I am pleased and relieved to report: all eighteen fruit trees are safely tucked into their new homes! I've brushed their bark with white milk paint to prevent sun scald, wrapped the base of their trunks with mesh to prevent boring insects, pinned odiferous garlic clips to the ends of their branches to prevent deer from eating their tender twigs, and put a sprinkling ("like parmesan cheese," David said) of pelletized lime around them to add calcium to the soil. Phew!

This spring, we'll spread a load of compost around them, but in the meantime, we just need to water them and hope these babies make it through winter!