I’m curious what fruit trees, berry producing shrubs, etc. you absolutely adore in your backyard that you think would grow well in the mid-peninsula weather and produce a reasonable amount of good fruit. I’m looking for your personal experience on it and exactly what variety. Needs to be tasty, preferably raw, not canned as I won’t have time for that.
For example, my favorite fruit is the Emerald Beaut Plum, although I don’t know if it grows well here.
I’d also love to have some raspberries, and there are so many different kinds including ones that aren’t red–any advice on them would be great.
Also suggestions on local places that sell heritage fruit trees and maybe even have tastings?
My favorite fruit tree in CA is calimyrna fig. The fruit ripens in August and can just be washed and eaten raw. I’ve not tried drying/storing though that’s another option. Big farms use nets around the fruit trees. I did that one season and might repeat this year.
My favorite is peaches. Can’t buy tree ripen peaches in stores. Home Depot has bare root trees at good prices. Can also order by mail. Now is the time to plant bare root trees and vines.
Use netting to keep out birds
We’ve had good luck with figs…not sure of exact variety. They’re easy to grow, produce fruit early on and taste great. Citrus is easy as well.
Other favorites are fuyu persimmons (the crunchy kind) and avocados. One of our friends has an amazing mature persimmon tree. Ours gets raided by squirrels in early fall before the fruit are ripe…drives me crazy, need a solution.
A house we rented in MV years ago had a mature avocado. It was great to be able to pick a few and whip up a bowl of guacamole. I’ve been trying to get one started in our backyard for a couple of years now but keep getting foiled. They need really well drained soil. The first time the young tree dried out while we were traveling over the 4th of July. A deer snuck in and munched on the second one. I’ve got a third in that we grew from a pit with the toothpick method. It’s in the ground, close to 5 feet tall now and seems to be doing really well. Fingers crossed…
I second tree ripened peaches. It’s head and shoulders above store bought and farmers market IMO. I’ve even tried picking at a farm and it’s not the same. They get picked by everyone else before they are ready.
I didn’t bother with spraying for peach curl and I’ve had successful harvests year after year with ugly leaves on the trees.
BTW, it’s probably too late for most of you, but I highly recommend this book:
The author motivates why you should grow a small fruit tree and how to do so using pruning (but you have to start with a young tree–it’s too late once they’ve grown large). Small fruit trees allow you to take better care of them, better harvest the fruit, and have a harvest that is just the right size for a family. And easier to net if necessary.
I have a bunch of fruit trees in my front yard. The best producing so far is my Hachiya persimmon and apricot. Tree-ripened apricots are not the same as what you can buy in stores or even in farmer’s markets. They are just so much better. The Hachiyas are extremely good and tasty, but it’s an ultimate test of patience as you have to wait till they are really really really soft before you can eat them. Last week we finished our harvest of Hachiyas from last season.
I also have a loquat tree and a plum tree. Not producing much after 7 years. They probably require good drainage soil which is not what we have.
Sorry I have no idea. I just asked my landscaper who put in the tree and he has no idea either (he said he put in very few fruit trees throughout his career). My landscaper is also my co-worker, with a previous life as a landscaper with a 4-person crew for 10 years before he turned hi-tech.
Squirrels like fruits a lot. No kidding… Don’t get surprised if one day (right before picking fruits) you will find out - there is nothing to pick… happend to us… imagine disappointment of kids…
COSTCO soon will have big trees in backets from local nurseries
You needs to take to consideration the size of your trees … dwarf/semi dearf/full size
Yes. I noticed they were going after the neighbor’s permissons. Still ok with it. I don’t think they can eat all the fruit. Took them a month to finish off the persimmons.
According to the author of the book I posted above, it’s best to ignore the tree size and prune to keep the tree to the size you want. Semi-dwarf can mean that the tree only grows to 25 feet instead of 30 feet She recommends carefully considering the rootstock though to match you soil type/weather.
Last two years, I could save handful, just less than 10, by using net, still Squirrels eat them.
I pruned it to the level net can cover the tree, but still they make it somehow. First year alone, I was able to see plenty at tree as Squirrels were not there - they did not notice it.
I asked my husband and he also said mango “but they don’t grow here”. Do people think I could try? I could pot it and move it into the garage for the winter if necessary.
She recommends carefully considering the rootstock though to match you soil type/weather.
