Small permaculture beginnings

In my efforts to become more self-sufficient, or as much as is possible on such a small place, planting perennial fruits and vegetables plays a big part. I've planted 2 apple trees, 2 plum trees, 2 peach trees, 4 tame blackberry bushes (two different kinds), 3 grape vines, 2 blueberry bushes, and 2 strawberry beds with a total of 25 strawberry plants. I also have a few asparagus crowns planted that have produced a little, but it's plain to see I need to move them this fall and create a larger asparagus bed, adding more crowns. To my way of thinking, perennials are the backbone of our mini homestead, providing us with annual fruits and vegetables.

The second year the peach trees were planted, we got a whopping 7 peaches from them...LOL. Not much, I know, but they were so sweet, juicy and delicious that numbers didn't really mean anything at the time. Last year, we got one single solitary apple. That's it.

Also last year, we got no peaches at all. I blame that on 2 late, heavy frosts. Though we did do our best to cover all the flowering trees and bushes, it didn't help much. Such is the risk with homesteading, I suppose.

This year, the apple trees haven't bloomed but the peach and plum trees did, and the peach trees look like they're going to give us a lot of fruit. I haven't seen any fruit on the plum trees yet, and the grape vines don't look like they're going to bloom at all, but I'll give them some time. They are growing and are getting lots of big leaves on them.

I took a little tour of the yard, filming the highlights of what's growing in the raised beds and on the fruiting plants. Enjoy!