This has been a great
year for free fruiting perennials. Not only do our figs and grapes seem to be rooting very
well, I found another eight gooseberry plants that have popped
up around the base of one of our older gooseberries. With such a
profusion of riches on hand, the question becomes --- how many of
these newly-rooted fruit plants should I put in the ground this
fall, and how many should I give away? Plus, I also want to
fit in another hardy kiwi since I've decided to give ours a few
more years' grace and also to try
the specific variety and source Throwback at Trapper Creek
suggested.
There are two main
factors involved in my decisions --- filling in physical gaps in
the core homestead and filling in temporal gaps in our fruiting
schedule. Starting with the latter, the table below sums up
fruit plants we already have on the farm (or are definitely
installing this fall):
Variety | Harvest date | Dependability | Work |
Fruiting now |
Honeyberry, Blue Sea | ?early May | High? | High | |
Honeyberry, Blue Velvet | ?early May | High? | High | |
Strawberries | mid-May to mid-June | High | High | x |
Raspberry, Caroline Red | June through Fall | High | High | x |
Black Raspberry, Jewel | early June | Medium-high | High | |
Raspberry, Bristol Black | mid to late June | Medium-high | High | x |
Apple, Early
Transparent |
late June |
Medium? |
Low |
x |
Red Currant | late June | High? | High | |
Gooseberry, Poorman | late June | High | High | x |
Gooseberry, Invicta | late June | High | High | x |
Blueberry |
late June to ?Aug. |
High |
High |
x |
Blackberry | July | Medium | High | x |
Plum, Imperial Epineuse | ?July | Low? | Low | |
Apple, Pristine | July to Aug. | Medium? | Low | |
Apple, Summer Rambo | July to Aug. | Medium? | Low | |
Grape, Mars Seedless | ? late July to early Aug. | Medium? | Medium | |
Grape, Thomcord | August | Medium? | Medium | |
Peach, White | mid August | Low | Low | x |
Peach, Cresthaven | md Aug. | Low | Low | |
Plum, Seneca | mid Aug. | Low? | Low | |
Grape, Reliance | ? mid Aug. | Medium? | Medium | |
Fig, Celeste | ? Aug to frost | High? | Low | |
Apple, Zestar! | Sept. | Medium? | Low | |
Grape, Marquis | ? Sept. | Medium? | Medium | |
Kiwi, Hardy, Dunbarton Oaks | Sept - Oct | Low? | Low | |
Apple, Liberty | Sept to Oct. | Medium? | Low | |
Apple, Sweet Sixteen | Sept. to Oct. | Medium? | Low | |
Fig, Chicago Hardy | Sept. through frost | High? | Low | x |
Pear, Seckel | Sept. (and keeps) | High? | Low | |
Pear, Keiffer | late Sept. (and keeps) | High? | Low | |
Apple, Winesap | late Sept. (and keeps) | Medium? | Low | |
Watermelon | October | Medium-high | Low | x |
Kiwi, Hardy, Ananasnaya | Oct. | Low? | Low | |
Apple, Virginia Beauty | Oct. (and keeps) | Medium? | Low | x |
Apple, Red Empire | Oct. to Dec. | Medium? | Low | x |
Apple, Grimes Golden | Oct. to Jan. | Medium? | Low | |
Apple, Enterprise | Oct. to Jan. | Medium? | Low |
Even though it seems
like we've got the whole fruiting season covered, it's worth
noting that some plants are very undependable --- for example,
we've only gotten fruits from our peaches one year in three so
far. Other plants --- like most berries --- are quite
dependable, but take so much time to pick that I can only handle
so many plants. Plus, who knows which of the varieties that
haven't yet fruited will end up working for us, and which ones
will be ripped out for one reason or another?
All of that said, there are potential gaps in
August (if the peaches fail), September (if the apples fail), and
among keepers. Increasing our fig planting seems like a good
way to potentially fill the August and September gap with a
dependable and only medium-work fruit, and grapes might also hedge
our bets during the late-summer period. I suspect we don't
really need any more gooseberries, though, since they produce at
the same time as Early Transparent apples, black raspberries, and
red currants, but I'll slip in a couple since gooseberry bushes
are small and fruit even in partial shade, so they help fill
troublesome spatial gaps.
