Plant the Trees First

So..today's lesson: Plant the trees first. When you first decide you want to make your yard/land/farm into a place that provides for you, start with the trees. They take the longest.

Trees are typically planted late in the fall or very early in the spring.

When I got this house, there was an apple tree, a crab apple tree and a mulberry tree. I've added pears, dwarf cherries, almonds and hazel nuts. Be cautious about the size of the adult trees and where the shade will land, and where the tree might land if it ever falls! You don't want to crowd them together and you don't want to block valuable sunlight. Check to see if they're self-polinating or if you need a set of them. See if the trees will kill neighboring plants. Some, like walnut trees, will. If you have more land, its also a good time to plant hardwoods, along with some fast growing poplar, to harvest for firewood in the future.

This is a good time to think about locating various trees in your neighborhood, too. Fruit trees flower in the spring, making them easy to find on public land this time of year. Make notes, so you can go back in the summer and fall to collect fruit (check regulations but in many places, its fine.) Also, walnut trees are among the last trees to leaf in the spring and the first to lose their leaves in the fall. As you drive around this spring, note what trees don't have leaves and check back later to see if there are walnuts.

You can do the same thing at other times of the year..wild asparagus is easy to spot late in the summer when its gone to seed.