Nut Orchard
Nut trees are virtually care-free once established and produce more food per acre than wheat, in addition to wood from dead branches and prunings. Most nuts are high in fat and other valuable nutrients, making them important sources of food. Some nuts, such as chestnut, are high in starch and can replace tubers and grains. Other nuts are high in protein, such as Carpathian walnut and black walnut. Our orchard contains chestnuts, Carpathian walnut varieties, hickory varieties, and others, with an under story of nitrogen ñfixing and berry-producing goumi. Nut trees require dedication and commitment, as many of them do not start yielding until they are around ten years old. We experimented with blackberry fences, shaping the invasive and spiny blackberry vines around the trees so that animals could not get to them. Unfortunately, the young trees have also been struggling. We plan to replant and reevaluate the site.

Orchards
In addition to the forest garden areas with fruit trees, we have fruit trees planted in various sites throughout the property. We have one orchard that was once used as part of our chicken pen rotation system. Chickens consume grass, which competes with orchard species and insects that can harm orchard trees or fruit. Chickens also deposit their feces that concentrate nutrients from elsewhere and speed up nutrient cycling.

We have apple trees, Asian pears, plums, mulberry, sea buckthorn, currants, and other fruit trees and shrubs on a drip irrigation system until they can get enough groundwater year-round. We plant comfrey underneath most of our fruit trees as a nitrogen fixer and cut it a few times a year so the leaves can decompose into the soil. We have created guilds under some of our trees to attract beneficial insects and deter unwanted species by adding certain plants.