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Planning the Homestead Orchard

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by Ed Mashburn     

 When we moved from the Ozarks to south Alabama, we had to make some "changes in latitude, changes in attitude".  In our new homeplace, we planted blueberries, and a wide range of citrus trees.  Now, planting orange trees was a change for us.  I never expected to live in a place where I could grow oranges in my yard.  But, that's what grows down here.  I also found that peaches and nectarines (which is a wonderful fruit eaten  full ripe and fresh from the tree) would grow very well down here. So we planted our new fruit trees, and watched them grow, and waited for them to make fruit.

             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.

Continued

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