A berry nice day !

[Terry Coombs]

I went to town today to discuss fruit tree choices with the go-to-girl at the best nursery in town , ended up coming home with 14 strawberry plants . Bare root suckers , most had some green , and obviously better quality than the crap I tried last year from WallyWorld . They now reside in a place of honor at the top of the garden - I'm hoping to guide them towards the trees , to leave space for other stuff . On the orchard thing , I've tentatively selected the varieties we'll be planting . All will be semi-dwarf , apples will be Red Del and probably Granny Smith . Peaches will be Red Haven , pears Bartlett and maybe an Anjou . Cherries are going to be Bing and North Star . These varieties all do well in this area , as long as they're properly cared for and get enough sunlight . I haven't timed it , but it looks like the area I've cleared will get full sun from shortly after sunrise til almost sunset . As an added bonus , I've saved most of the wild Muscadines that are in the now-cleared area . I intend to trellis them on some 4' stock fencing so they won't interfere with the trees . I'll be doing the same with some along the driveway ... Even more icing on my cake , I'm signed up for the local adult education facility class on beekeeping , it's being taught by the guy I'm getting my bees/hive from . I'll be bringing home an up-and-running hive after the class is finished . Life is sweet ...

[songbird]

what variety of strawberries are they?

for the most part they'll head towards the light. i herd them using taller/leafier beans/soybeans.

if you have ever bearing plants you may want to also pick up some june bearing plants (these fruit once, but it is a more concentrated crop). mainly because they also have a lot more runners and will fill in an area more quickly than the ever bearing plants. and if you don't have any ever bearing plants, pick some up as then you can have another harvest or two later in the season. these have fewer runners and take longer to fill in a space. still well worth it. last year i was eating some of the last crop right up until the frosts came.

songbird

[Terry Coombs]

Corn or pole beans should work then ... these are Fragaria "Ozark Beauty" everbearing .

There's only the 2 of us , I'll probably just let these 14 do their thing . No rush , I have the rest of my life . BTW , these are labelled as GMO-free , which is a Good Thing AFAIC . Every thing is coming along nicely now , just got back from town to pick up a new v-belt for the tiller . The rocks are pretty rough on it that first time the ground is broken .

[Ecnerwal]

Those are pretty close to the last apples I'd choose to grow, but whatever makes you happy. Thousands of varieties out there, those two are in every grocery store all year round, and not really the tops for flavor IMHO. Granny does store well, at least...

[Terry Coombs]

The variety is decided by The Wife . She buys RD , and that's what she wants in the orchard . We're kinda limited in choices up here , it's a very small market - >5,000 pop and we're isolated from nearly everywhere by windy mountain roads . Nearest "big" city is Batesville , about 35 miles away . The second choice is tentative , will be decided when I see what she gets in . My apple consumption is pretty much limited to pie and sauce . That may change , depending on what we grow .

[songbird]

ah, ok, you won't have that many runners to manage (as compared to the June bearing).

...

i don't think anyone has done GMO alterations on strawberries yet.

anyways, you may find they don't spread fast enough to offset losses if they are in a difficult location or climate. a good mulch of shredded bark will help and if it gets really hot and dry they'll need watering and perhaps a bit of shade.

the first season recommendation is to remove the flowers/fruits early in the season and through the hot part of the summer and have the first crops in the fall once things cool off a bit.

as i'm pretty far north, i left one fruit per plant and only shaded them a little through the hot part of the summer. they seemed to do just fine.

good luck. :)

...

songbird