So the story with fruit around here is a dual one. On one hand, there were two diseased, unidentified, and rather puny apple trees in our backyard when we moved in four summers ago. One, we chopped down; I don't think there was any pruning drastic enough to make a productive tree, and it was very unhealthy. The second tree I pruned. And pruned. And then wondered if I'd gone too far and almost cut it down.
My first clue that waiting another year was the right idea appeared this spring, when the tree bloomed. We'd had a handful of blooms each previous year, but this time the tree was covered in the pretty, fragrant pink & white blossoms. The bees and other buzzing insects approved tremendously.
And now there are golf-ball sized green apples covering the tree, heavy enough already to drag the branches several feet below their usual height. Many of them have a hole or spot or other imperfection, so we may not end up with a huge crop to eat from the tree--but there's always cider or cider vinegar to try. Either way it will be fun to guess the variety when they ripen and to learn more about our tree as the season continues and we see how the fruit holds up to insects and disease without any intervention on our part.
The other side of the fruit coin around here are the berries: blueberry bushes we planted and have been waiting to get established, a wild raspberry thicket I've been encouraging in the back corner of our yard, and--of course--the mulberries. This is the first summer for fruit of any note from either the blueberries or raspberries, and it is incredibly gratifying to stroll the yard for a snack.
We amended the soil pretty heavily for the blueberries, which need a much more acidic soil that we have in Indiana, and then they didn't get the attention they deserved last summer during the drought. We did water them, but just not as often as we probably should have, and I wasn't sure what we would see from the plants this year. Well, we have berries! Big, sweet blue ones. Just enough for eating, with no pressure to get out jam jars or freezer containers. This was worth the wait and the extra effort, and now I am re-energized to continue giving them acidic treats and to do some careful pruning. Can't wait to have bags in the freezer and blueberry pancakes and muffins in the winter!
The wild raspberry is a black raspberry, and I have been hoping it would take hold for several reasons. The fruit is one, of course, which isn't as big as domesticated versions, but is still tasty. Plus, I like to have a few thorny plants on the property for wildlife habitat and general diversity. Wild raspberry is also an important medicinal herb for women, with a tea or infusion of the leaves recommended throughout life and especially during pregnancy. I will, however, have to monitor this wild friend carefully--the thorns on the established canes are BIG, and the fruit hides on the interior as well as in more easily reached areas. Comprehensive harvesting would require protective gear...I'll probably just leave what I can't reach painlessly for the birds. Finally, there is the neighbor's mulberry tree which has several large branches over our yard. As a laundry-line aficionado, I live in fear during mulberry season of the big purple bird droppings that inevitably find one of my clean, drying shirts, but I don't consider these trees a nuisance like some do. I don't like the mess either, but I love the berries, and I love that just about every furred and feathered creature out there also seem rather partial to the humble mulberry. Every time I glance at the tree, a branch is quivering somewhere while something non-human grabs a bite to eat. And it is a good bite; why in the world turn up your nose at free food, and sweet food at that?
In fact, we used mulberries in one of the homemade ice creams for our wedding a few weeks back--but more on that next time. :)
