Okay, I have a couple additions for you. We are located in about the most severe growing climate where we can still actually grow things, Zone 1b in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The new Haskap (honeyberry), developed at the Univ. of Saskatchewan by Dr. Bob Bors, is a great cold climate berry--fast growing, no disease susceptibility, very few insect pests. Keeps in bloom up to -8C (trust me, it hits that here in early May when they bloom). Produces pickable fruit in 2 years, and lots by Year 4. Hardy. Tough. Should be netted though; the birds LOVE THEM. We have two orchards of them, and harvested 6400 lbs last summer, expecting over 10,000 lbs this year. For the home owner, 10 plants would give you more than you can eat by year 4. (at 5+ lbs a plant). We also grow Saskatoons. That's another winner in this climate. Also loved by birds. And chokecherries (not for fresh eating, but makes great wine and jam/jelly). We are opening a winery this year. Nice video. Very informative. Thank you.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing! This is good to know. I have a couple honeyberries in my food forest but they are slow to get established. However, I have a friend who has prolific honeyberries too. Thanks so much for the additional information! So exciting that you are opening a winery. Glad you're still able to grow as far north as you are.
I would like to ask, is there a source of chokecherry plants? I would like to try them. I have about 10 honey berries (haskaps). The thing folks need to know is they don't set many berries unless you have pollinator varieties in the group. As Muggins Quilt says, we produce a wild amount of berries from these 10 plants.
honeyberries thriving in cold climates are hardly a new thing, they naturally grow in siberia after all ;-) also, i´m kinda missing black berries, and all its 'relatives' - tayberry, loganberry, boysenberry.....
@Lars Hildebrandt we have the Joanna 4 Haskap Mechanical Harvester by Weremzuk in Poland. I can't imagine picking more than a row. I have picked 300 plants before when they were 4 years old and it took me a month, 10 hours a day.
We live near Montreal and have had white, black and red currant bushes for many years. The white and red currant bushes are the most prolific, yielding about 8.5 to 9 pounds of berries each. These bushes require very little maintenance. We place wood chips around them to keep down the weeds and keep the moisture in the ground. After the fruit begins to form in the spring, we cover all the bushes well with cloth sheets (bed sheets) to keep out the currant flies. Based on our experience, this is a highly effective method, as nearly 100% of our berries are unaffected. Actually, this year, I have not seen a single berry affected by currant flies.
What an informative video on growing berries. It was nice to know that you can plant these and they won't need constant care. And thanks for letting us know that they won't begin producing until the second or third year. Good to know. I've never tasted the gooseberry or josta berry - so that would be an interesting berry to plant. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching! Yes, gooseberries are one of my more productive berries. Quite delicious, especially if you like tart berries!
I was very happy with a Juneberry here in zone 17, or USDA zone 9B. Drought and shade tolerant, nothing special with the soil. Recently added wolfberries and seeking a Viking aronia and several blueberries and honey berries. Thanks for the informative video and sharing your yard, it looks really tranquil.
@@BrokenGround Thank you. I already harvested buckets of wild grapes nobody wanted and mulberries from my yard in Texas. I watched your video because I planned to get a homestead in beautiful Maine.
That's a great tip about growing raspberries near an edge, we do ours right on the edge of our garden so that on one side we have a path where we can pluck any runners that come up because they're really easy to see, and on the other side we can just mow them down as they come up since it's lawn.
Grew up overseas where everyone grew up drinking blackcurrant and redcurrant juice, with blackcurrant being much more common. Kids drank it like U.S. kids do kool-aid and capri-sun, with little containers of Ribena for packed lunches, and shelf-stable juice concentrate waiting at home. Never met anyone that ate them fresh as if they were raspberries in all that time. Always cooked/processed somehow. Ditto for gooseberries- less common in the average house than blackcurrant products, but gooseberry jam was familiar to most. Just wanted to share as it seems most people in North America have the expectation of a new fresh-eating berry to try, which hasn't been what I've seen. Having said that, worth growing for throwing in baked goods, smoothies etc. I'd agree that redcurrant is probably more acceptable and familiar to a North American palate.
