I am city born and raised and I’ve had my own garden almost every year since 1981. But I would like to leave the city and buy some land in either Georgia or Scouth Carolina so I can set up an organic CSA farm. I know vegetables, but I know practically nothing about fruit trees. Can anyone give me even ballpark figures for how many fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, peach, cherry) I would have to plant to supply a given number of people with produce? I can easily find information on planting trees as far as spacing and number of trees per acre, but this won’t tell me how many trees I should plant to produce a worthwhile harvest – or how much land I need to allot for fruit trees.
Also, does anyone know how the shape you prune a tree into affects its yield? My health is not good so I can only grow dwarf or semi-dwarf trees that I will likely espalier.
