Raising and Growing Our Organic and Not- So-Organic Foods

[Arielle2]

Dwarf North Star Pie Cherry
Prunus cerasus 'North Star'
Beautiful little trees grow only 6-8 feet tall but produce full size fruit. This wonderful North Star pie cherry produces incredibly large, sour fruit with light red skin, perfect for pies and pastries. 1-1/2 - 3' trees.

North Star is self-fruitful and does not need a pollinator but will do even better by planting two.

 

[ShrekDawg]

These are described as sweet, not tart, not sour....per Naturehill , a seller.
A cherry by any other name wouldn’t be as sweet!
So you want to pick baskets of fresh cherries from your own garden, but you don’t have the space for a cherry tree. Are you out of luck? Not at all! Juliet Cherry Tree (Prunus 'Juliet') will give you pound after pound of berries (up to 25 pounds after 5 years!) on a shrub that only reaches 5’-8’ tall!

This gorgeous fruiting tree never gets out of bounds, staying small and yielding profusely. It fits into the garden just like a landscape shrub. Imagine the look on your neighbors face when your new foundation plant begins fruiting cherries! Its dwarf habit and love of sunshine make it excellent for beds, borders, fence lines and anywhere else you would normally grow a large ornamental shrub. It incorporates well into any landscape. It has glossy green foliage from spring to frost and abundant white flowers before the cherries set.

And these aren’t just any cherries – these are the sweetest cherries that you’ve ever tasted! They are often scored the highest of all other sweet cherries in competitions – up to 20-brix sugar level. They have a rich, complex flavor in larger than average sized fruits (but not so large they are challenging to pit).

They are deep lipstick red and are great for fresh eating, baking, ice-cream and jams. They also freeze beautifully!

Easy to care for and easy to harvest. Juliet is destined for a happy ending in your own garden!

* Self-pollinating
* Sweetest cherries for the home garden
* Sun lover
* Fits into any landscape
* True dwarf only gets 5-8 feet tall
* Beautiful spring flowers

I think I saw thosw on Gurneys

Very crazy. Knowing if it is a "sweet" or a "sour" is the first step to deciding if it needs a pollinator.

Still searching.

stella is a sweet that is self fertile, but one of the above links indicates its a good pollinator.

Definitely confusing!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Btw those links were very helpful and now ALL the dwarfs sound delicious and I want to try them all and can't decide now.

I don't think I want to have 6-8 cherry bushes nor the money or space atm to try them all but then again it might be a worthwhile investment just because they are so PRETTY.

But we don't eat nearly enough cherries to justify that lol

I want apples and peaches and stuff too.

 

[Arielle2]

Each of the cherries are a bit different.

size of dwarf
size of fruit--most cannot be processed using a pitter
how will fuit be kept long term, if at all

Looks like the new dwarfs from Sk are sweet enough to eat fresh like a typical sweet.
All 6 from that breeder dont seem to be available in the US as extra $$$$$ testing was required to propagate and sell in the US.

Carmine
romeo
juliet

These 3 I can find sellers.

Stella is a natural dwarf and been in the US for a time.

A nongrafted plant is a seedling. Then 2 seedlings should cross polinate.
But for variety, plant 2.

KDOGG, do you have a plan on paper where the apple tree and all other fruit trees are going? If not, make a fairly accurate drawing of your space, then draw a circle for each tree and bush. Make a couple designs. Keep in mind mature sizes and shading.

 

[Arielle2]

Yesterday afternoon, worked while cloudy and light showers to get a grape vine up on a make-shift trellis. Cut away most of the vine in hopes of actually getting grapes. Need to wait and see.

Then DS1 and I constructed a stool bed using scrap plywood, stakes and weed barrier. Made a 10 foot long box lines with weed barrier and filled with very old compost. Planted 19 newly grafted apple trees, one with very large roots had to planted in the orchard.

The varieties I can remember off the top of my head. Missing a few.
Lodi
Spitzenberg
northern spy
gravenstein
haralson
red
liberty

Semi dwarf apples take up about half the space of a peach. So even though I have some acerage, because not all is cleared, I too have limited space.
But there are several more varieties I want. more russets, newton pippin, granny smith, ri greening..... more than one can be grafted onto one rootstock...

In planning, I think about the purpose of the apples and fruit. Dogs and chickens like the fruit. Maybe the ducks too. Drying, fresh storage. Canned. How did folks can fruits in the 1800's when canning became available? How much sugar did they use when sugar was pricey and hard to get?

 

[Arielle2]

This is why YOU should care what rootstock is under your fruit trees. Some are more adaptable , some need very specific growing conditions. Some can handle well drained and drier conditions; some develop disease in the wetter conditions. In my area fireblight is an issue. I dont have replant issues, but in the future as current trees age out and area is replanted, that could definitely change. What considerations are in your area??

apple rootstocks---a few...
http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/rootstock-information-2/

 

[ShrekDawg]

I do not have a plan and somewhat figured I'd just plant them wherever... probably not the best idea?

And we also have somewhat limited space. I mean, we have a huge yard, but not many good places for fruit trees. At least imo. I'll have to get pics or a video.

I think only like an acre is yard and the rest is woods but I think we are hopefully clearing some.

We have surveyors here today

 

[Arielle2]

Well, work with the 1 acre. How u want to use that space.... gardening, other uses too.

Make a wish list of what you want.

Clearing takes time...ask me how I know.

Just make a plan, even a rough one. Haphazard placement without looking at size of tree, or protection from north wind.....look at your specific weather conditions.

I live on the northside of a big hill that drops to a big river ( for this area)... my air moves up hill as it warms in the morning, then down hill as it cools. It is not noticeable until throwing hay to the horses--must close eyes. Also the west brings big storms with wind; the storms from the north are both cold and windy. I plan to keep trees on the north and west side of the pawpaws and persimmons.

WHen we clear we rarely takeout every tree. Husband just cleared a section of damaged trees from when tree havesters damaged them over 50 years ago---next step is looking at remaining trees and what is the purpose of keeping them: maintain a varietof trees, a rare tree, nuts, shade, tapping for sap, shade, windbreak, visual interesst, privacy fencing, etc. Then thin to allow good growth, or not for more height.

In our woods it is easy to walk around as the closed canopy has not allowed understory trees to develop much. Some young pines, witchhazel, hazelnut, blueberries, etc.

All meant as food for thought. Lots of uses for property and no one way to manage.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thanks, those are all very good points! We are sort of set back in the woods because there a condos/townhomes around us and one street with real houses right behind us so pretty protected I think but we do still get some wind and noreasters and such.

We also have a hill on one side of the driveway (and the house is on another hill) and a big bowl on the other side.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and all the trees are hugeee pines a couple maple or oak (I get them mixed up but I think we have both) thrown in but mostly eastern white pine.