TOP 5 Fruiting SHRUBS to plant in your Garden or Permaculture Orchard! 

Recap for those of us with poor data retention: 5) Red Currant 4) Haskap 3) Black Currant 2) Rhubarb 1) Gooseberry

In old Soviet Union many people had small private gardens. All of your top 5 were indeed the staple of those gardens. Kind of takes me to my childhood

I have planted strawberries, black currants, rhubarb, raspberries, thornless blackberries, tayberries, blueberries, cranberries, haskap , sea buckthorn, dwarf sour cherries as well as herbs and nuts interspersed among fruit trees and covered the ground with a thick layer of wood chips. Everything appears reasonably happy at year two of our efforts. The birds have really moved in for all the nice worms and bugs and berries, lol.

Haskap is also known as Honeyberry in the USA.

preach my man, gooseberry is da goat. years ago when I had never tasted a gooseberry I bought one and placed it in the back of my garden and honestly completely forgot about it's existence, now after buying 5 more bareroot I rediscovered the secret present from me to me from the past and am very pleased

1: Gooseberry, 2: Rhubarb, 3: Red currant, 4: Raspberry, 5: Aronia, 6: Blueberry, 7: Blackberry, 8: Yellow goumi, 9: black currant, 10: Sea buckthorn (small variety).

My Grandmother grew White Current berries. The jelly was to die for! It was very clear and had the most wonderful flavor.

1. Cherry trees. 2. Red currents 3. Grapes 4. Blackberries 5. Strawberries. I would like to have more and more but I have only a small garden. Your garden is so beautiful and impressive. I love it!!!!

1. Gooseberry 2. Black Cap Raspberry 3. White Currants 4. Golden Raspberry 5. Jostaberry Is anyone here growing Mulberries, Goumi, Autum Olive, or Sea Buckthorn ? Growing in Pacific North West Region

I LOVE this guy! He has so much knowledge about why you get certain pesky insects or weeds. Plus the plants he recommends are mostly northern cultivars, which is perfect for me as I live in West central Wisconsin.

Black currants are delicious. Straight, as juice, or as jam. I have no idea why they are not popular in North America. I haven't had gooseberries so long, I forgot the taste.

Can you come to Yorkshire and explain to the blackbirds that they don't eat currants.

I am grateful for your channel Stefan. Thank you.

Haskap has become a favorite of mine, I planted 3 cultivars last year and am interested in adding one or 2 more in spring. I personally find raw black currant is delicious on it's own, the ones I got from you. I think I should plant some gooseberry next! Thanks again Stefan; you are such an inspiration and a source of wisdom.

We have a lot of wild gooseberries in our area in west Michigan. They tend to be more tart, but really good.

Yay gooseberries! That's my #1 choice too! I have all five of those growing around my trees except for the honeyberry- I accidentally kept mowing them so now I have one in a safer place at least for now.

Just found you! Wow! Wonderful information, pleasant and funny to listen to!

Hello, it was a pleasure to watch your video, it is very interesting and you share your great mood and enthusiasm, now I wish I had a garden !

In Estonia we absolutely eat black currant by itself if its ripe enough :)

We have a Polar Jewel Haskap berry growing and this year it has just exploded with fruit! Fantastic shrub. :-) I guess we're doing alright here, got 4 of your top 5!

Just discovered this channel! Giving big applause!!! I can't wait to check out all your videos :D

I found your channel by chance an hour ago and Im loving it! Gooseberry is my number 1 and I leave mine to go soft and pink in the middle. Then eat straight off the bush- yummy.

Great video! Just found your channel ... wonderful content and presentation.

Awesome job you guys!!!! On to the tour!

i love blackcurrant. At first i didn't get them because they smelled toxic to my nose but they grew on me and they make the best jam ever. Glad my eastern european Canadian husband put it in the yard. I contributed a mulberry byt thats more of a tree. I love my Illinois everbearing mulberry. Im considering getting a gooseberry as per your recommendation.

