Orchard, Berries & Citrus

C1 What it is

A 51-tree U-pick orchard in 4–5 tidy rows, plus ~30 silvopasture nut and shade trees out in the paddocks and berry rows — about 80 trees all in. Chill-hour-matched varieties (~450–800 hr) are what matters in North Texas. You plant it cheaply in years 1–2, protect every tree in a cage, and it pays back slowly — berries in 1–3 years, fruit in 3–7, nuts in 6–15 — then keeps giving for thirty years at near-zero cash cost.

C2 Orchard trees — by species

Chill-hour-matched (~450–800 hr) · 51 trees in 4–5 rows · ~1.2 acres
Species	Varieties	Ct	Unit	Cost	First crop
Apple	Anna, Dorsett Golden	12	$38	$456	3–5 yr
Pear	Kieffer, Orient	10	$35	$350	4–6 yr
Peach	Ranger, La Feliciana, Redskin	13	$30	$390	2–4 yr
Plum	Methley, Bruce, Santa Rosa	10	$30	$300	3–5 yr
Persimmon (Asian)	Fuyu	6	$42	$252	3–5 yr
Orchard trees		51		$1,748

Dorsett Golden apple — Apple Anna & Dorsett Golden — low-chill apples matched to our mild winters (grocery varieties need more chill than we reliably get); plant two for pollination. How-to guide →

Pears on the tree — Pear Kieffer & Orient — tough, fireblight-resistant and heavy-bearing; among the easiest tree fruit here. How-to guide →

Peaches on the tree — Peach Ranger, La Feliciana & Redskin (moderate-chill, matched to the region). Thin hard for size; a late frost can cost a year's crop. How-to guide →

Plums — Plum Methley, Bruce & Santa Rosa — plant more than one for cross-pollination; early and productive. How-to guide →

Fuyu persimmon — Persimmon Asian Fuyu — eat it crisp like an apple; nearly pest-free and gorgeous in fall. How-to guide →

C3 Silvopasture trees — in the grazing paddocks

Wide rows over pasture (40 ft apart, 30 ft in-row for equipment). These live on Bucket D's land but are counted here as the perennial planting — shade + mast for cattle and poultry. Every one caged hard, since cattle rub and browse.

Species	Role	Ct	Unit	Cost	First crop
Pecan (grafted)	Native nut, high shade	8	$55	$440	6–10 yr
Mulberry	Fast shade + dropped-fruit forage	10	$30	$300	2–4 yr
Chestnut (Dunstan)	Mast; well-drained spots only	6	$45	$270	4–7 yr
Persimmon (native)	Wildlife + livestock	6	$25	$150	4–6 yr
Silvopasture trees		30		$1,160

Pecan tree — Pecan The Texas native — huge shade and a nut crop, but slow (6–10 yr) and needs room and zinc. How-to guide →

Mulberry Fast shade and buckets of dropped fruit the poultry and cattle clean up; bulletproof. How-to guide →

Chestnut Dunstan chestnut for mast — only on your best-drained ground; marginal on heavy clay. How-to guide →

C4 Berries & tree protection

Item	Qty	Unit	Cost	First crop
Blackberry / raspberry crowns	60	$5	$300	1–2 yr
Grape vines (table + muscadine)	20	$12	$240	2–3 yr
Blueberry (rabbiteye)	20	$16	$320	2–3 yr
Berry trellis — posts + wire	—	—	$1,000	—
Blueberry acid beds (peat, sulfur, raised)	—	—	$400	—
Tree cages — welded wire	81	$12	$972	—
Stakes, ties, mulch (initial)	—	—	$600	—
Berries & protection			$3,832

Blackberries — Blackberry / raspberry Thornless erect types (Ouachita, Natchez) on a simple trellis — berries in year 1–2, almost foolproof. How-to guide →

Muscadine grapes — Grapes Muscadines love Southern heat and humidity; table grapes need Pierce's-disease-tolerant picks. How-to guide →

Strawberries Grown as a winter annual — set plants Oct–Nov, pick Feb–May, then pull. Summer heat kills them. How-to guide →

Figs One of the easiest fruits here — may freeze back in a hard winter but resprouts and fruits. How-to guide →

Pomegranate Thrives on heat and alkaline soil, shrugs off drought — a perfect Zone-8 diversifier. How-to guide →

Blueberries — Blueberry Rabbiteye only, and only in amended acid beds or pots — the one berry our alkaline clay fights. How-to guide →

C5 Citrus — container-grown & protected

Lemons, limes, and oranges — but North Texas is Zone 8a, too cold to field-plant tender citrus (hard freezes in the mid-teens kill them). They're grown in large pots wheeled into the greenhouse for freezes, with the cold-hardiest types in a protected south-facing spot. Adds ~$700.

Cold-hardy-first · containers + greenhouse overwintering
Citrus	Type	Hardiness / approach	Ct	Cost	First crop
Satsuma mandarin (Owari)	orange	Hardiest — to ~15°F established; the best in-ground bet with frost cloth	3	$120	2–3 yr
Kumquat (Nagami)	orange-ish	Very hardy (~18°F); great in a pot, ornamental + edible	2	$80	2–3 yr
Meyer lemon	lemon	Container; protect below ~28°F — the easiest lemon here	2	$80	2 yr
Bearss / Persian lime	lime	Tender — container only, overwinter in greenhouse	2	$80	2–3 yr
Half-barrel pots, casters, citrus mix, frost cloth	kit	So two people can wheel them in before a freeze	—	$340	—
Citrus add-on			9	~$700

Satsuma mandarins on the tree — Satsuma mandarin The hardiest citrus (~15°F) — your best shot at an in-ground orange in a protected, south-facing spot. How-to guide →

Lemon on the tree — Meyer lemon The easiest lemon here — keep it potted and roll it into the greenhouse below ~28°F. How-to guide →

Limes on the tree — Bearss / Persian lime The tenderest of the three — container only, overwintered under glass every freeze. How-to guide →

Potted citrus under glass — Potted citrus Kumquats (Nagami) shine in pots — very hardy, eaten skin-and-all; the model for all your container citrus. How-to guide →

C6 Bucket total, ongoing & role

Component	Cost
Orchard trees (51)	$1,748
Silvopasture trees (30)	$1,160
Berries & tree protection	$3,832
Bucket C total (~81 trees + berries)	~$6,750

Ongoing — almost nothing

~$0–200/yr: dormant-oil / occasional spray, replacement mulch, your own pruning labor. After establishment the trees are rain-fed and self-sufficient. This is the cheapest bucket to run, by far.

Role in the system

The compounding asset — plant once, harvest for decades. Dropped fruit feeds the poultry and cattle; the cattle's shade and manure come from the same silvopasture rows. Pollination is subsidized by the pollinator strips and hives.