Ecnerwal wrote:

Time to fruit is usually rootstock dependent. Also depends on light
levels (how open, how much other tree shade.)

the east and part of the S/SE will likely be taken
over by poplars, the north will be the existing tree
line. otherwise they should have unobstructed sunlight
the rest of the day.

being protected from the north wind is probably a
good thing and Holzer repeats in his works that
protection from morning sun is a good thing if the
plants may be frosted.


If you are starting from
seeds, you have no idea what you are going to get (on average, about a
1/30,000 chance of something with commercial potential - which further
translates into "that humans would like to eat")

i've seen that number quoted for apples.
i haven't studied the others at all yet, but
will get into it the next few years.


and thus not much idea
how long it will take for any particular specimen, as they will all be
different. If you don't provide at least a few years of deer protection,
"never" may be a good bet, depending on local deer pressure.

they'll likely be protected by piles of brush
or other materials and likely some other veggies
planted that may distract. also, if it works
out that i have time then i'll fence. if i do
end up later getting trees from known sources or
get into grafting from known sources then i'll
fence those specimens. we have significant
deer pressure (thus 7ft fence for the veggie
gardens i rely upon).


On the other hand, you'll automatically get "adapted to clay soil" if
you plant seeds - the strong will survive and the weak will perish. You
can graft later if you want people food, or better cider types, or
whatever.

*nods*

once i get the area figured out for drainage (there's
some existing flows and drainage tubes) i'll likely
reshape some of the area to give the plants a little
space above the flood stages.

this won't be a short term project. more likely
it will be for the families that come after, but
that doesn't bother me nearly as much as it would
to let poplars take over and turn the area into a
monocultural wasteland. the south & eastern area
land owner might be willing to work along in some
manner. we'll see what happens.


songbird