Last Updated on 12/01/2021 by Barney
Winter is an exciting time to be prepping, planning and buying your new fruit plants that will provide you with years of tasty, healthy and just as importantly, environmentally friendly crops for years to come.
There is nothing like planting out young plants in winter only to be harvesting your first sumptuous crop next year. Say goodbye to that boring, tasteless, packaged in plastic nonsense the supermarkets market as fruit and grow your own delicious fruit. to enjoy (and save a lot of money in the process)
How to start growing your own fruit?
So, we all have to start somewhere. Congratulate yourself on making a fantastic decision, you will not regret it. Word of warning however, you will become addicted! Before long you’ll be boring your friends with comments such as ” my primocane raspberry plants have given me 2.3kg of fruit this year” or you may discover your inner baking skills and be popping out blueberry cheesecakes, daily.
Step 1.
Decide where you are going to grow your fruit crops. I would recommend a site that gets at least half of the day in sun. Important to remember is that as it is winter and the leaves have fallen off the trees when in leaf do they do they cast shade?
Next, do some test digging on the proposed area. Is the soil full of stones, perennial weeds & heavy clay etc?
If so then you have a couple of options.
Option 1, you spend some time improving the soil structure.
Option 2, you build some raised beds. Obviously the second option is going to have more cost associated with it.
Step 2.
Work out what fruit you would like to grow. Always pick what you love to eat. There’s no point growing crops that are not enjoyed. When you have your selection then you will need to do a bit of planning. A tape measure, pencil and paper will help you to draw out your proposed fruit garden.
Fruit bushes have different spacing requirements. For example, if planting raspberries they will be 30cm apart planted in rows where as blueberries are planted 4 – 5 feet apart. It’s all about planning from the start.
Step 3.
Time to order your fruit plants. Remember I said winter is the best time to plant fruit. This is because you can save ££s on purchasing bare root plants rather container grown plants. In my experience there is also many more varieties available when buying bare root fruit.
Step 4.
Once your plants have arrived they will need to be planted as soon as possible. Put on some warm clothes, flask of soup and get out there. You will be handsomely rewarded next year.
In your excitement to get your fruit garden up and running you may of over looked protection. Birds, foxes and small mammals love tucking into frech, juicy fruit so give some serious consideration to buying a fruit cage kit.