www.DebbyWilliams.com
Growing
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Vegetables
Fruit
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Vegetables are the food of the earth; fruit seems more the food of the heavens. ~Sepal Felicivant |
Ah yes, fruit is the food of the heavens. Anyone that knows me, knows that the only addictions I still have are sugar and coffee. Good, fresh fruit is essential to my well being. I find it difficult to locate fresh, flavorful, sweet, juicy fruit. Even at the Farmers Market in the summer, the stone fruit is not always tender and juicy. My fondest memory of eating a peach occurred on the Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, in August, at the road side stand of a peach orchard. I had to lean forward to eat the fruit, it was so juicy. This is what I want to produce.
Living on a 50 ft. by 150 ft. lot in the city provides limitations to tree fruit production. While studying my fruit classes at Michigan State University, I latched on to high density fruit production. This type of training method is very similar to espalier. I am trying somewhat of a combined (espalier and high density) pruning method with my fruit trees. I have set up a support system with 4 ft. by 4 ft. posts and 2 in. by 4 in. wire mesh connecting them. I have pruned the trees on a flat plane, attaching the branches to the wire mesh.
'Tomcot' Apricot
In 2008 I planted: two apricots, two pears, one apple, one crabapple and a quince for this type of production. They are young, I found only a few apricot and apple blossoms in the spring of 2009. They did not set fruit. I have a raspberry bed interplanted with strawberries. The cultivars are:
- Door County Apricot
- 'Tomcot' Apricot
Unknown apple — this tree is from my propagation class at Michigan State University. I cannot find the variety name in my notes. Eaton Rapids crabapple — this has been grown from seed. The tree was in my yard in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and produced large crab apples. I thought I would try some seedlings. 'Superfin' Pear 'Dana Hovey' Pear 'Aromatoya' Quince
In 2009 I acquired a 'Marquis' seedless white table grape vine and a 'Crimson Rocket' peach tree. The peach tree is a new peach bred to grow on a central leader. They both have settled in well over the summer.
I have an amelanchier and two American hazelnuts planted as ornamentals in my yard. The amelanchier produced fruit this year — it is really good. There are strawberries (alpine and regular), white currants, and raspberries. And last but not least, rhubarb — the vegetable that is considered a fruit. The rhubarb has taken a few years to settle in before it started producing well.
The cultivars are: Strawberries — 'Jewel', 'Earliglow' and 'Sparkle' 'Heritage' Raspberries Rhubarb — one plant is from my faculty advisor at Michigan State University, unknown variety. The other two are 'MacDonald'.
The 'Heritage' raspberries are doing great. The 'Sparkle' strawberries have not been great producers here. The white currants have been a pleasant suprise. They produce heavily and if left on the bush long enough, get sweet enough to eat out of hand. I have been making preserves and jelly with them.
