Do you LOVE fruit? Are you tired of wasting your money on fruit that goes bad within a few days? Do you have a large yard that could use some attractive plants? Are you afraid to try homegrown fruits because you think your yard is too small? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you’re in the right place!
About 20% of all produce in grocery stores is thrown away due to spoilage or small blemishes. Plus, they mark-up their produce by 50% and sometimes even 75%! Save your money and your time by growing fruits right at home that will last longer than store-bought!
Growing fruit trees at home is a great way to create memories with your family, stimulate new interests in gardening, try new recipes, and boost your mood & physical activity. Why wouldn’t you want to do all these things while producing organic fruit that’s healthier and higher in nutrients than fruits bought from the store?! We’ve created a list of five plants just for you that are easy to grow, will grow in containers and will provide an abundance of delicious, homegrown fruit!
This variety of strawberry plant has the ability to produce fruit well after spring ends, 📷making it extremely popular. While most strawberry varieties are harvested once a year, the Everbearing Strawberry pumps out juicy berries in late spring, again in the fall and AGAIN before the first frost!
Everbearing Strawberry plants are so versatile; they’ll grow in the ground in growing zones 4-8 as well as in decorative containers on decks & patios. Plant a few together to create a groundcover or hang a few planters on the front porch. There are so many possibilities!
Everbearing Strawberries are so easy to grow, the only attention these plants require is you pulling off countless plump, red strawberries. Store-bought strawberries typically are not very clean, and they are full of chemicals that make them long-lasting during transport and on the store shelves. Some studies even found dozens of different pesticides on and/or in them putting them on the “Dirty Dozen” list year after year.
Try growing strawberry plants at home, and enjoy sweet-tasting, CLEAN berries that you hand-picked from your own yard! Use them in jams, desserts and preserves or eat them fresh off the plant.
This blueberry bush is named Spartan for good reason. It’s tall and strong giving you a bountiful harvest of up to 10lbs of berries a year! Spartan blueberries are the largest blueberries, often growing to over the size of a quarter.📷
Do you live in a cold climate? No problem! This gorgeous berry bush laughs at the cold. In growing zones 5-7, plant several as landscape shrubs or in decorative containers. Any location outside zones 5-7, use decorative containers, and bring them indoors during extreme weather conditions. Everyone nationwide can enjoy these delicious, plump berries!
Spartan blueberry bushes are self-pollinating, but additional plants are great for cross-pollination to produce even more berries.
There are several stages of delight that come with growing this easy-to-harvest, compact shrub. Enjoy white flowers in the spring, shiny green foliage spring through fall, sapphire blue berries in the summer, and stunning orange-yellow autumn color! Can them, freeze them, and share them with friends! You’ll have plenty of delicious blueberries to go around.
The Honeycrisp Apple lives up to its name when you take the very first bite! It’s sweet like honey, amazingly crisp and incredibly juicy. 📷What makes them so juicy, you ask? Honeycrisps have larger cells than other apple varieties. When you take a bite, those cells burst filling the mouth with syrupy, sweet juice!
Grocery store apples have been treated with chemicals allowing them to stay “fresh” for up to a year, and then they are waxed to give them that well-known shiny, smooth appearance. Why buy apples that were harvested last year when you can easily grow them right at home?!
Honeycrisp Apples are harvested in the fall and can be stored in the refrigerator for three to four months. This late season bloomer matures at 14-18 feet tall when planted in the ground and thrives in growing zones 3-7. If you live outside of these growing zones, don’t fret! You do not have to miss out on these delicious apples! Honeycrisps will also grow in containers so they can be protected or brought indoors during extreme temperatures.
Apple trees are not self-fertile. Another apple variety growing nearby is necessary to achieve fruiting. Grow two varieties of apples OR choose a crabapple tree. Crabapples bloom for a long period of time and produce an abundance of pollen, making them some of the best pollinators for fruiting apple trees. Honeycrisp apples are great for pies, homemade applesauce, apple butter, preserves, and of course, when eaten fresh off the tree.
Add an eye-catching shrub to your landscape that also produces delicious fruit by planting a Brown Turkey Fig tree.
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Fresh figs are rarely sold in grocery store chains because of their short shelf life. This makes it difficult for us fig-lovers to indulge in these tasty little treats unless they are dried or packaged. Surprisingly, figs are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow at home.
Brown Turkey Figs will happily flourish in the ground in growing zones 7-10 and will even thrive in containers. That certainly makes them an easy choice for any beginner gardener! Get two harvests from your self-pollinating, Brown Turkey Fig tree; one crop in the spring – called the breba crop because it grows on the previous year’s growth – and one crop in the fall. The fall harvest, which is the main crop, is larger and far better in taste. That large, fall crop will come at the perfect time if you plan to make preserves or dried figs as holiday gifts.
You’ll have plenty of sweet & rich, homegrown figs to share with all your neighbors and friends!
The Meyer Lemon is the bestselling patio citrus tree! Juicier and sweeter than standard lemons, Meyer Lemons are a cross between a lemon and a sweet orange. Grocery stores rarely have them on the shelves, and when they do, they are outrageously priced. 📷Life will certainly give you lemons – cheaper ones at that! – when this stunning tree is added to your landscape. Recommended for growing zones 8-11 when planted in the ground, Meyer Lemons will also grow in decorative containers in colder climates. Simply bring your tree inside during periods of freezing temperatures. Imagine the sweet, fresh lemony scent drifting all throughout your home!
Your tree is low maintenance and self-fertile, but you’ll have even more lemons when another tree is nearby for cross-pollination. Meyer Lemons are harvested in the spring and will keep well for up to two weeks at room temperature. Place them in plastic bags, and store them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for even longer!
Summer calls for lemonade, and there’s no recipe that’s easier than simply mixing some fresh-squeezed Meyer Lemons with water. No added artificial sweeteners or processed sugar. Do you have a favorite recipe where lemon is the star? Trade out the boring, standard lemon and add in Meyer Lemons for a sweeter, more floral taste. They’re great in tarts, marmalade, cakes and pies.