Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest

Rating:
Summary: awesome book
Review: Don covers all the basics of all fruit varieties you can grow in the upper midwest. A book of reference fro anyone interested in growing an orchard in their yard

Rating:
Summary: Indespensible reference for midwestern growers
Review: Home and commercial growers in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas) face major challenges in getting steady crops of quality fruit. Tree fruits, berries, and the like are better adapted to warmer areas. Most commercially available cultivars are not well adapted to the cold climate in and around Minnesota.

In this volume, Gordon combines the history of fruit growing in the area, basics of culture, and hardiness history of major varieties. This last piece of information is not available in any other source I have seen and by itself is worth more than the purchase price of the book to anyone contemplating a new planting of fruit trees, vines, or bushes.

Hardiness information is broken down by regions within each state, providing a more detailed look at the winter survival characteristics than can be gained by USDA hardiness zones alone.

In addition, Gordon provides some interesting historical ancedotes and cultural information. The cultural recommendations are the same as for other parts of the country, by and large, but the information is useful to the beginner.

Rating:
Summary: Indespensible reference for midwestern growers
Review: Home and commercial growers in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas) face major challenges in getting steady crops of quality fruit. Tree fruits, berries, and the like are better adapted to warmer areas. Most commercially available cultivars are not well adapted to the cold climate in and around Minnesota.

In this volume, Gordon combines the history of fruit growing in the area, basics of culture, and hardiness history of major varieties. This last piece of information is not available in any other source I have seen and by itself is worth more than the purchase price of the book to anyone contemplating a new planting of fruit trees, vines, or bushes.

Hardiness information is broken down by regions within each state, providing a more detailed look at the winter survival characteristics than can be gained by USDA hardiness zones alone.

In addition, Gordon provides some interesting historical ancedotes and cultural information. The cultural recommendations are the same as for other parts of the country, by and large, but the information is useful to the beginner.