Just bought two black currant bushes. Now I know where to plant. Thank you for your knowledge! Agree with the rhubarb:)

My favorite is my honeysuckle. If folks knew the health benefits of that plant there wouldn't be any problem of it growing wild, folks would over-pick it to death. I have both vining and bush varieties in my back yard. You have to be responsible with them when you grow them, keep them cut back in the fall. But the flowers and young leaves are worth the picking in the spring. Makes for a wonderful, healthful tea and other wonders

Fantastic! I have all 5 in my yard in the city

Thank you for sharing your knowledge , much appreciated I live in zone 5-6 Warwick New York So many deer 😱, some chipmunks, rabbits, some black bears Many bees and butterflies and pollenating flying insects Much to learn from your sharing 👍🏼 New here and have 4 blueberry shrubs to plant yet

I love these videos and seeing what grows well for you being your latitude is almost identical to ours here in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Hear Yee! Hear Yee! Hear Yee! The MONARCH BUTTERFLY has arrived in Pittsburgh, PA. She chose the Common Milkweed over the Swamp Milkweed 1st:-) Common Milkweed was in full bloom and Swamp Milkweed has yet to open.

Thankyou for sharing this usefull information.

I totally agree with you on the Gooseberries, and I especially love the two Hinnonmaki cultivars, the yellow one has a pineapple or apricot taste and the red one gets very sweet when you let it ripen to dark red. Both are very compact shrubs. Also in my Top 5 would be Blackberry cultivars, when you have mild winters (Zone 7 or 8) they are great for natural fences or dead hedges. I love the erect, thorny varieties like Kiowa, which has huge fruits.

Great channel! And Canadian too! ❤

Thank you! I like serviceberrys a lot.

I wish I could grow rhubarb. It is one of the things I miss since I moved south. I have heard of people down in the Deep South growing them as a winter annual.

Hi Stefan You got a new subscriber. Love from London.

Excellent show. You have a brand new subscriber!

Gooseberry, Red Currant, High Bush Cranberry, Wild Raspberry, Rhubarb. The High Bush Cranberry is a nice one in muffins with all their different colors, love them!

I'm new to your channel. And love your videos. So much to learn in so little time. Thank you all for all your knowledge to glean from.

Where I am in the UK we're in for some vicious storms as the climate warms (already started having some monsters), so I'm moving away from single stem trees and towards my entire polyculture orchard/fruit savannah being coppiced trees + fruiting shrubs all below 9' tall so it can better weather the coming storm. It also puts all of the flowers and fruit within reach of my Emu which is another headache though...

Note to self: 5 Red Currant. 4. Haskap. (Support amazing scientists) 3. Black Currant (jam, medicine, birds don't like it, propagates easy). 2. Rhubarb. 1. Gooseberries! (Need shade like under fruit trees). I have a blueberry bush that died but a rhubarb as old as me; I just don't know how or when to harvest.

In Sweden i would say main use for the black currant is to boil it into lemonade. Another wellknown product here would be black currant jelly that is popular with meat often wildgame.

You have done well with the food forest

Once again a very interesting and informative video. Thank you.Shared with all my friends.

Great video thank you for sharing your top 5

Great list. Honeyberries make the best pancake/ice cream sauce on earth!

I've got 4 of the 5 in my yard now. Not bad for a novice gardener. I'll have to try the gooseberries. Hascaps came from the University of Saskatchewan. I can't wait to see how they taste.

I have never heard of Rhubarb dumplings. I am going to have to look that one up. Great list. I planted haskap, red currant, white currant, and pink currant. I was on the fence about getting rhubarb and gooseberries, but now you helped me decide. You are right gooseberries are very tough to find anywhere. I am going to have to order my plants online.

I am a big plant geek. Last year I learned black currants are a lot taster when cooked, overlooked that one. Trying honeyberries or haskapps this year, hope my male is compatable. He is going to have three girlfriends. Great information!

My two favourite are goji berries and haskap berries. They have my number one, two, and three requirements 1. Hard to kill 2. Super fruit in terms of antioxidants 3. Cold hardy.

Again on behalf of my father and I, we hope you enjoy this highly requested video and furthermore enjoy the launch of our new Online Course - Miracle Farns VITUAL TOUR available to start for free right now at www.miraclefarm.ca/vt1/

I planted 15 haskap bushes last summer, they got decimated by rabbits, but to my surprise they bounced right back. I see buds opening this week. Can't wait to get some more in the future.

Best rhubarb I ever grew was in the shade under a cedar. It produced right through until fall!

