Arkansas Black apples

Backyard Fruit Production for Warm Climates

In this video, farmer Scott Murray takes us to his backyard urban farm in San Diego, California, where he tells us about backyard fruit production in warm climates.

Growing fruit in a backyard urban setting comes with a unique set of challenges, including limited space, expensive municipal water sources, and pesticide-spraying regulations. When growing fruit in backyard settings, it’s important to take into account considerations such as how to design your system to maximize production in a small space, how to set up an efficient irrigation system and water catchment system, how to control pests without spraying pesticides, and how to maintain the system without expensive equipment.

When growing fruit in warm climates such as southern California, it is also important to choose low-chill fruit varieties. In this video, Scott gives us his best recommendations for low-chill deciduous fruit varieties that are suited to southern California, and he shows us step-by-step how to design, plant, and maintain a backyard fruit system.

This video is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG