Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fruits, Berries,
h
10
h
and More
Fruit has a bad reputation for being difficult to grow and for needing a lot of dedicated space to be
productive. But nothing could be further from the truth. Incorporating fruit, berries, and nuts into
the backyard farm can be part of a healthy and thriving homestead. This chapter covers some of
the easiest to grow or most common fruits, berries, nuts, and edible perennial plants that you might
want to add to your backyard farm.
The best way to increase the amount of fruits you produce in your backyard is to think outside
the box. Does fruit
have
to mean an orchard of apple trees? You can plant fruiting vines, fruiting
bushes and shrubs, and fruiting ground covers like strawberries in myriad places that a traditional
apple tree wouldn't fit. (I'm not implying that there's anything wrong with apple trees!)
Fruit on Just an Acre? Yes!
You might think that you don't have room for fruit plants, but if you have room for plants at all,
you have room for homegrown fruit. Fruit on a small scale works best when you incorporate your
fruit or berry plants wisely. Incorporating edibles into the ornamental landscape is one great way to
do this, which we discussed in Chapter 4.
Another way to fit fruit into a smaller available area is to choose fruit plants that are more reason-
ably sized than a full-size 40-foot tree. Many fruit trees are available in dwarf, or upright columnar
forms. These begin as short as 6 feet tall and are grafted onto dwarf rootstock to limit their
growth. You could even plant these trees in large containers and provide fruit for your family as
part of your patio container garden!
Some fruit trees, such as apple, pear, and plum trees, can be trained to stand against a fence or into
a thinner form. This tree form is called espalier, and while it requires more frequent pruning and
can limit the amount of fruit produced per tree, it is one way of increasing the number of fruiting
plants on your property overall.
