Smallest orchard ever?
Well, I guess it's officially fall - frost risk tonight, and I did a bunch of general late-season clean-up this afternoon, so here's a bit of harvest report, with focus on the long-term plants. The perennials were kind of variable this year, but I've got high hopes for next.
2 apple trees 0
Flowers on one but not the other, no pollenization. plants have grown 8" branches out the top, and I have to figure out how and when to prune them. Should probably also fertilize for next year. Assuming the left-hand one blooms, maybe I'll have apples next year. Else maybe I'll be better prepared to go out foraging for a spray of crab-apple blossoms and try some plant husbandry on the right-hand one. 2 cherry bushes 0
The plants have grown maybe 8", which is not very much, minimal change in diameter. These were planted in good compost-dirt, too - I'm kind of disappointed. 1 juneberry bush 0
Much like the cherry bushes, bought from the same place at the same time, this little guy is still quite little and very unimpressive. Chance that it will bloom next year = minimal. 3 gooseberry bushes 18
One out of 3 bushes gave fruit, on 2 out of 4 of its' branches. That one grew significantly, and needs training/pruning; the others grew less, but they're more compact varieties. Assuming I'm well-supplied in year-old bearing branches, next year should probably be pretty good for gooseberries. (and these arrived along with the cherry and juneberry so it's not that I screwed up the bare-root planting) 4 raspberry canes 10-15
It's a summer-bearing variety, bears on last-year's wood; one out of the 4 canes branched from the cane itself as well as from the root, and that branch had 2 good clusters of berries. Now all the canes (~8 stalks) are ~5 ft high and need to be restrained now to avoid a jungle next summer. Should be a fairly productive jungle, though... 2 blueberry bushes 1 pt
I'm estimating a pint or so. I had lots of little palmsfull of 10-15 berries, and a few "harvests" of ~1/2 cup (there are a lot of these little guys in 1/2 cup!). That was off one bush; the other I knocked most of the blossoms off, because it was a wee twig; it grew prodigiously, and I'm hoping they'll both produce well next year. I guess the telling factor will be whether I've got the sulfur levels right. And whether my information that these varieties will survive Mass winter in pots holds true (I hope my fancy watering system with the reservoir and the wicks doesn't make them freeze worse!) 1 lingonberry bush 0
I did see a few blooms but nothing came of it. I don't think I planted this in the best place; it probably would like some sulfur amendment before it really sets up housekeeping and produces. It did grow a good bit, though. 2 wintergreen plants 8+
Surprisingly, the wintergreen seems pretty happy. It'll be another couple of years before you could call the several little shoots a "ground cover" but they're growing well, and blooming, and making little red berries. I ate one and was not impressed, so maybe I don't care much whether it becomes prolific. 12 strawberry plants 30ish
about 3-4 berries per plant, I think, if you count those that were undersized and sour and not what I'd call a treat from the garden. That's because I wasn't watering them well. Still am not watering them well. They're not very happy with me, going into fall. I may reconsider the whole hanging-planter thing for next year. strawberry seed 0
The 35-cent packet of alpine strawberry seed actually grew into about 8 healthy plants. Well, okay, it grew into about 15 healthy seedlings which were negligently reduced to 8 by the time they hit the yard, and those are now all quite healthy. Non-zero possibility of tiny (awesome?) berries next year! 1 goji-berry plant 0
No fruit, and yet it was my best cash-crop. Each berry is full of 40+ tiny seeds, so my goji planting resulted in ~20 seedlings. I put one in a 5-gallon bucket outside, and I sold 8 more as 4-packs for $5 on Craigslist, making back my $0.35 investment in seed and funding some of my other frivolous plant purchases. (Hmmm, should I try that again next spring?) Mine is now 4 feet tall and very pleased with itself - I think eventually it'll go in-ground and maybe get trellissed along the fence, but now it should come onto the porch for the winter. These guys are from non-tropical China, and are merely okay for zone 6, but young plants are less hardy; even if it weren't in a bucket it would be borderline.
and a few illustrations:
The wintergreen looks enormously productive if I zoom the camera in close enough. I didn't do the same favor for the lingonberry.
On the left, an image from late July, which was gooseberry season. On the right, a happy gojiberry.
On the left of the left is a cherry bush, which actually can be seen to have grown a bit, but I had to go back and compare photos to be sure. The raspberries (right of the left) are definitely ready for some tying back (see also smallest gooseberry bush and a row of alpine strawberries in the shorter bed). The blueberries (right-hand photo) are (a) large and bushy, and (b) turning pretty red for fall.
