18 SEPTEMBER 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com
R
udy Prey of Leavenworth, Washington, does
things with his pear trees that not all, or even
most growers, do.
He ties the top branches together to pull
them into an archway to maximize light
exposure. He plants them close together to create high
density block and starts cropping them two or three
years earlier than most normally would.
"He's wholeheartedly taken on the high density,
which is difficult everywhere on earth," said Tim Smith,
the semi-retired Washington State University extension
educator for Chelan County.
Prey carves his blocks from the side of a steep hill
and protects them from wildfire by clearing the under-
growth of his wooded property that abuts the Wenatchee
National Forest. The chore helps keep his 12 full-time
employees busy all year.
He even has to shoo away a few bears occasionally,
though when they visit, they usually snack on his fruit at
night and are long gone by the time his workers arrive.
Pears
Central Washington pear
grower innovates, adapts.
by Ross Courtney
Prey's way
