Dwarf fruit trees

The ideal grafted tree. Source: bianoti.com (FR)

In May gardeners' thoughts are not necessarily limited just to growing vegetables. Some gardeners, as well as new home owners, might also be ruminating about fruit trees; and more than likely, they are thinking about selecting some kind  dwarf tree(s) for either their yards or patios.

Quite simply, the best  and most succinct guide that I've found about choosing  dwarf trees is from Spruce Crafts. Their article covers the kinds of fruit trees that are readily available and the importance of being aware of the root stocks used for grafted varieties. Note, also,  that although  there are many images from nurseries  of dwarf trees growing in containers bearing perfect fruit, this area's climate is not particularly suitable for potted trees unless either you 1) can move the tree into your greenhouse or living room for the winter, or 2) use a very, very large pot that might protect the roots from freezing - a container  so large that you'll never be able to move it again.  You might just as well plant the tree directly in the ground and gamble on using a lot of mulch!

This reminds me of when I first moved to our house (and long before I knew much about fruit trees), I planted dwarf pear and cherry trees - with very mixed results.  Although the pear trees were the least work, the neighborhood squirrels got almost all the fruit.  The cherries were a somewhat different story... I didn't mind sharing that fruit with the birds, but the dwarfs did not stay particularly dwarf.  A sour cherry that awarded us with many pies, grew to about 16 feet and then suddenly died after 8 or 9 years. A multi-variety grafted sweet cherry  I planted in the backyard actually lasted about 15 years but grew to about 25+ feet!  I've never been tempted to try apples, not because of my cherry experience, but because squirrels and too many insect pests like them.  Trying to grow apples organically, I've been told by arborists,  is an oxymoron. [Although there are natural pesticides such as sulphur and neet derived compounds, these can be pretty unfriendly to beneficial insects too and timing of their application is essential.]

That said, a 10 - 12 ft dwarf apple, pear or peach tree will eventually (think years) produce between 1 - 3 bushels if properly cared for and assuming you successfully guard it from everything in your neighborhood that also likes fruit.  A dwarf cherry tree of the same size can  produce 15 - 20 quarts a lot of pies. Dwarf trees will also need pruning best done in January or February.  If you have other shrubs and trees in your yard, look at them and ask yourself two questions: "do I prune these regularly now?" and "do I really want to spray fruit trees?"  If the answer to either is "no" or "not enough," maybe you should stick to potted tomatoes...

Veggie History - Basil (Ocimum basilicum) 

Thai basil ("Siam Queen")

A wide variety of basil is now regularly available from nurseries and seed suppliers.  In temporate climates, basil is usually grown as an annual herb and is  frequently promoted as a potted or windowsill herb. Historically, however,  basil has been incorporated   into healing and spiritual practices s much as much as serving culinary purposes by many cultures.

Originally basil grew in tropical areas from Sub-Saharan Africa through Southeast Asia, and many of these locales actually grows as a perennial shrub.  Ancient Egyptians utilized basil as one of their ingredients in their embalming concoctions, and they probably domesticated it for other purposes as well. Alexander the Great is credited with introducing the herb to Greece and that, of course, set basil up for being added to early Roman cuisines - but it was apparently associated more with the daily menus of poor and desperate than with those of  elite.  Basil spread slowly in Europe and was not widely grown in Britain until the 16th century. The earliest Pilgrims may not have migrated  with basil seeds in their pockets to North America, but by the early 18th century basil was available from  colonial seed purveyor, and the herb was included in both Thomas Jefferson's and those of other Virginia planters' kitchen gardens by the end of that century.  

Holy basil (Tulsi).

Most of the "sweet" basils, i.e. those  familiar to cooks, are all cultivars of the Mediterranean area's species that we now think of as the Italian favorites of "Genovese," "Large Leaf," and  "Dark Opal," but  "Thai basil"  also owes its derivation to this area.  Over generations O. basilica  has  been bred for somewhat different flavors in different societies - lemon (Indonesia), pepper and anise (Thai).   African basil (Ocimum gratissimum), a different species and popular in much of West Africa and parts of the Carribean, is also called "Clove basil."  Finally, there is  another species, "Holy basil" or "Tulsi" (Ocimum tenuiflorum),  - grown also by Thomas Jefferson - that is still used in Hindu worship rituals as well as in Indian and Thai cooking.  "Tulsi" is also espoused  by homeremedity believers as an herbal panacea for many ills - just check the Internet!

And remember...

"A man taking basil from a woman will love her always." - Sir Thomas More