Speaking of which,
where do I have room for new plants? We're working hard not
to expand our boundaries (except for potential pastures), but
there are still a remarkably large number of sites right here in
our core homestead:
Location |
Characteristics |
Possible
plants |
By well |
shady, kill-mulched
spot |
1 gooseberry |
Along pasture fence |
shady, kill-mulched
spot |
1 gooseberry |
Pastures |
semi-shady |
extra gooseberries |
Gaps in forest garden |
Mostly sunny,
high-groundwater (but can plant on mounds) |
5 figs |
Old grape row in mule
garden |
Sunny, trellised |
3 grapes (or 2 grapes
and 1 kiwi) |
South-facing side of
gully |
Sunny, would have to
be terraced (lots of work) |
3 grapes |
South side of front
porch |
Scorching sun in
summer, but potential frost pocket |
Grapes? |
The spots to slip in gooseberries are pretty
obvious, and the figs will work well in the forest garden as long
as I build quality mounds to keep their feet dry. But what's
a good fit for the porch-side plantings, which have the primary
goal of shading our living quarters in the summer? I'm
leaning toward grapes at the moment, although I'm not sure the
plants will thrive there.
I know it seems very
early to be planning our perennial plantings, but if I set my
sight on new spots now, I can just dump wheelbarrows full of weeds
there to build mounds and act as a kill mulch, keeping soil
preparation time to a bare minimum. Plus, knowing how much
room I have for new perennials keeps me from trying out twenty new
varieties that won't fit in our core homestead. (That said,
if you have types of fruit to suggest that would round out our
planting, I'm always open to suggestions because there's nothing I
love more than trying new plants.)
I have a similar list, though I'm still feeling my way through the harvest timings. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so it is interesting to see some of your anticipated harvest dates. For example, I think of blackberries as very much an August and into September fruit. You will see varieties of blackberries for early, mid, and late season, at the One Green World nursery website and notice that only the earliest ripen in July in our neck of the woods.
I also see watermelon on your list in October. I would think watermelon and other melons would do really well in Virginia and would fill August/September timeframe.
I like rhubarb and have 4 plants in early years. It comes in earliest in April (it can be forced a bit earlier with an upside down very large bucket/pot. I do not like strawberry-rhubarb pie. I do like plain rhubarb pie, rhubarb cake, and lightly sweetened stewed rhubarb with cream or over ice cream. It is also used as a sweet/tart vegetable in meat stews in persian cuisine - particularly pairing nicely with lamb. It is incredibly easy to maintain. Simple weeding and mulching with compost should keep it happy. Rhubarb freezes so nicely, it is also useful for winter gaps. (I'm trying to figure out how to candy it; have tried it and love, love, love it.)
Gooseberries - again while the tart pie ripe ones are ready in June, we are eating gooseberries through July as they ripen and sweeten. I figured out the variety that came with my place is Captivator (I located a tag), and I've also since added Red George, Hinnomaki Yellow, and Jostaberry from One Green World. You might try more red, pink, and white currants in some of your gooseberry identified locations. I have one red currant now, but definitely have more currants on my list for expansion as well. Elderberries might also do well tucked into a corner that gets only partial sun. Elderflowers add an interesting component to early berry salads and makes a lovely syrup. I wonder about infusing elderflowers in honey for sweetening drinks like lemonade. I also like to toss some elderberries into whatever fresh fruit bowl I have available. I'm not sure I would eat only elderberries, but elderberry muffins, pancakes, in addition to complementing other fruit as something slightly different and flavorful.
I'm also thinking about currants and lingonberries. Both are slightly tart, but add interest to fall apple/pear sauces or compotes. We have a lot of wild salal. It isn't as sweet as a blueberry, but definitely is an interesting berry to eat fresh. I pluck and eat when I'm out hiking or walking.
I am so jealous of all of your figs. I still don't know what figs I have, but there are 4 struggling trees. Two I found had literally been frozen or eaten completely off and I just happened upon 3 little fig leaves emerging from the soil amidst the weeds and grass! Those two are now about 2 feet tall. The largest one was completely overgrown with weed trees and shaded by brush. It now gets almost a full day of sun and is getting larger, but still hasn't produced anything. I'm hoping it might try this year. And the final one was also completely overgrown and still is only about 4 feet of growth with small diameter branches. I think we are probably still a year or two away from any figs and probably longer from any type of significant fig production. I miss my large mature fig tree in Virginia.
While not fruit, I keep them on my fruit list because they are perennials and need to fit into the same space - Nuts. Nuts are what I'm struggling with from a space perspective. I have two almonds, and a neighbor brought over two oregon filberts (hazelnuts.) I love walnuts and would like to try pecan as well. Nuts typically need two varieties of each type, and there is no such thing as a dwarf or semi-dwarf nut. They also can take a decade to mature. This is why I want to get nuts in sooner rather than later - get them going. I'm desperately trying to figure out where I can stick two english walnut trees this fall, which I hope to get along with my next orchard investment of a Brooks plum, an Asian persimmon (still deciding Fuyu or Hachiya) and probably three grape vines.