Newsletter: Spring 2022
Here’s our Spring Newsletter from September 2022. To receive this directly in your mailbox, be sure to sign up to our newsletter!
Spring Update: In Our Orchard
We have had a few frosty and crisp mornings in Karapiro this winter but with the hoods closed and hitched high the trees have continued to grow well. We are waiting patiently for temperatures to be consistently higher so that we know that the harsh frost has disappeared. This is when we will remove the Vitalitree shelters that are on the macadamia trees that we started planting in November 2020.
The trees have grown vigorously and the branches all have loads of new growth.
When the covers come off we will give them a wash in warm soapy water to refresh, hang them to dry, and then they are ready for installation around the next trees we are about to put in the ground.
We have 620 macadamia trees planted now and over the months of Spring, we will plant another 300 trees on a new block (still visible from the road).
We have increased the size of the diameter in our protectors by 100mm since our first installations in 2020. We quickly realized that 700mm diameter was too small for the fast-growing macadamia especially when it is well protected from frost and wind. The VT 800 is now our ‘go-to’ size to protect our macadamia trees for the first 2 years.
Grass Management
Spring growth means keeping grass manageable! We are currently using the tractor with a mower in our orchard to mow and mulch the grass and this helps to build up a good layer of mulch between the trees.
The soil shouldn’t dry out too much in summer either and our soil testing consultant suggested that this will be a valuable way to put nutrients back into the ground. Later when the trees are bigger we intend to run smaller stock in the orchard and maybe even cut a cash crop of hay in summer.
We're also looking at zero-turn mowers to circle around and cut closer to each tree. Anyone got a model to recommend we try?
Weed Management & Mulching
Weeds seem to grow all year however in Spring, like right now, they leap into life again. The Vitalitree has been specifically designed for easy and quick access to the bottom of the tree.
A small & light hammer is perfect to knock out the bottom pins on each side of the Y post to easily unclip the cover and hitch it up by re-clipping further up the Y post. Our hens just love it when we do this!
New Products
Paul has recently helped Alan and Clair Ferguson install these open-top VT-1200’s to a beautiful spot in the Taranaki where the strong winds, gale force at times, regularly cause havoc. Smaller and lighter tree protection is regularly blown away and retrieval is not always successful!
These Vitalitree protectors were installed on quite a steep slope before the trees were planted however the tree protectors are very portable and it is easy to unclip some or all of the cover to plant, mulch, prune or weed.
We're super pleased to let you know that we've just updated our website to show you our updated range of VT-800, VT-1000 and VT-1200's. All of which come in an open or closed top variety.
Head to our website to have a look!
Psst .... Paul has been busy thinking again and has a wee something on the go. Update on that in the next newsletter.
New to the Blog: How to Choose the Right Vitalitree
We've recently launched a blog on our website, where we can provide extra information, tips and tricks from our orchard and info about our product range.
If you wish to catch up on what we've already posted...