Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Fruit Trees and Vines
Fruit trees and vines can provide an enormous amount of food
compared to the effort invested. Many fruit and nut trees
produce, literally, bushels of fruits or nuts, and some
blackberry variants produce gallons of berries per vine.
Unfortunately, even though berries may even produce in their
first or second season, full-sized fruit and nut trees take
several years to come into production and may produce
nothing at all for the first few years. Dwarf trees will
normally produce fruit within three years, but the volume of
fruit they produce is lower.
To offset this problem, diversify! If possible, in the year
preceding the start of your mini-farm, plant a small section
with berry and perhaps some grape vines for the next year's
harvest. Along with these, plant dwarf fruit trees and some
full-sized nut trees. In this way, the harvest starts modestly
with berries the first year and expands to include dwarf
cherries the next year, dwarf apples the year after that, and so
on. Within seven years, the farmer is producing enough fruit
and nuts for the family plus some surplus.
Fruits are full of idiosyncrasies in terms of disease and pest
problems, pruning requirements, suitable climate, and so on.
This is particularly true of vinifera grapes, apples, peaches,
and other popular fruits. I recommend reading as widely as
possible about the fruits you plan to grow and selecting hardy
varieties specific to your area, using a reputable nursery, and
