orcharddiversity #droughttolerant #bioaccumulator #silverlinings @ Perry City Orchard & Nursery

Garlic harvest 2020 in the books.

This time of summer always feels like a turning. Yes the days are hot, everything is growing and life abounds, but the harvest has begun, that ritual of reaping what we sow and putting up for the cold, short days ahead. The days are still long, but the darkness slowly creeps in around the edges. More so this year than any other, I feel the uncertainty of what lies ahead. What do we all need to do to prepare? We need each other, we need our community and we need to move forward with purpose and perspective.

Drought and the importance of adding organic matter. These pictures were taken last week when we planted our potatoes (yep, that’s right we don’t plant our potatoes until the end of June). On the left is a potato bed in our garden area where we have cover cropped and mulched with straw, hay, wood chips and leaves over the past four years, turning it in as it breaks down. On the right is a potato bed in a future orchard row -cover cropped twice, but never mulched. These two beds lie just 15 feet apart and were plowed at the same time on the same day, two days after our last significant rain. It is evident that our gravely loam needs this additional organic matter to hold precious moisture during times of drought, not to mention all the added nutrients and mycorrhizal fungi. Now to find an endless supply of wood chips...

It was a beautiful evening for a walk in the orchard last night and I found myself wanting to share it, but then thought about it further and looked at it through the lens that many (I hope many) white people are beginning(or continuing) to see things through and thought about the image of two white people, standing on stolen land, yet still proud of all the work they have put into it and felt it necessary to acknowledge the truth. These are hard feelings to reconcile and some may have been attempting to reconcile them for a long while, but I think one of the many things happening in this moment, is that we are being asked to be accountable and truthful and examine our lives, our statements and our pride and be honest about the context in which they exist.

Putting up the sign is the easy part. We stand in solidarity with all those rising up and working for change that is long overdue. #blacklivesmatter

At first glance it might just look like soil, but a closer inspection reveals a beautiful sight --the mycorrhizal web that weaves soil and roots together. We started cultivating this land 5 years ago and in that time we have worked hard to build our soil through addition of organic matter (wood chips), cover cropping, rest and rotation, transforming it into a diverse ecosystem. It is very gratifying to see the results. The soil pictured is now home to our newly grafted nursery trees and we hope their time spent under our care will help them devlope the relationship with the soil they will need to thrive in their permanent home. #healthysoil #mycorrhizae #mycorrhizalfungi #organicmatter #healthytrees #soilbuilding #soilecology

First bloom in the orchard. Hewes Virginia Crab.

First harvest of spring greens from the tunnel.