Discussions

Spring is around the corner!!! Yeah!!! I am wanting to plant some type of edible berry producing bush in my backyard. I want to be able to make jelly and freeze them down. Problem is there are so many to chose from.  
 
Do you have a favourite and why?

Berries are great. Currants are my favorite for jelly. Raspberries, strawberries and Saskatoons for freezer fruit. Honeyberries are great in muffins. Are easy to grow and take very little space. Cherries make good jelly and excellent calcium for fresh eating. Are large trees though. Grapes of course for wine!! Beautiful on a trellis. Always have ground cherries for nibbling. Chokecherries make great wine too. Do your research on how to care for them, soil recommendations, and prunning. All plants need specific care. Good luck and enjoy!!

Hard to believe the season's just around the corner!  
Evans cherry trees can get pretty big but if you look up the U Sask sour cherries they grow on bushes that max out at around 8 feet tall. Green Spot, Alternative and even Superstore and Canadian Tire have been carrying them lately.  
 
Personally like the idea of Haskaps aka honey berries and planted a handful last year. Super hardy and early ripening, which might soon be important criteria for these sorts of things if the Spotted Wing Drosophila fruit fly shows more signs of being a problem (so far they do their damage later in July). Haskaps dont seem to be extremely popular in the stores yet but should be able to find a few at Green Spot, Alternative and the big boxes. Theres also a licensed propagator just outside Portage called Riverbend Orchards that's very good to deal with. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to plant two separate compatible varieties for cross-pollination.  
 
Valiant grapes are basically a miracle for this climate. So hardy, so vigorous and they produce a ton of clusters of little grapes after a few years. Great for jam and juice tho the seeds are a pain in the butt when it comes to fresh eating. Dont need a lot of space if you train them upward. Doesnt sound like its your priority, but they aren&rsquo:t supposed to be a very good wine grape. There are a few recipes online and sounds like Rideon might've had some luck (unless you used a different variety?) I have an experimental batch aging myself ... fingers crossed!  
 
Would be interested in what kind of luck some might've had with blueberries. Have read they're fussy but planted a couple to try last year with low expectations.  
 
Two that I haven't seen in stores here but would love to give a shot are Somerset grapes and dwarf Saskatoons. Unfortunately the places that sell them online want more for shipping than I can justify but would go in on a quantity order amd split the cost with someone else if interested!  
 
Edited by Adam, 2018-02-23 21:48:08

Hard to believe the season's just around the corner!

Just a note for Adam. I have tried two varieties of blueberries with little to no success, therefore took on the honey berries which have done amazingly well for several years now. Yes, I have concord grapes, just watch the sugar(S.G.) when beginning the must. It is a very nice wine. I have an old recipe handed down to me that I use. I also have a white grape , can't remember the name, large sweet fruit. Very good fresh eating.

I will for sure check out the berries you have mentioned. Honey berry? I had to look that up. Never heard of it.

Hi Adam.  
 
This year i am getting into growing berries I have gotten a bunch of different berries already and still probably will be getting more.  
 
i am trying  
 
Blueberries: Chippewa | Polaris | Northland  
Haskap: Indigo | Aurora | Borealis  
Raspberries: |anne(yellow)| royalty(purple)  
Blackberries: chester | Balsor  
Grapes: Somerset and valiant  
 
Ok as far as shipping for somerset try Veseys they have a promotion till mid march where shipping is free if you buy over $25 use code [S8AFR] at checkout!  
 
Oh if your blueberries are having issues give them more acid soil (peat moss) that will perk them up.