I did a search (again) and found other places stating they are self-fruitful. So whats up with the WSU extension document? Hate conflicting info. Carla - Based on their web site, I planted my sweet cherries two in one hole. Planning to do the same with Asian pears. I'm thinking of planting a second plum and now apricot. So maybe I can still plant two in one hole even though I'm planting a year later? Geraldo - Sounds like I will have to try the Tilton. :) Mmmmm, apricot cobbler, brandied apricots, apricot jam. Thanks again! Connie Here is a link that might be useful: My new garden blog

I certainly remember that red Georgia mud from my days at Fort Benning! I have the same problem here in southeast Texas, except our soil is ugly Pleistocene clay. Its durability can be attested by the shards of native Attakapan clay pottery that litter the marshes here. Even more unluckily for me, my half-acre was leveled years ago with clay from who knows where. Most of it is black, but a lot of it is a dull, brownish gray, and some is red also. Like you, I tried and tried for years to figure something out. Roto-tillers wouldn't work, they just balled the clay up and became mired down. I don't like to use them anyway, so I invested in a broadfork. Here's my methodology that has finally broken the clay barrier - 1. A few days after a good rain, break up your row with the broadfork, as deep as the tines will go. Takes some time and effort, but is well worth it. It's important that you wait until after a rain because the clay is easier to work when it's slightly moist. 2. Break up the clods with a mattock or whatever you have. I then go in and break the smaller ones by hand. It's not necessary to break up every single clod, just ones that would appear to block a plant root and enough to fill up the gaps. 3. Once your clods are broken up and you have a workable soil, spread a very generous amount of vermiculite on top of the row. Add a few flakes of hay or straw, and then add a few lawnmower bags full of freshly cut grass. 4. Mix everything together, being sure you get a very thorough blending of all the materials, throughout the depth of the bed. The grass will mat up and stay that way forever if you don't. As you mix in everything, spray it every once in a while with a good dose of liquid molasses. 5. Level out the bed, add a very thick layer of fresh cut grass as a mulch, and water it well. The grass mulch works wonders to hold in moisture, and the extra nitrogen is good to have in the already poor clay. I let the beds sit for a few weeks after this to get stuff cooking and settled down. You'll find that all the hard work you did breaking those clods was not for nothing, as the soil will be loose, friable, and have that chocolate cake consistency you keep reading about in the books. I'm certainly no expert, all I know is that this works for me. Not sure if there's any difference between Texas clay and Georgia clay.. HTH Matt

Julie, When we first moved here in 1999, my neighbor told me he grew cherries and apricots in addition to plums and pears. I asked him why he would 'waste' his time and space on them since they usually bloom early, freeze, and don't produce a crop. He told me that the apricots and cherries produced a crop for him just about as often as the peaches and plums. After living here for a few years and going through the ups and downs of fruit production, I can tell you that every year we have a good peach and plum crop, he also has a good apricot and cherry crop. So, yes, I think I am going to go for it and plant both apricots and cherries to go with my peaches and plums. My neighbor is turning 87 years old this year and he just planted 4 new trees--2 peaches, 1 apricot, 1 cherry. He is assuming he will still be around to harvest fruit from those trees in a few years. (Good for him! I like his positive thinking.) As a concession to his advancing age, however, he did plant dwarfs so he won't have to climb ladders to pick the fruit! He doesn't search for any special variety--just buys whatever they have at the feed store or home center store. He doesn't give them any special treatment. G.M., After all the time I spent dreading doing the peeling, I had a brainstorm. Why couldn't I drop the apricots in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds and then in ice water. That is what I do with tomatoes when I process them and the skin slides right off. Guess what? It worked with the apricots. So, I guess it took me about an hour or so. What a relief! I put the peel and apricot pits in my compost pile. Maybe an apricot will plant itself (although if it did, there is no guarantee it would ever fruit). Oops, sunshine is gone again and rain is back! Dawn

Sally, this is the recipe I use for pie crust and cobbler crust. It is easy and always turns out good. Never Fail Flaky pie crust 2 c. flour , 1 T. milk 1 t. salt , 1/4 c. boiling water 3/4 c. crisco (I use butter flavor crisco) Blend flour, salt and crisco together with pastry blender. Add milk and water and roll in ball. Divide in half and roll out between two sheets of wax paper and ease into two pie pans. If making cobbler I freeze one ball in the freezer until needed and roll the other out to put on the top of the fruit. For the cobbler, peal and slice 4 c. ripe peaches add 3/4 c. sugar and 2 T. flour Put in 8X8 pan and cover with crust. Bake at 350 for 45 min. You can weave top in strips or top with whole crust. I usually sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar. You can put a crust on the bottom and one on the top if you want. If you like the fruit mixture thicker add a little more flour. Hope this helps and sorry I have been so slow responding. I have been at the dentist today!