Pear of holes?

Digging a hole for a tree to be planted.....or even a post to be installed.....is easy with an post hole digger. That requires a tractor and the attachments. For the new beginner in farming......perhaps you rather not invest with all the equipment. You could rent......or you can do it the way I did....and it's part of "sustainable farming" ....a system of practice that is becoming more popular than organic farming (finally).

If you have many holes to dig....have 10 - 5 gallon buckets on hand.

The ground out here is solid stiff. It's really too hard for an pick and shovel. Being an licensed landscaper for years....here's a trick we did at job sites and here at the Natomas Farm. Just dig a shallow basin no more than 3 inches deep. Take a five gallon bucket with a 1/8 inch hole drilled at the bottom side......place near the basin and then fill the bucket 1/4 with water as shown below. Walk away and start the next hole......repeating up to ten holes.....or many more.

By now the first hole has been soften up to dig down 12 inches. Do the digging. Fill the bucket up 3/4 to the top and continue to the next hole. I usually wait for an good two hours...or overnight is best...to dig the holes out completely as I need them. If you do this correctly....you'll plan to have other chores to do while you are waiting for the water to do it's softening of the ground....or have another set of holes to prep with more buckets. It's not physically hard to do this at all.

Farmer Deno planted three fruit orchards this way. I also installed many fence posts too. It was quick. It was easy. The best results is to have the holes soak over night. This system works great if you have a small farm such as ours.

So why do I show this hole digging technique now?  We are expanding the orchards by 30% in January....and the holes must be ready. Bare root trees are shipped in boxes from the Fresno area......and requires immediate installation.

This year we're adding an Red D'Anjou Pear orchard .....the sweetest pear that you have had!

I'll need to dig more that a pear of holes for the pair trees......