Tag Archives: harvest

Asparagus and Strawberry: Perennial Match Made in Heaven

So we decided to start some perennial food beds at our new homestead as we plan to be here for quite some time! Two spring foods that our family loves but are hard to find local organic and when we do they are super expensive is Asparagus and Strawberries! We love them! So I was pretty confident it would be a worthwhile investment!

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Asparagus roots.

When we did our big orchard order we got some bare-root dormant plants of both. We got 10 ‘Mary Washington’, 10 ‘Jersey Giant’, and 20 ‘UC 157’ asparagus. We didn’t know which variety we would like best or what would grow easily for us. This mix will help us decide which ones to buy next time we expand our asparagus beds!

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Starting Our Backyard Orchard or Fruit Guild

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Backyard Orchard in bloom!

So we finally did it! We took the plunge we have been dreaming of for years!

I have been wanting to plant a fruit orchard for years and years but also trying to find a house to buy so we always put it off… Well we moved in October to a great property that is still a rental, but we will live there for a long time and we know the family who owns it so even if we have to move out we know we could always come visit and pick fruit! So I insisted our tax returns would be spent on a long-term grocery investment!

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We picked up our orchard from a local nursery that happens to be one of the best fruit tree suppliers in the country! Ison’s has so much to choose from! They were very helpful and patient with our large list. We got some combination fruit trees: (multiple varieties grafted to one tree, 5 on each), Apple, Pear, Asian Pear, Cherry, and Fruit Cocktail (peach, plum, apricot, and nectarine). Three different varieties each of Figs, Blueberries, Blackberries, and Raspberries. A pair of Elderberries, a Pomegranate, and a Goji berry. Two each of the top three muscadine varieties. Three Paw Paw. 100 strawberry in three varieties, half June bearing and half Ever bearing. 40 asparagus in three varieties. 3 rhubarb, and 3 horseradish… I think we are good to go for now!

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