[NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings

loneroc loneroc at countryspeed.com
Fri Dec 4 21:10:20 EST 2009


Hi all,

I have never seen an insect (worm) in a 'centennial' apple crap.  It is great to eat--scab resistant and does quite well with minimal pruning.  It is too spreading for street planting but would be an apple worthy of consideration in an are that would be mowed.

Steve H. usda zone 3-4 sw wi----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ginda Fisher 
  To: North American Fruit Explorers 
  Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 6:13 PM
  Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings


  Who's the "audience"?  Random citizens won't recognize pawpaws as edible fruit - people are very shy about trying anything at all unfamiliar.  I second the suggestion of berries.  Most people recognize wild blackberries and know they are good to eat.  Raspberries and blueberries also require minimal care.  Up here in the north (Massachusetts) there are lots of mostly untended vines of concord grapes that produce tasty fruit.  


  My backyard apricot produced tasty fruit with no spraying until it dropped dead.


  There's a very productive mulberry tree near the center of my town, but I don't think anyone ever picks it, the fruit just make a mess on the sidewalk and lawn.


  Best of luck, sounds like fun.





  On Dec 4, 2009, at 3:36 PM, Mathew Waehner wrote:


    Native persimmons will do just fine without spraying or pruning, but anyone who eats an unripe fruit is in for a surprise.  Native persimmons do grow too tall to reach the fruit, but I like to harvest it from the ground.  Asian persimmons are naturally smaller trees with larger fruit, but your climate may be just a shade too cold for them.

    Mulberries grow wild all over the city here in Raleigh, and each tree produces hundreds of pounds of fruit without spraying or pruning.  The tree grows amazingly fast, and usually has a bushy growth habit that puts lots of fruit within reach.  Mulberries are unpopular because birds use the purple fruit to decorate cars.  White mulberries are available, but the fruit tends to be insipid.  Weeping mulberries make it very easy to reach fruit.

    Pawpaws are native to your climate, and they produce fruit in partial shade.  They have no insect problems, but they grow slowly, and have stinky flowers for a couple weeks each year.

    Figs generally do well without spraying, and there are a few varieties hardy to your climate.

    All of the fruits listed above would be common in stores if they survived shipping and storage.

    Kiwis and muscadine grapes are easy to cultivate, beautiful vines if you can get someone to construct a permanent trellis.  Some strains of native passionflower have tasty fruit,  all have beautiful flowers and they grow amazingly fast.

    Blueberries have been mentioned already, but I recommend them again- they need nothing but the right soil and water.  Blackberries grow wild in every ditch, and thornless blackberries need only slightly more care.  They do try to send out runners and build a thicket.

    None of these fruits are perfect, but they all produce tasty fruit with little or no maintence.  I would also consider pecans or walnuts.  They take a long time to mature, but they are majestic and productive trees.


     
    On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 12:18 PM, Shambeda <shambeda at epix.net> wrote:

      Greg
      I applaud you for your efforts, but I have one comment/concern:  Who is going to spray and prune the trees?
      You will not have edible fruit without spraying.  Spraying in a public area raises some concerns. Correct pruning is almost as important.

      you might want to consider smaller fruit such as raspberries, black berries or Blue berries.  they take up less space and fruit faster.  
      Steve
        ----- Original Message ----- 
        From: Gregory Strella 
        To: North American Fruit Explorers 
        Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 11:20 AM
        Subject: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings


        Hello friends,

        I was recently contacted by several new and long serving leaders in Baltimore's parks and horticultural divisions who are interesting in the idea of incorporating fruit into their municipal tree planting and maintenance regiment.  This would be an impressive expansion on the successful and ongoing effort to establish schoolyard and community orchards throughout the Baltimore and other cities.  

        The central question is this:  Are there two or three cultivars that we could direct these authorities to in order to insure their early success and further investment in this important opportunity?  The main criteria for "success" would be these:

        1. Species/cultivars that performed fairly (note that performing fairly does not mean peak performance) with minimal management (e.g. annual pruning, annual harvesting, no spraying).  That is to say, the priority here is disease/pest resistance, hardiness and longevity rather than production and even flavor.
        2. Trees that are able to be harvested without specialized equipment (dwarf or semi-dwarf)

        Below are a few recommendations agreed upon by two local orchards:

        Apples: Enterprise, Liberty, Pristine, Red Free, or Goldrush
            Apple Rootstock: Geneva, M7
        Pears: Kefir, Sickle, Liberty, Magnus
            Pear Rootstock:  Homewood or Quince
        Apricots: Anything from the “Harrow series” of apricots such as Harcot, Harglow, Hargrand, Harlayne, Harogem, Harval
        Any species will be considered

        Thank you in advance for any advice you can lend to this important effort.

        Greg
        -- 
        Greg Strella
        Farm Manager
        Baltimore City Public Schools
        Great Kids Farm at the Bragg Nature Center
        6601 Baltimore National Pike
        Catonsville, MD 21228
        717 350.3730 (cell)
        Support us at www.bcf.org/farm

        ps - I'm sure many of you will be considerate enough to express concern about fruit drop and corresponding rodent pressure that may be associated with urban fruit plantings.  This has been well considered over many years of food production in our city and we are confident regarding how this is to be handled.




------------------------------------------------------------------------



        _______________________________________________
        nafex mailing list 
        nafex at lists.ibiblio.org

        Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
        This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
        Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

        **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
        Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
        No exceptions.  
        ----
        To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
        http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

        File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
        TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
        Please do not send binary files.
        Use plain text ONLY in emails!

        NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/







      _______________________________________________
      nafex mailing list
      nafex at lists.ibiblio.org

      Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
      This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
      Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

      **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
      Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
      No exceptions.
      ----
      To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
      http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

      File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
      TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
      Please do not send binary files.
      Use plain text ONLY in emails!

      NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/


    _______________________________________________
    nafex mailing list 
    nafex at lists.ibiblio.org

    Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
    This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
    Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

    **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
    Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
    No exceptions.  
    ----
    To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
    http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

    File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
    TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
    Please do not send binary files.
    Use plain text ONLY in emails!

    NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  nafex mailing list 
  nafex at lists.ibiblio.org

  Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
  This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
  Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

  **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
  Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
  No exceptions.  
  ----
  To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
  http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

  File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
  TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
  Please do not send binary files.
  Use plain text ONLY in emails!

  NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/private/nafex/attachments/20091204/bc6f7de8/attachment.html 


More information about the nafex mailing list