To give you a chuckle: I planted 5 pink champagne currants. Never grew them before so didn't know how soon they would flower & fruit. One of them is inadvertently buried under an overzealous comfrey plant. I was giving my friend a tour and pulled back the comfrey to look at the small currant plant. Imagine my surprise to find lovely clusters of pearls hanging there. Not sure when to harvest them -- seem ripe but still tart.

Dude, you stole my top 5! Actually, I have only 4 of them planted between my trees, no rhubarbs! I love their fruits and my kids loves it too! This year I have planted multiple types of haskap berries! Good luck with your orchard and thanks for your good advices! I really enjoy your vids!

Love it!

I just found your channel. This was the third video that I have watched. It is very good information; thank you for sharing it.

Black currant is sooo delicious, processed! I hardly ever drink soda, but when i do, i prefer Cassis😋😋😋 the smell and taste is soooo good!

Thank you. Very helpful....WAY more helpful than the descriptions in the nursery catalogs, which have misled me a number of times. EXCEPT, in Portland, Oregon, gooseberries get horrible tiny green worms which can just eat all the leaves and kill a Gooseberry and I know of no organic way to deal with them except to pick them off which takes a lot of time when I would rather use the time for something else, so I have given up. Jostaberries do well here, so I grow them instead...they, as you probably know, are a cross between Gooseberry and Currant. The Pacific Northwest is berry heaven so I cannot limit myself to 5....some of these do grow tall, but they are soooo good. Aronia berry is tops for me due to how nutritious it is. It was a revelation to me to learn how nutritious many berries are, and how much easier they are to grow than large furit trees. Plus they bear fruit so much sooner! Elderberry for its nutritive qualities. BlackRaspberry is amazing. Soo nutritious and productive! Plus they will grow under Black Walnut. Close behind is Blackberry! Close behind is Raspberry and Marionberry. Goumi Berries are amazing...their real potential is in a small tree, but even shrubs 5 feet tall will produce a lot of fruit. Ditto with Seaberry. Pussy Willws for early pollinators and rooting hormone. Lilacs to bliss out on the heavenly smell fo the flowers, which are edible! Thank you for your videos. I have learned a lot from them. Very practical info presented in a clear way that is easy to understand. Blessings :)

Great list! I love gooseberries!

Rhubarb and apple crumble, delicious! Thanks for sharing, I am actually applying some of your techniques all the way over here in Bulgaria.

Another excellent one.

Coming from south central Indiana. My top 5: Hazelnut, Blackberry, black raspberry, romeo and juliet bush cherries, I've got substantial clay here in Indiana, so although blackberry is on my list, I have to amend the soil sometimes to help it along.

trio = the triad exists everywhere from the person in time to the divinity

you make very informative video's man! you seem like a good teacher

Serviceberry/Juneberry - Amelanchier alnifolia, A. ovalis Siberian pea tree - Caragana arborescens Sea Buckthorn - Hippophae rhamnoides & any Elaeagnaceae memeber, incl. the wonderful Elaeagnus genus. Jostaberry Ribes × nidigrolaria Hazelnuts, of course. Trying Olallieberry, not sure yet how I like the plant (although I love the berries!), yet to see any harvest from them. Opps, there were only top 5.. I can keep going...

Thanks for the shade tips on gooseberry. I am expecting a few shipments of fruiting shrubs and trees this spring. As well as flowers, both shade and sun loving. When those arrive, I will have everything on the list aside from the haskaps. I am running out of space though as I live in town.

You just made a fan of me- I love gooseberries!!!

Yay, I LOVE gooseberries! I am planting a few shrubs this spring (I’m in the Netherlands, similar latitude, but close to the sea, so probably a milder climate). My list was almost the same as yours - but why no raspberries??

song thrush or wood trush will eat redcurrants. I have about 20 redcurrants and leave about 10 of them without a birdnet. I have one shrub where they have taken almost every berry. Blackcurrants they do not touch though.

Great info! Thanks! Is there a way that these shrubs also add nutrients that support the trees at the root level?

My favorite are: red currant, gooseberry, aronia berry. I have a black currant but ew it tastes like feet. Definitely must be for making into jams. I have a white currant also but it’s not doing too good. I also planted goji berry last year. Hoping to get fruit this year. Oh! I found a service berry last week and bought it. Tastes like blueberry but doesn’t need acidic soil!

This is very helpful ty

Nice to meet you Stefan, I'm a new subscriber, my top shrub is 1. Raspberries, then 2. red currants.3. thornless blackberry. And many other fruits we grow here in Australia but they're not shrubs.

ok, now I know where to plant my gooseberries, thanks.

Last year the birds left my honeyberries alone. Yesterday the robins discovered them and got at least half the berries on 8 bushes in one day. Chased 3 robins out of the bushes when I got home. Under netting now. The humorous part about this was the purple bird droppings on the fence and mulch. Never seen purple bird poop before. :-D BTW, be aware they aren't ripe until at least 10-14 days after the outer skin turns purple. Too many people pick them too soon and complain about them being bitter. A bitter honeyberry is simply not a ripe berry.

Rozmund, love all of these videos..thanks so much..I am so hooked, but what of deer..which we observe much of... in Zone 4, in Ontario..Stefan can you comment on the deer issue

Woo who gooseberries, my favourite 🤓

Great channel

The white or pink currants are a great tasting fruit.

1 hour to go! Can’t wait to finally reveal what I’ve been working on for the past year I really hope I can bring the WOW factor for you guys :)

I’m Eastern European. And my family loves currants. It’s so strange living in America and nobody knows what currant is. I’ve introduced many of my American friends to currant jam and they find it so interesting. Also the young leaves make a wonderful addition to tea. I add some to some black tea or white tea. So fragrant and delicious.

My number 1 is blackberries. Mmmmm except the last two years some orioles moved in and it is a battle to get anyy before them.

Thanks! 👍🏽

In Europe birds do eat blackcurrants. Well, maybe as a 3rd choice but they do disseminate them. This way I have no problem with finding seedlings for my soon to be permaculture orchard. They also ate halt of my Aronia and this year I noticed pigeons eating haskap (only old russian upright variety, wherever they can sit on).

Here in Finland, we added blackcurrants fresh to yogurts, during breakfast or tea time.

Those hascap I ha e we call them honeyberry in the states. I have them in the front of the house

Maybe I have the wrong exposure, but I have had more success in IL with clove/Buffalo curant (Ribes odorata) than with the European species. It also has great flowers.

5. Elderberry 4. Service berry (smaller cultivars) 3. WILD blueberry 2. Red Raspberry 1. Gooseberry ( especially the Purple ones)

I have tried honeyberries, different varieties in different spots, with very little result thus far (zone 7 Appalachia). We get a couple berries off each tiny bush but no more. Planted 2016-2017.

I might be late... but you might want to try josta berries, a gooseberry + black currant hybrid, thornless, delicious

Your #1 is my #1 too ;) I would like to experiment with the "new" (not very cold hardy) Brazel berries; raspberry Shortcake and Baby Cakes blackberry because they are small and thornless. They do love sun though.

The white currants sometimes a solution. Its a sister of the red one.

Stefan: Can I grow the plants that you mention in this video in NJ as well, under my White Oak?

I live in zone 8a. I love the idea of perennial shrubs under fruit trees. Learned from your video. What would be good for my rather humid area?

Top 5 shrubs, current current gooseberry(basically a current)

Great advice, thank you. I'm thinking that your recommendations must be based partly on your preferences, and partly upon what grows well in your region. I'm in the mid-Atlantic area of east coast USA, warmer climate. I'm just starting and was thinking that raspberries and blackberries would make some good shrubs. Also we have a local native beach plum shrub. Any thoughts? I already have some currant bushes.

Witam ponownie panie Stefanie.No coz,wyglada,ze mamy podobne smaki,ale dodal bym jeszcze "jezyny " a co pan na to ? Bo dawno temu byly w zasiegu reki.ale to tylko juz wspomnienia z polski, choc kupilismy krzaczek i zobaczymy co dalej....Szkoda,ze tak daleko ma Pan ten wspanialy sad bo bylo by co poogladac ale kto to wie.....?[ czy rozmawia Pan [po polsku?]POZDRAWIAMY SERDECZNIE.

Nice, but what Mediterranean climate Cal. and the SW? Zone info. on the plants? Growing under conifers? Great farm.