The Backyard Homestead

by Carleen Madigan

  Oregon–Southern Washington. Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc; Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Pinot Blanc

  Southwestern Idaho. Sylvaner, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gray Riesling, Gewürztraminer; Pinot Noir, Seyval Blanc, Chelois

  British Columbia. Aurora, Okanagan, Riesling, Foch, Chelois

  California. Because of its diversity of microclimates, California is home to the greatest number of grape varieties, from the Pinot Noir grown in coastal regions to the Barbera grapes grown in the Central Valley. For a complete listing of California wine grape–growing regions, and the particular grapes that are suitable for each, consult From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox (see Resources, page 340) from which much of this section was excerpted.

  Calculating the Size of a Vineyard

  Assumptions

  1. A mature grapevine yields 8 to 12 pounds of grapes.

  2. 11 to 12 pounds of grapes yield a gallon of finished wine.

  3. Vines are planted 6 feet apart in rows 10 feet apart.

  x = gallons of wine desired

  z = number of vines in each row

  a = number of rows

  y = pounds of grapes per vine: 8 for classic vinifera and low-yielding varieties; 10 for most French-American hybrids; 12 for Cayuga and high-yielding American vines; 16 for Mission, Thompson Seedless, and muscadines

  Calculation

  To determine the number of vines needed to make gallons of wine:

  Example: For 25 gallons of Cayuga:

  Only you know whether your property allows for a square, rectangular, or odd-shaped vineyard. Assuming that space is not constricted, you can achieve a good-looking rectangular arrangement by having about as many rows as vines in a row.

  Fruit Trees

  What could be better than sweet, sun-warmed, tree-ripe fruit picked just yards from the back door? Plan well and your backyard orchard will produce quantities of fruit year after year.

  The Home Orchard

  When you are involved in a home orchard that will quite likely last a lifetime or more, you naturally want to do it right. Mistakes made early have a way of coming back to haunt you.

  Even if you can’t plant everything you want the first year, make a plan so you will have the best possible trees growing in the best possible locations. Give your trees full sun, plenty of room to grow, and well-drained soil.

  It helps to sketch the orchard on paper ahead of time. First, measure the area where your orchard will be and match it up to the gridlines of graph paper. Note objects that you will have to work around, such as buildings, large boulders, property lines, walkways, inhospitable neighboring plants, and anything else that might influence planting decisions.

  After you have chosen the number and varieties of trees you want to plant, draw in each tree based on the crown diameter of the mature tree, leaving enough space for them to grow without crowding.

  A dwarf fruit tree grows less vigorously than a standard tree, is smaller at maturity, and begins to produce blossoms and fruits at an earlier age.

  Sketch your entire property, showing house, gardens, and existing trees, and then plan the placement of your orchard. Keep in mind as you sketch which trees need to be near each other for cross-pollination.

  Think Small: Planting a Dwarf Fruit Orchard

  The fruits produced by dwarf trees are every bit as large and tasty as those on standardsized trees. The basic differences between standard and dwarf trees are in their growth habits. A dwarf fruit tree grows less vigorously than a standard tree, is smaller at maturity, and begins to produce blossoms and fruits at an earlier age, as soon as the second year after planting. There are other advantages as well. In the space needed by four standard-sized apple trees, planted 40 × 40 feet, you can plant 30 to 40 dwarf trees without crowding them. This lets you plant early, midseason, and late-ripening varieties to extend the harvest period.

  Dwarf (A) and semidwarf (B) fruit trees take up less space and produce fruit earlier than standard (C) trees do.

  How Big Are They?

  The following are approximate diameters of some full-grown fruit trees. When you plant them, allow enough additional room so that you will be able to walk through them, and so that light can reach the entire exterior of each tree.

