April Tales from the Grove
We planted 100 trees, fought rocks, battled an old knee injury, and celebrated a toddler’s birthday in a month. April was muddy, meaningful, and full of lessons that only a bucket, a shovel, and a stubborn farmer can learn.
Some months, the weather cooperates. Some months, your knees don’t.
April was a little of both.
We got all 100 trees in the ground. A full chorus line of future nut-bearers, windbreakers, and pollinator party zones. The first week, storms rolled through and handled the watering. I felt like I’d pulled off a miracle.
The second weekend? Different story.
Cue the bucket brigade.
I loaded up a couple 17-gallon totes in the back of the truck—about 51 gallons at a time—and carried them to each field. From there, I used a smaller bucket drilled with holes to slow-drip about one gallon per tree, letting gravity do its thing on the slopes. Janky? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.
Buds Are Breaking, But Mulch is Waiting
I’m already seeing buds swelling and breaking in the first field. That’s always the payoff. You dig, you water, you wait—and then the green shows up.
I’ve still got about 40 trees left to mulch, but I’ve been prioritizing the windbreak. That’s where things got rocky. Literally.
Windbreak Woes (and Swing Dancing Regrets)
I’ve only managed to get about 33% of the windbreak planted. That side of the farm is a stonefield—digging feels like trying to carve into a mountain with a spoon.
To make things worse, my old swing dancing injury flared up. (Yeah, you read that right. Brad used to cut a rug.) My knee gave out halfway through the week, and I had to take a beat.
Good news? I got to enjoy my daughter’s third birthday with some friends who came in from out of town. No trees got planted that day, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
As for the windbreak plan:
- Spacing is 2–3 feet between plums, pines, and oaks,
- Set back 3 feet from the neighbor’s fence,
- Eventually transitions to willow and poplar near the wetland edge.
We subsoiled it first, but it's still a rough dig. Worth it in the long run.
Heat Streak & Bareroot Anxiety
We had a pretty gnarly heat wave hit around April 20th. I’m keeping an eye on some of the bareroots—we may lose a few. But that’s part of it. Some years the timing hits just right, others… well, you improvise.
Worst case? I order more trees.
Better case? They pull through with a little extra care. And either way, I’m grateful I didn’t push through and wreck my knee. You can always buy more trees. You can’t buy a new knee.
Looking Ahead
I’ll be back next week with a Beginning of May Task List—covering everything from mulch layers to irrigation hacks to possibly tackling some mushroom logs.
For now, I’m calling April a success.
- 100 trees in the ground
- Some solid (if sweaty) lessons learned
- Time with my kid and a knee still mostly attached
Not bad for one month.
Stay rooted, stay weird, and I’ll see you back here in May. - Josh