Orchard Landowner Rod Walker (right) and a volunteer tend seedlings at Middle Mountain Orchard
On April 30, a large group of 22 volunteers, including 15 members of Boy Scout Troop 79, worked on the orchard at Middle Mountain Farm in Albemarle County. The orchard, which contains nearly 300 seedlings, was started from seeds planted earlier this year. The volunteers, working alongside orchard landowner Rod Walker, put number tags on all the stakes, mulched between the plantings and into the space between the rows, and applied fine soil to cover seeds that had been uncovered by rain. The orchard will comprise a major addition to Virginia’s stock of breeding trees and a great contribution to efforts to re-establish these once-mighty native trees to our forests. The orchard is primarily advanced crosses with wild survivors in the same area of the state. There are also a handful of pure American, pure Chinese, and 50-50 crosses as controls.