My Grandpa planted Jostaberries & they are delicious! They last forever, just keep getting more rip as time goes on kind of like raspberries but in July through September in Montana.
With currants I have a different taste. I love black and I like red but they are too much tart for me to eat them raw in larger amount. But they are good in some compote tho. Didn't try white currants but I know they are good rootstock for goseberries. In my country you can find thornless variety of goseberries. I would also recommend mulberry as a good berry shrub for people and poultry. Leaves of mulberry can be also used as a rabbit feed (about 50% of feed). You can coppice them every few years or plant Gerardi's dwarf that is about 2m high.
Great, thanks for sharing. Yes, we all have our different tastes. I'm glad some people like the black! Where do you live? I'd be interested in finding a thornless gooseberry!
When I bought my house 20 years ago I planted a semi-dwarf apple tree, now about 25' tall & wide. As its production started to decline I planted two more semi-dwarf trees, but have been pruning them to keep them smaller. Aside from those I didn't start food production until last year, when my focus was on perennial crops, because they take longer to produce. I planted Anne raspberries (and a red variety that grew the first year, then died), Red Lake currant, Black Velvet gooseberries, Nova elderberry (the York never grew) and an everbearing strawberry...along with asparagus, a cherry tree, and grape vines. I guess now I'll look into Josta berries! I found your channel by searching "zone 4 berry farm" - now I have to search your channel to see if I can find something on propagating berry bushes, because everything I've seen so far says to do it in the winter...or late fall 'just stick the cuttings in the ground', and I'm pretty sure that doesn't work in cold climates without a greenhouse.
Sounds like you planted some delicious perennials! Thanks for letting me know what you searched to find my channel, that's super helpful. I don't have anything on propagating berry bushes, unfortunately. But agreed, I don't think fall will work for us in colder climates. I would do cuttings early spring.
I just put goji berries in our food forest this spring. I'm excited to see if they produce well. I haven't heard of Tay berries, I will look those up. Thanks!
hello, i live in northern bc and it gets pretty cold in the winter here and was wondering how to grow blueberries & strawberries on my apartment balcony and can I bring the plants in my home during those cold winters and if so how do i take care of it indoors? thanks hope that wasn't to many questions.
Hello! You can grow both blueberries and strawberries in pots. Blueberries need a little more space than strawberries so I'd try to buy the biggest pot possible. If I were you, I'd probably just leave them outdoors over the winter and mulch them well, instead of bringing them indoors. They should go dormant and survive over the winter. If you do want to bring them in, you have to make sure they get adequate light to keep growing. The problem in northern regions like ours and especially further north where you are, is that we don't have adequate natural light for the plants to keep growing well. You can use supplemental lighting but then that's energy intensive. Hope that helps!
@@jean-63 No! So sorry for the confusion. By mulching, I mean cover the strawberries with straw or a layer of leaves so that they are better insulated during the winter.
@@BrokenGround ohhhhh ok, so can I use an old towel since I'm no where near hay and if I do this, does it mean I can then leave them on the balcony over winter and they will come back in the Spring? When should I uncover them?
I just found your channel and have settled down in a cold climate. I have a question. I have a path that I would like to line with shrubs and the like that grow berries. Its probably 200 feet long. Can I grow the things you suggest among each other? I'm envisioning a wall of shrubs along the side facing the road but 15 feet from the road. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks.. Jim
Glad you found my channel! Yes, you can definitely do a multispecies hedge of different shrubs. Depending on which direction the path faces, I would just be careful about taller shrubs shading out shorter ones but absolutely, making a diverse hedge is great for bird habitat and interest as well!
