First Year for Plums, Peaches at the Box House

You don't need a big yard out in the country to grow fruit. There are many fine dwarf specimens out there they don't get very tall. We have several fruit trees planted round the yard: three cherries, two antique apples, a peach, a pear, and a plum. Some are self-fertile, some cross-pollinate with other trees in my yard or my neighbors'; as for my pear, I hope there is another pear tree in the area, or else I'll have to figure out how I'm going to cross-pollinate that one.

I planted the peach and plum in the summer of 2008, and both bore fruit for the first time this year. The plum has two different varieties grafted to it, the yellow one matures first. Isn't it beautiful?

They are so sweet and delicious. There are few things finer than going in the backyard on a summer's day, plucking a fruit from a tree I nursed myself, and biting into its sun-warmed goodness as I flop in the shade with a book.

Last year we had blossoms, but no fruit on the peach tree. This year, we had over 300 baby peaches. We also had a nasty case of peach rust, where 95% of the tree seemed to be affected. Apparently the only time to treat for fungus is pre-leaf emergence, so I took the state extension office's advice and stripped the tree of fruit this year so it could focus its energy on healing. I'll treat it next spring. Boy, it hurt plucking all those cute little baby peaches. I left a few on so I have an idea of when they'll ripen next year. Here's one:

This fall, I think I'll plant a berry patch.