Tag: fruit trees
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What is a Forest Garden? And How to Grow Amazing Food in Your Backyard
Forests in nature are resilient, diverse, self-regulating ecosystems. They provide all the nutritional needs of their residents – birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, microorganisms, etc. A forest garden, sometimes called a food forest, does the same for people, providing food, shade, wildlife, and an outdoor place to enjoy. A forest garden is a cultivated, edible, and diverse…
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5 Final Fast Growing Perennials to Quickly Grow Your Edible Landscape
Welcome back to the last installment of this fast growing plants series. These last five fast-growing plants all happen to be perennials. I’ll discuss each plant briefly, covering its benefits and uses, growing and harvesting tips, and design ideas and varieties to consider. These fast growing perennials are excellent options (depending on your climate) to…
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Saskatoon Berry: Beautiful and Useful Plant of Many Names
Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), commonly known as Juneberry or saskatoon berry, offers a highly nutritious berry, adaptability, and multi-season ornamental appeal. This large shrub or tree, native to North America, thrives in various sunlight, water, and soil conditions, making it a versatile addition to many gardens. The fruits, particularly the saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia), have gained…
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A Practical Spring Garden Checklist for the Urban Food Forest
Spring is in full swing and if you’re like me, you have no shortage of chores in the yard and garden. It can be daunting to keep track of everything that needs doing for your garden, yard, or food forest. That’s why I’ve made this Spring Garden Checklist. I wanted a list of everything to…
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Hawthorn: “Fairy Tree” and Treasure of the Food Forest
While considering what plant to feature this month, I took a stroll through my backyard and noticed a few bright red berries on the ground—hawberries, or haws—which had fallen from one of our hawthorn trees. We were fortunate to inherit two hawthorns when we moved into our house. Even though I knew what the two…
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December Plant of the Month: The Chestnut Tree
This month we’re talking about the chestnut tree. Also check out my previous Plant of the Month for November, The American Persimmon. December is the perfect month to talk about chestnuts (Castanea spp). The old-fashioned tradition of roasting chestnuts for the holidays conjures a cozy image, but most people alive today likely have never experienced…
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American Persimmon: Cold Hardy “Fruit of the Gods”
Welcome to the first official plant of the month post. Today we’re looking at American persimmon trees. I’ve selected the persimmon because it’s one of my favorite fruits (granted, I have about 20 favorite fruits!) and because they are one of the last to ripen—as late as November. Persimmon is a fruit that I didn’t…
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A Simple Apple Tree Guild Example (With lots of Edible Plants)
A fruit tree guild is an amazing thing. By including other plants under and around a single tree, wonderful things happen. What once was a lonely tree in a field of grass—grass competing with the tree for nutrients — becomes a nurturing ecosystem in itself. That means the apple tree will need fewer inputs from…
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An Edible Native Plant Guild for the Pacific Northwest
Hi Growers! Landscaping with native plants has many benefits, but sometimes a girl just wants her fruit trees and berry bushes. This collection of edible native plants for the Pacific Northwest is one answer for getting the best of both worlds. I designed this guild for my backyard in western Idaho, which is drier than…
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The Ultimate Fruit Tree Guild Design Guide: 7 Steps to a Bountiful Guild
Hello, friends. Are you excited to plant a fruit tree guild? Me too! But it’s winter at the moment, so instead of planting one I’m reading and writing about them, and planning my own for next spring. What is a fruit tree guild? Since you’re here, you probably already know, but just to cover our…