  Fruit Varieties for Beginning Growers

  Zone 3

  Apple. Astrachan, Connell, Dolgo Crab, Duchess, Prairie Spy, Quinte, Wealthy, Yellow Transparent

  Cherry plum. Compass, Sapalta

  Peach. None

  Pear. Golden Spice, Luscious, Mendall, Parker, Patten

  Plum. La Crescent, Pipestone, Redcoat, Waneta

  Sour cherry. Meteor, North Star

  Sweet cherry. None

  Zone 4

  Growers in this zone should be able to grow everything listed for Zone 3 plus the following:

  Apple. Cortland, Imperial, Lobo, Lodi, McIntosh, Northwest Greening, Regent

  Peach. Reliance (in favored spots)

  Encouraging Pollination

  Nearly all fruit trees do better with a mate. Although a few are self-fertile, which means that a single tree can bear fruit by itself, most need what is known as cross-pollination and require a partner nearby. In order to cross-pollinate each other, the trees must be in the same family group. Apples cannot pollinate pears, nor can pears pollinate plums. You therefore need at least two different varieties of each species of the fruit tree you plant.

  Most ornamentals, vegetables, and fruit trees are pollinated by insects — primarily bees. As a rule, bees should not have to fly more than 500 to 600 feet to bring about the mating of two blossoms.

  When only one kind of fruit tree is blooming and no suitable partner is blossoming anywhere in the neighborhood, here’s a tip: Drive to an abandoned farm or ask a neighboring gardener if you can have a few branches from a fruit tree that always blossoms at the same time as yours. Bring the branches home and put them in a bucket of water under the tree. The bees will take over from there.

  When bees are scarce, you can sometimes pollinate a few of your fruit trees yourself. Take a small artist’s paintbrush and gently dust the pollen from the flowers into a teacup. Then brush it carefully onto the blossoms of an adjoining tree.

  When you have only one kind of fruit tree, you can borrow branches to increase the odds of cross-pollination.

  If you do this, mark the limbs to show which ones you have treated. Or, if you have the energy, you can pollinate the entire tree. It takes only a short time to pollinate a small orchard of dwarf trees, since you need to dust only one bloom in a cluster.

  Pear. Flemish Beauty, Kieffer, Seckel

  Plum. Greengage, Monitor, Stanley

  Sweet cherry. None

  Sour cherry. Richmond

  Zone 5

  Growers in this zone should be able to grow everything listed for Zones 3 and 4 plus the following:

  Apple. Delicious, Empire, Gravenstein, Northern Spy, Prima, Priscilla, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow Delicious

  Peach. Stark Frost King, Stark Sure Crop, Sunapee

  Plum. Burbank, Damson, Earliblue, Italian, Santa Rosa, Shiro

  Sour cherry. Montmorency

  Sweet cherry. Bing, the Dukes, Stella, Windsor

  Zones 6 to 8

  Many varieties that will grow in the colder zones will also do well here, but certain kinds of fruits developed especially for the colder climates may not be satisfactory for these zones.

  Apple. Golden, Grimes, Rome, Stayman, and Winesap should all do well here. Apples that grow best in Zone 3, including those of the McIntosh family, are not recommended.

  Cherry. All should do well.

  Peach. Candor, Elberta, Halehaven, Madison, Redhaven

  Pear. Anjou, Bartlett, Bosc, Clapp Favorite

  Plum. Most should do well.

  Planting a Fruit Tree in Three Simple Steps

  Quick root development is important for any newly planted tree, so plant early in the season, as soon
as the soil has dried enough to crumble easily in your hand. A tree planted this spring will reward you with bushels of luscious fruit in the years to come, the first crop in some cases appearing as soon as next summer.

  If the tree is branched, choose three or four healthy branches starting 2 feet above ground level and shorten them to just a few inches. Each one should end in an outward-pointing bud. Then cut away any other branches and cut off the top of the trunk just above the uppermost branch. If the tree is not branched, simply cut back the trunk to 3 feet high.

  1. Soak bare roots in a bucketful of water for a few hours to plump them up. Before planting, trim back long or frayed roots to just a few inches.

  2. Add any soil amendments, such as bonemeal (for good root development) and lime (if soil is acidic), over an area as wide as the spread of the mature tree and then dig a hole in the center. Arrange the roots over a small mound at the center of the planting hole. Adjust the height of the mound so that tree will stand roughly 2 inches higher than the old soil line on the trunk. If the tree is branched, orient it with the lowest branch facing southwest. As this branch grows, it will shade the trunk and lessen the chance of sunscald. If the site is windy, lean the tree slightly into the wind.

