I grow mostly apples in the central piedmont (Durham County). But I'm experimenting with other fruits and I can tell you a few of my experiences after 5 years of fruit growing. Start your orchard before you have kids! I'm so glad I did because I can hardly find the time to maintain it. I can tell you that apples take a lot of work, if you want quality fruit. At least that's been my experience. I have to spray for everything; cedar apple rust, brown spot, plum curculio has been a devastating insect as well as apple fly maggot. But I've managed to harvest some decent apples recently. I really love Grime's Golden (antique) and Liberty (modern). If you want a care-free fruit, nice tree structure, a bountiful harvest every fall of beautiful blemish-free fruit, the Fuyu persimmon takes the cake. This fruit requires no spray here at my place. Figs are another fruit I'm trying that are showing a lot of promise. I want to start blueberries but just haven't found the time yet.

Here's a photo of the trees i planted in the yard. I plan on using BYOC (back yard orchard culture). Again all function and no form. Not pretty, but functional. The trees will be kept at between 6 to 8 feet tall with summer pruning. Part of the BYOC plan. Also trees ripen at different dates, providing fruit all of the growing season. In the back is a trellis of 8 blackberry bushes. They should produce 20-30 pounds of fruit next year. All 8 blackberries, and all 5 trees are different cultivars. I'll be adding one or two more trees. This garden, and all plants were put in this spring, so the garden is new. All cultivars ripen at different dates so I should have fruit all season. The trees are starting in front to back then left. Indian Free peach, an heirloom peach grown by Thomas Jefferson. Arctic Glo nectarine, 4n1 pluot tree, Spice Zee neactaplum, and on the back left PF Lucky 13 peach. I want to add Old Mixon Free peach. Another grown by Jefferson. In the front yard for looks and function a Weeping Santa Rosa Plum will be added. Since it weeps, it doesn't need to be pruned, grows to 10 feet tall. This post was edited by Drew51 on Thu, Oct 17, 13 at 9:09

I cant seem to load any pictures. Im on a galaxy S3? i dont know why it wont work. Dont know what honey berries are but perhaps i have both. One plant has fewer larger berries that i dont doubt are gooseberries and the others have lots of small berries clumped together that look similar but smaller the plants look very similar. I just found them (this is our second summer here on a 10 acre parcel) so dont know how they were last year. I had suspected the minimal rain may have had something to do with it. I wish i could show you the patch its a disaster and im not sure how to go about reviving it. Not sure what kind of plums we have closest i can figure out they're wild plums? But we had bucket loads last year and it looks like this year wont be much different. Looks like they started with the 3 tree's a number of years ago now there are about 10 of them that are producing to some degree. We jucied them last year made a neon pink juice would probably make great jelly or syrup but haven't gotten around to it yet. In the old root cellar under the old house there are some canned plums but I'm not about to try them to see kf there good. Lol

Have you had Aronia berries before? personally i don't like the taste of them so i wouldn't recommend them. The Romance series of cherries are naturally dwarf and can resemble a bush, they are also good for fresh eating as well as juice and baking. A Chicago Hardy fig could be very rewarding if you protect it over the winter. I have one here in Zone 5, and the figs are absolutely delicious. Goji berries are not great raw. What people eat from the store is usually dried and tossed in sugar to make it seems sweet. Raw, they have a bit of a tomato flavor to them (they are actually in the same family as tomatoes). Goumi berries have the benefit of being a nitrogen fixer, so it can help nearby plants. But i wouldn't grow it just for the fruit if space is limited. Personally i like the elderberries that i have fresh. Unfortunately i don't know the specific variety that i have, so it would be a roll of the dice to buy a plant and it end up only good for juice/jam. Honeyberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants (i would recommend black), and strawberries are all going to be solid, standard choices. Just from within these types, there are so many varieties that you can get a good diverse harvest each year. Strawberries also make a great boarder plant, so you can plant your bushes and do a line of strawberries in front of them (assuming the sunlight is there) to maximize the space.