Last spring we bought a 14 acre parcel at auction, it was originally part of a 102 acre farm in the Appalachian foothills. Only 50 minutes from my house, but a very different landscape from the rest of northeast Ohio where I live, which is much flatter. It’s a nice area, very rural. I believe there are no 4 lanes roads in the entire county. Lots of Amish, some roads don’t even have electric, but ours does. We’ve got about 8 acres of tillable land including a large hill (60 ft elevation difference from road to hilltop) and 6 acres of marshy woods bordered by a creek. The road runs downhill to our property, which is appx 400’ wide directly across the street from the house shown with the fence. The road continues downhill for a few hundred feet before it flattens. Frost might settle at the lower front of our property, but I think at least a 400’ x 400’ square at the top of the hill should be high enough to escape frost on those marginally cold mornings that often zap blossoms in low lying areas. The best soil is the Greenford silt loam about 1/4 of the way up the hill, but it probably isn’t high enough. Next is the Westmoreland silt loam. It is higher, and there is an apple/peach orchard nearby with lots of trees on that soil type. The top of the hill is the Berks series soil. Moderately fertile but shaly (small rocks), and only 2 feet or so to bedrock. I’m excited because my present orchard area is low lying and somewhat poorly drained heavy soil. The new parcel’s soil is well drained but will need irrigated, I’ll have to get a well drilled soon.
So, I’m trying to plan what I want to do with it. Eventually I’d like to have a loft/garage with plumbing and heating to work out of. It will only be a hobby orchard, but I’d like to make a little money. There is a farmers market weekly at the park next to our present house where I’d like sell our stuff. It is a 50 or so minute drive to get to the property, I love going out there but the distance will be an obstacle. I want to focus at least 2/3 of the operation on no/low spray trees for obvious practical reasons. These are what I’m considering, followed by my assumptions for each one:
Cider apples. My assumptions: Lower spray, plus there is not an already saturated market like there is for dessert apples. Not immediately perishable. Might have to promote diy hard cider making in order to have a market.
Dolgo crabapples. My assumptions: Lower spray. Not immediately perishable. Unique to local market. Makes delicious jelly, but we would have to educate people about that. I think people would be interested in the simple process of making their own “heirloom” jelly, but can’t say for sure.
Quince. My assumptions: Medium spray. Not immediately perishable. Would be unique to our local market. Same assumptions as crabapple jelly.
Gooseberries. My assumptions: low spray, medium maintenance. Unique to area market. Great for pies and jellies, also good fresh. Would have to educate public on uses, similar to crabapple and quince. Might have to shade from late afternoon sun. I would like to try making serious gooseberry wine.
Improved Mulberries. My assumptions: No spray. Perishable. Not well known, but similar enough to blackberries that I think people would buy them fresh.
American persimmons. My assumptions: No spray, low maintenance, low risk. Probably could plant them lower in the more frost prone area with good soil. Not well known, farmers markets likely finished when ripe. Would probably lean towards Prok and Early Golden.
Hardy Kiwi. My assumptions: Low/No spray. Would benefit being at the top of the hill. Unique and tasty but might not have enough growing season. If they ripen in time, I think they would be a hit.
Paw Paw. My assumptions: No spray, low maintenance. Very perishable. I really like them. People seem to be interested in them. Would benefit from being planted at the top frost-wise, but probably would need watered more than most trees on well draining soil. I’m a little worried that the “moderate organic matter” and “low available water capacity” of the Berks series soil will be harder on paw paws than on other trees.
Labrusca grapes. My assumptions: medium spray. Perishable. I love these fresh, just about my favorite fruit. Nearby Amish population might be interested in earlier varieities other than standard Concord for juice and jelly. Ex. Bluebell, King of the North, Early Campbell. I have some Lorelei which are not as common but delicious for fresh eating and early. NY Muscat also a possibility. The new seedless Everest variety might also be a hit.
Damson plums. My assumptions: high spray, high maintenance, medium perishable. Possible cracking issues. I have a very productive, delicious Damson tree that I could benchgraft a dozen trees or more from. Unique fruit for the area. Being a culinary fruit, I might have to inform public of it’s use.
Green Gage, Rosy Gage, Empress, Superior, Toka plums. My assumptions: high spray, high maintenance. Cracking issues. Very perishable. All 5 have done fairly well at my location, should do even better at new location. Delicious, unique fruit for our local market, Very marketable, but very high maintenance. Could benchgraft dozens of trees from my existing trees.
Tart Cherries. My assumptions: low to medium spray. would probably thrive at top of hill, especially Carmine Jewel. I like these, but many farm stores around here sell 10 lb tubs of Michigan pitted tart cherries every summer for around $35. Those are very popular. Ours would be earlier , but not pitted. Hard to compete.
Heirloom Sweet Cherries My assumptions: I have Gov Wood, Coe’s Transparent and Black Tartarian and could benchgraft more of those. Sweet cherries are not widely grown around here, let alone “guigne” and heirloom varieites, but I’ve had little success at my old site so far. Very perishable. Would probably set fruit regularly at the top of the hill, but might have cracking issues often.
Peaches. My assumptions: High spray, high maintenance. I love peaches. They do OK for me at my marginal site, might thrive at the new site, but there are many other established orchards in the general area. Could focus on canning peaches, which aren’t as common, but I have no experience with them.
Apricots. My assumptions: High spray, high maintenance. Nobody grows them around here. Later bloomers like Zard or Alfred, combined with location at top of the hill, might yield results. Would be the only game in town, but might not escape frost even with the advantages. Very perishable.
Zaiger Pluots/Asian Plums. My assumptions: Similar to apricots at the top of the hill, but would probably stand a slightly better chance.
Blueberries. My assumptions: probably would do well, but very common around here, plus SWD issues.
Haskap. My assumptions: long lived. would need afternoon shade. Early. Unique but public probably prefers blueberries, which are sold everywhere. Maybe could sell these based on perceived health benefits. Probably a lot of work to pick.
Asian pears. My assumptions: medium spray. These have done well for me, but they have to be picked individually at the right stage of ripeness. For this reason, very high maintenance. Truly delicious but too many people have tried bland ones, so there might be a bias against these.
Seckle pears. My assumptions: probably low spray/low maintenance. Some grown locally but hard to find every year. Tasty. Somewhat perishable, but not too bad.
WPBR Resistant Blackcurrants. My assumptions: I love these, but they’re not well known. Probably low maintenance to grow, but high maintenance to harvest.
Chinese Chestnuts, Hicans, Hazelnuts. All show promise but I have no experience. Keep well, probably very marketable and easy to sell. Some chestnuts sold locally, but not many. No hazelnuts or Hicans in the local market.
Also would consider selling some of the above fruits frozen as smoothie ingredients, but that’s a long shot.
Feel free to let me know which of my assumptions are off, as well as anything I have overlooked.
My biggest questions are:
1) Is there really a market for American Persimmons like Prok, or is astringency/proper ripening too much of a wild card?
2) Has anyone seen crabapples like Dolgo for sale at farmers markets?
3) I’ve heard that gooseberries are the 2nd best fruit to make wine from other than grapes Gooseberry Wine Recipe: Homebrew winemaking, has anyone actually tried gooseberry wine?
4) Does anyone have first hand experience with juice or jelly made from Bluebell, King of the North, Beta or other cold hardy grapes other than Concord? Do they taste like Concord when processed, maybe better?
THANKS!
. Crabapple jelly with smoked gouda cheese is darn near gourmet quality.