  3. As you fill the hole, bounce the tree up and down slightly to settle the soil among the roots. After you’ve filled in the hole, construct a soil dike around the base of the tree to form a catch basin for water — 2 feet out from the trunk in all directions should be sufficient. Spread compost or manure over the catch basin and then a layer of straw or leaf mulch. Drench the soil to settle the tree in place.

  Water generously once a week through August. Be sure to weed the catch basin diligently, as weeds will compete with the tree for nutrients and water.

  Pruning a Fruit Tree in Four Steps

  A tree that has reached its mature size and is yielding fruit requires regular pruning to stay healthy and productive. Although you’ll remove some fruit buds and, hence, potential fruits as you prune, the quality of those that remain will be better.

  In addition, pruning maintains a balance between fruiting and nonfruiting growth. After you prune, the tree will respond with a flush of leafy shoots that provide new fruit-bearing wood and nourish developing fruits.

  The best time to prune a tree is from late fall until its blossoms open in spring. Where winters are severely cold, wait until after midwinter to avoid cold damage in the cut area.

  1. Cut back dead or broken branches to the trunk or to healthy buds. Then check twigs or branches for evidence of disease, such as dark, sunken lesions or the black specks of fungal spores. Cut off infected wood 6 to 7 inches back from the diseased area.

  2. Remove large limbs at their origin or shorten them back to small, healthy side branches. First shorten the branch to about a foot, then undercut the branch slightly before sawing it from above. Finally, saw off the stub, leaving a slight collar to promote good healing.

  3. Take out most of the water sprouts, or suckers (overly vigorous, vertical branches that produce only a few, poor-quality fruits and shade the interior of the tree), at their base. If there are many water sprouts, leave a few to protect the tree from sunscald. In addition, shorten branches that droop downward, and remove any twiggy branches growing from the undersides of limbs.

  4. Only on apple and pear trees, thin out crowded spurs (fat, stubby growths on which these trees bear most of their fruit). Cut them back to strong buds. If they are crowded, remove a few so that fruit will be evenly distributed, but not crammed, along the branches.

  Harvesttime in the Orchard

  How can you tell when a fruit is ripe? Most varieties of tree fruits fall from the tree soon after ripening, so the fruit is ready as soon as it will separate from the branch with an easy twist. Most fruits change color as they ripen. If you are in doubt about the ripeness of an apple or pear, cut one open. If the seeds are dark brown, the fruit is ready to be picked. Only pears, a few varieties of peaches, and winter apples that finish ripening in storage should be picked before they are tree ripened.

  Pick on a dry day, if possible. If the fruit is wet, it may quickly begin to spoil. Put the fruit in a cool place as soon as possible after you pick it.

  Ordinary plastic pails are satisfactory for picking cherries and plums. For apricots, peaches, nectarines, pears, and apples, try the bags used by commercial growers. They hang like knapsacks on the front and are easy to use, even when you are working from a ladder. You can dump the fruit into baskets without bruising it or removing the bag.

  Pick each fruit by hand, and never club or shake it from the tree. Bend the fruit upward and twist it gently. If it is ripe, the stem will separate easily from the tree and stay on the fruit. Never pull out the stem, for it will leave a hole where rot will develop.

  Old-Fashioned Peach Preserves

  This recipe is an all-time favorite, maybe because it is so hard to get real peach flavor in any season but summer. The almond extract accentuates the peach flavor, but it is optional.

  ½ teaspoon ascorbic acid (crystals, powder, or crushed tablets)

  1 quart water

  3½ pounds (about 7 large) peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped

  5 cups granulated sugar

  ¼ cup lemon juice

  ¾ teaspoon almond extract

  1. In a large, nonreactive bowl, prepare an acid bath by adding the ascorbic acid to the water.

  2. Dip the peaches in the acid bath; drain well. Combine the fruit, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy 6-to 8-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil.

  Pollination Requirements of Fruit Trees

  Apples. Two or more different cultivars are recommended for pollination. If several apples belonging to the same family group are planted together, plant another cultivar nearby.

