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Terribly OT, but the 'low hanging fruit' comes from a time where full sized fruit trees were the norm, which is something today's (professional) fruit grower wo

by roel_v 8y ago

Terribly OT, but the 'low hanging fruit' comes from a time where full sized fruit trees were the norm, which is something today's (professional) fruit grower wouldn't know anything about. In old-style orchards (i.e., with full size trees), it's actually quite common to just leave 'high hanging fruit' because there's no somewhat safe or practical way to get to it. Unless you're talking about something else, which I'd be interest in hearing about, as this is quite relevant to me at this time of the year.

hinkley 8y ago
It’s not a simple problem to be sure. I rub elbows with landscapers in one of my hobbies and the general consensus seems to be that leaving fruit or leaves under your tree as pathogen vectors is a bad plan. That it’s better to hot compost everything you can’t grab before it hits the ground. We have orchard ladders (the ones with the flared base) and telescoping handheld pickers and dwarf varieties (trees with better modularity?) that keep most of the fruit within picking distance. Also leaving ripe fruit in the trees just means the wildlife or storms have a chance to get it before you can. I don’t have any mature fruit trees now but my plan is similar to my friend who has five apple trees. Harvest as much as I can process at a go (she makes cider). And then whatever the animals don’t get after that is a bonus.
- roel_v 8y ago
  Sure, fallen fruit can cause problems; which is why in 'neat' orchards (only short grass under trees, very little other vegetation that can house predators that eat the insects that are attracted by fallen fruit) you pick as much as possible and pick up and discard fallen fruit. And 'production' orchards use dwarf or semi dwarf varieties anyway, along with planting patterns that let them harvest with telescopic lifts. My point was, the analogy is still valid. In full size orchards, you'rr not going to be able to get any of the non-low hanging fruit. I know of cherry trees 25+ m high with kilos and kilos of cherries in absolutely unreachable places. And many fruit trees that I know of, only the low hanging fruit is picked at all most years. My own apple trees are 6ish years old now, I'm hoping I'll get my first proper (if somewhat modest) harvest this year. But even now, I already know I won't be able to reach much of it. Either way thanks for the comment, I think we're on the same page here - I was just wondering if there was something I missed in your original comment. I always like learning about peculiarities or practices of people in other places, although I think in this case there isn't much different after all.
adrianN 8y ago
Now if there were a way to turn all computer problems into low hanging fruit as well...

by roel_v 8y ago

hinkley 8y ago

It’s not a simple problem to be sure. I rub elbows with landscapers in one of my hobbies and the general consensus seems to be that leaving fruit or leaves under your tree as pathogen vectors is a bad plan. That it’s better to hot compost everything you can’t grab before it hits the ground. We have orchard ladders (the ones with the flared base) and telescoping handheld pickers and dwarf varieties (trees with better modularity?) that keep most of the fruit within picking distance. Also leaving ripe fruit in the trees just means the wildlife or storms have a chance to get it before you can. I don’t have any mature fruit trees now but my plan is similar to my friend who has five apple trees. Harvest as much as I can process at a go (she makes cider). And then whatever the animals don’t get after that is a bonus.

roel_v 8y ago
Sure, fallen fruit can cause problems; which is why in 'neat' orchards (only short grass under trees, very little other vegetation that can house predators that eat the insects that are attracted by fallen fruit) you pick as much as possible and pick up and discard fallen fruit. And 'production' orchards use dwarf or semi dwarf varieties anyway, along with planting patterns that let them harvest with telescopic lifts. My point was, the analogy is still valid. In full size orchards, you'rr not going to be able to get any of the non-low hanging fruit. I know of cherry trees 25+ m high with kilos and kilos of cherries in absolutely unreachable places. And many fruit trees that I know of, only the low hanging fruit is picked at all most years. My own apple trees are 6ish years old now, I'm hoping I'll get my first proper (if somewhat modest) harvest this year. But even now, I already know I won't be able to reach much of it. Either way thanks for the comment, I think we're on the same page here - I was just wondering if there was something I missed in your original comment. I always like learning about peculiarities or practices of people in other places, although I think in this case there isn't much different after all.

adrianN 8y ago

Now if there were a way to turn all computer problems into low hanging fruit as well...