Category: home orchards

Start a Farmers Market in your Backyard

It’s that time of year again for growing your own backyard fruit. Let’s all set a goal that is easier to achieve, but still makes us feel great! You can grow more things here in the valley than most places the world. We get enough frost to produce delicious stone fruit, and with a little protection from cold weather, you can also grow avocados. You can start pomegranates and berries now that you can actually enjoy this year.

And not just fruit! grow veggies as well. Potatoes are the easiest, most productive root veggie to start right now, next to your fig tree.

This is the time of year where we have the widest selection of fruit trees and is also a great time to get them in the ground.

We can’t explain the difference of ­harvesting your own backyard fruit and vegetables from buying them in the store (organic or not), but you will certainly, know the difference. It’s a matter of taste. You can also sleep well at night knowing that you have complete control over the plant care products you use.

Fresh Taste

Nothing beats the taste of a sun-warm, tree-ripened fruit picked straight from the tree in your own yard. You know it’s fresh, juicy and with the right cultivation, pesticide and chemical-free which you can’t always say about store bought fruit, which is often held in cold storage for months and has been treated with who-knows-what to get that perfect market appearance!

We have a sizable inventory of fruit trees, berries, and grapes available for your backyard fruit collection. We plant all of our trees in bio-degradable pulp pots which prevent damage to the roots. This means you’ll have even more success than with traditional bare root plants.

Start a farmers market in your backyard, and don’t be shy to share with us how great your food is!

Multiple Uses of Backyard Fruit Trees

Consider using fruit trees in the yard to provide shade or block unwanted views. You don’t need a lot of space. Grow an espaliered apple or pear along your fence or wall train a grape or kiwi up over an arbor or trellis, plant a dwarf peach or apple in a container on your deck. Plant a combination multi-graft tree – it will give you a summer of fruit!

Varieties on our list are selected to be successful in our area. Also, there is a choice of two different combination Fruit Salad trees and over 20 varieties of grapes.

We just brought in a full range of Dave Wilson container-grown blueberries, pomegranates, and figs that will complement the new season bare root collection.

Here are just a few to consider:
Blueberries, we’ve selected great varieties that thrive in our climate. Choose from Sunshine Blue, South Moon, Misty, Jubilee, Jewel, O’Neal and Sharp Blue. We recommend preparing the soil with acid planting mix and locating the plants in morning sun until 1:00 for best results.

Figs and Pomegranates were born to live in our valley. These Mediterranean plants love our climate, are water-wise and thrive with very little care.

Figs: Brown Turkey, Kadota, Black Mission and Peter’s Honey.

Pomegranates: My new favorite Ambrosia is the sweetest pomegranate you’ll ever eat. Grenada, Wonderful, Eve, Eversweet & Parfianka are among our collection.

So come in and meet our expert staff. They’ll be happy to help you choose the correct varieties based on ripening times, taste and space availability. We’ll provide you with planting instructions and all the necessary items and knowledge to get you growing.

Whether you have space for a whole orchard or just a single tree – come in and see our extensive selection and soon you’ll be picking ripe fruit from your garden.

See our backyard fruit tree collection here.

 

Edible Landscape – Saving Water


You’ve just savored that juicy tomato fresh from your garden – vine ripened and still warm from the sun. A little salt is the only accompaniment it needs. And that tree ripened July peach – so juicy you had to lean over the grass to keep the drips off of your front. There is more harvest from your backyard to come: grapes, apples, figs, winter squash and . . . mercy(!) another couple of zucchinis to bake into zucchini bread.

We’ve had some record breaking heat this summer, and our usual run of the mill heat, which kept me running to the hose for in-between-the-schedule-watering. So it seems like a good time to consider a few ideas for trimming your water use for your next garden. But no worries, we will never water shame you!

Tips for Saving Water

  • What better way to use a precious resource than growing your own bountiful garden full of tasty produce?
  • Prepare your soil well with compost (Bumper Crop and G & B are two we like) and replenish yearly. Or make your own from all those fallen leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps. Compost acts like a sponge to hold water.
  • Water use is mainly influenced by temperatures. Schedule plantings for the appropriate season. Cool season veggies: leafy greens, peas, broccoli, etc. grow well in the fall and spring and are less water intensive than warm season veggies.
  • Soak soil to saturate root zones and below so that a reservoir of soil water is available for the plant to draw from, eliminating the need for frequent, shallow watering.
  • Reduce tomato watering after the fruit has set and is beginning to color up.
  • Heat wilting of big leafed plants (squashes, pumpkins etc.) on hot afternoons is normal and doesn’t always mean the plant is thirsty.
  • Prune fruit trees in summer. A more compact tree uses less water.
  • Try an Earth Box. It’s a space saving growing system with a built in reservoir and soil cover and is surprisingly productive.
  • Provide a bit of afternoon shade with taller, more sun loving plants (tomatoes) planted south of those that could use a break from broiling afternoon sun (peppers, eggplant, cucumbers). Or set up your beach umbrella temporarily.
  • Mulch Mulch Mulch. Much Mulch!

Edible Gardens Give Back – By Nancy McNeish

Jujube – date-like fruit with sweet apple flavor; grows well in hot areas

I had a neighbor once who said, “if I’m going to use water in my yard, I want something back from it!” Turns out, many of us want to live in a yard that feeds us and feeds our need for beautiful surroundings. And yep, it can be thrifty on water, as well.

As we welcome spring and its new planting season, let’s think outside of the box, or, well, just think outside.

As with any design endeavor, the “bones” come first. Consider those plants, the trees and shrubs, which form the structure of your yard.

In addition to beauty and utility, we want them to be easy to care for, and, best of all, edible! We have many fruit, berry or nut producers for your landscape.

When planning a new or rejuvenated landscape, here are some less well known but delicious varieties to consider. And when planted as part of a well thought out design, they are definitely front yard worthy.

Edible trees that are stand-ins for Shade or Ornamental trees:

  • Jujube – date-like fruit with sweet apple flavor; grows well in hot areas
  • Mulberry – easy to grow trees or bushes produce large red, purple or white berries
  • Olive – press the oil or pickle the fruit of these stunning Mediterranean trees. ‘Arbequina’ and ‘Arboasana’ are smaller
    Sweet Bay – dark green leaves are dried for flavorings from this handsome evergreen
  • Pineapple Guava – silvery evergreen foliage with pretty flowers and sweet-fleshed fruits in a compact tree
  • Elderberry – easy care trees or bushes with bluish berries that can be made into jams, wine and more
  • Asian Pears – sometimes called apple pears, they are crisp like an apple and sweet
  • Pistachio – healthful green nuts love hot weather and are drought resistant. Two trees required.
  • Pomegranate – beautifully ornamental and very easy to grow. Choose from mild to dark, sweet-tart varieties

Edible shrubs in lieu of strictly ornamental:

  • Rosemary – no landscape is complete without this flavorful shrub that sips water
  • Lavender – fragrant, beautiful purple flowers on sun-loving shrubs. Try silvery ‘Goodwin Creek’
  • Blueberries & Huckleberries – delicious berries for moist, afternoon shade areas. Blueberries have great fall color
  • Gooseberries – prickly stems produce plump berries
  • Currants – beautiful clusters of spring flowers give way to red berries in afternoon shade areas
  • Tea Camellias – yes, you really can grow your own tea leaves to dry and brew
  • Grapes – choose red, green or purple grapes to grace an arbor or trellis and remind us of our wine country heritageA healthy plant is a beautiful plant!