Growing Fruit: The Stepchild of the Edible Garden

I don't know why this is, but it seems that fruit is the stepchild of the edible garden. I mean, I see a post about the occasional strawberry, but that's about it. Which is really surprising, because there are tons of fruits that can be grown at home. So I am wondering if it is because people feel it is too difficult or if they just don't know what to do. I hate to say it but fruits are starting to feel a little left behind. And listen, I know from stepchildren...being one myself...

I made a deliberate decision to not include fruit in Growing Food: A Beginners Guide, because I generally think of fruit as a bit beyond beginner. Though, berries are great for beginners...and for that matter, so is rhubarb, with which I have had a long and torrid love affair. I mean, if you can fall off a log, you can grow rhubarb. And grapes, please, those things just take over...and while they can have problems, generally speaking, most people can grow grapes (dependent upon zone).

I think the problem is that most people think of fruit trees when they think of fruit. And especially in the organic garden, fruit trees can be a pain in the rear end...often involving a high tolerance for sharing your fruit with bugs and birds and other members of Mother Nature's family. Trees also take up a significant amount of space and if you have a small yard, this can be limiting. But today, there are all kinds of new hybrids that are specially sized for containers, trees that have multiple fruits grafted onto one stock, have special growth habits that allow for easy harvest... Growers have really made great strides in making fruit much more user friendly for the home gardener.

One of my favorite things about fruit is that almost all of it stores extremely well. It is April as I write this and I still have a couple of big bags of raspberries and blueberries from last July. Seriously, we ate ourselves silly on "berry delights"...a very simple concoction that involves a quick vanilla cake, macerated berries and whipped cream. Yowza!

I truly hope you consider growing fruit in your home garden...there are so many options, some of which are so easy! It would be a shame not to give it a try. And believe me...a strawberry from the garden is 8 million times better than those flavorless things they sell at the grocery store.

Comments

[Rob Smart]

In Vermont, especially at our home, we cherish mostly wild fruits, including raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, and alpine berries ("fairy" berries to my four year old).

Everything else is veggie...unfortunately.

[Farmer Jen]

I grow strawberries, boysenberries and blackberries with success, but have not mastered blueberries or raspberries yet after many years of trying. I am trying again this season. I also have many fruit trees: apples, pears, peach, apricot, cherry & plum. Also almond and walnut. Most summers I plant cantelope and watermelons too. Sometimes they grow well. Sometimes not so much. Fruit is great to grow. So much you can do with it!

[Fern @ Life on the Balcony]

I think beginners are intimidated by pruning fruit trees (or they prune them incorrectly and have poor yields because of it).

[Daisy]

Rhubarb and raspberries were already growing in our yard when we moved in. I'd never used rhubarb before that; now I'm a pro at cooking/baking with it!

[TC]

I agree with you concerning the extra efforts fruit trees require, if you're really into them. I have a few apple trees and a couple of pear trees that don't get any attention. They were here before we moved in. They need attention, but I'm not into them. ;~)

[Kate]

I've been wanting to grow some dwarf fruit trees in containers that can be brought indoors during our chilly winters here in Idaho. Any recommendations on dwarf fruit trees?

[Grasshopper]

True. It takes a lot of effort in planting a fruit tree. We also had few gardening mistakes on planting trees featured here http://www.gardenersreach.com/post/How-NOT-To-Plant-a-Tree.aspx and we've learned a lot.