None of the fruit trees that you listed are easy maintenance except the one that you listed as a maybe, It would help if you told us where you lived.Unless you live in the desert or somewhere very dry, you will be spraying constantly with cherries, apples, peaches, and plums.

Totally agree with Manfromyard. I was a former veggie gardener, too. Growing fruit tree is a steep learning curve.

I had the same goal you have when I switched (not adding) to fruit tree growing. Made many mistakes before I found this forum.

You are at the right place. Just let us know where you live. It's an important factor. A lot of people here are very helpful.

I am in hot, humid mississippi. Zone 7b, very close to the zone 8 line. I am ok with spraying. I'd prefer an easy spray schedule tho haha!

Thanks for the help!

Spraying is just a fact of life for most of us growing fruit trees. People have trouble when they think they can get by without it and do nothing.

I'd suggest you contact your local extension to learn what fruits do well in your area and what diseases and pests are prevalent. Before you start to spray, you need to know what you're spraying for.

JessieRou everyone has different tastes, but in apples for example the majority of folks in America and perhaps the western hemisphere gravitate towards apples which are balanced. By balanced I mean a reasonable balanced sweet/tart flavor profile. There is much written on this subject and even theories as to why it exists.
What I'm getting it is you want to grow something you and your family will like to eat. The good news is that most disease resistant apples for example fit into this balanced flavor profile.
Jessie do a google search for "disease resistant apples". You want something with good resistance to the three major apple diseases Fireblight, Scab, and Cedar Apple Rust (CAR) and a lesser issue in powdery mildew.

You are making the right choice imo in wishing to select easier varieties to grow. The hot humid climate you live in will present fungal challenges to growing nice apples. Think also about what size trees you want and what rootstock would suit you. Think also about pollination.

You mentioned you were ok with spraying, that's good. Of all that you listed apples will likely be the easiest to grow. You seem like a person who likes to do for their self and there are oppurtunities for very inexpensive fruit tree propagation later if you are interested. It's also pretty cool creating and grafting your own trees.
Buy some to get started though.
Again, do the google search and read up on DR apple varieties. Come here afterwards and bounce your ideas off the forum. I doubt you can find a DR apple for example that isn't grown by somebody here. Lots of knowledgeable peach and plum growers here too.

JessieRou,

The Mississippi State Extension office has some good info on it.

http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/index.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit and Nut Recommendations for Mississippi

FWIW I don't like any of the Mississippi EO choices save for Arkansas Black and Jonafree.
Looks like they copy and paste old data just like Maryland's extension does. Many of those varieties will not do well for you as compared to other varieties available.

Something with the apples to consider, you say fresh eating but unless you're planning on eating 150lbs in a month's time you're going to have to figure something else out.

I didn't check the ripening dates on those but going from memory of what the U-Pick has they're all pretty much at the same time.
Assuming dwarf that's easily 3 bushels and probably more like 6.

I would try to stagger the ripening dates and make one of them a late storage apple.
I don't know if it works in zone 7 but the Arkansas Black Starks has is a good one and you can eat fresh apples until next summer with proper storage. It's also a pretty good cider apple. Cider is a great way to use up a lot of apples.
I'm sure there are storage apples for your zone, they're what people used to rely on to have "fresh" fruit. I don't know what they are.

Warning: The bad thing about staggering ripening so you always have something getting ripe is you always have something to work on.
As much as I like strawberries, cherries, apples, plums, apples, apples, apples, grapes and apples from June to October the constant work load gets to be a bit much at times.

Thanks for the help.
I like the Arkansas Black recommendation. It's actually on the extension office list too. For disease resistance I found Crimson Crisp. What are the chances these two will be good pollinators for one another? How can I find out this information?

For size trees, I was going to go with dwarf size, although I have 4 acres.

For peach I chose Redhaven because it was recommended by the extension office. If this is not a good choice can someone tell me why, or what I should look for in an peach tree?

And cherry, any imput on Blackgold variety?

And plums, Methley is recommended by extension office. Redheart? Santa Rosa?

Forgive me for all the questions!

You want to stagger, you want storage, and you want no spray as much as possible. I concur with what other posters have said, but here is my contribution:

- start your season with a mulberry. It is no spray, it is robust, it is nutritious, it is the earliest fruit, and is easy to harvest (for the next 15 years at least). Replace the cherry with it.

- consider fuzzy kiwis, which are also mostly no-spray, and last until May with proper storage. One kiwi provides the vitamin C of two oranges or six apples.

- if you have the space, consider nuts, chestnuts in particular, no spray and they store through the winter (store like root cellar vegetables, in moist sand).

- other no spray fruits for your zone include persimmons, which dry beautifully, but you should also consider the humble and very nutritious butternut squash, which also lasts a year.

all this if you really want to become self-sufficient. I am fond of rabbits for easiest meat to raise, all you need is hay scythed from under the fruit trees and acorns raked in the nearby woods, and they grow.

Jessie,

You'll get a lot of suggestions. Some may seem conflicting because we have different experiences and opinions.

My view is to start slow. If I were you, I'd go with apple and pear first. They are also called pomme fruit. Plum, peaches, apricot, cherries, etc. are stone fruits. Pomme and stone fruit suffer different diseases/issues.

Learn about apple and pear, pick varieties that are good for your climate, learn about their diseases and how to handle the diseases.

After you get comfortable with pomme, you could expand to stone fruit.

In your hot and humid climate, stone fruit may be harder to grow. I just don't want you to plant all of them at once and feel overwhelmed/discouraged.

Again, you may feel that you are ready to handle both pomme and stone fruit together.

Pears will probably be the easiest to grow imo.. Get a Kieffer, orient or pineapple pear to start. If you start with easier trees, you'll be more motivated. Mulberries, chestnuts, pomegranates, pears will be easier to get your feet wet. If you're ok with spraying, you might want to ditch the "disease resistant " stone fruit, which will require spraying anyway, and get the best tasting ones you can acquire. Its just as easy to spray a gala or honeycrisp
4 times a season as it is to spray a yates or arkansas black 4 times.

Figs, Mulberries, Persimmons.... no spray

Maybe jujube?