It didn't factor into my house purchase at all. While we in inland SoCal are extremely fortunate in what we can grow, I didn't want anything to take care of in the yard. I just wanted enough space to have a shed and park a few trailers. It was only after I purchased that I got the growing bug. 27 fruit trees in now and I'm just starting to remove trees that didn't perform for other varieties.

I'd imagine climate considerations are pretty high for retirees at least, combined with lower cost of living in places like Arizona & Florida relative to the North east. People have moved for fruit hobby, I've seen it on the forums but it seems not many. Most people who love to grow just try and make due where they are.

Define "better."

There isn't a place in America that will not experience climate change, for good or worse. I would bet the vast majority will experience the latter i.e. no one will escape extreme weather pattern shifts. The areas that are believed to be "better" today are based on historical past recorded weather which may no longer apply. e.g. you move to an area and establish a huge orchard, then new disease pressure and weather patterns stress your area out of being "better." We even have a real world example with citrus greening spreading at breakneck speeds in FL, the gulf coast, and CA thanks to the lack of cold temps in the winter. If someone moved to grow citrus, they are now basically out of luck.

Socal, Phoenix - will continue desertification and begin to depopulate without desal plants

Florida - most will be underwater; rest will experience hurricanes more

If I had to move, water not climate would be on my list:

• 100 miles from coast or large freshwater body of water
• Rains and still predicted to rain even under extreme climate change

I moved from Amarillo Texas to California in 2000 solely for a better fruit growing climate. 30 yrs fighting the wind, freezes, and hail in TX sent me to CA. I didn't know a soul in CA. I lucked into a beautiful place on the Kings river east of Fresno. No wind, no hail and most importantly no damaging freezes.

I did move back to TX in 2004 for health reasons. But even then the location was dictated by a better climate for greenhouse fruit production. I learned a great deal at both locations and won't change a thing.

If I were to move again for fruit growing reasons far northern CA, eastern WA, western CO around Grand Junction, Sedona AZ, and possibly Boise would be my top choices.

I don't know where you are in NM. A few areas of NM are better than Amarillo. But most suffer some of the same issues. There are many better fruit growing areas depending on what you want to grow. But you do need to chose wisely.

Thanks for the responses, you all make some important points... It's also interesting to hear more about fruitnut's history.

My main definition of "better" is a place that does not have such a high risk of late freezes, as well as having warmer winters. I'm located near Santa Fe, NM, which is pretty good for growing fruit in that it is of excellent quality when it comes, and without the need for using any chemicals. I would definitely not be complaining if it weren't for the destructive frosts, as well as the cold winters which rule out the warmer temperate and subtropical fruits.

As an example:

In 10 years of growing fruit in my backyard, I have had fruit the following times:

• Apricots in 2 years
• Peaches in 4 years
• Apples in 5 years
• Plums in 4 years
• Pears and Cherries in 0 years (out of only 3 years with mature flowering trees)
• In some years, even things like grapes don't produce from early growth being killed
• All fruit was destroyed one year from a serious hail storm

Only jujube, raspberry, and mulberry have so far proven to be reliable every year, but unfortunately I have only invested in large scale plantings of the raspberries.

nmfruit:

Amarillo was no better than Santa Fe. Maybe even worse. The cold air sometimes doesn't make it over the mountains. So Albuquerque is a better place to grow fruit than Amarillo. Still too cold in winter for me. I think Las Cruces and Alamogordo might be a little better yet. High Rolls/Mountain Park is pretty good for apples and sweet cherries.

But if you want more consistent production move closer to a good commercial fruit production area. Those areas need to crop nearly 100% or they can't compete. The areas I listed above all have good production areas nearby. I absolutely loved growing fruit in CA. There are so many areas there where you can grow everything you have now, all the other stuff you mentioned, and crop nearly 100%.

Life is short don't stay 30 yrs like I did in an area like Amarillo.

Thanks for the advice. I agree that life is short, and I appreciate your saying it!

Tonight is looking like that fateful night that seems to come every year... I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but it is 30 degrees now, and predicted to go down to 25. Nearly everything in bloom or past (except apples). I gave up covering a couple years ago -- too much hassle and expense with poor results, and major constructions that would work are not allowed by my HOA...

I moved because of climate. I wanted somewhere greener and lusher, with more trees, and more water, and cooler summer temperatures. Unfortunately the new location had crappy weather for half the year (late October to late April, continuous rain, cold and overcast skies) but the other half was paradise. I'm still trying to make up my mind. One place is paradise for half the year, and the other place is basically paradise for the other half of the year. Wish I could move back and forth like a migrating bird. Well actually both climates have their interesting features in the off-seasons.

Location A, you can easily grow subtropicals, and it's possible to grow most tropical fruits, virtually no disease to worry about but the trees require consistent watering, especially during the summer

Location B, much easier to grow stone fruits, and it is a paradise for growing fruit, but it can still require watering in the summer. You could grow things here like raspberries and gooseberries that were extremely difficult to grow in the other climate. The growing season was a little bit short though.

I've heard of several places called "city of eternal spring", typically in Latin American countries at higher elevations where the temperatures are extremely moderate throughout the entire year.

nmfruit:

Sorry about last night. It looks like the mid 20s during bloom stuck again. I know how that feels. We don't get that many springs in our life. Another bad one stinks.

parker25mv:

If stone fruit matters to you strongly consider the places, probably CA, where you need to water all summer. It's either that or places like the Southeast where you need to spray all summer. I'd much rather irrigate than spray pesticides. The dry summers also allow better sweeter fruit.

I loved CA weather. To me it seemed like two summers. The hot dry one that allows high quality fruit with minimal pests. And the cool wet one where everything greens up and mid 20s happens at most once every few yrs. Winter gardens do very well in CA.

I'm in zone 7 and I hate the cold so I'm suffering here. If I was to move my biggest consideration would be having property and getting away from urban/suburban life. Second would be weather. I love humidity too.

On the west coast, temperature is inversely proportional to humidity. If you want it wet it's also going to be cold.

On the east coast you can head south and it only gets more humid. Or wait for the summer and it's humid. Pretty much the opposite.