Planting Our First Idaho Orchard: Fruit Trees, Berry Bushes, and Learning as We Go

Here's how our orchard started.

Four fruit trees. Two apple, two pear. Bought from Costco for $11.69 each — which felt like an extraordinary bargain for something that would eventually feed our family for decades if we did it right.

I planted them on the south-facing edge of our Filer property, where they'd get maximum sun exposure. I'd read enough about fruit tree spacing to know they needed room, so I marked them 12 feet apart, then reconsidered, dug new holes, and moved them further apart. Better to give them space they'd grow into than crowd them from the start.

I took this photo of the first four in their new spots — young trees, staked, just beginning their relationship with Idaho soil. Looking at that photo now, knowing how those trees eventually grew in, is one of the more satisfying things about having documented that first year on the property.

Then my wife came home with two raspberry and two blueberry bushes.

The Berry Question

I asked the question out loud on the blog at the time and got some good answers from the homesteading community: yes, you can plant berries between fruit trees, but with some caveats.

Blueberries need acidic soil — more acidic than most Magic Valley soil naturally provides. If you're planting blueberries in southern Idaho, you're amending the soil significantly or growing in containers with the right mix. We learned this somewhat expensively over the first couple of seasons.

Raspberries are more forgiving. They'll spread aggressively if you let them — which in an orchard understory can become a management challenge — but they produce reliably in Magic Valley conditions and the berries are extraordinary from plants grown in full southern Idaho sun.

What I'd tell someone planting a first orchard in Magic Valley now:

• Apple and pear do excellently here — good chill hours, long warm summers for ripening
• Stone fruits (peaches, apricots, cherries) can work but need protection from late frosts
• Raspberries: yes, give them a defined bed and be ready to manage spread
• Blueberries: amend heavily or skip them in favor of crops that love alkaline soil
• Plant trees before you're ready — they take years to produce and every year you wait is a year of production you're not getting

The Long Game of an Orchard

Here's the thing about planting trees that I had to fully internalize that first spring.

You are not planting for this year. You are not even planting for next year. You are planting for year four, year six, year ten — when those trees are established and producing quantities of fruit that will change how your family eats and what your property provides.

The $11.69 Costco apple tree that I planted somewhat haphazardly on a March afternoon in Filer, Idaho produced beautiful apples within a few years. That's a return on investment that no other purchase in that same dollar range could have matched.

Plant the trees. Even if you're not sure you'll be there long enough to harvest them. Especially if you think you might be.

If Acreage With Orchard Potential Is What You're Looking For

When I work with buyers looking at rural properties in Magic Valley, I always evaluate the southern exposure and soil quality for fruit production. Some properties are perfectly positioned for an orchard. Others have challenges that are worth understanding before you plant.

📞 Dr. Ron Jones | 208-712-8386 — I've planted the orchard and I sell the land. Let me help you find the right property.

Photo taken by Dr. Ron Jones of the first four fruit trees on his Filer, Idaho homestead, spring 2015.

Dr. Ron Jones | Rim & River Real Estate | rimandriver.com | 208-712-8386