Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pears, peaches, and other fruits for Central Indiana.
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:57:19 -0400
Dan -
I'd also recommend stepping a bit outside the conventional bounds of 'orchard' and planting some hardy kiwi vines, chestnuts, and hazelnuts. There's a good chance these will grow with little pest or disease pressure -- though I am admittedly inexperienced with your specific climatic conditions + pest/disease complex.
Asian pears and american persimmons sound like a great bet -- some of the hardier mulberries (e.g. 'Illinois Everbearing') might also be worth a try. And Pawpaws! you could plant seedlings of the hardier varieties and aim for some Indiana-adapted trees.
And how about berries?!? Currant, gooseberry, jostaberry would be great for a partial-shade understory, and silverberry (Hippophae spp.) or goumi (Eleagnus multiflora) would be soil-improving nitrogen-fixing berry producers as well. Lee Reich's "Uncommon Fruits for every garden" would be a good place to check out some varieties and basic growing info for these plants. I did some design work for a client last year that was creating a fruit, berry, and nut CSA -- they had chosen all these fruits/nuts, and more!