Because figs don’t ship well, it’s hard to find fresh figs in the local grocery store. Fortunately, fig trees are easy to grow and care for, making them perfect for growing in the backyard orchard. Fig trees ( Ficus carica) originated in Northwestern Asia and the Middle East. They were brought to the Americas by […]
Edible Perennial Vegetables, Fruit and Herbs to Harvest Year After Year
When most people think about the food garden, they think about annuals like tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. But there are many perennial vegetables, fruits, and herbs that will grow in all but the very coldest gardening zones. Every year we try to plant edible perennials in our garden. Our goals is that over time we’ll […]
Growing a Mulberry Tree {and how to use mulberry leaves, branches, and berries}
A mulberry tree is a must for your homestead or backyard. They are fast growing shade trees and provide food for your family and fodder for chickens, ducks, goats and other livestock. The mulberry tree leaves, bark and berries are all edible. When we moved to our property we were so happy to find a […]
Planting and planning a family orchard
Growing a fruit garden on your property will give you years of harvest as most fruits are perennial plants. Your backyard orchard will provide food for your family and wildlife and add beauty and shade to your property. Since the day we moved here (even before that really) we knew we wanted to grow a […]
Six fast growing fruit trees {and one vegetable}
Aww, fruit trees! It’s been said that the best time to plant a fruit tree is yesterday – because they take so long to produce. And while it’s true that you won’t get fruit the first year you plant a fruit tree it doesn’t have to take years and years to get fruit either. There […]
In the Garden….growing pineapples
Of all this things we’ve grown, I think I’m most excited about the pineapples. I’m not really sure why but I am. We planted a couple of tops in the spring of 2011 and a couple more last spring and summer. One of the ones we planted in 2011 is making a pineapple. So now […]
Growing Fruit
Since buying our property a little over three years ago we have been adding fruit trees a little at a time. When we moved here there was a mature Meyer lemon tree and two mature pecan trees. Also, our neighbor has a mature mulberry tree that over hangs our property that he lets us pick. […]
our little orchards
One of our goals for our little homestead is to have quite a few fruit trees. I really think fruit trees give you the most bang for your buck and for your time. We had 4 peach trees, 2 plum trees, 2 apple trees, a grapefruit tree and an orange tree that needed to be […]
In the garden…growing citrus
Right before Christmas last year I went to the feed store to buy chicken feed and I saw a sign that said “all fruit trees half off” I really thought they would be half dead, but they were actually great trees, the store was just trying to reduce inventory before the end of the year. […]
In the garden… blueberries
Have I mentioned that we have blueberry bushes? Well, we have three. I bought them last year (as in 2010) on clearance at Walmart. They didn’t really do much last year, in fact, I wasn’t sure if one was going to make it. But it did. This year they had beautiful white blooms on them. […]