EDIBLE INVENTORY

A few days ago, I did an inventory of the fruit, nut, and berry trees/bushes we have accumulated in our city backyard, just to see what I'd be needing to do.

Lest you think we spent a veritable fortune on these, we did not.  I'm a frugal shopper whenever I can be.  I've had a few trees in large clay pots just growing in our backyard for the last few years, waiting for the day we could hopefully put them in the ground on our farm (see, we had a plan even back then, ha).  They do fine, but of course, they just stay fairly small since they are contained in the clay pots.  Then, early last Summer, I found a couple of trees on clearance and bought them.  They were 5 gallon pecan trees, $10 each.  Regular price was $45.  So naturally, I snatched them up.  Then as the drought went on and Summer kept bearing down on us, plant nurseries would put more things on clearance (so they didn't have to water) and I bought a few more things.  Then when Fall rolled around, those same nurseries put everything else on 'Final Winter clearance' at 80% off!!!  Most fruit trees/bushes were only $5-$7 each.  That's like a thrift store bargain, and since I don't pass those up, why even try to resist these?  I did my research ahead of time, going to the nurseries with a list of varieties best suited for our climate.  So I bought a few more.  And then a few more after that...

One thing I learned is that when you bring them home, a few at a time, and just put them in a back corner of the yard or along the fence, a couple here, three or four there, it's easy to forget what you have.  I just watered them as needed, then they went dormant for the Winter and I just didn't really pay much attention to what we had.  Now that Spring is upon us, I decided to do the inventory this last weekend and I had no idea we had so much!

Future Harvest?  We can only hope!

These are the trees/bushes we currently have that will, shortly, be moved to the farm and planted.  In no particular order:

Barbados Cherry (not a true cherry, just looks like one)
Pomegranate
Mandarin Orange
Peach
Pears (2 varieties)
Golden Apple
Plum
Figs (2 varieties)
Pecans (2 varieties)
Avocado
Olive
Muscadine grapevines (2 varieties)
Blackberry bushes (2 varieties)
Thornless Raspberry bushes (2 varieties)

That's a LOT of planting.  With twenty different plants, I see lots of this in my near future...

Digging a hole

But it's OK, if we can get them all in the ground around the house, and keep them watered, we'll eventually have quite the home production of food...I guess it will someday be a veritable "Food Forest'!

When we go out this weekend, we are going to roam around the house and decide where we should plant them.

I bought some of that orange landscapers paint.  You know, the kind they use to outline where flowerbeds will go, or underground lines are buried, etc.  It should help us see just exactly where everything will go.  A yard full of orange circles.

Of course, then come the decisions.  Do we want them all in a row like an orchard?  Or just planted randomly around the house?  We lean toward a random order as the better choice for us.  The property at the end where the house is has an odd shape and we have to be mindful of septic lines, leach fields, water well pipes, and all that fun stuff.  I realize we have acres we can use for planting, but for now, we don't want everything so far from the house.  That can come later on down the road.  Maybe some new and different fruit trees every year, further and further out.  I need to remember, ripples on a pond!

So stay tuned, I'll be planting them, weather permitting, this coming weekend and next.  Anyone wanna help?  LOL!  I tease, I know it will be fun and oh so rewarding.  I can't wait, I'm itching to get out, dig in the ground, and plant some stuff.  Of course, as always, pictures will accompany the process, if my hands aren't too muddy to hold the camera!