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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings

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  • From: Mathew Waehner <waehner@gmail.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings
  • Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 15:36:44 -0500

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@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 -----
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.


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