I figured I’d say hi here and thank y’all for your invaluable information that I have been gleaning for years, before finally deciding to join! I have been interested in gardening my whole life, and in the last few years my wife and I achieved a lifelong dream of mine and acquired a ranch high in the Blue Ridge of far-southern West Virginia. Since she and I met when I was an exchange student at Peking University all the way back in the early spring of 2008 and enjoyed the spring blooms together, we have shared the dream of having a place in the Appalachians where we could grow flowering and fruiting trees, and set up habitats for our favorite fish: trout.
Our land has fantastic springs on it, and despite being at 37 degrees north latitude, it is solidly in zone 5. We now have the first of our spring-fed lakes built, and have planted the first five trees of what will be many orchards.
Thanks, and I hope to be able to contribute to the forum from which I have learned so much over the years!
Welcome aboard @Mountain-Mulberry , excellent forum to learn, teach, and share experiences. Beautiful area that you’re in, in 5 years when I retire I hope to get a seasonal home in NE corner of Tennessee.
Welcome! When you get a chance, can you give a little more info on what fruits and nuts you’re growing? I’m considering adding a couple chestnut trees to my yard but I’m weighing the pros and cons of such large trees in my limited space. Alternatively tossing around the concept of hazelnuts. Currently in the research stage but I’d be interested to see your perspective too if you want.
For perennial fruit, I’m growing four varieties of apples, two plums, two pears, one peach, one blackberry, two blueberries, a strawberry patch, and three elderberries.
For nuts, I’m growing two hazelnuts, two heartnuts (one recently died and will be replaced), and I have an almond tree on the way.
My general approach to variety selection is to buy modern disease resistant cultivars, with a focus on flavor and versatility. I do make a few exceptions for exceptionally delicious heirlooms, like Reine Claude doree plum.
My goal is to supply almost all our fruit intake from the garden nearly year round. The season begins with June bearing strawberries and ends with GoldRush keeper apples.
Appreciate the information, if you are looking to further extend your harvest a bit, you can look into honeyberries additionally. Mine are all too young but the very tiny crop I got here handily beat my earliest strawberries. I got lucky and have a large amount of wild elderberries here that I look forward to tasting when the bear probably next year. I also suggest black raspberries and given your area, you likely have wild ones nearby to try if you haven’t already.
Thanks. I’d probably have honeyberries already if my wife didn’t talk me into planting blueberries instead. Growing blueberries is heroic here because the soil is pH 7. I had to amend heavily with sulfur and we’ll see how well it works…
I’m still unclear on how much I’d enjoy the flavor of honeyberries.
