How you can have home-grown fruit to eat, even deep into winter

My family has a lot of fresh fruit that was picked in October and is getting ripe now.

I am reminding you now about something you can do this spring so you too can have fresh home-grown fruit in February a few years from now.

Kiwi fruit — the fuzzy Hayward variety — and Comice pears are the main menu items right now, along with a few less than spectacular apples. But a month ago we had four varieties of pears ripe and ready at the same time.

Because spring can be a busy time, winter fruit ideas might take a backseat to the attention that peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and the like will demand when you get out into your yard.

So next time we have a sunny weekend afternoon, do a little soil preparation so planting your future winter fruit providers is easier. Put a three foot square cardboard on top of the spot you want to plant your fruit, and cover it with leaves to help kill the grass in your planting zone.  No fertilizing or amending the holes is necessary — or useful.

And no matter how hard it is raining, water the tree in well to help make sure the soil is making good contact with the roots. Five gallons every two weeks should help the tree get established.

After four years, I don’t water my trees at all. And don’t amend the soil in the planting hole. Your tree needs to spread out its roots, and a small super soft area that you create will discourage the tree from pushing out into the soil your yard provides.

The bare root tree planting season is just around the corner, and is the best time, and way, to put a new plant into the ground. Many fruit trees are available as bare root plants February through March. Bare root trees often have the roots wrapped in plastic with wood chips or moss inside the plastic to keep the roots damp.

Sometimes bare root trees are in a tub of sawdust so you can examine the roots before you buy the tree. Trees in pots can be rootbound — that is, the roots are wrapped in a circle in the pot.

Dig your hole twice as deep as the roots on your tree, and put any lingering sod in the bottom of the hole upside down. Spread the roots out, and make sure the graft — a clear change in the trunk — stays above ground.

Kiwi fruit are usually found in containers locally, and should be put in after frost if there are any leaves on the plants. If you can find them bare root, an earlier planting time will work.

With fuzzy Hayward kiwi fruit you need male and female plants — and you will need a strong support for the fast growing vines. (The Arctic Kiwi is a different plant, and will not provide you with fruit in the winter.)

There are many winter pears that get picked in October and are kept in the fridge for a few weeks to a few months. Bosc and D’Anjou ripen in December.

The Comice pears often last until April. Just keep the winter pears in the fridge and take a half dozen out each week to ripen on the kitchen counter. No need for a sunny window sill. When the top of the pear gives under finger pressure, they are ready.