Plan 42B:

Establish a six acre high-density apple orchard providing gainful employment for our family and all the hard and sweet cider we can drink. Start small, get one acre really working, and then expand that working system over another five acres.

Year 1:

• Plant 50 trees of 6 cultivars
• Plant 1/4 acre strawberry field
• Trial 6 stone fruit trees

Year 2:

• Plant 900 trees finishing the first acre

Years 3+:

• Expand plantings by one to two acres a year
• Complete plantout in year 5
• Full production in year 10

End of Year 1 Score:

• 49 Apples (lawnmower accident)
• 1 Peach
• I think there are still a few strawberries around here somewhere…

Well, Philomena is awfully cute, but maybe we should cut back this years planting to something that we can manage.

Plan 42C:

I think we need to slow down and focus on learning how to really make things work.  Lets focus on many more small trials vs. a few massive plantouts.

Year 2: 

• Plant 450 trees of 16 cultivars of apples (and maybe some nuts, cherries, peaches, plums, pluots…)

Year 3: 

• Plant a 1/4 acre Pumpkin Patch
• Try many different trial plantings from seed
• Focus on making our 500 trees really thrive