Heritage tree varieties are commonly defined as varieties that have been cultivated in a region for more than a century. In recent years, however, this definition has begun to shift as some long-established varieties have proved poorly suited to long-term ecological sustainability.
The contemporary understanding of heritage trees rests on the premise that varieties which have persisted in the local landscape are likely to be well adapted to the local climate and the ability to grow without significant human investment or cultivation.
Today, heritage varieties include many trees that are not originally from Israel, such as pomegranate, mulberry, apricot (Asia), loquat, walnut (Eurasia), pecan (America), and fig (Africa). Nevertheless, these trees thrive in the Israeli climate and grow with greater ease compared to varieties that are not climate-adapted and demand substantially more labour and resources.
Heritage varieties constitute a living legacy from previous generations; some, as mentioned above, are imported or cultivated, while others are part of the Israeli wild (such as the sycamore fig, hawthorn, strawberry tree, buckthorn, and oak).
The ecological importance of heritage trees lies in their ability, under the right environmental and growing conditions, to yield abundant fruit and remain resistant to diseases and extreme climate conditions without the need for external inputs of water, fertilizer, or pesticides.
There are also other trees that have not reached the status of “heritage trees” but are well-suited to the radiation levels, the lack of summer rain, and the scarcity of winter rain in Israel.
In any case, the first question when examining the ecology of planting a tree in a specific area is the feasibility of the tree reaching independent fruit-bearing status without the need for external resources at some point in its life.
Trees that originated in a tropical climate arrive “accustomed” to enormous amounts of water and protection from wind and radiation. Therefore, bananas, for example, require external irrigation and greenhouses that reduce the solar radiation they receive and protect them from the wind.
At this point in time, when water, soil, and oil are becoming increasingly scarce resources, investment in heritage trees is likely the only investment that will certainly bear fruit. Unlike orchards and field crops—even if they are organic—heritage trees will not require the work of fuel-guzzling heavy machinery for pruning, will not require soil cultivation that causes erosion and runoff, and will not require external irrigation, which is becoming an increasingly expensive and rare resource as time goes on.
In the days of the climate crisis in agriculture, the weak points are soil (degradation and erosion), water (annual crops or trees not adapted to an arid climate), and pollution (the use of heavy machinery for constant soil cultivation, the use of petroleum-based sprays and pesticides and toxic organic compounds, and the resulting pollution of the air, water sources, and soil).
Thinking long-term, it is almost self-evident that resource-intensive agriculture is not feasible, especially in a country with limited rainfall and space like Israel.
Regarding field crops—that is, vegetables and fruits grown annually (tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, melons, pumpkins, lettuce, corn, etc.)—one should prefer the use of local varieties or varieties whose traits are suited to the local climate, such as: fakus and be’ajir instead of cucumber, malali watermelon instead of the commercial type, etc.
The main traits that interest farmers, even organic ones, are related to the trade of the product (resistance to pests and spraying, shelf life, uniformity of ripening, etc.). In the transition to purchasing from local agriculture, private farms, and self-growing, there is immense importance, because an independent grower will benefit from non-uniform ripening that will provide them with produce over a longer period with less waste. When the focus is on more sustainable traits, one can think of resistance to lack of irrigation, resistance to salinity, etc., as more desirable traits.
Alik Pelman demonstrates autarky; on less than a dunam, he grows all his food—mainly by growing fava beans and wheat in the winter using rainwater and supplementing for nutritional diversity with a vegetable garden. In doing so, he cuts the wasteful supply chain of field crops and lives hand-to-mouth.
Another way to reduce the use of wasteful agriculture is to prefer perennial crops: there are species of legumes, vegetables, and fruits that do not require replanting every year, thereby saving all the associated labor, deepening roots, and requiring less water and care. In addition, foraging for wild plants and legumes allows access to plants of the highest nutritional quality and freshness without the need to invest energy in growing them. Wild herbs and legumes are common throughout the country and can constitute a significant component of the diet, especially in winter and spring.
Climate-adapted trees are the most important key to sustainable agriculture. When well-acclimated, trees yield abundantly for many years with minimal care and almost no need for resource investment; they benefit the soil and contribute to the creation of organic matter, mulching, and the prevention of soil erosion. Furthermore, they beautify the landscape and clean and circulate the air.
