Posted on: May 8, 2009

As local as it gets

Enjoy the fruits of your labor in the privacy of your own backyard

By Bev Bennett
CTW Features

Image courtesy istockphoto

Maybe you'd like to pear your supermarket fruit purchases, or perhaps you're dreaming of a berry nice summer.

Cultivating an edible fruit tree or bush can cut produce costs while assuring you a harvest picked at the peak of ripeness, says Lee Reich, a New Paltz, N.Y.-based gardener, gardening consultant and writer. What's more, he asks, if you want to eat local, what's closer than your own backyard?

If you've only grown lettuce and tomatoes, a seven-foot tree may seem intimidating. But you have lots of options, including berry shrubs and dwarf trees, so you're sure to find the fruit that matches your appetite and your skills, say the experts.

Starting with the easiest, try blueberries.

"The blueberry is easy to grow pretty much anywhere and looks appealing the year round," says Reich, author of "Landscaping with Fruit" (Storey Publishing, 2009). Blueberries have a high yield and are lower maintenance than other berries, according to Everett Hendrixon, vice president of Artistrees Garden Center, Hico, W.V.

"Because you get so many blueberries on a shrub, it looks like a huge producer," Hendrixon says. If your space is limited, select patio or low-bush blueberries that reach 18 inches, says Reich. With the luxury of a large sunny space, you can select high-bush berries that peak at six to seven feet. With either, buy more than one shrub in more than one variety so the berries are cross-pollinated. Expect an edible crop on the third season.

Can't wait that long?

Try raspberries. They're easy to grow, don't require cross-pollination and may bear fruit the same season.

Although the apple may be the first thing on your mind when you think of fruit trees, it may present the most challenges, say the experts. Apple trees are prone to pest problems and don't produce fruit when grown singly.

"You'll need two, preferably three, apple trees for cross-pollination, and they can't be the same variety," says Hendrixon.

If you're set on apples, but don't want several full-size trees taking over your yard, plant dwarf trees that yield two bushels of fruit, or semi-dwarf with a harvest of four bushels, both by the third year. But you don't have to buy several of the same trees to enjoy fruit. Peaches, pears and cherries self-pollinate, Hendrixon says.

For a no-hassle tree that's also beautiful and yields delicious fruit, Reich suggests the pawpaw.

The pawpaw, which is found in the Midwest, bears fruit with a tropical flavor similar to a papaya mixed with a pineapple. (For more information visit the Web site of Kentucky State University, which has a pawpaw research program: http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/)

"It's a relatively pest-free tree; beautiful and easy to grow," Reich says. You can buy fruit trees by mail order from a specialty grower or shop your local garden center. If you're personally selecting a tree, choose one that's a healthy size for its variety, says Hendrixon. "Stay away from a runt in the group."

Also avoid tall, spindly trees. Pick a tree with most of its branches on the top two-thirds of the plant. Avoid a specimen with sucker roots coming out of the soil, which is a sign that the rootstock is trying to re-grow the original tree, according to Hendrixon.

Bev Bennett, a veteran food writer and editor, is the author of "Dinner for Two: A Cookbook for Couples" and "30-Minute Meals for Dummies"