"I believe that the custom was that a lady could propose marriage under a
nut tree walk," said Ho.
From a porch at the head of Rock Creek Hollow, John Flynn and Ben Burnside discuss the vanishing
nut trees. "Of course, the butternut," said Ben, "they're just about a thing of the past - most of them are dying."
(Apple trees can live 200 years; olive trees for over 1,000.)
Nut trees are also a permanent investment, and require even less maintenance.
We have six and a half acres and have planted fruit trees,
nut trees, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and vegetable gardens, and my hubby is converting the tack room in our stable--since we don't have horses--to a chicken coop so I can start raising chickens.
We don't live off-grid like some of the readers do but we live a simple life in rural Kentucky on four-plus acres with room for chickens, a garden, fruit and
nut trees, and enough wildlife to make it interesting around here.
Some scientists say oaks produce more nuts annually than all other kinds of
nut trees combined--both wild and commercial.
Fruit and
nut trees, brambles such as blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, and blueberries can be installed along the edge of the garden.
I live in the city and my dream (and my wife's) has always been to move to the country and get a nice piece of land to grow my own vegetables (which I already do, rather successfully), and maybe have some chickens and a lot of nice fruit and
nut trees. I have been reading books on homesteading and have a pretty good idea of how hard it will be, yet rewarding at the same time.
However, in a smaller-Scale, homestead operation,
nut trees will happily grow anyplace where winter temperatures seldom fall below -20 [degrees] F.
The exceptions included tap-rooted trees such as
nut trees and oaks, thin-barked trees like fruit trees (and their flowering equivalents, flowering cherries and crabapples), and fleshy rooted trees like magnolias.
Fruit trees, thin-barked trees (maples and magnolias, to name a couple) and tap-rooted trees such as oaks and
nut trees should wait until spring before being planted.
