First trees in, the grove begins.

The first trees went in today. This is where the grove begins, and where this journal does too.

They came from Van Maren Farms in Chilliwack. The Van Marens have been growing hazelnuts in the Fraser Valley for decades and know the rootstocks suited to a wet coastal winter. Bareroot, lifted while dormant, planted within a week of arrival.

The rows run north to south. The land was rotovated and settled before the holes went in. Each tree got a slow watering and a mulch ring around the base.

It will be years before the first harvest. The trees are small now, but the shape of the grove is here.