Starting an Orchard

We are attempting again to start growing some perennial fruit! We tried peach trees last year - Contender Peaches, allegedly hardy to zone 4. We ordered them from a reputable online nursery. Unfortunately, probably due in part to the Covid-19 panic and the push for everyone to grow more of their own food, the nursery was overwhelmed with exponential growth, and plants were delayed/damaged in shipping. We also got the trees off to a bad start due to not knowing exactly when they would arrive and procrastinating the prep work. Two months after planting, there were no signs of growth on any of the trees.

Needless to say, none of the peaches survived. The nursery was gracious about giving us store credit. They apparently had a lot of problems that year, again, due to a tenfold increase in order volume. I was disappointed about the trees, but I have nothing negative to say about the nursery. The raspberries that we got at the same time are doing very well.

So we used our store credit, and on the advice from our neighbors, ordered only fruit plants hardy to zone 3. This year we planted 4 American Plum trees, 2 Black Cherry trees, 4 American Elderberry bushes, 2 Red Elderberry bushes, and 3 Highbush Cranberry bushes. The cherry trees will begin producing fruit at age 10, but everything else should start bearing fruit in 2-3 years.

Additionally, this year when I pruned the blueberries, I attempted to start some additional plants from the cuttings I took. I have probably 100 sticks in dirt right now. I am certain many of them died (we had some unseasonably warm weather, and then boom, snow. Go figure.) But looking at them, I see at least 10 that appear to have new growth on them, so we’re going to give them another few weeks before we check for roots and separate into new buckets. If enough of them rooted, there will be a few available for sale locally! I hope to plant at least 4 new plants here, as I would love to have enough to make blueberry jam, but I am in competition with the ducks, the wild birds, and my husband who will just stand out there and eat them right off the bush like some kind of bear!