Yes! Honeyberries are great too. The ones in my food forest are still getting established but I've seen beautiful shrubs in our region. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@BrokenGround Absolutely one can grow abundance wherever you live. I'm getting hardy kiwis established right now maybe you could try too I hear they produce alot of good fruit I can't wait... I tasted the clove (golden) currant as well it's a unique variety and taste unlike gooseberry/currants, it tastes very delicious, produces well, grows well, has ornamental foliage and smells great when in flower.
@@JohnDoe_88 I tried hardy kiwis a couple years ago but a combination of a late spring frost and me not watering them enough led to their early demise. I want to try them again though, when I have more time to dedicate to their success! I planted some golden currants in my front yard last fall, I'll see how they do, good to know they produce well. Can't wait until spring!
@@BrokenGround Very nice oh yeah you'll love the golden currant it's not talked about enough and the pollinators love it. Maybe find a low lying spot that naturally gets more water might help. Yes I've heard hardy kiwi needs extra water to establish well
Anyone out there with tips to prevent deer and moose damage done to the berry bushes? Also, I would include cranberries as a great northern climate berry.
Fan Stanner yes! Cranberries are a great addition, thanks for sharing! In terms of deer and moose damage, I’ve found the most effective way is to fence the area. There is also a product called liquid deer fence but that is never a guarantee. We have a 7 foot fence around most of our property to keep the deer out.
I love berries. I live in central Ontario on a heavy clay, fairly alkaline soil that get rather dry in the summer. For what it's worth I've had no luck with currants. I believe they like better soil and more water than I can give them. Early, as a gardener, I gave up on strawberries due to weed & maintenance requirements. Best berries for me are josta, currant, raspberry and haskaps. The raspberries varieties that are mowed to the ground in the fall are the best as they require little maintenance. All of these berries are grown with a deep wood chip mulch to eliminate weeds. The only challenge are the birds now as I have a berry crop pretty much from mid June (haskpas) through to the last frost (autumn bliss raspberries).
I stand correct. I didn't mean currants. Currants grow like weeds. I meant gooseberries. I love them but it's too dry for me to grow them without constantly watering them.
@@billastell3753 ah. I haven't had a bunch of luck with the gooseberries I planted either but randomly found some growing wild in the bush so I know they can grow here :P edit: thanks, you've given me an idea for my gooseberries. :D
I can't remember if they actually have thorns or rough stems, but if they do they are nothing to worry about ( I remember that I had no concerns when working near them or handling them). Might you be thinking of blackberries (also known in Britain as brambles)? The blackberry plant does indeed have thorns along the stems and can indeed spike you painfully. However, there are thornless cultivars of those bushes.
Yes, they have thorns but like Dan said, they aren't that big a deal. Gooseberries are super thorny and I'd be concerned but with long sleeves and pants, it's no problem to harvest raspberries and totally worth it!!
I have a land in Saskatchewan, an hour and 15 minutes away from Regina. It is close to the mud lake and land quality (Soil Class: M ) . Can someone make recommendations what should I grow there? Can I grow berries?
@@SadePunjabiSongs You can google that info pretty easily. Knowing your hardiness zone will inform what shrubs will grow. Though I have a feeling that most of the ones I mention in this video will work for you. The best thing to do, often, is to visit local garden centers and nurseries that stock trees and shrubs for your region. They usually have a lot of information on locally adapted varieties. Don't go to a big box store but a local nursery will give you some great ideas.
@@BrokenGround Thanks for your response. It is really appreciated. I will try to contact some local garden centers. I live in GTA Ontario and that's my challenge.
make sure you get the right type of raspberry though. I got one type that almost never manages to ripen fruit before the frost hits. maybe try getting another black currant bush, mine gets clusters of huge berries like 2x as big as those and while they have a bit of a bite to them I like them. also what about blueberries?
Good advice, thanks! Yes, definitely make sure the raspberries do well in your climate and with the growing season that you have. That's why I always recommend going to a local garden center to get plants, rather than a big box store. Talking to folks who have direct experience growing particular varieties is really important. I may try another variety of black currant. Thanks! What variety do you have? Blueberries don't do well in our alkaline soils, as they prefer acidic ones. So I grow honeyberries (haskaps) instead.
