finding a strong armed man for a day!

Fruit Trees for our Future
Planting trees is making an investment in our future. Fruit trees take a few years before they mature and produce a yield that merits a bit of labor in picking and preparing its harvest. In anticipation of going off the grid, or at least growing more of my own food, I decided that it is time to plant some fruit trees and give them a few years to mature. Last week we purchased seven fruit trees, one ornamental, and a bush. Two for beautification and seven for future food. The day was Monday and it was cold and drizzly, but not enough to keep us from getting down to task. 
 
The next day started off pretty nice and didn’t start raining until the end of the tree planting effort. We used a rooting hormone recommended by the nursery, which gave us a one-year warranty on the trees.

 
I bought the following types of fruit trees:

• Apricot Prunus Moorpark—It blooms early in the season, needs full sun, the fruit ripens in mid-July, is self-pollinating, and has large fruit with a red blush and yellow flesh.
• Two Cherry Prunus ‘Black Tartarian—which blooms in mid to late July, needs full sun and cross pollination, hence why I bought two of them, yields large fruit that is bright purplish black. The flesh is tender, juicy, and it is a rich, heavy bearer.
• One Bartlett Pear Pyrus—Blooms early in the season, needs full sun, ripens in September, and produces large golden yellow fruit that is juicy and highly flavored. It is a vigorous producer.

• One Granny Smith Apply Malus, semi-dwarf—blooms late in the season, needs full sun, ripens in the beginning of November, needs cross pollination. Has pinkish white flowers, green skin with tiny white speckles, hard flesh is crisp, juicy, and tart. Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and birds. Yay!
• One MacIntosh Apple tree for which I don’t have a descriptive label.
• One Honeygold Apple Malus—Semi-dwarf, blooms mid-season, needs full sun, ripens in the first half of October. Needs cross pollination, yields medium to large yellow apples. The fruit is crisp, juicy, and sweet.

The ornamental tree is a Crimson King Norway Maple. It grows to 30-40′ high with a spread of 20-40′. Good thing we planted it away from the house! It has oval shaped, maroon-yellow flowers, dense rich purple foliage all season and is a slow grower.
 
   
The above picture is looking east. The woods in the far end are past a small pond and they are the end of our land and the beginning of a fine neighbors!  The closer trees are in the first garden I made on the property…
 
Putting in the steel posts took some man muscles and a post hole driver… I learned that when coming down on the post hole drive over the post to keep the driver away from the latches on the side of the post; otherwise the latches get broken off. 

 What a face I’m making! The ground was soft enough-guess I was just putting on an act to prove I was all muscle!!! hahahahah
 
 
 
 
 
With the protective fence around it.  
 
This is looking south from the front of the house. You can see the lane going around to the left in this picture and behind the trees is a rail line that has the most wonderful sounding little trains!  And in the summer they ride on this rail with small cars that are self powered. Little worker or inspector cars I believe they were.
 
We also bought a Dwarf Burning Bush for the front of the house. Look how bright it is next to the yellow and orange marigolds! Nice splash of color…
 

 
To keep these trees protected from the deer that are abundant and hungry in the winter, we decided to put up a fence and encircle it with a wire 4-5′ away from the fence line. The deer will see the wire and may be deterred especially when they see a fence beyond it offering a double obstacle. We’re thinking that they’ll choose an easier way to get where they want to be going. Let’s keep our fingers crossed because these trees have to over winter and it would be good if they made it through the winter successfully.
 
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Here’s where all the fruit trees are grouped together and fenced off…
 

 
Now just imagine them bigger, filled out with lots of luscious fruit hanging from them… ahhh… anticipation. Come on little fruit trees, you can do it!
 
I’ll tell you… working outside and breathing the fresh air raining or not certainly has a positive effect on me. I’m in my element when I get to connect with nature in this very real, tangible way. Guess  I’m a country girl at heart.
 
Bon appetit!