• Environment

Traditional orchards - cultivating and saving old fruit varieties

Traditional orchards and old fruit varieties are riches in themselves! They provide us with wonderful fruit, culinary value, beautify our home gardens and landscape, and provide habitats for many animals, thus contributing to the conservation of increasingly endangered species. It is therefore worth considering establishing a traditional orchard with old fruit varieties. The first step in setting up an orchard is planning it. Where is the best place to plant the trees, at what distance from each other, in what arrangement? We only plant trees once in many years, so this first step requires a particularly high level of attention. In this case, it is better not to be selftaught and to seek the advice of an experienced planter. This will ensure that the seedlings go to the right place and enjoy good growing conditions. It is important, for example, to consider the position of the trees in relation to housing or outbuildings, as well as the protection of the trees from strong winds or frost. The choice of varieties should be based on the end use of the fruit and the adaptation of the variety to the climatic conditions of the region. Let us ask ourselves, what do we want to use the fruit for? To eat fresh? For preserves? Or for drying? Each variety has its own properties, and depending on what we want to use the fruit for, we have a choice of different varieties. In Poland, there are more than 500 varieties of apple, so there is plenty to choose from! There are orchard nurseries and associations which specialise in the cultivation of old fruit varieties and offer grafting scions or buds. But it is also worth going into the field and looking for old, sometimes abandoned fruit trees, from which scions and buds can also be taken and grafted onto younger rootstocks.