We got fruit trees today, Valentine's Day! Our gardener suggested M & M Nursery so we gave it a try. Manfred was awesome helping us. The address is:
322 Woodside RWC CA
366-4429
So, what did we get? I am glad you asked! We went to get bare root fruit trees, which normally would be perfect right now, but it's been so warm, some have already started to bud and blossom. Anyway, Manfred had already potted everything. What I didn't realize, when you get bare-root, he actually had them planted and he pulls them up if you want, which saves $10.00 per plant...hmmm. Well we would have done that if we already had holes in the ground and ready to plant. Since we didn't we got the pots. Instead of $25/each, they were $35/each...but...it doesn't stop there....I asked him if our gardener gets a discount, and he said 10% and he would give us the discount...so 3.50 off per container bringing the final price to $31.50/each.
What was our criteria for tree selection?
Well, we had a few criteria for our trees;
- hardy, requiring little or no water during normal times, little or no pesticides/spraying and so on, and resistant to disease and anything else.
- delicious fruit - tasty for eating straight-up and baking and cooking and canning, drying or freezing
- harvest season as long as possible. some fruits come all at once and if you aren't ready you can miss a whole crop, or even if you catch it, it may so much you can't pick and pass things out fast enough.
- the trees can not get too big or take up too much of our precious little space
So, what did we get?
We thought we had lots to cover, and would need to select lots of trees. So, we have about 50 feet across the back, and want to plant every 8-10 feet between trunks, suggesting we can do about 6 trees there. We think we can squeeze a couple other trees in the backyard as well. Closer up near the house...so we are thinking a fig, possible mulberries, possible avacado or orange...
Listed in order of harvest time:
xxx hours Amount of chill hours below 45 deg. to produce fruit.
1) Compact Stella Semi Dwarf Cherry
Early season - June
Self Fertile
750 Hours, large, dark red fruit with good flavor and texture.
2) Bada Bing Semi-dwarf Cherry
Late season - mid June to Early July
3) Burgundy Semi-dwarf Plum
Early July-Late August
Self Fertile, Medium fruit with cherry red skin and deep red flesh.
One source says ripens in mid June. - others say later.
4) Blenheim Semi-dwarf Apricot
Ripens late June to July (Long season!)
Self Fertile Freestone, medium to large
5) Fan-Stil Semi Dwarf Pear
Ripens in August
Medium sized fruit with good eating quality. Fireblight resistant.
6) Red Fuji (BC-2) Semi Dwarf Apple
Ripens September
Self Fertile, 350 - 400 Hours,
red blush covers entire surface, firm, crunchy, great flavor.
Possible next trees later in the season:
Fig, mulberry, orange..nectarine,peach?