2 apple trees 0
Flowers on one but not the other, no pollenization. plants have grown 8" branches out the top, and I have to figure out how and when to prune them. Should probably also fertilize for next year. Assuming the left-hand one blooms, maybe I'll have apples next year. Else maybe I'll be better prepared to go out foraging for a spray of crab-apple blossoms and try some plant husbandry on the right-hand one. 2 cherry bushes 0
The plants have grown maybe 8", which is not very much, minimal change in diameter. These were planted in good compost-dirt, too - I'm kind of disappointed. 1 juneberry bush 0
Much like the cherry bushes, bought from the same place at the same time, this little guy is still quite little and very unimpressive. Chance that it will bloom next year = minimal. 3 gooseberry bushes 18
One out of 3 bushes gave fruit, on 2 out of 4 of its' branches. That one grew significantly, and needs training/pruning; the others grew less, but they're more compact varieties. Assuming I'm well-supplied in year-old bearing branches, next year should probably be pretty good for gooseberries. (and these arrived along with the cherry and juneberry so it's not that I screwed up the bare-root planting) 4 raspberry canes 10-15
It's a summer-bearing variety, bears on last-year's wood; one out of the 4 canes branched from the cane itself as well as from the root, and that branch had 2 good clusters of berries. Now all the canes (~8 stalks) are ~5 ft high and need to be restrained now to avoid a jungle next summer. Should be a fairly productive jungle, though... 2 blueberry bushes 1 pt
I'm estimating a pint or so. I had lots of little palmsfull of 10-15 berries, and a few "harvests" of ~1/2 cup (there are a lot of these little guys in 1/2 cup!). That was off one bush; the other I knocked most of the blossoms off, because it was a wee twig; it grew prodigiously, and I'm hoping they'll both produce well next year. I guess the telling factor will be whether I've got the sulfur levels right. And whether my information that these varieties will survive Mass winter in pots holds true (I hope my fancy watering system with the reservoir and the wicks doesn't make them freeze worse!) 1 lingonberry bush 0
I did see a few blooms but nothing came of it. I don't think I planted this in the best place; it probably would like some sulfur amendment before it really sets up housekeeping and produces. It did grow a good bit, though. 2 wintergreen plants 8+
Surprisingly, the wintergreen seems pretty happy. It'll be another couple of years before you could call the several little shoots a "ground cover" but they're growing well, and blooming, and making little red berries. I ate one and was not impressed, so maybe I don't care much whether it becomes prolific. 12 strawberry plants 30ish
about 3-4 berries per plant, I think, if you count those that were undersized and sour and not what I'd call a treat from the garden. That's because I wasn't watering them well. Still am not watering them well. They're not very happy with me, going into fall. I may reconsider the whole hanging-planter thing for next year. strawberry seed 0
The 35-cent packet of alpine strawberry seed actually grew into about 8 healthy plants. Well, okay, it grew into about 15 healthy seedlings which were negligently reduced to 8 by the time they hit the yard, and those are now all quite healthy. Non-zero possibility of tiny (awesome?) berries next year! 1 goji-berry plant 0
No fruit, and yet it was my best cash-crop. Each berry is full of 40+ tiny seeds, so my goji planting resulted in ~20 seedlings. I put one in a 5-gallon bucket outside, and I sold 8 more as 4-packs for $5 on Craigslist, making back my $0.35 investment in seed and funding some of my other frivolous plant purchases. (Hmmm, should I try that again next spring?) Mine is now 4 feet tall and very pleased with itself - I think eventually it'll go in-ground and maybe get trellissed along the fence, but now it should come onto the porch for the winter. These guys are from non-tropical China, and are merely okay for zone 6, but young plants are less hardy; even if it weren't in a bucket it would be borderline.
and a few illustrations:
The wintergreen looks enormously productive if I zoom the camera in close enough. I didn't do the same favor for the lingonberry.
On the left, an image from late July, which was gooseberry season. On the right, a happy gojiberry.
On the left of the left is a cherry bush, which actually can be seen to have grown a bit, but I had to go back and compare photos to be sure. The raspberries (right of the left) are definitely ready for some tying back (see also smallest gooseberry bush and a row of alpine strawberries in the shorter bed). The blueberries (right-hand photo) are (a) large and bushy, and (b) turning pretty red for fall.