  Peaches. Many peach cultivars are self-fertile, but several of the most popular kinds are not. Mikado, J. H. Hale, and Elberta are among those that need a mate. It is a good idea to plant two different cultivars for insurance.

  Pears. Two or more different cultivars are recommended for good crops. A third kind is needed if you plant Bartlett and Seckel together.

  Plums. There are several families of plums, and two different cultivars within the same family are necessary for pollination.

  Sour cherries. Sour cherries are one of the few fruits that nearly always self-pollinate well, so one tree is all you need.

  Sweet cherries. Two or more different cultivars are necessary. Sour cherries are not good pollinators for sweet cherries because they often bloom at different times.

  3. Boil slowly, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and fruit is translucent and reaches 220°F (104°C) on a cooking thermometer.

  4. Stir in the almond extract.

  5. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Ladle into sterile jars, allowing ¼ inch of headroom. Run a rubber spatula around the insides of the jars to release air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp cloth. Place lids in position and tighten screw bands.

  6. Process in a boiling-water-bath canner (see page 80) for 5 minutes, adjusting for altitude, if necessary.

  Yield: 7 pints

  The Trick’s in the Thinning

  Here’s a trick little used by home gardeners that could make you the envy of your neighbors: If you want your tree to produce its best fruit and bear big crops every year, simply thin the little fruits as soon as they reach marble size. The tree’s strength and energy will then be diverted to the remaining fruits, which will grow much larger.

  Peaches, apples, pears, and the large fruited plums all benefit from trimming, but don’t bother to thin cherries, crab apples, the small canning pears, or small fruited plums. How many should you pluck off? Try leaving only one fruit in a cluster and about 6 to 7 inches between each fruit.

  Painful as it is to throw away perfectly good apples, pears, and peaches, you won’t mind doing it when you see how much bigger and bett
er the fruit is — and when you find that you actually have more bushels of usable fruit than you would have picked otherwise.

  Canning Applesauce

  Even though it takes time to make applesauce, it yields such a wonderful finished product that you may find it well worth your time. Figure that 21 pounds of apples will yield a canner load of 7 quarts of applesauce.

  Wash, peel, and quarter apples. Put in a heavy-bottomed stockpot with 2 inches of water. Cover and cook until soft, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Add sweetener to taste. Begin preheating water in canner and preparing jars and lids.

  If desired, pass softened apples through a hand-cranked strainer or food mill. Reheat sauce to boiling.

  Pack hot applesauce in hot, clean jars, leaving half an inch of headspace. Process pints for 15 minutes, quarts for 20 minutes.

  Storage of Common Apple Varieties

  Consider Luscious Landscaping

  Garden plants have traditionally been pigeonholed into one of two categories: utilitarian, for providing food, or ornamental, for providing beauty.

  That choice need not be made; you can have both! You can select, plant, and grow trees, shrubs, and vines that provide luscious fruits while gracing your yard with their beauty.

  Many ornamental plants also bear delicious fruits (and many edible plants are beautiful in their own right). In this illustration, the homeowners have opted for fruiting plants rather than more traditional landscape plantings.

  In the last few decades, even the humble vegetable garden has been recognized for its untapped beauty. Ornamental vegetables, such as ‘Scarlet Runner’ beans and ‘Rainbow’ chard, have segued out of the vegetable garden and into the flower bed, and the flavors of edible flowers, such as spicy nasturtiums, are now more appreciated.

  The time has come for fruit trees, shrubs, and vines to come into their own as ornamentals. “Luscious landscaping” works especially well with fruits. Why? Because fruit-bearing trees, shrubs, and vines become permanent fixtures in the landscape, their branching patterns, their bark, and their trunks enduring throughout the year and looking more dramatic with time. Many fruiting plants are spectacular ornaments and especially so in certain seasons: Just look at peach branches studded in spring with powder puffs of pink blossoms, or persimmon branches in autumn bowing under the weight of their bright orange fruit. Nanking cherry and Juneberry are among those plants that bear delectable fruits yet have actually been planted most often as ornamentals, their gustatory offerings unknowingly overlooked or ignored.