Berries

[khoomeizhi]

it's still illegal for out-of-state businesses to mail me gooseberry or currant, and maybe for local ones to do it, too? not sure, lots of plants around, though, there's definitely ways around it.

[potter]

Some of those berry names are totally alien to me. I've just googles one, service berry..and it turn out to be saskatoon or Armelanchier that its better known here.
I suspect many of those are known but named differently.
Ah, yes, I've got black mulberry growing here too, and 'domesticated' wild bilberry..that one I dragged all the way from Finland as it grows like weed there, all over the place..and lingon berry too. Once a year I go wild food 'harvest' over there and bring suitcase full of berries over to UK..but now I've got my own mini 'forest' ...I've got HUGE planter for those..size of hot tub, as my ground is not suitable for 'acid' loving species. That planter is working treat..I built all layers like it would be in wild and it can keep itself watered enough that I haven't needed to apply any water after first year when plants were getting established. Not quite a answer for the amount I use over the the year..but bit of fun of growing at least a my own taster. ;D
I've also have aronia, honey- and goji berry in hedge that I'm slowly turning into 'edible/useful' hedge...but its sloow to come..aronia is giving now some crop others are still too young and I'm having to fight against snails that absolutely love goji leaves..

[oxbowfarm]

One that I'm trying to cultivate actively is Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) and Goumi (Elaeagnus multiflora). They are delicious, mega high in lycopene and the plants are nitrogen fixing. Autumn olive is already widely established around here and is actively given the "invasive" label. I have a hard time having a problem with it.

[MikeH]

Tim,

I've found that you can propagate multiflora from cuttings and seed. I think that I may have been a bit lucky according to Lee Reich.



although Wilfred Sheat says that cuttings have a high success percentage.

As for autumn olive, the invasive label seems to be applied in a few states. It does grow a bit west of us in a sandy area on Rice Lake and it's definitely spreading but it's nothing like the buckthorn in the area. That one is bad news. Nothing grows in buckthorn thickets and they get BIG. I dug up a dozen seedlings and will grow them out a bit for planting. I agee with you about the taste. They make a fantastic jelly which probably means they'd make an equally fantastic juice.

With a bit of luck, I'll have Sweet Scarlet goumi this year. With my cutting and Sweet Scarlet or my seedling, I'll have what I need to propagate an endless supply for any interested folks on this side of the border.

Regards,
Mike

[potter]

Quite few of you have mentioned black berries not being tasty?
I do admit them not being the tastiest when eaten fresh..but soooo lovely when cooked or used in pies etc.
Britts are really fond of them over here and its one of the most common berries grown or picked from wild.
Blackberry jam mixed into gravy makes really nice accompanion for 'wild' meat..YUM!
Another UK classic..apple and blackberry pie or crumble!!
I find blackberries needs to almost drop on hand when ready for picking..they don't seem to develop their flavour untill you get your hands dirty from the juices and sadly then they need using almost straight away, for not keeping very long. For freezer I pick them when fully black but still firm..but then they need plenty of sugar or sweetener to bring out the flavour when cooked.

[ottawagardener]

Certain blackberries are wonderful but others are insipid. I remember the blackberries in the UK and in BC - fabulous. The black capped raspberries here are okay but not fantastic and most of the 'blackberries' you get at the story are not exactly delicious.

[atash]

Both the feral ones here and the domesticated types absolutely delicious. The feral ones are fairly tart and have a complex flavor. The domesticated ones fairly sweet and palatable fresh out of hand.

Ottawa, too bad Marionberries are not hardy in your part of the world; those are delicious. They're a cross between Blackberries and native west coast dewberries. Unfortunately, however, they grow on a horridly spiney plant that is hard to manage; I tried them and yanked them out, but now they keep coming back from missed bits and pieces! I only grow the upright spineless types anymore, because they are so much easier to manage.

I THINK there are related varieties that have been bred for greater hardiness; I do not know what their limits are.

