The Half Acre Food Forest

So, here's what the food forest contains so far:
13 Varieties of Apples
2 Varieties of Peaches
2 Varieties of Cherries
1 Variety of Plum
1 Variety of Almond
1 Variety of Fig
Woody Resinous Scrub Plants
Grass
Broadleafed Weeds like dandelion (I prefer the Japanese name Tanpopo because it's fun to say)

Here's what I plan to Add in the coming year:

Shrub Layer
Haskaps, blueberry, bearberry, currants, thornless raspberry, aronia, lingonberry, thornless cloudberries, Camelia japonica, Rosemary, & sage,

Rhizosphere Layer
Gobo, Fodder Radish, Asparagus

Nitrogen fixers
Honey Locust, siberian peashrub, seaberry, Illinois Bundle Flower

Nut Trees
Hazelnut, Pecan, another almond so the one I have will have a friend.

Aromatic Herbaceous Layer
Leftover seed from the herb garden, Flowers from bulbs randomly chosen from the Rural King Discount Bin, hot peppers, tobacco...

Vine Layer
Hops, clematis, virginia creeper, bindweed (a morning glory relative native to my area, has tiny bell shaped white flowers that bloom at night)

Plants grown solely to chop and drop*
Okra, Titan Sunflower, Tomato, Cover crop mix**

*I have a scythe and lawn roller for this, can cut it down before it goes to seed and give it a good roll-over to mulch the area. Some will re-sprout, and then I can cut it again later.
**wheat, barley, field peas, assorted brassicas, oilseed sunflower, soy beans, corn, sorghum

Ryan,

That’s quite a bit of food you are growing in your forest there!  Congratulations on taking such an ambitious step.  

I wish I had some experience to pass on to you, but I once had a crack at an orchard and fruit patch.  Unfortunately, I was overwhelmed by other life circumstances and my micro food forest did not thrive from neglect.  I even went so far as to bury a drip line irrigation system to water the trees in the dry months (turned out this was not actually necessary), but as I said, things got away from me.

I can pass on at least one observation.  Like you, I planted blueberries and they grew and produced berries.  I ate only a handful because the birds consistently beat me to the punch.  I strongly recommend netting or some type of bird barrier/deterrent.

I definitely wish you better luck than I had.  Also I am very curious as to how your project works out.  Please keep us informed!

Eric