North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com>]

Greg,

Who will be picking the fruit? Will the general populace wander by and pick 
it, or will the city come by once a year with a truck?

If it's meant for the general populace, I'd vote for Amelanchier species, AKA 
juneberries or serviceberries. There are many different species, from shrubs 
to small trees. Many of them are street trees here in zone 5 central NY, and 
they make a very tasty nibble for passing pedestrians. I can't see city 
workers bothering with fruit that small though.

Whoever picks it, I put in yet another vote for pawpaws. Yes, most people 
don't recognize them, but they should learn about them. The flowers don't 
smell nearly as bad as bradford pears in my opinion, and those are planted 
everywhere.
I've heard that the tastiest pawpaws are Peterson's. These used to be in 
short supply, but they're now available from Nolin Nursery:
http://www.nolinnursery.com/Pawpaw.htm

Other species to consider are the native plums, Prunus americana and P. 
maritima. I've eaten P. americana which grew wild in Iowa, and they did fine 
with no tending at all. They're very small trees. They have unpleasantly 
thick, astringent skins, but the flesh is sweet, fragrant, and delicious. I 
think the tough skin keeps out insects. They also have beautiful flowers.

Sour cherries also have beautiful flowers and are fairly trouble-free. A 
'Montmorency' grew as a street tree in front of my old house, and did fine 
with no tending, producing fruit every year for many years. It eventually got 
black knot, though. Pawpaws would be safer, since as far as I know, they get 
no diseases at all.

Good luck with the project! It sounds like a great idea.

Melissa


--- On Fri, 12/4/09, Gregory Strella <gregory.strella@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Gregory Strella <gregory.strella@gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAFEX] Baltimore City Fruit Tree Plantings
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Friday, December 4, 2009, 11:20 AM
> 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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