[Walk]

We have small fruits of many kinds and don't talk about them much because they are so darn easy compared with tree fruits and the veg plot. Here we have strawberries and raspberries in the garden and tons of wild blackberries, elderberries, high-bush cranberries and black caps. Also domestic and wild grapes. All of these are productive enough to make a significant contribution to the table. Others that we're experimenting with, like guomi, mostly feed the birds/wildlife. Or the crop is difficult to harvest like some of the wild cherries. Plenty of fruit to eat here if you can get into picking it - little fruits do add up to a lot of nutrition and flavor and make meals much more interesting1

[MikeH]

Also, growing medlar, shipova, beach plum, sea buckthorn, Illinois everbearing mulberry, red mulberry, American plum, persimmon, Eastern Prince Schisandra, hardy kiwi, Cornus kousa var. Chinensis, Manchurian apricot, Chui Lum Tao peaches, Harbin pears, Cornelian cherry, with a bit of luck, a couple of pawpaws and a couple of very hardy quinces from One Green World, and cherries - Nanking, Evans, Romeo, Crimson Passion, Rose cherry

Also, nut trees = hazel(native & varieties), northern pecan, Russian almond, heartnut, Korean pine.

The red mulberry is such a vigorous grower that I think that it's a candidate for coppicing.

[castanea]

Mike, how is your Evans cherry doing? Is it really as massively productive as reported? Is the fruit really edible out of hand?

I know Chui Lum Tao is widely used as rootstock in Canada and the northern US, but I would like to grow it for its genetic diversity. Where does everyone get the seeds in the US?

[MikeH]

Feb 11, 2012 12:00:51 GMT -5 castanea said:

Mike, how is your Evans cherry doing? Is it really as massively productive as reported? Is the fruit really edible out of hand?

I know Chui Lum Tao is widely used as rootstock in Canada and the northern US, but I would like to grow it for its genetic diversity. Where does everyone get the seeds in the US?

Three years ago when we plant the Evans a herd of marauding deer wandered through the orchard sampling a bit of this and a bit of that. Nothing major until they came to the Evans which they decapitated the central leader and all side branches except one. I decided to train that single branch as the new central leader. It did well but was slow the next year. Last year we got flowers which I did not want since it was still recovering from the excessive pruning that it got so I stripped them all off. It put on good growth this past year and with a bit of pruning has a good open shape. I'm hopeful for this year especially if our Nanking cherries flower as prolifically as they did last year. Although the Evans is self-fertile, it can't hurt to have a pollinator like the Nanking helping things along. I suspect that Evans fruit is probably sweeter if allowed to ripen on the tree for as long as possible. That was certainly the case for our Nanking cherries last year. They went from being slightly tart to being lusciously sweet in a couple of days. Fortunately, we netted a couple of bushes or else the cedar waxwings would have cleaned them out.

I'm going to try some soft wood cuttings from the Chui Lum Tao as well as the Manchurian apricot and the Harbin pear. I'll also be stooling them as well this summer. It's worth having a go at trying to send rooted cuttings through the mail. It's only postage if they don't make it.

Regards,
Mike

[Deleted]

I would like to find small, rooted cuttings of red huckleberry and salal / shallon. I am also interested in Sea Buckthorn.

The skins of store-bought strawberries yielded seeds, when dried on a paper plate. I have a tree planter full of the offspring, which I understand are not the same variety, but the fruit are just as tasty. I hope that cuttings will liven up the flower beds with lots of edible fruit, as my grandmother used to fill several collanders, every month.

Blueberries and raw cranberries did sprout but needed better root systems, before coming out of their humidity domes. More seed are ready to plant.

I'll try to grow 50 Sunberry (Solanum Burbankii) seeds this year, as well as propagating more of my Cape Gooseberry. I have found that dry Goji berries will germinate, when untreated, but branches have been slow to develop.

Bearberry never made it out of it's mailer but is planted successfully in the foothills, near my house.

200+ Autumn olive never germinated.

I have planted black and red currant, and Red Hinnonmaki Gooseberry, but the plants are still small at 2 yrs old. I was surprised that they were so drought tolerant but make an effort not to let them get too dry.

Very-popular mulberry trees are randomly deposited by birds, along local fence lines. Mine certainly resulted from a fruiting variety but has yet to produce at 5 1/2 ft tall.

[benboo]

There was a mulberry tree between bushes that are now removed. the mulberry re sprouted after being cut, and is now 8 feet tall. I hope it fruits this year.

I tried sea-buckthorn from seed, but only had one survivor. I ordered plants for this year.

[Deleted]

Alot of my EBay stuff is obsessively cared for, but does not germinate. Sea buckthorn is one example, and I bought in bulk.

For whatever reason, some of my hardier species have come out of dormancy, after several years. I hope this is the case with my sea buckthorn.

But, I understand that it would still require different varieties for pollen.