There's nothing like sinking your teeth into the crisp flesh of a freshly picked apple or juicy pear, especially when they were grown in your very own mini-orchard. Imagine strawberries bursting with flavor, red to the core, sliced and sprinkled with sugar and topped with cream. Or grapes plucked from the vine and fed to you one by one from your lover's gentle hand.
If you find yourself day dreaming about the forbidden pleasures of fresh fruit, drop the guilt and grab a shovel! Fruit is a healthy, wholesome way to obtain the vitamins and nutrients we need to stay healthy. What's more, homegrown fruit gains the benefit of being picked fresh, at just the right stage of ripeness. Store-bought fruit is often imported and can travel hundreds of miles before finally ending up on the grocery shelf. That means that these fruit were likely picked weeks early and ripened in a cargo hold or in the back of a truck, not on the vine where they could finish absorbing the sun-powered flavor as nature intended. Also, store-bought varieties are limited to particular varieties of fruit that have been selected, if not engineered, to have a longer shelf life. So if you want to experience any of the amazing heirloom varieties of the fruits you enjoy, you'll either have to find them locally or grow your own.
So, you're ready. You've decided to grow your own fruit. Congratulations! But now what? How does one go about this growing fruit business?That really depends on your hardiness zone, to be honest. Don't worry, it isn't that complicated. Hardiness zones are determined by the differences in average temperatures, but what it translates to you is that some areas will grow certain fruit very well and others not so well or not at all. For example, oranges love warm and sunny weather and hate the cold. If you tried to grow an orange tree outside in your garden in, let's say, Wyoming, you wouldn't have much success. As such, it is important to select fruit that grow well in your area. You can consult with a nearby nursery to find your hardiness zone and get recommendations for what fruit and which varieties will thrive.
Planting fruit trees and bushes is a pretty simple endeavor in itself. You can plant seeds or buy plants from a nursery in various sizes. If you're in a hurry, planting saplings and small bushes may be a more advantageous activity, as it will take less time before the plant begins to bear fruit. There are certain advantages of planting fruit trees from seed, such reaping the rewards of patiently watching the seed sprout and grow, knowing that you were the one to place it in the ground and care for it.
Once established, most plants will continue to produce their delicious gifts for years without your help. That doesn't mean that you're completely off the hook though, since there are times when you may have to deal with an insect infestation or animals that decide your fruit trees or bushes would make a good snack. You may also decide to give your plants a special treat and offer them a 'tree spike' which is a form of fertilizer that is stabbed into the ground near the base of the tree. There are special blends developed specifically for fruit trees, so be sure to look at the packaging.
Growing your own fruit can be a very rewarding experience that doesn't take a whole lot of effort. You will save money and have fresher, tastier food than you may have imagined possible. You can grow varieties that are not available in stores and it is an activity that the whole family can enjoy.