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what are Plant Guilds? What are Plant Guilds?Plant guilds are planting systems designed to replicate the natural tendency for wild plants to grow together i ...
Having a small homestead orchard is a great way to add to your self sufficiency and grow your gardening repertoire. Learn how to plan and plant one today.
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The mission of the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation is to advance fruit horticultural programs for the unique Western Washington maritime climate. Set near the Puget Sound in northern Washington, the Fruit Garden was created by WWFRF at Washington State University’s Mount Vernon Research Center. This seven-acre garden offers an alluring exploration of 172 fruit varieties and 571 fruiting trees and bushes.
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Select and plant the best fruit and nut trees for your homestead! Increase your self-reliance by raising your own fruit and nuts!
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We've grown many fruit trees in our dry climate (citrus, fig, pomegranate, avocado, and others) and I've had plenty of readers ask about how they can get started too. So, ...
Don’t let a short growing season and cold winters keep you from enjoying orchards of fruit and nut trees. Here's what you need to know.
Year Zero - Before You Plant Planning and installing an orchard can be a daunting project, with the sweet rewards years and even decades out. But like the Heirloom Orchardist says: You're Never Too Old To Plant An Orchard! Especially with cultivars grafted to grow on dwarfing root stocks, one could be eating their own, sweet peaches, apples, and plumbs within 3 to 5 years. Considerations I am still a while away from planting my next small orchard; however, the following are some of the things I considered when planning this orchard. These thoughts are a combination of my experience with trees in the Northern Nevada High Desert, observations of commercial orchards in the California San Joaquin Valley, extensive research, and personal preference. What I am hoping you will find here is not an exact plan for your property and your small orchard, but some thoughts, ideas, and techniques with which to plan your own orchard. At the least, organic - but moving towards permaculture: Keep out the Chemicals, Add in Extreme Biodiversity. Include everything from root crops in the ground to the tree-top story. I want to be able to eat right off of the tree, or from the plants on the ground around them. Installed over the course of 3 years like an encroaching forest. I chose to move East to West so that I could use the warm afternoon sun on the open areas of the orchard while those areas were being prepared to receive trees. Also, installing over the course of 3 years spreads the work out - especially since much of the work will probably be "by hand." Trees planted far enough apart that their canopies will not touch - about 4 or 5 feet between the widest anticipated spread. Pollinators within 50 feet of each other, but with a non-related tree between them (apple, peach, apple). Also, purposely tried to have things that will ripen at different times next to each other. This will hopefully help to isolate any disease or pest problems that a particular tree might have. Start with bare root trees planted in the autumn - gives me all summer to prepare a home for them Continue to harvest garden vegetables and bramble fruits while the orchard fills out, and also throughout the life of the orchard. It might be that having an integrated orchard may make it unnecessary to maintain separate kitchen and herb gardens. Fully fenced - we have dogs and deer here - along with other critters. I don't mind sharing some with nature, but I also do want a lot of the harvest for people to enjoy. That being said, I am thinking of growing some fruit trees outside of the wire to act as both food for wild life and as "trap crops" for the insects to enjoy. Secondary, mobile fencing inside of the orchard for chicken clean up duties. Preparations For The Desert: I planted my trees in depressions in the sand that were heavily amended with home made composted chicken bedding and some purchased soil (did I mention we were on an ancient ocean bed, and it was pure sand at least 10 ft down?). I mulched with purchased bark chips (large sized so the desert winds wouldn't blow them away. I used depressions so that I could capture as much water as possible and localize it near the trees. As the trees' drip lines expanded, I added compost to the sand a bit out from the drip line and also expanded the bark chip mulch. In later years, I took the trimmings from a different species of tree and used them to mulch. My thinking being that if there were pests, they wouldn't find a good home under a different type of tree... and, in putting down the trimmed branches, I was hoping to make it more like a forest floor. For The Rainy South: My preparations for Middle Tennessee will be a little different. Instead of the 15 inches of precipitation in the High Desert that mostly arrived as snow, we have over fifty inches of rain - that arrives as torrential rains in the summer, and steady sheets of rain in the winter - with only an occasional snow flurry. Instead of directing water flow to the trees, I want to keep them from sitting in a bog - and so I will plant them in berms created from small tree branches and compost, and covered over with soil. Again, trying to recreate that "forest floor" feeling for the trees. Cover crop them with something nitrogen fixing and let mellow for the summer. Where trees will be planted in year two, I will build the mound in the fall of year one if I have time and energy, so that it will have