Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Previously [about a year ago] I was discussing what trees I was planting [various apples].
Now time is once again approaching when I must send in my annual purchase order for trees.
We had a list of trees that we wanted. Though our list has changed a great deal. As we review varieties, pollination, soil needs and whatnot.
Our list keeps changing, though I think that right now it is becoming solidified.
Some will be at 30 foot spacing, some will be planted at 15 foot spacing, and some at 3 foot spacing.
It makes the overall orchard look odd on a map, but I think it will work.
We are thinking about doing [along with bits of what the catalogs say about each]:
1 Black Walnut; Their husks yield a rich brown dye. Husks, leaves and roots all have anti-fungal properties.
1 'Cape Rosier Basket' Willow; If you’re looking to make a basket, pruned heavily will produce long whips for basket-making.
1 Northern Pecan; Very large tree will take 3–4 years to establish a taproot. Then the trees should grow rapidly.
1 Ginkgo biloba; Slow-growing, can be extremely long-lived. Unique fine-cut fan-shaped foliage turns sparkling golden-yellow in fall, then all at once the leaves drop and within hours the tree is bare. Edible seeds, produced on female trees. Leaf tea used to enhance circulation to the brain and extremities. Prefers moist sandy neutral soils but is very adaptable.
2 Cherry:
A Stella Cherry; The first hardy good-quality self-fertile sweet cherry. Large heart-shaped black-skinned fruit has juicy medium-firm black flesh. Self-pollinating.
and a 'Garfield Plantation' Cherry; Heirloom pie cherry grown for generations on an Aroostook County farm. Hardy, disease resistant, productive and extremely long-lived.
1 Witch Hazel; A small tree or large shrub of irregular rounded form and interesting crooked branches. Witch hazel extract, from leaves, young bark and roots, has astringent and antiseptic uses. Said to be the preferred wood of dowsers.
2 Chestnut:
American Chestnut is a vigorous fast-growing tree, with delicious, sweet kernel nuts. It is also adaptable to different soils and climates. If a large crop of nuts is desired, several trees should be planted to insure good pollination. Trees begin to bear when only a few years old.
3 pear:
A Luscious Pear; Produces annual crops of delicious medium-sized fruit. Bears so heavily that it’s apt to break branches. The soft fine extra-juicy off-white flesh is sweet and flavorful with almost no grit cells. Thin yellowish skin is covered with small tan dots.
and a Seckel Pear; Usually considered the best-flavored of all pears; even the skin is delicious. Small obovate fruit is yellowish-brown russeted with slight red blush. Juicy, spicy, distinctive and aromatic. Very productive annual-bearing large tree, easy to grow. The most reliably bearing fruit tree. Scab and fireblight resistant.
and a Stacyville Pear; Medium-sized obovate obtuse-pyriform pears are light yellow with a beautiful orange to greyish-red blush. The sweet fruit has a delicious citrusy aftertaste. it produces large crops of fruit annually. self-pollinating. Disease resistant, extremely hardy and very vigorous.
5 Plum:
An American Plum produces very decent red, yellow and orange 1" fruit, suitable for fresh eating, canning and freezing. Spectacular white bloom in spring. Red fall color. Extremely hardy.
A South Dakota Plum; Small to medium-sized fruit has tough yellow skin with bright red blush. Medium-firm yellow flesh is meaty, juicy, sweet. Freestone. Vigorous tree.
A Superior Plum; Very large conical dark red plum with a heavy bloom and ‘superior’ dessert quality. Firm sweet yellow flesh is smooth textured, extremely juicy and clingstone. Very good fresh eating. Precocious production, vigorous tree.
And a Toka Plum; Rosy red fruit, up to 1-1/2" in diameter, mottled with darker purply red and covered with a faint bloom. Sweet, distinctive, meaty and flavorful. Not real juicy. Extremely vigorous tree blooms heavily every year.
2 Fig:
A Chicago Hardy.
And a Violette de Bordeaux; Small to medium size purple-black fruit with a very deep red strawberry pulp, a distinctive sweet rich flavor. Medium eye. Excellent fresh or dried. hardy.
1 Mulberry; Pakistan Fruiting Mulberry 3 inch Long, firm, red to black, sweet syncarpous (like a blackberry) fruit. Non-staining juice. Month-long early summer harvest. Fruit used fresh and for pies, jams and jellies. Large, vigorous, disease-resistant tree.
2 Hazelnut / Filbert; Very good 1/2" nuts. Highly resistant or immune to filbert blight.
2 apricot; Jerseycot Medium-sized fruit (approximately 1-1/2") round to round-oblong in shape. Light-orange with a slight green suture in some years and generally with no blush. The orange flesh is usually mild but can develop a melon-like quality. Very good eating. disease resistant and good cold hardiness. Self-pollinating.
2 Almond;
Hall’s Hardy Almond; large, excellent quality nuts have thin, papery shells that are easy to crack. Self-fertile.
2 Elderberry;
A Adams No. 1; Vigorous strong productive bushes. Large berries and fruit clusters.
And a Goodbarn Elderberry; unusual hardiness, vigor and apparent self-fertility. It blooms heavily and produces large crops annually. What it lacks in commercial fruit size it makes up for with its impressive productivity.
He posts a fascinating online blog about growing trees in Maine and sometimes about the political situation in DC. Most often though, he talks about trees, and what grows best in Maine. He lives up around Alna.
His address coop@tidewater.net . Send him a note to include you in his emails of his online blog columns. Drop me a dm should you wish me to forward you his most recent emails.
He posts a fascinating online blog about growing trees in Maine and sometimes about the political situation in DC. Most often though, he talks about trees, and what grows best in Maine. He lives up around Alna.
His address coop@tidewater.net . Send him a note to include you in his emails of his online blog columns. Drop me a dm should you wish me to forward you his most recent emails.
I have never heard of him. Though I do attend many of the workshops in Unity each fall.
Good info! I was assuming I'd miss the fresh figs and peaches people grow here.
Twice I have attended workshops taught by a Maine peach farmer.
The Almond trees are grafted onto peach rootstock.
Between the successful peach orchards in Maine, and where I live are different micro-climates. I am not planning on trying peaches. Though a few almonds are thought to be hardy enough.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
