What makes an orchard?

I had ordered 5 fruit trees some time ago but it wasn’t until I came to plant them last weekend that I found myself pondering whether my efforts would qualify as an “orchard” or even if there was a formal definition which specified a number of trees.

In my mind, the term implies a fairly large number of trees and conjures up images of west country cider orchards which gnarled old trees laden with fruit. The trees I bought are only 1-year-old and arrived bare root so they’re not much to look at right now.

As a result of all this I was perhaps understandably hesitant to use the term “orchard” when referring to our limited number of trees. After all there are only 3 apple trees (James Grieve, Meridian and Queen Cox), 1 pear (Concorde) and 1 plum (Victoria).

Luckily a quick check on Wikipedia seems to show that I’m right…

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production.

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard

Based on that definition, I can confirm that the picture below shows our newly planted orchard and I’m looking forward to the first harvest in a couple of years!

Trust me, it's an orchard!
Trust me, it’s an orchard!

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