Espalier. Espal--huh?

So. I have an itchy gardening finger today. It has been raining for the past two or three days. A good, steady, cold, fall soaker. I could technically go out and harvest some stuff, but I probably won't as we have been to my parents the whole day and Sophs has me on LockDown and won't let me out of her sight.

I really wanted to dig up my rosemary plant to pot for over the winter, but the ground is way too wet to do so. I have peppers galore to also harvest, but won't most likely. I probably will just talk about all the things I could be doing in the garden, but won't actually get out there and do. Yep. That sounds about like how it is going to go.

If (when?) we should some day, get some land, somewhere, here is one thing I would absolutely want to do. It really could be done anywhere as the whole point of espalier is cultivating fruit trees is tiny spaces. I could start one in the spring, but probably won't as we are listing the house. Although, who knows how long it will take to sell it. I might think about it.
I could start it at the next house, that we are planning on being a fixer-upper...so we should be there for at least a couple years. And, if it is back in the city, it won't matter as the trees don't need the normal amount of space. That's the whole point. Here I am going on and on about espalier and I haven't really explained it.

It began in the Middle Ages in monasteries where there was limited space inside the walls for regular fruit trees growth. It is the practice of pruning and training the limbs of fruit trees (or other plants, such as some vines) to maximize space. You can train them up against a wall. This can help retain heat, which technically could help someone in Minnesota (me) grow a variety/species of tree that might not normal grow here. I think that a lemon tree might be overreaching it a bit, but perhaps a variety of apple or pear not usually seen here? Basically, it is growing a tree in two dimensions instead of three. Here is a picture I took yesterday when my mom and I went on a walk at the Arboretum. We occasionally make the trek there, walk, and go home. It is really neat to see everything on the Three Mile Walk route as it changes for the seasons.
I love the way they look. This one is a Honey Crisp apple tree. You can see one ripening on the middle trunk there. I cannot wait for Honey Crisps to be available. They have a short season, I am not even sure they are available outside Minnesota, but they are lovely. They were "created" (?) here at the Arboretum, by the University of Minnesota. Some crossbreeding/hybriding of various secret apples. I wait for them, I eat them, and I am not even really an apple "fan".

You don't really need a fence. This summer, when we were lunatic enough to take 40 high school kids to Europe, they had trees pruned in the medians that were sort of like this, but denser. Just regular trees, not fruit trees. I think the fruit trees need more support because of the weight of the fruit before harvest time.

I love the way it looks. All neat. All tidy. All fertile. It symbolizes patience. For me, that is challenging. But......that challenge is one of the reasons that I garden and one of the reasons I enjoy gardening. You can't rush it, no matter how badly you want to---there is no instant gratification. It is, by definition, a study in patience. Could this activity be my summer school version of Waiting 101 and Waiting 102 that I have failed miserably this---and every---year??