Hi, I just joined this forum. I don't really have time for it, but hey, you gotta make time for a little recreational down-time once in a while.

I am not entirely new to fruit culture, my grandparents owned a U-pick orchard/berry farm in W. Michigan when I was growing up.

But, I have about 2 dozen fruit trees to take care of now - something new for me. My wife inherited her grandmother's house, N. Illinois, and we renovated, and then moved in last April. Common stuff, apples, pears, two prune plum trees that appear to be ready for replacement, tbd in the spring. And also a few raspberries and grape vines. There was a patch of neglected strawberries and some gooseberries, but I took those all out, may start fresh with strawberries in the spring in fresh ground. Plenty of room if I want to, the house sits on 22 acres, about 5 is maintained, the rest is woodlands/meadows/wetlands. It was really beautiful in the fall, the cooler summer brought great fall color, IMHO.

My goal is to provide enough care to get a decent crop to share with family and friends. I'm not strictly organic but would like to minimize use of synthetic pesticides. Last season, I was able to get the trees under basic control in terms of pruning and did basic spraying.

That might be kind of a challenge, though. I'm 39, a tax attorney by day, and an amateur athlete by night, trying to fit that project in with training for three Ironmans this year, Lake Placid, Wisconsin, and Florida. My wife is a pediatric oncologist. We have 3 kids - well, 2 black and one yellow lab, they're our kids, my two boys and her baby, a girl.

So we lead an intensive lifestyle, not a lot of free time. But, hey, worth a shot, and if I can't do what I want with them, I will probably take them out except for the pears - pears are stupid-simple, usually get something edible without doing anything.

Anyway, probably just gonna hang back and read from time to time unless I have a specific question. Seems like a lot of good info here.