Iowa fruit trees?

This may be a bit simplistic but is anyone in Iowa growing peaches and apricots, etc successfully? I am thinking about possibly changing locations when I retire. It would be of interest to see what seems to be working for Iowa. Maybe in the Cedar Rapids or Iowa City or even Des Moines areas?

Also - I know it is the wrong forum, but also some comments on tomatoes? Doing well in Iowa most years?

Thanks,

Rick

Rick,

Glad to hear from someone looking to relocate to Iowa. I live in Keota and work in Iowa City. First, I can assure you that tomatoes grow quite well in Iowa. I've had great experiences with Juliet (a grape or cherry type, depending on who you ask), as well as Celebrity and Better Boy.

Secondly, my mother has both an apricot and peach tree in her yard (on a farm near town). Her peach tree has done very well. The apricot tree has not been as successful, but that may be her tree. It was injured when quite small and has never really fully recovered. She does get a small crop off it every year and a large one every few. As you might expect, the fruit is smaller than what one could expect in the southern states.

I don't know the particular varieties of the trees. Hope this helps you.

Scott

Thank you for getting back on this.

Rick

Decorah, Iowa, is the home of Heritage Farm - the base of operations for the Seed Savers Exchange. Many, many varieties of heirloom vegetables and fruits are grown there, maintaining a seed bank. You can visit there and also attend the summer conference, called the Campout. A great resource. www.seedsavers.org

This message was edited Jan 16, 2005 4:51 PM

In Boone, I've grown Polly, Reliance, Belle of Georgia, and Madison. The Reliance do well, but no better than Belle of Georgia - several bushels/tree in most years. Belle is significantly better quality. My Polly and Madison did not do well, but I only tried 1 tree each. Mericrest Nectarine lived quite a few years, but had something like 3 fruits before it died. My oldest tree (peach) at the moment is about 12 years and yielding well despite looking a little worse-for-wear, they have a way of declining. I try not to replant where I've had stone fruits before. There is a hardy Iowa peach developed somewhere over on east Hwy 30 (Calamus???). Never tried it. I have a Moonglow and Sunglow (or something like that) apricots. They suffer from fairly severe fruit drop well before fruit maturity (typical of apricots I understand) but I get perhaps a bushel from the pair if I harvest at the right time. Manchurian apricots and siberian peach yield pretty well, but they're not particularly good eating. Too soon and they're quite low quality. Too late and they're all on the ground. Never had any trouble with any tomato. Favorite at the moment is Brandyboy, a Burpee-improved Brandywine, but there are a lot of good 'maters.

Thank you very much, Phaem and Yuska, for the information. That is quite helpful.