Finding The Space To Grow Fruit

How many times have you seen the prices of fresh produce and wished that you could just grow your own fresh fruits instead? It would be nice, but not everyone has the space available to grow a fruit garden in their yard or home... or do they? While any kind of gardening is a space intensive project, not having a huge area you can devote to your garden shouldn't prevent you from growing fruit at all. You just have to think creatively, plan out your space, and make some smart choices and before you know it you'll be biting into some fresh, juicy fruit for dessert!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first thing you need to do when planning out your limited space is to look at exactly how much you can or want to spare for your fruit, along with what kind of fruits you'd like to grow. Thinking logically of course, even a small fruit tree is going to take up a LOT more space than a patch of strawberries so you have to be prepared to work with what you have. When planning space many people often look outwards when in fact thinking upwards can do just as well. Try using poles or cages to give plants something to grow on that won't take up as much space as growing the plant out over more garden space. Hanging planters work well, too!

Speaking of planters, container gardening is a great way to get fruits growing in a smaller space. You can keep your plants exactly where you want them and, with proper care, make sure that they won't grow over or out of control. Planters can be anything as fancy as decorative ones you might find at a home improvement or gardening store, or as simple as a pot, barrel, can, or other space-appropriate container that your fruit plant will grow and thrive in.

Last but not least, don't feel like you have to grow a ton of fruit; you're not growing to stock a store, just your own fridge. Pick out which fruits you're interested in growing and do the math on how much space just those fruits growing will be taking up. If you end up under your limit and want to grow more, then great! If you end up over, simply plan on either scaling back how much you want to plant, or maybe cut back and even grow fruits in cycles, depending on what kind of fruit it is and how permanent the plants are.

The last thing that you should ever feel when you're planning your garden is that you won't be able to just because of limited space. Fruits are delicious, healthy, whole foods, and having them fresh off of the branch or vine is the best way to enjoy them. If you have the time, money, and are willing to put forth the effort to maintain your fruit garden, your space should be no obstacle to the sweet taste of victory!

Growing Fruit Trees: Worth The Wait?

Welcome back! We apologize for the lack of a post last week; after moving into our new house, we had some problems getting the internet up and running.... Thankfully we are connected now, and back in action! One of the things we are planning for our new property is to plant some fruit trees. So I figured it would be a good time to explore this topic for the next few weeks. This week, we're starting off by exploring the pros and cons of growing fruit.

Nectarine (Prunus persica) fruit development over a 7½ month period, from early winter to midsummer. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you think about growing a garden you generally plan to plant seeds one afternoon, spend a few weeks to months taking care of them, and then finally having something you can cook or eat fresh right off of the vine or or out of the ground right away. Fruit trees on the other hand are a much longer investment of time and effort, but continue to yield results year after year even when other plants will have long since been harvested and replanted. If you're thinking about planting fruit trees, then you should make a few key decisions before you start and along the way.

First of all you have to decide if you want to reap the rewards of your work within a short period of time, or if you're actually willing to wait for your work to come to fruition (no pun intended). It can take years for a fruit tree to actually mature enough to start bearing fruit and it can be a long and arduous process of maintenance, pest control, and care that can end up failing and coming to nothing if you aren't prepared, or don't put in the proper time or effort. However, if you're the type of person who doesn't mind settling in for the long haul then you can enjoy delicious fresh fruit year after year once your tree has matured.

Something else that you should think about as you're deciding whether or not to plant fruit trees is what kinds of fruit you might want to grow. There are many factors that come into play when you decide to plant fruit trees such as the condition of your planting area (such as the yard space you have to work with and the quality of the soil) as well as the climate and seasonal harshness of the area you live in. Some places are great for growing fruit trees and will have no problems seeing your trees thrive and flourish, but if the area you live in is subject to harsh seasonal swings you may be limited in the types of fruit you can successfully grow.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One unique perk that fruit trees offer (one that you might not initially realize) is the value that it adds to your home and property. Even if you never plan on selling your home, think of what your fruit trees will offer to you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors. You don't just get the bonus of having a tasty treat you can pluck straight from the branches in your yard, you also have a healthy snack you send to school with your children, ingredients you can use in cooking for family get-togethers, fruit you can preserve for the winter in various ways or to give as gifts, or simply fresh fruit you can gather into a gift basket. The benefit of having fruit readily available is practically endless.

