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Garden Gate:  Fruit Trees, Plants and Vines  |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 11:06:00 AM
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Hi girls -
Will you please recommend good reference books and/or websites, as well as trusted resources for purchasing fruit trees, plants and vines? I'm interested in starting to grow many different types of fruit and really don't have a lot of experience with it. If you have experience with them, please do share!
With our small (teeny) amount of land, I am very limited as to what and how much I can grow. In the front yard, we're considering planting a grape vine arbor across the front of the house with a couple of blueberry bushes underneath, and some low-growing real cranberries covering the ground below them. In our backyard, I do have a nice little space for strawberries, too. I'm thinking because our yard is so small that I might try some columnar apples on the side of the house, just to see how they do. We had an apple tree in the front yard at one time, but the entire neighborhood picked it clean before the fruit even ripened - they were so brazen! Oh, the stories I could tell! But we're thinking if we put in a small picket fence along the front yard it should help curb people coming into our yard and picking the other fruit. I'm thinking about planting raspberries along the picket fence. I don't think I'll mind quite so much if passersby skim berries off the areas that they can reach at the fence. I just don't want them hopping into the yard and harvesting everything in sight.
My husband is a bit hesitant about growing fruit at all because he doesn't want to deal with birds and bees, but I'm pretty set on the idea. Guess who wins. LOL! ;)
I know we probably should start planting some of the fruits very soon, so ANY information, insight and suggests you would like to share would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!!!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Edited by - Ninibini on Oct 06 2014 11:09:35 AM |
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kysheeplady
True Blue Farmgirl
1291 Posts
Teri
KY
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 11:25:05 AM
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Nini,
It all sound like a great idea. I have found fruit trees in general very easy to grow, but to maintain them, and keep the bugs off and the mold, cedar rust and so on. I think fruit trees do well for commercial growers as they use pesticide to control. A road I choose not to go down.
As for grapes, I have a wonderful Concord grape arbor, and get a very big crop every year, jam, and juice for the year off of three plants. I grow blackberries,elderberries,strawberries,and dewberries. I have had no luck with blueberries, the birds devoured them!
I do have peach and plum trees, and get some eatable fruit from them, but as said I just can't bring myself to use any chemicals at all on anything on my land.
As for growing to grow them, well, that would be fun, but I like to plant, plants that I can get a return from quickly. (not a young farm girl any longer).
As for references, I would suggest researching what you want to plant and go on line first.
I have always wanted plant a Pecan tree ... but ...again ... timing.
Teri
"There are black sheep in every flock"
www.whitesheepfarm.com
www.etsy.com/shop/whitesheepprimitive |
Edited by - kysheeplady on Oct 07 2014 09:40:15 AM |
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kysheeplady
True Blue Farmgirl
1291 Posts
Teri
KY
USA
1291 Posts |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2014 : 09:26:49 AM
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Thanks so much, Teri! I really appreciate your help. I'm with you - I'm going organic with everything. I heard that birds go ga-ga for grapes, too - is that true? My mother-in-law had an amazing hedgerow of grapevines, and I never saw a bird in there even once! She did have snakes, though... And growing up, our next door neighbor had about five blueberry bushes. She was meticulous about their care, covering them with netting, ensuring the soil was perfect. Blueberry picking time was such a fun thing for all of us kids, so I'd really like to grow them. I guess I'm just going to have to give them a try and see what happens! Wish me luck! Thank you so much for the link... I will definitely check it out when we're done with school today! :) Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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kysheeplady
True Blue Farmgirl
1291 Posts
Teri
KY
USA
1291 Posts |
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2014 : 9:07:49 PM
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Try researching a bit on 'backyard orchard'. There are several methods but the one I like is by Dave Wilson. The link is
http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/growing-fruits-and-nuts/introduction-home-fruit-growing
The basic idea is that we don't need to let trees grow to full size in order to have harvest. We're not trying to be a commercial grower. So, keeping the trees drastically pruned keeps them manageable for home growing and harvesting.
I was really skeptical and scared to cut my trees back so much. But, it really works! It's kinda like square foot gardening where you can plant so much in a 4x4 block. The trees are planted close together in the same manner.
Check it out. You might find that you can have more trees than you think.
Make sure you study what varieties grow in your area. Also make sure to know if you need a pollinator. There are even some that have male and female plants.
Neighbors....I wouldn't want neighbors taking my harvest, either. The picket fence sounds like a good idea.
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
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lovinRchickens
True Blue Farmgirl
3442 Posts
Kelly
Pipe Creek
Texas
USA
3442 Posts |
Posted - Oct 21 2014 : 04:45:33 AM
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Nini
I have several fruit trees as well. I have ordered from trees of Antiquity several times now and have been very pleased. They will ship in time for spring planting in your area. I too am learning to prune trees. Buy dwarf trees if possible and prune to your convenience. I suggest watching a few of L2survive tree videos on youtube. He interviews Paul Gautchie on many gardening issues and the videos on fruit trees really are informative.
Farmgirl #5111
Farmgirl of the month October 2014
Blessings
~Kelly~ |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Oct 21 2014 : 12:29:40 PM
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Thank you, girls!
Teri - I'm so excited! I did find out that we can grown Concord grapes here (YES!!!), so I'm leaning toward them, but my son would like some yummy sweet seedless to gnosh on. My husband is still anti-grape, so whatever we choose, I'm going to have to start humble. ;) My next door neighbor told me that he had removed his vines because some strange fungus had taken most of them out. That concerns me, so I will definitely do my research!
Thank you for the link, Catherine! I will check that out this weekend, for sure! And thank you for the information on the trees and pruning. I'd really like to do some espaliered fruit between my neighbor's yard and ours, but that'd mean pulling out our beautiful antique lilac, as well as some roses and wisteria. I love the flowers, too. Decisions...Decisions... This may take a lot longer to plan out than I thought! :)
And Kelly! It never even occurred to me to check out L2survive's other videos! I was just loving the interviews with Mr. Gautchie he did, though! Thank you for the recommendation! I bet they ARE good! :)
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Country Yankee Gal
Farmgirl in Training
22 Posts
Rosemarie
Charleston area
South Carolina
USA
22 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2014 : 2:41:50 PM
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Hi, Nini!
I'm growing dwarf fruit trees in my front yard (I live in a suburban neighborhood), and I've purchased bare-root trees from two different nurseries - both with one-year replacement guarantees. The first is Willis Orchard Company at www.willisorchards.com. The other is Stark Bro's Nursery at www.starkbros.com. I have two apple trees (Pink Lady and Granny Smith), two elderberries, three grape vines (Reliant, Marquis, Concord), and two key lime trees. I had a Celeste fig, but it died this past winter during our freak ice storms. I want to replace the fig with an almond, then try fig again later. I also want two olive trees and a few kiwis. Oh, and I have a patch of raspberry canes, too. My mini orchard. :)
Give those orchard websites a look-see. Maybe one of them will be helpful to you.
Happy orchard creating!
Rosemarie, Farmgirl #6055
~ Planting Yankee roots in Southern soil
www.sanctuarygardener.com
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2014 : 03:08:16 AM
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Hi Rosemarie! AWESOME! I would love to see pictures of your mini orchard! It sounds lovely! I would love to do something like that in my postage stamp sized yard! Your mini orchard is my dream! Thank you for the links, too - I'll definitely check them out! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Garden Gate: Fruit Trees, Plants and Vines |
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Fruit Trees, Plants and Vines