a whole year to mellow. Ideally I would also build the mound for the year three trees at this time; however, I doubt I will be so ambitious. Across the whole area I would plant edible nitrogen fixers, such as beans, peas, Southern peas, along with various herbs. Where there is bare soil, Nature will step in and plant her own weeds - so it is in my interest to plant what I want. Beans and peas are mostly self-fertile and inbreed naturally, so what I don't harvest for food or seed for myself, I will let go wild and reseed. And, in the bare grounds, I will also plant various vegetable crops. If I were younger and less impatient, I might run a few feeder pigs in this area to fertilize and plow. But I'm not younger, and I'm pretty impatient. One of the nice things about trees is that they slow you down. Maybe in Year One I will also start planning a second orchard where I will start with running a few pigs and some chickens. Selecting cultivars - Mostly I will be choosing semi-dwarf trees, partly for their size, but also partly because they will start fruiting sooner than full sized trees on their own root stock. And now, on with the plan! Year One Please keep in mind - I am not an authority on these matters - the following are just some ideas I have based on research and observation. And, of course, it is simplified to fit in the space of a blog post - I am not yet up to writing a book on this! Things to note: Cultivars are from Stark Bro's - a company that I have had a lot of positive experience with. Generally speaking, apples and pears will need a pollinator. Most reputable tree sellers will list which varieties will pollinate each other. This website has an easy to use pollinator checker: Orange Pippin Trees Some cherries need pollinators; however some, like most peaches, plumbs, and nectarines, are self fertile. Orchard Key: YEAR ONE - year the tree is to be planted Sept. Wonder Fujii - Cultivar Apple - Species SEPTEMBER - expected approximate harvest month Fruit Year - Based on Year One - this is how many years from year one that the tree will begin producing fruit Year One Trees are planted on a diagonal to allow closer spacing Sunny opening to the East of the Nectarine planted to a diverse crop or a rotated crop of people food, such as tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, or lower growing herbs. Then there are the Year One trees Directly to the West of the Year One Trees is the bed of the edible nitrogen fixers, and to the West of that is a mixture of traditional garden vegetables mixed with nitrogen fixers Note: "Fruit Year" is the year from starting the orchard, not how long the tree takes to fruit from planting date. Year Two Year Two Year Two trees are planted Sunny opening to the East of the Nectarine planted to a diverse crop or a rotated crop of people food, such as tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, or lower growing herbs. Then there are the Year One and Year Two trees Directly to the West of the Year Two Trees is a bed primarily made up of the edible nitrogen fixers, but with some traditional vegetable garden plants In year two, the trees are still quite young and do not have much of a canopy to shade the ground - both nitrogen fixers and traditional vegetable garden and herb plants can continue to be planted in the sunny spaces between the trees Note: "Fruit Year" is the year from starting the orchard, not how long the tree takes to fruit from planting date. Year Three Year Three Year Three trees are finally planted Year One trees may be starting fruit production This might be a good year to start blueberries or other brambles between the Year one and Year two trees Year One trees are filling out - vegetable garden plants should not be planted within the drip line of the trees Still lots of room between Year Two and Year Three trees to plant lots of vegetables and herbs. Note: "Fruit Year" is the year from starting the orchard, not how long the tree takes to fruit from planting date. Year Four and Beyond In years four and beyond are where one begins to literally harvest the fruits of one's labor. I anticipate still having to plant some of the garden vegetables each year, but perhaps not. Volunteer tomatoes, beans, and carrots along with established patches of oregano, basil, and sweet marjoram may cut planting down to almost nothing. As the trees mature and begin casting more shade, I anticipate adding more berries and fruiting shrubs near them - providing them a woodsy-ish environment. Most of the trees will be fruiting by now Many annual and perennial vegetables and herbs will be well established or self sowing The orchard will start looking like an orchard - or, probably more accurately, like food forest Trees should be mulched with leaves and small branch trimmings from deciduous trees (not more than 2 1/2 inch in diameter) In theory, one could expand this concept West and South by one row a year. If I were trying to grow a forest instead of an orchard, I might make the following adjustments Plant a few standard (full sized) trees in Year Four and space them out a little more Also plant one full sized tree during Year One Leave a space every year where one tree would normally be - to have a little open space with sunlight to plant other vegetables, herbs, or even just some grasses - to encourage more diversity in the orchard Hope you found this interesting and useful. Odds are, I will change or refine this plan more than once before we are ready to implement. That's the beauty of planning - it is cheap and easy to make changes when they are still just down on paper!
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...Julie thinks they're Hazelnut Trees...I captured this while on our way to Dundee...then to Lincoln City.
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