For our backyards and public spaces in the dense urban environment, we advocate for a specific strategy we call Urban Orchard Culture. All of the trees at Hayes Valley Farm have undergone the first stages of this style of management.
We have trees for sale and are working to coordinate tree care workshops in 2012. The rest of this page should have all the info you need.
What is Urban Orchard Culture? It can be defined by the following goals:
- Delicious, ripe fruit over a longer period.
- Many varieties planted close together in the dense urban environment.
- Trees kept small for easy harvest with no ladders and limiting shade cast.
Large Urban Trees
Most of the information available about tree care comes from commercial orchard culture. Commercial orchard culture focuses on maximum tree size and maximum yields of a single type of fruit for market. The trees are spaced in the rows to accommodate their size and the space between rows are wide enough to fit a tractor with harvest equipment and trailers for loading the fruit on. On mature trees, large ladders or mechanical booms are required to harvest the fruit that is well above human reach.
To get most of the fruit a trees grows in a season, it might take a a group of friends and a couple big ladders over a few days, not all the fruit will be ripe at the same time. If we get too busy and miss our opportunity, it could result in a lot of fruit taken by birds or ending up on the ground.
High quality, More Variety, Easy Pickin'
At Hayes Valley Farm, we want to share a different approach that is more in line with our needs in the city. What most of us really want is high quality fruit that is easy to get to during a longer period of the year.
Here are some of the highlights of our strategy:
- Summer pruning for size control
- High density planting and successive harvest
- Thinning fruit for higher quality
- Select species of trees that perform well in San Francisco
Through our research, we have hand-picked a selection of trees that we know perform well in San Francisco. All of these varieties are uncommon and often hard to find in local nurseries. These trees are perfect for our moderate maritime mico-climate and resistant to local diseases.
Our trees are also of larger size and greater age than you may usually find in local nurseries. We wanted to provide a tree that would bear fruit sooner.
In stock and available now:
- Almonds: All in One Semi Dwarf
- Apples: Beverly Hills, Fuji, Pink Lady, Anna
- Apricots: Gold Kist, Katy
- Nectarine: Snow Queen
- Pears: Hood, Tsu Li (Asian)
- Plums: Beauty, Methly, Santa Rosa
- Pluots: Dapple Dandy
Each tree has begun it's stay at Hayes Valley Farm by being potted up into a 20 gallon container filled with a healthy soil blend from Recology, the main ingredient being compost made from the green bins of San Francisco.
The maintenance began right away; we pruned the main trunk of each tree down to approximately 18 inches above the soil to encourage low branch growth and help the tree remain small in stature for the rest of it's life. It will require some pruning to keep it that way, especially in the first 3 years. Let us show you how to do it, it's fun and easy.
All trees are now on sale for $100. To buy a tree, you can:
- visit the site during our regular hours on Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday 12–5 p.m.
- email us:
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Learn Urban Orchard Culture
- Buy a tree and get a discount on future workshops
Do you want to build a fence out of apples and pears that never rots, grows stronger with age, is always beautiful and provides a harvest? Do you need help learning about trees that will bear fruit in San Francisco? Question about pruning, when, why and how? What is Urban Orchard Culture and how do I do it?
We will have regular workshops designed for residents of San Francisco and the Bay Area who want to learn how to select and care for their trees. Please email us with interest, so we can assess availability.
To attend or suggest a workshop, check our CLASSES page.
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