I would love it if my raspberrys spread! ANY perennial I plant is quickly (within 2-3 years) overwhelmed by grass. Nothing will grow on my property but grass.
Shoot, I'm sorry to hear that. It's true, you have to be super diligent about getting grass out. I do spend a lot of time doing that and find that I have to sheet mulch some parts of my food forest fairly regularly. The raspberries seem to do okay and not get overwhelmed, possibly because there are more garden beds in front of the raspberries so the grass doesn't encroach as quickly. Is this a strategy you could possibly use?
I wish we could have blueberries! Our soils are too alkaline for blueberries to thrive. I plant honeyberries instead! You're lucky you can grow blueberries!
I have red currant (best for juice, white currents (best for fresh eating) , and 3 types of black currents. One of the black currents tastes like medicine (not sure what it's good for) one is OK for jams but the 3rd variety is known as clove current. It is quite tasty to eat off the bush. All in all I would rate currents as the least favorite of the berries I grow primarily because thy are harder to pick and clean. I'm sure I could learn some techniques from more knowledgeable folks to improve my method.
Great Bill, thanks for sharing! Yes, I agree, they are definitely hard to process but I really like our red currants. I'd like to add white and clove currants to our food forest. Thanks for the suggestions!
Great question Carolyn! Blueberries don't do well in our alkaline soils so they are actually not a great berry to grow in our particular region. However, if you are in a region with more acidic soils and know people in your area that are growing them successfully, you should definitely include them in your food forest. I wish we could! I grow honeyberries (haskaps) instead, which are another great berry to grow in cold climates. Not quite the same as blueberries but I'll take what we can get!
Blueberries prefer acidic soil and our soils in Montana are quite alkaline so they don't really grow well here. Honeyberries are the next best thing for us. If, in your area, you have more acidic soil then they would be first on my list!
Hi Marie, I don't end up acidifying my soil as all of the berries I've mentioned are okay with our more alkaline soils. That's one reason why I don't mention blueberries as they don't do well in our more alkaline soils. So I grow honeyberries instead. Not as delicious as blueberries but still pretty good! If you do want to acidify your soil, you can add sulfur or a natural soil acidifying amendment.
Get acid potting soil from Gurney's (Blueberry Success mix), or Gardens's Alive (Blueberry Surefire Mix), plant in pots (imbedded in the ground), water with rain water, mulch, and get the hardy varieties. Blueberries' roots only go down a foot. I also cover over the winter.
@@donbirkholz6842 I would love to do that but our rainwater on our Rocky Mtn Homestead at 9000 ft elevation is extremely alkaline, as well....the blueberry plants I have planted have all died within the first year of planting them...
Yes indeed! I wish we could grow blueberries and blackberries in our region. Our soils are too alkaline for blueberries and we're too cold for blackberries. They are two of my favorite berries though! Thanks for watching!
@@jeffgegos7333 I have never seen these as options, I'll definitely check it out! I might have to go with the zone 3 varieties as our site is in a bit of a colder microclimate. Thanks for the tip! Do you have a good source for them?
Amazon and Etsy it has to be morus rubra the red mulberry or white mulberry or hybrids between both not morus nigra the black mulberry or morus macroura the Pakistan mulberry you could try Korean mulberries and weeping mulberries. The most hardy mulberry are the native red mulberry and hybrids between it and the white mulberry which is invasive but it probably won’t be becuase you’re up north also if it comes from Florida and it’s morus rubra or morus alba it’s still very hardy Ross radii has a good video about it. Make sure it’s not the black mulberry or Pakistan mulberry
Yes of course! This is even after you offer to friends. Some berries like currants are so prolific that some surplus is inevitable. Besides, it’s good to provide food for the critters that support the ecosystem as well.
