We have spent some amount of time fixing up the yard.  I think the worst of it was removing all the asphalt around the back of the house.  What a terrible way to make a patio.

As a part of our long term goals for the house, landscaping is somewhere in the middle of the list.  The parts that we can work on now, such as removing over grown shrubs, trimming back trees, and general clean up items have been nearly completed.

One of my goals is to make things as low maintenance as possible.  The other is to make things producing.  Planting fruit trees is the easiest way to create an edible landscape.  Most fruit trees bloom in the spring and thus make attractive ornamental tree.  In the fall, those flowers turn to fruit which can be picked and eaten right off the tree.

Only problem I have run into is bees.  In the fall, many bees, hornets, yellow jackets, and wasps like to eat the fallen fruit.  The good thing is the deer and the bears (and an occasional coyote) clean up the fruit almost every night.

When we moved here we had two pear trees and a peach tree.  The first pear tree was growing up under an oak tree.  It also had heart rot, so we had to take it down.  The peach tree was also suffering from some sort of blight and was planted in the wrong spot, so I took that one down as well.  Finally, I have been trying to rehabilitate the second pear tree, with some success.  However, this tree may be getting old and it may also be in the way of our solar system.

two year old peach tree, about 8 feet tall

To replace the trees I cut down, I planted a new peach tree in the front yard.  This is a much better spot as it gets full sun almost all day long.  It has grown remarkably this year and I expect to get some fruit next year.

I also planted an apple tree, but the deer have nearly killed it.  It is still struggling but the issue is in doubt.  I will plant another apple tree in the front yard and fence it.

bunches of white table grapes on trellis

I also planted four grape vines.  I ordered these on line and they were relatively inexpensive.  This is their third year and three of the four vines are thriving.  The forth is not too happy and I don’t know why.  Two of the vines are Concorde grapes.  There is a variety of white table grapes too, but I cannot remember the name.

The other parts of the edible landscaping are the vegetable garden and herb garden, both are well documented elsewhere.

Some other local edibles include a whole forest of blueberries.  Last Sunday the family went blue berry picking and came back with several containers full (not to mention our stomachs).  These are the small to medium sized wild blue berries that are so good on cereal, ice cream and in yogurt.

We also have many many nut trees on our property.  Pin oak and white oak produce many acorns.  Shag bark hickory nuts litter the ground in the fall and across the street there is a large stand of black walnuts.  The black walnuts do not taste like their English Walnut cousins, they are a little more bitter but very good to eat.  Husking the nuts turns your hands black for several weeks, however.

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