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Show The Serious Gardener By Ben Freestone FRUIT TREES AN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN THE UINTAH BASIN? All signs seem to indicate a new spirit of independence in America in the 1980's. This means less government and more self-sufficiency. One important aspect of this coming trend is localized production of food. Increased fuel, processing and transportation tran-sportation costs will continue to push food costs higher and higher. Most of our fruit and vegetables are now . produced in California and Florida. That's a long way from Eastern Utah! The answer is that we should be raising more of our own. Not everyone has the time or space for a large garden or orchard. But food produced locally is bound to cost less than that shipped here from outside. Unfortunately many local people have failed to maintain and replant existing orchards because they couldn't compete com-pete with outside produce. Every indication in-dication is that all this will change during the 80's. This is the year for those new fruit trees to be planted so they'll be producing heavily in the next 3 to 5 years. Smaller growing varieties of fruit trees will cut harvesting costs to the owner or permit local consumers to harvest his crop. Roadside produce stands and want ads in local papers can also help as outlets for locally grown produce. So, here's our list of the very hardiest varieties of fruit trees for Northeastern Utah. Your nurseryman can give you more specific information about growth and fruiting characteristics and recommend additional varieites. Apples: King, Lodi, Mcintosh, Northern Spy, Johnathan, Red Delicious, Winesap, Rome, Yellow Delicious, Yellow Transparent. Plums: Italian, Santa Rosa, Peach Plum, Green Gage, French. Pears: Bartlett only. Cherries (microclimated only): Bing, Lambert, Montmorency, Sam Van, Royal Ann. Peaches (microclimates only): Elvertan adn J.H. Hale only. Apricots: Chinese, Moorpark, Tilton only. Nuts Black Walnut, Butternut, Manregeon English Walnut. Carpathian Car-pathian Walnut survives in microclimates only. NOTE: Microclimates as described in a previous column are natural or man-made protected areas many of which are to be found right here in the Uintah Basin. |