003 - Maximize Yard Productivity. Growing Fruit Trees in Small Spaces for Year Round Harvest.

In this episode of the Permaculture Voices Podcast I have my friend Ben Kotnik of Suburban Food Farm on the show to talk about the recent presentation that he gave to a local permaculture group, 12 Months of Fresh Fruit. The first part of the presentation highlights some of the varieties that can be grown in Southern California to achieve the goal of a year round fruit harvest. While the varieties that we talk about are specific to SoCal, the theory behind how why the varieties were selected can be applied to any location. The second half of the presentation focuses on different techniques that can be used to grow more varieties of fruit in a given space. And these techniques can be applied anywhere in the world.

In this episode you will learn about:

• A variety of 13 fruits that could be grown in Southern California giving you 12 months of free fruit. The trees are specific to SoCal, but the theory is applicable anywhere.
• Ben’s favorite sweet citrus varieties.
• The beauty of the forgotten fruit, the white sapote. And why everyone should be growing it in SoCal.
• Why you should remove some of the fruit from a tree in the early years.
• Techniques for growing more fruit in a space.
• How to use dwarfing rootstocks to your advantage. -Why to prune and train your trees.
• Grafting several varieties onto one tree, multi-graft trees.
• Working with neighbors to grow more trees.

For Show Notes Visit: http://www.permaculturevoices.com/3