When the owners purchased this home west of Austin, it came with a tennis court. Since they don't play tennis, they decided to remove it and replace it wit

The Homestead Wife • Homesteading & Preppin' on Instagram: "Fruit trees are the heavy hitters of homegrown food production. They are amazing additions to any homestead and require very little maintenance. Most fruit trees need to be pruned annually. Some trees require multiple of that variety to have proper pollination. Take care when planning the size and location of your trees. Some can be messy. The return on investment on fruit trees is incredible! For example, a dwarf apple tree…

Fruit trees can be an attractive part of a home landscape, as this carefully planned orchard shows. The orchard space is about 16x16 feet on the west side yard of a historic home in my city's downtown. In the center is a pear tree flanked by two apple trees and two peach trees. The five trees are laid out in a circular cross design with islands of light brown bark mulch separated by black edging and light colored gravel paths. This ground design is striking all year long, perhaps even more…

We spend a lot of time looking at annual crops and gardens, but perennials have their places. When it comes to fruit trees, we have many options in sizes. There’s little more majestic than a full-s…

How to fit an orchard in the garden - and get a big harvest, however tiny your garden. Grow fruit trees successfully in any back yard!

Starting a big vegetable garden? It's fun and exciting to have a lot of space to work with. But...with more space comes more planning. A good garden layout helps everything grow better and makes your

Learn exactly which varieties of cold hardy trees to grow, and how to grow them, in a zone 4 orchard on your homestead.