Another casualty of the stormy weather that came through here that I ended up spotting when working in the garden was one of our older apple trees. This tree is situated in a section of the garden that I normally hadn't worked in for a while since my most recent work and apparatus has been on the exact opposite side of the garden. But either way, when I looked at the garden from the right angle I noticed that the large tree was laying completely down. Now while a fallen tree wouldn't have been that big of a deal, especially when it hadn't damaged anything, this tree is one of our producers. Not only that, but being a larger and hence older tree, this tree is an immediate producer. I had to do what I could to get this tree back upright and hopefully save it. The last thing I want to do is cut this tree up, that would be seven years down the toilet if I did that. The problem that I had here with this particular tree was the idea that when I planted it, it was done inside of an old tire that I used as a raised bed to add extra dirt and fertilizer while not having to dig as deep into the ground to anchor the thing. That right there was the main problem since I didn't have deep roots and the dirt was never compacted enough to really anchor the tree down. All it took was some wind to blow this thing over. Also with the tire around the tree trunk, it would be a serious hindrance since I did not want to keep the tire. I also had to figure out a way to secure this tree even after getting back upright. The first thing I had to do was cut the tire at one point so I could pull it from around the tree trunk. The only option here would be to use a metal cutting blade in the reciprocating saw so I can cut through the rubber sidewall of the tire, plus the metal reinforced tread section and the bead on one side of the tire. All of this metal is super heavy duty and would take some effort to cut through. I used a fine enough blade to ensure that I could cut through everything. The next question was how would I secure the tree once I got it upright? The solution had rested on the ground only a few feet away from the tree. I had three lattice cages that I had that were used for supporting tomatoes or other vine plants or hold posts to hang vine plants from. These cages were made from conduit with some stiff 1/4" wire welded between the conduits to form the whole cage. These cages posted in the ground around the tree would provide a protective cage of support around the tree that would ensure that the tree would not move in any direction. I had to use a sledgehammer to pound the cages into the ground deep enough that they would not move while they still rested up against the tree trunk after we lifted it back upright. Once the cages were in place I distributed the dirt that was removed from the tire into cavities around the root base of the tree to ensure everything was completely covered up. I may add some more dirt later on or gravel or something, who knows, in order to keep the root base protected that much more. With the tree fixed back up, hopefully the roots weren't damaged any and the tree can continue to flourish since it takes a few years to get an apple tree to the point that it starts producing good. We already have an apple tree that was a good producer just suddenly die out and never come back this year so that was a few years lost in that tree. Other fruit trees have hung around for a few years before crapping out as well over the years and have needed replacing. This by itself is a good reason to have multiple trees planted at different times so while there may be some trees that are freshies, there's also some that have been around for several years. That way any of the old trees that do die will have some younger trees already close to maturity to take their place. That way when I plant new trees to replace the dead ones, the cycle starts all over again. There's plenty more work to do in the garden to keep the dream alive of producing our own food.
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