Easter Update: Ordered my orchard...

[Rozzie]

I moved away from my property that has my small orchard about 3 years ago. I miss it! I made mistakes when choosing varieties for that one about 12 years ago & had little experience with pruning (and was frankly afraid of it...) Since I'm not there much any more, it isn't cared for as well as it should be. (I still get there occasionally and prune obvious weather damage, at least.)

I'm at a different property now, and need to get my orchard established here. I only have a small space here, though for such things. (The entire property is less than a half acre and half is front yard. Fruit would disappear at night to both humans and deer...) Only about half of the backyard can be used for plantings (concrete pool and patio in the rest).

I have measured and measured and planned for months. I have a section reserved for garden beds (the first is ready for use. I'll add one or two a year until the space is full.) I've got two areas reserved for small fruits & the largest area set aside for dwarf and "miniature" fruit trees. I will be putting in a few semi-dwarf, as well.

Last year, I did get a few bramble fruits in (some blackberry and raspberry). Otherwise, though, I am starting from scratch on this property. Here is the plan for fruit:

Orchard area:
3 apple trees (Enterprise, Liberty, Freedom) Dwarf
2 Peach (Reliance, Contender) Semi Dwarf
1 Dwarf Mount Royal Plum
2 Manchurian Bush Apricot
2 Native Plum
2 Carmine Jewel Dwarf Cherry

My small fruits area will have
3 heritage red raspberry (2 were planted last year. 1 more went in today)
3 Blackberry (2 Navajo & 1 Arapaho went in last year)
2 Fall Gold Rasberry (planted today)
1 latham Red Rasberry (planted today)
5 grapes (2 concord seedless, 2 thompson, 1 cayuga) These get planted the day after tomorrow...
4 blueberry (2 jersey, 2 legacy) Will plant these tomorrow..
3 gooseberry (invicto, pixwell, Hinnomaki Red)
I'm also transplanting a dozen or so blackberry plants of an unknown variety from my old place. They are terrific BUT this zone may be too cold. It's about a 1.5 zone difference...I'm putting them in a different area in case they don't do well. It will also be a VERY sheltered area to help provide a wind break.

I'll also be tucking in a few rhubarb plants this year (have them on hand already)

In upcoming years, I'm going to tuck small fruits + the tiny little miniature apple trees (aka Li'L big from Gurney's) into any empty spaces that are large enough. I think I'll have space for one or two more blueberries, too. Any other areas that end up large enough for regular dwarf trees will get additional apple trees. I plan on putting a couple of Hazelnut trees into my front yard since those will be less likely to get swiped than fruit.

The only part of this I dread is staking all those trees (and mowing between them...)

 

[thistlebloom]

First, welcome to TEG Rozzie! That sounds like quite an enterprise
and very good planning on your part. You're going to have lots of fruit!

 

[Greenthumb18]

Yes to TEG!!

Sounds like you have a lot of interesting fruits to plant. I have 2 trees of Manchurian Apricots and a Heritage Raspberry in the garden, hopefully this year I'll get fruit from the Manchurian Apricot, they look like they'll bloom pretty soon.

All your hard work will be definitely worth it come harvest time, trust me. Enjoy having all these fruit trees and plants on your property, they will be a job to have .

 

[Collector]

Sounds like a solid plan, who needs grass maybe you can just hardscape outback.

 

[Rozzie]

Thanks! Yes, the plan is to eventually get rid of most of the grass in the backyard. I'll leave a small area for the dogs, so they can roll in it and also an area where they will know they can do their business. I'll eventually mulch more and more of the back so I won't have to mow. I have quail, and their bedding (once composted ) makes excellent mulch! I'll keep the grass in the front yard so that my neighbors don't hate me too much...

I have to be careful not to overdo things, as I have some medical issues that I deal with. I have a teenage son at home, though, who is working hard at helping me get these things done. He's my "heavy lifter" and a huge help to me. I can handle the upkeep once everything is in the ground. I just can't do much groundbreaking myself.

 

[barefootgardener]

Well for half an acre, I see you can still fit in a lot of fruit for your mini orchard, and still have room for garden beds etc... You have quite an assortment of fruit, and a great list. For beauty alone, and the harvest, it will all be worth it..

I did not see strawberries on your list...You can grow in pots or hanging baskets to help save on room from sprawling and weeding..And dont forget the herbs...LOL!!

As if you dont have enough to plant already..

 

[Rozzie]

You are right. I deliberately left strawberries off. I may add them down the road. I "love" strawberries, but they aren't among my favorite plants to grow, I'm afraid. They take more hands on time, per pound of fruit harvested. Plus, since I can establish a pretty good bed of those in a short period of time, they can wait until next year. I am focusing on the things that need a few years to produce so I can get them going now. It delays my gratification, unfortunately, but my tomatoes, peppers, and herbs will help tide me over int he meantime.

I just hit on an idea yesterday that will help increase my cultivated area, though. I have an unused (empty) concrete pool in my backyard. We have to constantly pump it out using a sump pump every few times it rains to avoid having a green pool. I'm going to get some greenhouse plastic and pvc pipe and construct a hoop greenhouse OVER the pool. Then, I can put containers of plants in the pool on the shallow end. ANy rain that enters the pool will still run to the deep end, where we can pump it out (or use it to water the container plants). In fact, I may "let" a few hundred gallons accumulate and put in a few fish plus a filter and pump. We'll see. First step is to see if I will need a building permit. I suspect not since it will technically be just a modified pool cover held up with a framework of PVC pipe and a few 2x6 posts. Even if the whole mess caved in, no one would be seriously harmed by it. This would be a good place to put strawberries in containers, too.

 

[thistlebloom]

I think that's a very inventive solution for extra garden space Rozzie!

 

[Ariel301]

Hopefully you'll be swimming in fruit in a few years! It sounds great, I wish I had time and space and money to get all that fruit! We can't get fruit trees by mail here though, Arizona is weird about that, and the ones in the local stores are $30 each and half dead.

 

[Rozzie]

This lot is only 4/10 of an acre, and half is front yard (any fruit in the front yard would probably get stolen by passerby & deer). Another big chunk of the lot is taken up by the house, concrete patio, pool, and workshop. It really doesn't take much space for dwarf & miniature trees (the tiny ones sold by places like Gurney's). Even the mini trees can bear UP TO 1/2 bushel each and only take a few square feet of space. They only grow about 5-6 foot tall. I've measured pretty carefully to know I can fit these in without crowding them too much.

As for money, that is in REAL short supply this year. I have a bit of extra income coming in in July and August. Until then, thank you Visa. (We have had a lot of unexpected medical bills recently due to a very unexpected medical diagnosis for a household member a couple of weeks ago & a surgery in a short while--cancer.) However, I view fruit trees as an investment. Any interest I pay in 3 months time on these will be far less than the value of having the trees in the ground and producing a year sooner. Most of these trees are Spring plant only, so they would be delayed for another year. All told, I'll have spent about $450-500 on the orchard & gardens this year, including the flowers I am planting. I wanted to get my nut trees, lilacs, and roses in, but those can wait until next year.

I'll probably recoup about $100-150 in tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, beans, etc. this year. Actually, it will probably be slightly more if the berries I planted last year produce much. That will pay for a little of it, too.