Decorate your yard and enjoy abundant harvests of unique and delicious fruit!

With all this cold and rainy weather, it may take some convincing for us to believe that spring is really on its way. But it is and by the middle of February the danger of extremely cold weather will be past. So it’s time to get out the nursery and seed catalogs, snuggle up in front of the fire, and begin dreaming of all the delicious food we can grow.

There are many reasons to grow our own food. For many people, saving money is top on the list. Seeds are cheap and with a little work, you can grow a summer’s worth of vegetables in a small space. Fruit trees, shrubs and vines are even easier over the long term, as once they are planted they require very little care to produce good crops every year. When we grow our own food we can choose the tastiest varieties and can harvest our produce when it is at the peak of ripeness. We don’t need to store it for weeks and ship it for hundreds of miles! We also know how our food has been grown and what has been sprayed on it, if anything. Plus, we save energy and reduce our carbon footprint by not having to drive to the store so often.

When choosing varieties, be sure to look for ones adapted to your unique growing conditions. While our Northwest adapted varieties will grow and thrive almost anywhere in the US, many varieties from outside our region suffer from disease in our climate and some require more heat to successfully ripen. We are constantly evaluating our selections and looking for the best and most delicious fruits we can grow.

I grew up with paper catalogs and personally like having one in my hands while I dream about what to plant. Our newest One Green World catalog has just been printed and we’d be happy to send you one. For many of us, it’s more convenient to browse a website and we offer you our new one, complete with the latest varieties and up to date information.

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In 1979, looking for a way to make a living on the farm, I began growing trees. Combining my interests in fruit and woodworking, I was intrigued by growing plants that would live for many years and provide both food and wood. This project quickly become focused on finding the most unique and interesting fruiting plants for our Northwest growing conditions. In this column I will be sharing my favorite plants and the experiences I’ve had with them.

The post DIYFruit – Plan Your Garden and Orchard Now appeared first on One Green World.

Ukraine is not often thought of as an Olive growing region. The Black Sea coast in the southern part of the country offers conditions suitable for cultivation of this delicious fruit. Sheltered from the cold continental weather by a range of tall mountains, it enjoys mild winters and warm summers.

The Nikita Botanic Garden in Yalta, Ukraine has had an active Olive breeding program.  For many years it has supplied us with cuttings of several of their varieties. Selected for their early ripening and hardiness, we believe they have great promise in the Pacific Northwest and other mild winter regions of the US.

To evaluate these unique selections in our region, we have planted a small orchard on a friends place near Canby, Oregon. While they are still under evaluation, we invite you to join us and be among the first to try these hardy and promising varieties. We recommend planting at least two varieties (Arbequina or Leccino can be included).  We are not sure about the pollination requirements of these plants. Please be sure let us know how they grow and perform at your location.

Planting our Ukrainian varieties.

Site of our Olive trial orchard.

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