May 6, 2008
The Allure of Fruit Trees in the Backyard
Today, while looking for stocks to invest in, I found that Chiquita Banana company was among the winners - showing a high price increase in the last week. Amidst today’s food price increases and rice rationing, this shouldn’t have been surprising. I also checked the current grocery store prices on fruit - and found the increases astonishing.
It makes sense based on today’s economy that many of the new home listings are featuring the backyard fruit trees as a key selling feature. Not only are they elegant and add class to a home, they help insulate the new home owner against today’s rising produce prices - a by-product of rising transportation and fuel costs.
Fruit trees are easy to grow and require very little maintenance. They DO add value to your home as well as fresh produce to your table, and many take little space to grow. Dwarf lemon, tangerine, orange, and mandarin orange trees are available at Home Depot in droves, and only take a few years to produce good quality fruit. Apples, peaches, plums, and avocados also grow well in our climate.
Cherries require a cross-pollinator - so you can either plant two or ask your neighbor to plant one so you can enjoy fresh cherry pies and turnovers all year (cherries freeze well).
Before I had a lemon tree, I was always making last minute trips to the grocery store for lemon juice - as it is one of the easiest things to forget to add to a grocery list. Now, solving the problem is easy - I just go to the backyard, pick a lemon, and juice it.
Last summer, I had a bumper crop of apples and one of my neighbors came by and asked if he could pick the excess. Two days later, he returned to my doorstep with two quarts of the best homemade applesauce I have ever tasted!
I only wish our climate would support banana trees well - I can see that prices will continue to rise for this popular breakfast cereal fruit.
chris said:
wow, this has to be the most inane post i’ve seen on a real estate blog. un-be-lievable.
May 6, 2008 7:33 PM
Toady said:
Thanks for stopping by and expressing yourself! Very valuable input.
May 6, 2008 10:14 PM
Brenda Keener said:
Chris,
Not all of us value cement, low maintenance jungles! I have actually purchases houses where the deciding factor was fruit trees. I am sure there are others besides me who find them valuable.
May 7, 2008 9:13 AM
BB_Smurf said:
Brenda,
I’m with you. Our house has 10 fruit trees, including a big advocado tree that yields about ten bushels/year. It certainly was one of the things we considered when buying the house. We let our oranges, apples & apricots sit on the tree longer so they’re sweeter than what you’d get at the store. Maybe Chris wouldn’t think this post was so inane if we shared some of your fruit with him?
May 7, 2008 10:17 AM
Brenda Keener said:
I agree, when you own your own fruit trees you can choose when to pick ‘em! There is nothing like truly fresh fruit, and this is why more and more people are listing this as a selling feature.
May 7, 2008 11:21 AM
anon said:
Ditto to BB_Smurf. We bought a home with fourteen established fruit trees–and then added another five of our own to flesh out the landscaping. While it’s true that you can add fruit trees to any yard, many do take years to start producing fully, so established trees are a plus to would-be gardeners. For us, at least, our edible garden of eden was a deciding factor in buying our home (which sits on a tiny lot in the center of a big city, so it’s definitely unusual–and made a huge impression on us after looking at many homes with concrete yards!)
May 7, 2008 3:22 PM