I've found myself wondering what the economic and carbon footprint implication of urban fruit trees are. We're thinking about planting some sort of tree with edible output. Suppose most American homes plant one new fruit or nut tree in the next year. There is carbon sequestration from the new tree, of course but then we also cease trucking that "apple a day" from Washington state to South Carolina. If we were able to get 100 apples a year from our own back yard, that seems like perhaps the greater carbon footprint gain.

Plus, I just like the thought of a certain percentage of our food supply being available for free, in our own back yard, with almost zero maintenance. My father-in-law has a fig tree that I envy. I'm actually thinking that in our climate, an olive tree might be nice. Mmmm, fresh olives! It's like a victory garden minus the gardening part!

Update: Two blueberry bushes were purchased yesterday. We need to get a little sphagnum peat moss and then we are planting these suckers! I'm told they will bear this year, so we are on our way.