Oh Apple Tree, Oh Apple Tree...

For Christmas I got Nathan fruit.  Well fruit trees and plants to be specific.  I got him a Golden Delicious Apple tree, a Crimson Gold Nectarine tree and a 2-N-1 plum tree (grows two different kinds of plums).  I also got him blueberry, blackberry and grapes plants - makes your mouth water doesn't it?  I got them all from a company called StarBro's out of Missouri.

We've always had a grand vision on fruit trees and gardens and veggies and so far it hasn't really worked out.  We attempted citrus trees and after they died without growing an inch we blamed it on our black thumbs. 

Then we learned we could blame our soil!  Apparently we have soil with a lot of clay.  Clay = lack of drainage = root rot and drowning trees.  Ahh-ha!   It wasn't our ineptitude or lack of growing finesse, it was the darn clay!

So, this time around we were determined to get our soil to a state where our trees and plants will flourish.  Nathan tried to dig the holes himself, but after 4 hours and little progress (no wonder the roots couldn't grown, the ground is SUPER hard) he broke down and went to Home Depot where he rented an excavator.  Talk about Christmas morning!  What guy doesn't love driving big machines and playing with dirt?!? 

With this baby digging the holes went super fast.  Once they were dug he added a ton of sand and dried out horse manure (courtesy of our neighbors) and mixed it all in.  Not only should the soil be super loose and fertilized, but the sand should allow water to drain and keep the roots healthy as well. 

Nathan got the trees planted.  We haven't planted the bushes yet as we're still working on the location.  It's tricky figuring out where to put these things.  We'll have them in the ground in the next few days.  It'll be a year or two for the trees to bear fruit and probably a year for the bushes, but we're super excited and hopeful we'll have a wonderful, edible backyard for years to come!