Semi-dwarf fruit trees, and seeds I'm hoarding
 

This week I talked to a woman named Patti at Nature Hills Nursery in Omaha (phone 402-934-8116) about semi-dwarf apple seedlings they're taking orders for right now--about $25 per tree, a really cheap long-term investment that will keep on growing. Drop a few hundred bucks for a dozen trees and you'll be set for a long time. As far as nut trees go, I'm not sure yet where to find any semi-dwarfs, but I'm looking. Anyone know where to get any?



Also, among the seeds I've got in Mason jars at the moment, waiting to be planted:
carrots
parsnips
spinach
blackberries
mustard greens
cayenne peppers
jalapenos
tobacco--hey, grow your own!
dandelions (grabbed several large handfuls last summer--dandelion greens are very nutritious)
tomatoes

I put tomatoes last on the list, but I've got more tomato seeds than anything else (maybe 15,000 seeds of different varieties--roma is my favorite) because what I'd like to do eventually--and I think this will be a big business opportunity as more people turn to growing their own food--is creating tomato seedlings and selling young, already-growing plants to people. Not everyone necessarily lives in an area where greenhouses would be selling fruit or vegetable seedlings, but the bad thing about a lot of commercial greenhouses, IMO, is that too many of them sell primarily flowers or decorative plants.

Re: Semi-dwarf fruit trees, and seeds I'm hoarding
 

I grow dwarf meyers lemon trees in large pots. The lemon trees must be protected from hard frost and from freezing, though they will tolerate a mild frost. These trees are about 30 inches tall. I have gotten as many as 40 lemons from one tree! I have started some more from seed but it does take quite some time to bear fruit that way.:shine:

Re: Semi-dwarf fruit trees, and seeds I'm hoarding
 

When I read $25 per tree, I couldn't believe it. When I was 13, my folks bought a farm, and my Dad wanted to start an orchard. The first year we put in 2 acres of semi-dwarf trees, 220 trees/acre.

The trees were just sticks, about 3' - 5' ft. high. I remember looking at the catalog, and the price was only about $4 per tree. Holy cow!

As far as your seed collection goes, that's quite impressive. Maybe something to consider would be stuff that can grow through the winter, like cabbage, broccoli, and radishes. Good info!

Re: Semi-dwarf fruit trees, and seeds I'm hoarding
 

Gurney's has good prices on small trees and bushes

http://gurneys.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_9

Re: Semi-dwarf fruit trees, and seeds I'm hoarding
 

Blackberries from seeds? Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a blackberrry plant. That way you know what the plant will be. You can go with one of the newer upright thornless varieties, like triple crown or hulls. Or an old fashioned variety like (thornless) evergreens, (thorny) boysenberries, or (thorny) marions. Or any of the other million varities. All you need is one plant, any part of the cane that touches the ground for a period of time will form roots.

But what do I know, I just raise a few acres of cultivated blackberries.

Good luck with selling tomato plants. If you do it right then you can make a few thousand in the spring if you have the right plants and the right location. I started selling them the first week of April last year, even though May 10 if the official safe planting time. Unfortunately, to do that I have to start them in the end of January and the beginning of February to have gallon size tomatoes by April.

Find a nice warm part of your house and start the plants there. As soon as they pop up, move them to a sunny location. If you can get a plant light without spending too much, then do it. It makes the difference between week thin plants and healthy stout plants.

I don't know about semi-dwarf nuts, but you can raise filberts as a bush by pruning it and allowing lots of branches .(otherwise known as hazelnuts.)

Good luck!