Edible Plants

[lionofgod]

I now find myself in possession of a yard, and my thoughts have inevitably turned to making it more interesting. In particular, since I have not inherited either my mother's green thumb (her garden is currently the most remarkably lovely jungle, despite being in NJ) or her love of spending hours on my knees in the dirt, I would like

Comments

[ratatosk]

Initial advice: test the soil for lead. Then start thinking about everything else in this post.

[gmpe]

Last year, abce's parents put in soaker hoses in their yard. There is a project of putting them in and a project of taking them out, but thing grow really well with them! (You can just put them on a timer so your plants get regular watering, plus no evaporation loss.) I recommend this, since then you don't have a daily gardening task, just two "project" days you can plan for

[ratatosk]

As to trees, I have no idea if they are more or less vulnerable to car exhaust. Assuming they are a little safer, though, here's some further advice: Don't just go for dwarf. The word you want to search for is "columnar". Failing that, you could just espalier everything.

If you are willing to take a few risks, why not consider native species? The only large fruit I can think of that's native to Massachusetts is the American persimmon - you might be able to find a dwarf cultivar of that. (If you aren't too particular, you could try a pawpaw, which doesn't naturally grow any closer than New York state, but people claim to grow them here okay. Same probably goes for our one native crabapple species.) For berries, though, there's a wider selection of native options, and you wouldn't have to worry so much about finding dwarf cultivars.

[lakmiseiru]

Our pawpaws in eastern Massachusetts are growing strong, but since they're not yet flowering we don't know if they'll actually fruit... looking forward to it, though!

[roamin_umpire]

*snerk* Why does it not surprise me that you managed to work the work "espalier" into this conversation? :P

[lionofgod]

I will confess I was wondering how long it would take. ;)

But then, I also happen to think espaliered fruit trees are totally cool. I imagine they're terrible labor-intensive, though.

[lakmiseiru]

I agree on testing for lead. I believe UMass has a project for this; googling should pull it up

[lakmiseiru]

Oh, and if your concern is for car exhaust, look into veggies and fruits that are less likely to get directly exposed to the exhaust, like root vegetables, corn (stays in the husk), winter squash, hulled peas, etc.

[lionofgod]

I agree on testing for lead. I believe UMass has a project for this; googling should pull it up.
You are correct! Thanks for the tip, this is a great way to figure out how worried I should be.

I had no idea we could grow peaches up here. Hmm! I don't think I've ever eaten a pawpaw.

Berries are my backup plan; I know I like them, but I also remember just how much of a bramble we had back in Connecticut, and I am no longer five and able to climb through the middle. ;) I'd love to grow winter squash, but space is a concern.

I don't suppose you know how to store fruit or squash or the other things that the various gardening catalogs say can be stored for n months?

Re: Hope this helps.

[lionofgod]

Also, stick mostly to perenials, you'll really want to - less worry, less watering, etc

I am *all over* this plan. I just need to reliably remember whether perennial or annual is the one I want, because I *always* get them mixed up when looking through catalogs.

Interestingly, I have never really learned to cook with herbs. You'd think I would have, given the amount of French influence in my family's food, but I'm more of a spice girl. (Except not british and with better taste. ;) ) That's part of why I'm considering peppers; they can be potted, I think, and many of them can be dried. Or, you know, I could learn to cook with fresh herbs. ;)