Eord (a variant of eorþe) is ‘earth, ground’. Ord is a word in OE but means ‘point’, as in the point of a weapon, so I don’t think it’s related to ort-geard.
I don’t see a logical connection between ord ‘point,’ either (or ‘origin’ which I think were both also in my dictionary.) I don’t recall the word ort-geard in the OE Genesis tale. I think the word was neorxnewange (I may be spelling it incorrectly–I can’t look it up at the moment) which I think conveys the notion of an open space. Earth-yard does seem to relate to what an orchard is.
Yes, neorxnawang (paradise) is used in poetry to describe the garden of Eden and the home of the phoenix. Ortgeard appears in a metaphorical but more prosaic text, King Alfred’s West Saxon translation of Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, Chapter 40: Wietodlice se mæra landbegenga, ðæt wæs sanctus Paulus, he underfeng ða halgan gesomnunga to plantianne & to ymbhweorfanne, sua se ceorl deð his ortgeard. (Certainly the great husbandman, that was St Paul, he undertook to plant and to cultivate the holy church, as the countryman does his orchard.)
Old English Wordhord 
Is ord earth?
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Eord (a variant of eorþe) is ‘earth, ground’. Ord is a word in OE but means ‘point’, as in the point of a weapon, so I don’t think it’s related to ort-geard.
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I don’t see a logical connection between ord ‘point,’ either (or ‘origin’ which I think were both also in my dictionary.) I don’t recall the word ort-geard in the OE Genesis tale. I think the word was neorxnewange (I may be spelling it incorrectly–I can’t look it up at the moment) which I think conveys the notion of an open space. Earth-yard does seem to relate to what an orchard is.
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Yes, neorxnawang (paradise) is used in poetry to describe the garden of Eden and the home of the phoenix. Ortgeard appears in a metaphorical but more prosaic text, King Alfred’s West Saxon translation of Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, Chapter 40: Wietodlice se mæra landbegenga, ðæt wæs sanctus Paulus, he underfeng ða halgan gesomnunga to plantianne & to ymbhweorfanne, sua se ceorl deð his ortgeard. (Certainly the great husbandman, that was St Paul, he undertook to plant and to cultivate the holy church, as the countryman does his orchard.)
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