I was so excited about the success of my little Satsuma orange trees ( a
variety of Mandarin orange that can take chills down to 22 degrees or so)
and how well they grew, that I ordered and planted a wide range of lime,
lemon, and grapefruit trees for my home orchard. That was a big
mistake. Just like my father in law's peaches, my lemon and
grapefruit trees lived, but our winter temperatures get just a degree or
so too cold each winter, and the trees lose their new fruit bearing
growth. The trees don't die, they just don't produce.
Meanwhile, my Satsuma trees which are suited for this climate, keep on
growing, blooming, and producing.
For sentimental reasons and to make my daughter happy, we ordered a golden
delicious apple to plant in our yard just to see what it would do.
What a sad mistake! The tree is still alive, but the almost tropical
climate down here just confuses the poor thing to a great extent.
Our apple tree bloomed three times last year, once in the spring, a slight
bloom in July, and a bigger bloom in September. And after all that
bloom, not an apple did it set.
We planted some "sub-tropical cherry trees" that a reputable fruit tree
catalog told us would grow in our area. They water-killed the first
year. Cherries can't take much water at one time, and some stormy
days down here we get fourteen inches of rain.
There are even more considerations for the new fruit grower. When we
lived in the Ozarks, winter seemed awfully long and cold, but it helped
our fruit in certain ways. Many fruit tree pests and diseases were
knocked back every winter by the cold and the freeze. When we moved
to the no-winter southland, we discovered the hard way that fruit tree
pests down here never take time off. We lost our biggest and best
nectarine tree to peach tree borers in one winter season. Before we
could do anything about it, the tree was dead. It never gets cold
enough down here to kill the over-wintering grubs and eggs of many pests,
so spraying, mulching, and cultivation is a year-round job.
We have also discovered that fruit trees which require an extensive chill
period to make fruit the next spring just won't make it here. We
have to be very careful to order short chill peaches and any other fruit
trees. We have had to learn the hard way that just because something
worked where we used to live, that doesn't mean a thing in a new location.
The point of this whole thing is this: Study before you dig,
and know what you're reading before you study. Commercial catalogs are
wonderful reading, but you must remember they are trying to sell you
something. Just because a fruit tree will live where you do, it
doesn't mean it will produce. Be very careful of the climate maps and
planting advice. Especially be careful if you live on the "border" of two
areas.
Also, be aware that even in a very small area, like our acre-and-a-half
place where we live now, there are micro-climates that make a huge
difference in a fruit tree's living or dying, and especially in a tree's
making fruit, or just living. Walk your land and see where you have air
flow and good protection from harsh winds-either hot or cold. Picking the
right location for a home orchard can be the most critical step in a
successful operation.
Finally, my best advice for a new homesteader interested in growing fruit
for home use is to take a long drive. Yes, that's right, a long car
ride. Drive the back roads in your area and look at the farms that
have been there for a while. See what trees they have. See
where the trees are planted. You might even want to stop and
introduce yourself, and ask about the trees, and ask for the person's
advice. If you don't see the fruit trees you want to grow already
planted somewhere else in your region, there must be a reason for that.
Maybe the fruit trees you want just won't grow where you are. At any
rate, a drive and a few questions asked and answered might save a new
homesteader a lot of trouble and expense, and even more importantly, time.
