[trogg]

Hi

Last year was my first year of allotment growing, I had a half plot and grew only vegetables (tomatoes in greenhouse) 
This year I have been given a second half plot on another site so I have decided to grow only fruit on my original plot and veg on the other.
My questions are, has anyone else done anything similar, and what fruit should I be looking at growing ?

I’m thinking of, dwarf apple x2, pear x2, plum x2, cherry x2, early and late raspberries x5 each, a black and a white grape, strawberry 100-150 plants, rhubarb x2, and a blackberry .

I think I will have a 4’x30’ bed left to fit anything else in but I prefer to grow fruit I can wash and eat rather than cook in a pie (very strict low cholesterol diet)  although this is not set in stone as I have a family who love rhubarb pie so I’m willing to give in to them a little.

[grenhouse]

I have a full plot and grow fruit and veg together, but it probably amounts to about half and half. You are best off growing what you use, and what you feel you can get the most from using the space.

I don't grow apples for example because they are relatively cheap, but grow lots of redcurrants, raspberry's, blackcurrants and strawberry's.

Fruit is so expensive in the supermarkets and also not very fresh, go for it!

Steve

[galen]

Are you sure about the number of Strawberry plants you're proposing ? Unless you're going into serious Jam production you're going to have a huge glut.

I know it's my 5 year old daughters opinion here but she loves red and black currants and dessert gooseberries

The other thing I'd say is are you allowed to plant fruit trees (dwarf or otherwise) on your site? I know some sites don't allow it.

[trogg]

Hi Steve, thanks for your quick reply,

I do like all the fruit I’ve listed but would also like to try other fruits.

I will try some of the currents but I’ve no idea which varieties would be the best to grow.

Also i forgot to say, I have raised beds so i think I may try growing some squashes etc under the fruit trees.

Hi galen,

I bought about 90 strawberry plants, was given another 10 and inherited about another 50 plants from my new allotment, yes it is a lot but my kids eat them like sweets, and I love them too.
I forgot about gooseberries, is there a variety you can eat without cooking ? either way I will grow some.

I have checked my tenancy agreement and it doesn’t mention that I can't grow fruit trees, but it does say that 'trees' should be pruned, so I take it I can grow them.

[DD.]

Are you sure about the number of Strawberry plants you're proposing ? Unless you're going into serious Jam production you're going to have a huge glut.

I'll second that. 30 plants does me for fruit and a goodly quantity of jam.

[savbo]

bit off-topic, but excess strawberry plants can sell well at car boots - a few years ago we were selling 6 rooted runners with a few flowers on in old cardboard wine carriers and were having no trouble getting a few quid each. Slightly bigger plants in 6" pots went for £2!

[Kristen]

early and late raspberries x5 each

Depends whether you like Raspberries, but I think that's rather too few plants for a "crop"

My choice would be 10 plants of each variety / cropping-period

[drmoonshine]

lol leave him alone if he gets just 10 strawberry per plant he's only going to have 1500 strawberry to eat  

[trogg]

I'm saving my jam jars as we speak  

most of the strawberry plants are in their first year and the others will be moved from the other allotment, so I'm not expecting a huge crop this year.

Never grown them before so I don't know what to expect, but we could quite easily eat 4-8kg a week and we'll jam/give away/barter any excess.

Also, there are 4 different types so we'll keep the best tasting ones and give the others away.

I have a budget of £200,and am making a list of which fruit to buy and what varieties, i.e. gooseberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant, etc,

also, most of my beds are 4 foot wide but I have a 3 foot and a 2 foot wide bed, what would be best to put in those, was thinking grapes for the 2 foot wide one but I don’t really know what I’m doing to be honest  

Making a final list tonight and placing my order tomorrow (hopefully), any recommendations to where to buy ?  will be having a look around this site tonight to see what’s on offer  

sorry about all the questions    thanks for your advice

[stompy]

Blueberrys in pots, they are very nice. MMM MMM ]MMM
You can take hardwood cuttings off those too to build up your stocks.

[drmoonshine]

do you have a greenhouse or tunnle sorry if i missed you saying or not?

why do i ask?

depends where you live but i used to live up north on the coast so i ran my grapes up the side of my fence and then trained them into my greenhouse or pollytunnle.......

why did i do this?

the weather was very poor and i struggled to get them ripe......

i stil do it to this day although you can grow grapes in the uk with no problem they benifit a huge amount if you can train them into a greenhouse

[gillie]

I would not grow squashes under fruit trees.  Squashes require a lot of manure and water, trees do not, squashes require a lot of sun, trees would shade them.  Fruit trees do not like root disturbance.

Plant fruit bushes so that you can easily net them, especially strawberries and red currants.  There is a new black currant on the market which is said to be sweet enough to eat raw, you might like to try that. Marshalls have it.

You might like to buy more than two apples trees if you can store the late ripening fruit.  We eat our own apples until March and are eating the pear Josepehine de Malines now.

I think that what you put in the narrower beds depends on the  widths of the paths.  Dwarf apples and pears would be quite happy in a three foot bed but unless you buy cordons or espaliers they will spread over the paths, though you could train them yourself.

You could grow raspberries in a two foot bed, but they will keep trying to escape.  Gooseberries and red currants can be trained as cordons or espaliers as well and could be kept to a two foot width.

In fact I think the problem is how to utilise the four foot beds most economically.

[madcat]

Definitely second black currents, red currents, white currents and gooseberries.  lots of fruit and very tolerant.  feed them well, prune once a year and they will reward you many times over.

I must grant I would try something less marginal than the grapes which aren't going to give you much of a crop in this climate for eating, even in a good year.   Your chances of getting a return for your labours most years isnt good.   If you think you can grow cherries, I grow peaches and nectarines here successfully.  Or you could try a self fertile (not all are!) kiwi for fun.  Espalier or fan trained, you can get a lot off a fruit tree if you put the time in wiring and training them.

Agree too that you cant grow squashes under the trees - too hungry.  Everything will suffer.  But you could build a 'fence' down the middle of one of your bed and train squashes up it; if you feed and water well, you can get a high density of plants that way.

[stompy]

I don't see a problem with growing squashes under trees.
Just plant the rootball of the squash as far away from the trees root balls as you can and train the squash under them.
You may need to water and feed a bit more but i don't see the problem.
Give it a try you've got nothing to lose, squash seeds are prety cheap.

Andy

[Yorkie]

8 fruit trees on a half plot is an awful lot.  I have had a lot of difficulty in the past in trying to let a full sized plot with fewer than half your proposed fruit trees & bushes on it. 

It is impossible to grow anything else on the plot, and the prospect of trying to get the established trees out of the ground (grind out the stump, dig out the roots) is very offputting.

From this narrow perspective alone, I would urge you to consider splitting the crops between the plots rather than putting one out of use for anyone else in the future without considerable time and/or expense.