Bare-Root Fruit Trees

Have you been thinking about planting some fruit trees? Now is a good time to buy and plant them! The nurseries and other stores have good supplies of bare-root fruit trees, plus bare-root berries (which includes blueberries), and grapes. Other plants you might consider for your vegetable garden are asparagus and artichokes. If you want fruits and vegetables that you can preserve (canned, frozen or dried) remember to read the tags on the plants before you buy them, as some fruit will go to mush if canned or frozen. Last year I bought 10 dwarf fruit trees and all but one is good for canning and freezing. I bought a Gala Apple tree just because I love the taste of the apples! Sometime I will give it a try to see if Gala actually cans satisfactorily or not--you never know.

Once planted you will have many years of more fresh fruit than you can possible eat, even if you have dwarf trees. Ideally, I would love to have fruit trees that ripen at different times, so I will have a supply of fresh tree-ripened fruit most of the year. I start with my Navel orange in December, which goes through January or longer. Next, my tangerine is good February through March. I have a little break until my Valencia orange is ready in May, and is good until sometime in August. In the mean time, I will have apricots, plums, and peaches early summer through late summer; and apples and pears towards fall. I have become a fruit snob and refuse to buy fruit in the markets (they have no taste generally), except apples. I have canned a lot of pears and peaches, so not buying fruit isn't a problem for me and my husband. OK, I do buy a banana or two occasionally! Oh, and I buy strawberries and boysenberries each May from the road-side stands to make jam and to freeze.