Here's a pic of a portion of today's small fruit harvest showing fruit side by side for comparison.
Included are:
White mulberries (this variety virtually tasteless)
Honeyberries variety Blue Forest (yum!)
White strawberries (runner variety) (double yum)
Nanking Cherries (just starting to ripen)
Juneberries (end of harvest, fruit smaller than typical)
Red Lake red currents (just starting to ripen)
Which is which? I recognize the mulberries and strawberries...
I was going to suggest google.....but
Juneberries round blue
Honeyberries oblong blue
Nanking larger red
Red Lake count 3 smaller red.
Thank you!
How do you know when the white strawberries are ripe?
Mostly by size. They are also soft to the touch. How do you know when red strawberries are ripe?
They are ripe when they turn from white to red!
L, Sorry. Point I was making is that I have had many red strawberries that were not ripe. That is the problem with strawberries that you do not grow yourself, but buy from the supermarket.
How beautiful! I just started with edibles. I do have red alpine strawberries (non runner variety) and some
regular strawberries (with runners). Got to try those already :)
This spring I planted Honeyberries to replace some honeysuckle. I was wondering how long does it take for these to fruit? Mine are just over a foot hight right now.
beautiful ... and they always taste so much better when you raise them yourself.
En, What varieties do you have of honeyberries? Mine started blooming at about 1 foot, so you may see some fruit next year. Mine never produce a lot, but they are very early. My biggest issue with honeyberries is that August and September are typically very dry and I don't remember to give them enough water.
Kathy, They do always taste better when you raise them yourself, especially if you cannot get them unless you raise them!
I have two very small bushes of Blue Velvet. I suppose it would take them a year to settle. I was hoping they would handle being on a dry side.
En, I have been told that Honeyberries need two varieties for pollination. You may not see fruit with two Blue Velvet. I would suggest a Blue Moon or Blue Forest for pollinator. (from what I have read and the taste.) So far I think they have the best tasting fruit.
Krowten, thank you for the info. I'll get another one :)
I had a tour today of the orchards, etc. at Edible Landscaping, near Charlottesville, VA. Michael said (I think... LOL he said so much!) he's dropping honeyberries since they aren't very productive. (I just looked, and don't even see them on his web site.)
http://www.ediblelandscaping.com/
I have no trouble getting my young blueberry bushes to produce fruit.This is their third season (I got them from Raintree) and all 6 produce heavily.The problem is that the birds are quicker than I am.They ate about 99% of the berries this year.Last year I tried bird netting and that seemed to make it worse.It served up the berries to the birds.
I now have thorn less blackberries trying to ripen but I'm sure they will be going in the same direction to the birds!
Any suggestions?I garden organically and am a back yard wildlife habitat.I guess the 2 things don't go together.Trying to supply food for wildlife and for humans as well.Just alot of hungry critters out there.
Darius, My plants are still pretty small, but both Blue Moon and Blue Forest produced a fair amount of berries, maybe equivalent to blueberries in quantity/size for some blueberry varieties I have. OneGreenWorld sells a lot of different varieties of honeyberries divided into two categories, one earlier blooming than the other. My experience has been that the bees are not active when the early bloomers bloom here, so fruit production with them has been spotty. However, the later blooming ones, such as mentioned above, produce more reliably.
Still, when you consider that my first crops of the year are asparagus and honeyberries, followed by white strawberries and juneberries, honeyberries have their place. Also, I think Edible Landscaping is a warmer zone than here and these plants really like the cold weather. I have some dieback and some minor plant losses during the late summer which I've come to expect as typical. It might be that you just need the find the right variety for your area. However, I think that a fruiting plant that produces as early as honeyberries should be developed and will have a place in my garden.
Here's a pic of my Blue Forest this year. Not the best pic, but you can get an idea of productivity.
Yummy!
Downscale, I cover my blueberries and other small fruits with netting. I don't use the stuff called "bird netting" with triangular mesh, but the stuff called garden netting with rectangular mesh. I spread over PVC hoops and hold on with clips. The rectangular mesh allows me to get it on straight. The setup stays up all the time, even through the winter, although once the fruit harvest is done, I raise the mesh and leave it up.
This works pretty well for me. The birds get nothing after I lower the mesh and I don't mind that at all. The picture here is of the new row I put up this year. You can see older ones in the background that were not as neat. The biggest problem with doing this is sealing the mesh at the ground. If not done properly, the birds will scoot under it. It also takes some effort to raise or lower, as you have to remove or replace clips. As my plants grow, I have had to increase the size of the hoops for enough height.
Thanks for the picture and advice.If I'm not too lazy,I'll try something like that next year.
