The complete guide to growing your own fruits and berries Everything you need to know explained simply
Book - 2011
Leads you through the process of starting your own garden of fresh fruits and berries. You'll learn step-by-step methods for planting, harvesting and caring for your berry bushes, shrubs, and fruit trees.
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Ocala, Fla. :
Atlantic Pub. Group
c2011.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- 288 p. : ill. ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781601383488
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Types of Fruits and Berries
- Fruits and Berries Across the Country
- Geographical Regions of the United States
- Pacific Ocean
- Mountains
- Southwest
- Plains
- South Central
- Southeast
- Mid-Atlantic
- Great Lakes
- New England
- Chapter 2. What Types of Fruits and Berries Should I Grow?
- Things to Consider
- Topography - lay of the land and soil erosion
- Soil quality
- Moisture
- Climate that supports certain fruits and berries
- Sunlight and shade - what is available for growing
- Pollination opportunities for growth and fruiting success
- Available space - how much of each fruit can be planted
- Disease and insect resistance - the survival of fruits and berries
- Underground structural obstacles
- Best Seasons
- Planting seasons
- Harvesting
- Some Final Notes about Personal Preference
- Chapter 3. Soil Texture, Quality, and Enrichment
- Soil Testing
- Acid vs. Alkaline
- Types of Soil
- Sandy soil
- Gravelly Soil
- Silty soil
- Clay soil
- Chalky soil
- Peaty soil
- Loamy Soil
- Creating Organic Soil with Worms
- Why use worms?
- Where to find the worms
- Where to keep the worms
- Furnishing a home for the worms
- Care of the worms
- Case Study: A Bin of Worms Named ôSteveö
- Feeding Your Soil
- Mulch materials for fertile soil
- Manures
- Compost
- Natural soil composition
- Layering of soil with mulch materials
- Case Study: Down and Dirty Methods for Making Garden Soil Fertile
- Chapter 4. Basic Gardening Tools You Will Need
- Description of Tools
- Clothing
- Mapping the garden
- Digging and soil preparation
- Moving rocks and large piles of earth
- Sowing and planting
- Containers
- Pruning
- Protection from pests and diseases
- Harvesting equipment
- Care and Maintenance of Gardening Tools for the Winter Months
- Chapter 5. Pollination
- Anatomy of a Fruit Flower
- Self-Pollinating Plants
- Cross-Pollinating Plants
- Artificial Pollination
- Keeping Bees
- Chapter 6. Cultivation and Planting
- Grafting
- Planting Tree Fruits
- Planting Citrus Fruits
- Planting Melons
- Planting Brambles
- Steps to take before planting
- Discerning the best brambleberry to grow
- Preparing to transplant brambles
- Digging the holes for brambles
- Completing the planting process
- Planting Bush Berries
- Blueberries
- Other bush berries
- Planting Strawberries
- Sunlight
- Soil
- Runner production and spacing
- Planting
- Planting Grape Vines
- Location
- Preparing the soil
- Planting the grape vines
- Trellis design
- Vine training systems
- Planting Kiwifruit
- Planting Rhubarb
- Chapter 7. Container Gardening and Greenhouse Growing
- Container Gardening
- Types of containers and what they are used for
- Container planting
- Sources for obtaining containers
- Spaces to put the containers
- Case Study: Outrageous Gardening with Recycled Materials
- Greenhouse Growing
- Greenhouse design and construction
- Heating equipment
- Fruits and berries that are grown in a greenhouse
- Case Study: Raising Tomatoes from Seedlings in Greenhouses
- Chapter 8. Ongoing Care
- General Care
- Sunlight
- Watering
- Fertilizing
- Weeding
- Pruning
- Case Study: Caring for Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes as a Labor of Love
- Low-Temperature Climate Care
- Dormancy
- Protection from frost
- Chapter 9. Pests and Diseases
- Purchasing Healthy Cultivars
- Pests
- Aphids
- Borers
- Caspid bugs
- Caterpillars
- Curculio
- Grubs
- Maggots
- Mealybugs
- Repelling mealybugs
- Mites
- Moths
- Nematodes
- Pear psylla
- Scale insects
- Slugs
- Suckers
- Wasps
- Worms
- General long-term pest protection
- Barriers for keeping out furry scavengers
- Diseases
- Common causes
- Common types of diseases
- Examples of common fruit plant diseases
- Chapter 10. Enjoying the Feast - Harvesting and Storing Your Fruit
- The Right Time for Harvesting Tree Fruit and Berries
- Problems with harvesting too early
- Problems with harvesting too late
- Methods for picking fruits and berries
- The best way to pick each type of fruit
- CaseStudy: Harvesting, Baking, and Preserving Rabbiteye Blueberries in North Carolina
- Eat, Drink, and Save Some for Later
- Appendix A. Resources for Finding Garden Tools and Supplies
- Appendix B. Recipes
- Apple Salsa (Matt Higgins)
- Blueberry Squares (Connie Stanfield)
- Classic Spanish Sparkling Sangría
- Fruit Shakes
- Honey Madelines (a nod to the bees)
- Hot Apple Soup
- Lemon Mousse
- Raspberry Fool
- Strawberries in Cream
- Apple Pie
- Four Berry Fruit Cobbler
- Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Sugar Butter
- Easy Triple Fruit Jam
- French Cream Fruit Dip
- Appendix C. List of Scientific Names of Fruits and Berries
- Glossary
- Author Biography
- Index