I Love Fruit Trees

Twenty years ago I started planting fruit trees here at the Urban Farm and I have to tell you it has gotten…well not out of hand, but productive.  I have just over 80 fruit trees planted on the 1/3 acre.  Included in the mix of fruit trees is citrus (Cara Cara and Washington navel, Trovita and AZ Sweet oranges, Limequats, Meyer lemons,) eight different varieties of peaches, four different varieties of apples, apricot, plum, fig, quince, pomegranate, Asian pear and loquat.  A bit extreme perhaps, but my goal is to have ripe fruit growing in my yard every month of the year.
Have you ever thought about growing your own fruit trees but the prospect just seemed to daunting? With a new concept called “Backyard Orchard Culture,” planting and managing a large orchard of small trees is a piece of cake. The key to such high density plantings is to keep the trees small; most of the trees here at the Urban Farm are not over 10 feet tall plus I use the edges of the yard leaving the middle open for play.
The concept of Backyard Orchard Culture allows for fresh fruit to be harvested throughout the entire growing season. By planting an early season, mid season and late season peach varieties I am blessed with peaches in April, May, June and July.
A while back I cowrote an article on Backyard Orchard Culture with my friend Maura Yates where I dive in deeper to the whole concept.  Check it out and enjoy.