Backyard orchards are predicted to be the hot new plant trend over the next decade. Many will be populated with columnar apple trees, which allow you to grow your own fruit even in a small space.

Homeowners who have planted fruit trees, even dwarf varieties, have learned that they can become very large. Columnar apple trees have all the fruit of a typically sized apple tree but grow straight up, reaching between 8 feet and 10 feet in height and less than 2 feet in width.

“More and more people are becoming interested in growing their own food but don’t have the space,” said Sam Benowitz, owner of Raintree Nursery in Morton, Wash. Columnar apples produce fruit on spurs along the main trunk or on short branches coming out of the main trunk.

“The three main varieties that are available now are Scarlet Sentinel, Golden Sentinel and North Pole, a red apple similar to Red Delicious,” explained Benowitz.

Columnar apple trees thrive in a full sun environment, in either large containers such as cut-down whiskey barrels or directly in the soil. The trees need very little maintenance, aside from watering the soil regularly and fertilizing annually.

Since columnar apples trees are not self-pollinating, you must plant two or more trees. Currently, only columnar apple trees are available. Columnar versions of several other types of fruit trees, including pears and peaches, are being developed.

Apartment dwellers and even people living on boats can have columnar apple trees. For information on purchasing columnar apple trees, visit Raintree Nursery at http://bit.ly/HymY9k.

Foodies are always looking for the next trend. But sometimes, the new “it” food is a combination of two traditional flavors, creating one appealing item. This is the case when it comes to hybrid fruits.

Although the idea of hybrid fruit has been around for years, new breeds are constantly catching consumers eyes – be it the Pluot (a cross between a plum and an apricot), the Nectaplum (a cross between a nectarine and a plum) or a Peacotum (a blend of the peach, apricot and plum).

Chris Goodman, founder and owner of Zaiger Genetics South Africa, said cherry-plums are one of his company’s newest hybrids.

“It’s taken them years and years and years, but they’ve finally managed to cross a cherry with a plum,” said Goodman. “So you have cherry-plums, which are a product that look like a cherry but has a lot of plum blood in it, and then you have a plum-cherry, which looks like a plum but has a lot of cherry in it.”

Goodman said they use cross-pollination to develop the fruit blends.

“You decide on what pairings you want, so say a plum, and you take pollen from another variety, say an apricot, and you cross the two and you harvest the seed and then you germinate the seed and see what you end up with,” he explained.

The creation of a hybrid fruit is a drawn-out process, with a new combination making it to market once out of every 1,000 attempts, according to breeders and growers. And while consumer interest in hybrids is growing, this remains a niche market, making up just a fraction of the $21 billion in cash receipts fruit farmers earn each year. Goodman predicts demand for hybrids will continue to increase.

“The figures speak for themselves. The hybrid fruits are taking over because they have such superior taste and keeping qualities,” said Goodman. “If we are talking apricots and plums, I would say that hybrid fruits will become the norm,” he predicted.

In addition to corporate hybrid breeders, the university system is working to develop hybrid fruits. The University of Florida’s Institute of Agricultural Science is in the research phase of producing a hybrid called the lemorlime, which is a seedless blend of the lemon, lime and orange.

North America is the world’s leading blueberry producer, accounting for nearly 90 percent of world production. The North American harvest runs from March through early October, with peak harvest in July (National Blueberry Month).

Highbush blueberries are perennial, long-lived, deciduous, woody shrubs. They belong to the family Ericaceae, which also includes such plants as cranberry, azalea, rhododendron and heather. Like the other ericaceous plants, blueberries thrive in acid soils and do best when pH is between 4 and 5. Cultivars require from 120 to 160 growing degree days to ripen fruit. Blueberry plants flower in spring, with flowers at the tip of canes and the tip of the cluster opening first. They are pollinated by bees.

Blueberries are grown in rows that are cultivated year-round to produce sweet and plump berries. When the berry is a deep blue color, the blueberries are carefully hand picked and rushed to nearby packing houses.

Although some processed blueberries are hand picked, most are mechanically harvested with specially designed harvesters. There are several types, but for the most part the concept is simple: a machine is driven or towed through the field and mechanical rods shake the plants to drop the blueberries into buckets or conveyors. The machines must go through the field at different times as all the fruit does not ripen at the same time. Bins of harvested blueberries are rushed to nearby processing plants where they are dedicated to different market channels.

Visit the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council online for more information: http://www.blueberrycouncil.org/.

Ken Patterson is the owner of Island Grove Farm, one of the oldest blueberry farms in Florida.

Blueberries, once thought of as a northern specialty, have made their way down south. And they are taking the market by storm, filling a niche that northern competitors haven’t been able to penetrate.

There’s been a big shift in the Florida blueberry industry in the past 30 years. Because of warmer temperatures than in mainstay blueberry regions like Michigan and New Jersey, Florida growers can harvest the fruit a lot earlier. By meeting consumer demand in March and April, when northern competitors can’t, Florida growers can help grocers keep blueberries stocked year-round.

Ken Patterson, owner of Island Grove Farm, one of the oldest blueberry farms in Florida, said he’s seen many changes in the industry since he began growing them in the 1980s.

“Florida blueberry growth was steady through the 1990s and early 2000s,” said Patterson, “But in the last 10 years, because of all the health benefits and the void in the market in April and May, they have really increased.”

In 2007, there was a little less than 8 million pounds of blueberries being produced in Florida. Last year that figure rose to 22 million.

While retail blueberries don’t come cheap (the national average price for a pint is $3.98), producing blueberries in Florida doesn’t come cheap, either. The average acre costs about $20,000 to plant.

According to Patterson, Florida soil doesn’t easily lend itself to growing blueberries. Also, since Florida blueberries bloom in January, they are more susceptible to freeze, which can wipe out an entire crop. Further, because of the heat, Florida blueberries need an expensive, sophisticated sprinkler system with a large amount of sustained water.

But, for Patterson it pays off. He’s been allowed to explore other venues for his blueberries, like blueberry wine and organic blueberries, which he thinks is the next biggest trend in the industry.

The Agriculture Department tracks how much of different types of food Americans are eating from year to year (annual per capita consumption). The most recent survey, conducted in 2009, showed a slight increase (+1 percent) for fresh fruit consumption compared to the prior year, while fresh vegetable consumption dropped slightly (-2 percent).

The figures below include fresh, frozen and processed types of each fruit or vegetable.

391 – Total pounds of vegetables Americans eat per year, on average.

257 – Total pounds of fruit Americans eat per year, on average.

113 – Pounds of potatoes Americans eat per year, on average.

48 – Pounds of apples Americans eat per year, on average.

25 – Pounds of bananas Americans eat per year, on average.

11 – Pounds of romaine/leaf lettuce Americans eat per year, on average.

10 – Pounds of carrots Americans eat per year, on average.

9 – Pounds of broccoli Americans eat per year, on average.

3 – Pounds of cherries Americans eat per year, on average.