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Hey there #permies 👋

My husband and I are planning to add-on to our orchard and food forest within the next year.. I'm looking for some suggestions for planting. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

We laid out a bunch of 5 gallon buckets where we are considering planting fruit trees.🌳 It follows the same pattern as our small orchard. (See photo.)

We live in the subtropics of Central Florida. The soil is very sandy and is on the highest part of our property so often very dry.

We are considering citrus other than lemons which we have plenty of elsewhere on the property. We're not sure which nitrogen fixers to add. I want it primarily to be an edible food forest, my husband wants an orchard... so we are trying to compromise on the design 🤔

The photo faces East. We get full sun in the afternoon and evening. The space is about 65 feet by 75 feet. We're looking at fifteen to twenty fruit trees. Maybe fewer, that might be a bit close?

What do you think?

Thanks, and have fun with the design. All comments and suggestions not only help me, but everyone else who has a chance to read this.

#permies

#permaculture

#foodforest

#orchards

#fruittrees

#gardening

#homesteading

#Homestead

#countryliving

#grownostr

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Discussion

nobody 1y ago

this is so exciting & i loved reading your words & i wish you both the best on this endeavor! 🌳🍋🍊

nobody 1y ago

to me, you said all the things id want to know, i just dont know central florida so i cant weigh in, but i am so sure someone will who knows, soon!

Alisa 1y ago

Thanks! I want to get all our systems in place before my husband and I turn 60. Setting ourselves up to retire on out homestead.

Alisa 1y ago

Thank you! It's an adventure ✨️ ☺️ I do have a blog about our homestead. Https://ourfrugalfloridahomestead.com

I will try to spend more time on Nostr and share what I learn and experience too!

Adam Snyder 1y ago

I can't give direct recommendations, but "David the Good" on YouTube does tropical and subtropical permaculture gardens and food forests. He also has several books.

Pyrohawk 1y ago

I've seen him use Mimosa/Acacia as one of his nitrogen fixing trees.

Alisa 1y ago

Thanks for the reminder, mimosa sounds like a great idea. I once rented at a house that had a mimosa tree out front and it grew so fast. It's a pretty tree too. I'm always looking at function. And my husband is always looking at beauty in the landscape. It's an interesting combination of ideas we come up with.🙂

Alisa 1y ago

Thank you, I have been following David The good for many years and have a few of his books. I always seek out a wide variety of opinions and experiences. Even though his are excellent, there's a lot of other experiences out there worth considering.

Devin 1y ago

I'm not knowledgeable in this area at all (yet), but I'm in Central Florida as well and just put in a mango and a tangerine tree. Apparently they both grow well in our climate.

Alisa 1y ago

Yes, I see a lot of mangoes, however, just a few for fresh every season is satisfying for us. Tangerine sounds good. We already have lemons, kumquat, and one lime. We like citrus. We're in our 50s, so I plan for fresh eating year round and not too much effort preserving. Would like to trade/barter fruit for services on the property as we get old.... yeah, we plan waaayyy ahead! Thanks for the suggestions!

Pyrohawk 1y ago

I don't know if it will grow there, but Seaberry/Sea buckthorn is supposed to be a fruit bearing nitrogen fixing plant that can grow in sandy soils with lots of sunshine.

Alisa 1y ago

Not sure either, another plant to put on my list to research. We live 20 minutes drive to the Gulf of Mexico. Seaberry "sounds" like a good suggestion 👍 ... some day this land will be managed by new caretakers. We're setting up not only for ourselves, but for the future land users. I might be overthinking this project, but it's important when planting with decades ahead top of mind.😊

Squeaky Frog 1y ago

If it were me, I'd try avocado, loquat, peaches, figs, papaya, and mango. Look for more cold-tolerant varieties, because you probably still get the occasional frosty night there.

Pride of Barbados might be a good support species for your environment. They like heat, prefer very we'll-drained soil, and being legumes, should fix nitrogen.

Alisa 1y ago

Thanks for the suggestions! We have avocado, loquat and peaches already. I should have listed what we already have. I will look into pride of Barbados. I've learned that good support species are essential to the survival of my fruit trees.

Maria2000 1y ago

I would plant some nut trees if you are able to grow those.

Alisa 1y ago

Maybe pecans.. They are the only nut trees I see for sale in our region. But they grow so big. I'm thinking with a small orchard, I'd rather have smaller trees. Plus I'm no spring chicken at 55 years old. I'll be retirement age by the time I see any nuts growing on a nut tree in my backyard.😁

Strider 1y ago

Have you followed the work of David the Good? He is a permaculturist who did a lot of work in Florida. He has a lot of ideas such as “grocery row gardening” and other concepts. Stefan Sobkowiak’s permaculture orchard is a good resource. I have some fruit trees but haven’t planted an orchard or food forest so I don’t have a lot of experience to share. Keep us posted!