March 4, 2010 - Twenty-five years ago, Henrietta Creek Orchard owners, Ray and Sue Short, had every intention of starting a pecan grove in Roanoke for tax purposes. It eventually became an apple orchard and is now a kid-friendly environment with more than 1,000 fruit trees, an abundance of gardens, an observation beehive and worm tunnel -- all meant to teach children where their food comes from.
"We started out with five acres out here," Sue said. "We have been here 25 years. We did not come out here thinking we were going to have an apple orchard, we came out here thinking we were going to have a pecan grove."
The Shorts' first task was planting and transplanting trees on the Denton County orchard.
"We put out 50 (apple trees) that were already started, and then we put out I think 150 of those little saplings that came up, and the rabbits ate them all up," Ray said.
"So, we put those out, and then I think we wound up with about 500 trees on the five acres," Sue added. "The way you can do that is dwarf apple trees.
We have this house, and what we call our apple house, it's a little two-story house, and our lake, a creek that runs through here and all of that was on five acres of land, plus putting out 500 half-trees on a trellis system."
After their humble beginning, they put out another 1,300 trees and purchased more acreage. They now have just over 11 acres and 1,000 trees, excluding the pecan trees.
The pair first hosted a field trip for their grandson's class.
"We set up a little card table and did a little field trip and he got to thinking, 'you know that would be a good way to kind of teach kids about where their food comes from,' and that's how we got started in the field trips," Sue said. "In September and October, we generally have about 6,000 children come through here. We do two field trips a day. I've got a lot of different little gardens, raised beds and we grow vegetables."
The Shorts love what they do but none of it has come without lots of challenges and hard work.
"We have kind of done it all," Sue said. "With trees you know you put out certain trees and they don't do well so you take them up. In that 1,500 we put out, once they started getting big, we had to go in and take out every other tree because it was just too compact. Then you've got to prune all that ,and then you got to tie them to the wires. It is just very work-intensive."
For the most part, the pair takes care of the orchard on their own, but they occasionally require additional help.
"So far, our problem has been finding good help that knows how to prune fruit trees," Sue said.
The planting and transplanting of trees does not end with the initial planting. The Shorts are expecting 150 trees at any time, which will be replacing apple and peach trees that were not productive.
In addition to the trial and error process of transplanting and planting trees, the Shorts have also been challenged by Mother Nature.
"We had 70 Pink Lady apple trees year-before-last that the beavers took out," Sue said. "So we put up fences, we have had electric, we've had wood -- which they ate right through -- we have had it all. We did get some big metal traps, you know the raccoons here in peach season, so we got live traps to help with them."
Mother Nature has affected the Shorts with more than just varmints; -- fungi have severally affected their crop.
"It is a challenge. Our biggest challenge with our trees now is we have something called bitter rot, and also fire blot," Sue said. "What bitter rot is, it is a small little spot that starts on the apple and it is a fungus, and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until the apple is nothing but mush.
You can think you are going to have a really good crop and everything is looking good and all of a sudden you go out and your apples are falling," Sue said. "Then you have to clean it all up and make sure the floor of the orchard is clean and make sure the fungus doesn't spread."
There is not an abundance of apple orchards in Texas, but the Shorts are an example that while it is challenging, it is possible.
"You can grow apples in Texas," Sue said. "But you have got to try and grow the best kind, which in Texas, is the Granny Smith and Fuji -- which we have done pretty well with."
With challenge of fungus-related problems in the apples, the Shorts find that it is nearly impossible to find a fool-proof method to eliminate the problem.
"You've got this Environmental Protection Agency and every thing that works, they are taking off of the market," Ray said.
"We are limited to what we can use," Sue explained. "Pretty much, we don't use a lot of pesticides -- it is the fungicides that we use."
"I spray for insects on my apple trees once, maybe twice, a season," Ray said. "By time they are ready, there is no traces."
Despite the setbacks the Henrietta Creek Orchard has experienced in recent years, the Shorts are confident the orchard will come back to its previous glory, complete with large apple crops. In the meantime, they plant to continue teaching children about how their food is grown.
To find out more about Henrietta Creek Orchard, or schedule a visit, go to www.henriettacreekorchard.com.
