How to Save Money Growing Bare Root Fruit.

Home grown strawberries, grapes, raspberries, fruit trees and more. If you start early (January/February), you can get a great selection of plants on the cheap.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Phone Book
• Phone
• A space in your garden that gets full sun and is ready to plant.

1. Sweet! In January and February, local nurseries start the new season with shipments of bare root fruit. Not all nurseries do this, so get out the phone book and start calling. If they don't have the shipments in yet, ask to be put on their call list (they'll call you as soon as the plants arrive).
2. Once the fruits are in, get to the nursery ASAP. Supplies are limited and the experience fruit shoppers will be hitting the nursery days after the shipments arrive.
3. Potatoes are also in. Look for strawberries sold in bundles of 25 (usually priced around $2 for the bundle); several varieties of grapes sold by the "stick" (it looks like a stick, but it'll produce clusters of fruit in 3 years); raspberries also sold by the "stick" (look at the roots of the "stick", they should be plump and white), gooseberries, blackberries, rhubarb (roots should feel heavy for their size); asparagus (maybe not a fruit, but look for larger size plants with plenty of roots); and nurseries should be stocked full of potatoes in all kinds of varieties and colors (wait until St. Patrick's day to plant potatoes).
4. They should also be getting fruit trees and blueberries. Many nurseries prefer to have trees and blueberries shipped in bare root, but then they pot them up in plantable paper containers before putting them out for sale. Call ahead or ask a sales associate if you can special order your fruit trees or blueberries bare root. It'll save you some cash, but you have to pick the plants up right away and plant them that day!
5. Take your plants home and plant them right away. Don't let the roots dry out or you risk killing the plants. If you can't plant with in the next few hours, keep the roots submerged in a container full of moist potting soil.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have a local nursery offering bare root plants, then visit www.raintreenursery.com . They have many bare root plant varieties, priced reasonably, with excellent shipping prices. They only dig plants and ship seasonally (when the planting time is right).
• Most nurseries will offer planting information and soil amendments to help get your garden off to a good start.
• Plant immediately.