Backyard Orchard Culture

[dougules]

I have a feeling this year will be 90% planning/prepping with very little actually getting planted, and hopefully next year is when I get things going

Funny enough, what I really want are black walnuts which google tells me are American. I definitely want to stick more with native plants to help out the local ecosystem, but didn't even realize that my preferred walnuts are (more) local than "regular" walnuts

I plant trees and bushes in the winter, although the ground rarely freezes here. 

Black walnuts are what I was referring to by American.  I'm a little surprised that's what you are going for.  They're not well-known since their nuts aren't sold commercially.  They're very common growing wild here, though, even if most people don't know you can eat them.  Honestly I don't like their flavor (different from European walnut), but my grandmother does.  I don't know about zone 5, but here they're another tree that's easy due to being a native species. 

One other thing about pecans, I had a lot of trouble transplanting them.  I think they have a long taproot that makes it more difficult.  If you buy a tree from a nursery, they may have taken care of that for you.  I was just trying to transplant a few of the never-ending supply of volunteer pecan saplings that come from my neighbors trees. 

[AerynLee]

I have a feeling this year will be 90% planning/prepping with very little actually getting planted, and hopefully next year is when I get things going

Funny enough, what I really want are black walnuts which google tells me are American. I definitely want to stick more with native plants to help out the local ecosystem, but didn't even realize that my preferred walnuts are (more) local than "regular" walnuts

I plant trees and bushes in the winter, although the ground rarely freezes here. 

Black walnuts are what I was referring to by American.  I'm a little surprised that's what you are going for.  They're not well-known since their nuts aren't sold commercially.  They're very common growing wild here, though, even if most people don't know you can eat them.  Honestly I don't like their flavor (different from European walnut), but my grandmother does.  I don't know about zone 5, but here they're another tree that's easy due to being a native species. 

One other thing about pecans, I had a lot of trouble transplanting them.  I think they have a long taproot that makes it more difficult.  If you buy a tree from a nursery, they may have taken care of that for you.  I was just trying to transplant a few of the never-ending supply of volunteer pecan saplings that come from my neighbors trees.

My parents property growing up had black walnuts so they taste like nolstalgia to me. Every once in a while I find them for sale and my husband is baffled by how excited I am by it

[dougules]

My parents property growing up had black walnuts so they taste like nolstalgia to me. Every once in a while I find them for sale and my husband is baffled by how excited I am by it

Black walnuts are really easy just to forage here when they're in season.

Nostalgia is pecans for me.  My grandmother in Mississippi had several trees in her yard, so we'd bring back a bucket of them after visiting for Christmas.  I've never tasted a pecan pie that could even come close to my great-grandmother's. 

One of these winters I'd like to see how hard it is to press homemade pecan oil.  I get more than I can eat off my neighbor's tree. 

[draco44]

I'm also in the black walnut fan club. I like eating them straight, but that may be a by-product of hulling being so time-consuming and messy if done by hand (wear gloves - they stain!), so I usually didn't collect enough to use in a recipe.

To me they taste like summer because one of the towns I grew up in had black walnut taffy as a big thing. I highly suspect there wasn't actual black walnut in most of the taffy sold, but it's a nice idea. Black walnut can be a polarizing flavor though, so try before you plant if you've never had them before and aren't just growing them for shade or for their (excellent, high-value) wood.

[the_hobbitish]

My honeysweet pear is blooming...

[lazycow]

1/2 acre of land in SW Victoria (cool climate)
4 x peach
3 x avocado
4 x cherry
3 x fig
3 x apricot
4 x plum
2 x mulberry
4 x lemon
2 x lime
8 x apple
5 x olive
2 x nectarine
1 x pomegranate
3 x grapevines

[dougules]

1/2 acre of land in SW Victoria (cool climate)
4 x peach
3 x avocado
4 x cherry
3 x fig
3 x apricot
4 x plum
2 x mulberry
4 x lemon
2 x lime
8 x apple
5 x olive
2 x nectarine
1 x pomegranate
3 x grapevines

I didn't know anybody else grew mulberries.  I have a tree grown from a cutting off a wild one. 

I'm jealous of the avocado tree.  It's way to cold here for that. 

[Roots&Wings]

Also grow mulberries! Unsure what zone you're in but there are several cold hardy avocados down to 15 degrees: https://askthegreengenie.com/tropical-fruits/cold-hardy-avocado-tree/#:~:text=Cold%20hardy%20avocado%20varieties%20we%20suggest%20include%3A%201,...%204%20JOEY.%20...%205%20BRAZO%20BELLE.%20

[dougules]

Also grow mulberries! Unsure what zone you're in but there are several cold hardy avocados down to 15 degrees: https://askthegreengenie.com/tropical-fruits/cold-hardy-avocado-tree/#:~:text=Cold%20hardy%20avocado%20varieties%20we%20suggest%20include%3A%201,...%204%20JOEY.%20...%205%20BRAZO%20BELLE.%20

I had no idea that avocados could handle that, but I'm still just a little too far north to not need a greenhouse. 

Mulberries are another easy native fruit here.  The only hard part growing them is that the tree will take over. 

[lazycow]

Just looked up what conditions we have here in SW Victoria and it is considered 'Mild Temperate'.

We also grow:
- 2 x pears (nashi and William)
raspberries, blueberries

The only things that are hard to grow without a greenhouse are tropical fruits like bananas and mango (though I know of someone in Melb who has successfully grown a banana tree!)

[the_hobbitish]

I did my first spray of serenade and oil today using my new Jacto HD400 sprayer. It's plenty for my 9 small trees and my climbing roses. I'd recommend it for anyone with a small setup. Seemed to hold pressure well without a ton of pumping. I'm glad I started with something that's not too caustic because I definitely noticed the light breeze once I started spraying.

[Weisass]

Today was a good day for a surround application. Everything is silvery white now, but my stone fruit won’t be a plum curculios playground.