In the end what it all comes down to is whether or not you're willing to persevere through the hard work and long wait of your fruit tree maturing to the point it can actually bear fruit. Even if you start with a partially grown tree that you transplant you will still have to put in the effort of nurturing and acclimating it to its new home while also guarding its safety from insects and disease. If this is something that you think that you can do then planting a fruit tree is definitely worth the wait when you can finally sink your teeth into a crisp apple, juicy pear, or whichever delicious fruit you've decided to grow.

Be sure to stay tuned next week, when we'll discuss the first steps you'll need to think about when planting your fruit trees.

Utilizing Vertical Gardening to Save Space & Grow Healthier Veggies

Many would-be gardeners never get started because they think they don’t have enough space for it. If you fall into this category, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn how much you can actually grow in a very small area!

All it takes is a little creative thinking.

Unfortunately, many gardeners focus only on the area under their feet. Given that most plants are grown in soil, this line of thinking makes sense. However, you can break free from this limited line of thinking once you decide to “look up.”

Did you realize that for every square foot of ground space in your garden, you actually have another 6 feet of valuable gardening space above it? It’s true! If you take advantage of all that untapped vertical space, you can grow so much more than you ever thought possible.

Save Space with Vertical Gardening

Use an old ladder as a trellis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plants trained to grow up take up a lot less ground space than those that are left to their own devices. In fact, a single climbing vine only needs a couple square inches of dirt to thrive. If that same vine is not offered vertical support, however, it would quickly cover several feet of your valuable – and limited - growing area.

There are many ways you can provide vertical support for your plants. Some of the most common examples include trellises, tepees, arbors, hanging baskets, stacked containers, and fences. You can also take advantage of unused wall space along your house or garden shed by adding wood shelves, hanging planting pockets or repurposing old gutters into plant containers.

Often you can train your plants up existing structures on your property without needing to build or buy anything new. Split rail and chain link fencing are particularly effective for this purpose. For an inexpensive option that offers a lot of rustic charm, you can wire 3 long wooden poles or bamboo stalks together to form a tripod “tepee” that is ideal for growing pole beans or other vining vegetables. 

If you want to add an artistic focal point to your garden, there is a huge selection of ready-made decorative vertical support structures available. For example, you can find decorative wrought iron trellises embellished with glass crystals or beautiful cedar hanging wall units you can add to an unused stretch of sunny wall space.

Ideal Plants for Vertical Gardening

There are a lot of fruits, vegetables and culinary herbs you can grow in your newfound vertical gardening space. In addition to pole beans, you can also grow other vining vegetables such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash and gourds. Smaller, more compact plants like herbs and edible flowers do well in smaller spaces like hanging baskets or wall-mounted units. By “suckering” or removing side stems from tomato plants, you can train them to grow in a more upright fashion. In addition to saving space, this process can also help your tomato plants stay healthy and become more productive.

My cucumbers climbing a rope trellis.

Grow Healthier Plants with Vertical Gardening

In fact, many gardeners find that vertical gardening leads to healthier plants in general. There are a number of reasons for this. For starters, plants grown vertically have a lot less direct contact with soil, which translates to fewer problems caused by soil-dwelling pests and diseases. If garden pests do attack your plants, the problem will be easier to see and treat if the plant is elevated off the ground.

In addition, vertically grown plants have better exposure to light and air than those allowed to grow freely along the ground. This, in turn, leads to better ventilation and food absorption. The end result is a healthier plant that is more resistant to disease and better able to produce at peak capacity.

For some more really cool ideas on vertical and small-space organic gardening, be sure to check out this resource too!