Historic Orchard

In the Berkshires, the end of February and early March is the time to prune orchards.  It appears that The Bidwell House property has the remains of two orchard sites. Two large, old trees stand in the meadow behind the Heirloom Vegetable Garden to the north of the house. A single tree stands in the meadow in front of the house to the south; however, this tree was one of about ten additional fruit trees that had become surrounded by forest to the west. These trees could very well be the ones mentioned in the will of Adonijah, the younger, when he left the property to his son, John Devotion. Long unattended, these trees are overgrown and have been bearing undistinguished fruit.

In 1996, as part of the Massachusetts Forest Stewardship Program, the cluster of ten trees was "released" from the woods. This meant that a small circle containing the fruit trees was cut out of the forest, exposing these trees once more to the sun. The object is for them to produce fruit for wildlife.

Board Member Richard Greene and his son Mark initiated the restoration of the orchard behind the house by pruning the largest and most open tree. This required sawing a large amount of dead wood and using pruners with long extension handles to reach the high overgrown branches. Throughout the growing season this tree will be treated organically to restore it to produce good fruit that,  hopefully, can be identified.

These steps are the beginning of restoring the orchard to its original splendor. New in 1997 to the Heirloom Vegetable Garden will be the additions of Elderberry, Gooseberry and Currant bushes along the fence bordering the entrance to the garden.  These berry bushes were common staples in the 18th century kitchen garden.  The Elderberry bush has been relocated from another area of the property. The Gooseberry and Currant bushes are varieties recommended to be appropriate to the time period by Christie White from the horticultural staff of Sturbridge Village.