There is great importance in the type of trees and their adaptation to the local climate, but beyond that, there is also importance in the method of planting and establishing the trees in their first years of life. This is what will make the difference between weak trees that need treatments, fertilizers, pruning, irrigation, etc., and trees that thrive for years without energy investment.
The method of planting the tree has a significant impact; even trees with identical genetic material (from cuttings—vegetative propagation) will differ greatly in their lifespan, growth form, and resilience depending on how they are grown and planted.
Thinking about natural agriculture—permaculture—we want to observe the patterns of propagation and distribution of trees in nature and learn from them how to plant.
Seedlings and nurseries are a commercial invention of the last few centuries; before that, the main distribution was over short distances and in a way closer to how trees develop in nature.
The natural propagation of trees is carried out mainly by seeds—distributed over distances by birds and other animals; cuttings—branches from the tree that break off and take root in the soil, developing into an independent tree; layering—as in grapevines, where a tree trunk close to the ground sends roots vertically, and cutting this part can produce an independent tree; and sucker propagation—offshoots from the tree that are connected to the original tree and from there develop roots and an independent tree. There are other forms of tree propagation, but these are the main ones in Israel.
There are differences between these methods, but they share one principle: from a very young age, the tree is planted in the soil where it will spend its entire life, accustomed to the local wind regime, the local soil, etc. The most important thing is the tree’s ability to extend its roots.
Trees in Israel are adapted to an arid climate where there is no precipitation for at least half the year. To survive in this climate, they have the ability to develop a taproot system that reaches deep into the soil and is capable of obtaining nourishment from the moisture that remains year-round deep in the ground.
In a nursery pot, even a 50-liter pot, which is considered very large, reaches a length of about 45 cm; that is, there is very limited space for roots to develop, and thus deep-rooting trees may develop a root ball—a kind of large, single mass that fills the pot instead of digging deep into the soil. In many trees in Israel, such as the almond, there is a critical period where if the tree has not sent a taproot deep into the soil, it will not be able to develop one later. Trees like carob, oak, etc., develop a root that deepens to at least a meter in the soil in their first year of germination; when they grow in a nursery, a relatively large tree emerges in the landscape but may have a sparse and underdeveloped root system.
Therefore, thinking long-term about the tree’s immunity, the root, and optimal adaptation to the planting site, we would prefer to plant trees as small as possible or, ideally, germinate or propagate them in the planting area itself.
In nature, few trees manage to germinate and survive; what makes the difference is their starting conditions—the quality and aeration of the soil, nutrients, water drainage, etc. Therefore, in planning a sustainable tree planting, the initial investment will be much higher than a regular planting, in order to create good starting conditions that will make the difference later on. We will make huge holes for the tree (ideally a cubic meter), we will put in a lot of compost (at least 200 liters), and a lot of prunings (also at least 200 liters).
The natural growth method in Israel differs from commercial orchards also in the nature of irrigation. The rainy season in Israel is characterized by few days of rain with a relatively large amount of precipitation. The recommended irrigation in Israel is via drip lines; this irrigation is very problematic for trees because it encourages them to develop shallow roots and “hold on” instead of developing deep roots that would allow them to thrive over time. Therefore, when we want to create a resilient tree that does not require irrigation, irrigation should be infrequent but deep. In this situation, the upper part of the soil dries out quickly in the summer; after it dries, the tree is encouraged to seek moisture deeper in the soil and use it. When using a drip pipe, the top part of the soil is the only part that receives nourishment; the tree is not required to have a deep root and will always compete with weeds and evaporation for the water on the surface of the soil.
The situation where there is water and heat in Israel is relatively rare and creates an anomaly that local trees are not adapted to deal with, such as particularly tough summer weeds, fungi, etc. Therefore, there is great importance in weaning trees off frequent irrigation and creating trees that are suited to the climate. Drought-adapted trees that do not receive irrigation also yield more concentrated, nutritious, and tasty fruit.
This article was originally published in Hebrew on Sagi Gottfried’s website: https://sagig.co.il/traditonalorchards/