Top 4 Mid-Sized Food-Producing Shrubs for Food Forests (Temperate Climates)

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

A great list! Bushes are so undervalued. You can get so much production out of them. I'm a huge fan of haskaps and currants because they are just bulletproof here, and very healthy.

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Your videos are giving me life, because of your no nonsense approach and perspective. Seriously, thank you for making these videos!

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

What a kind thing to say!! You made my day!!

[@be4jesus]

Wonderful information! I would love to have cuttings of these plants but hard to find. In zone 7. Any ideas? Blessings :)

[@vani7080]

I really love your videos, your garden inspired me to start a permaculture food forest in my urban garden in a small town near Cologne, Germany. I've already planted 14 fruit and nut trees in 2 years and I will keep on planting....

[@terrytillman5715]

Thank you for telling us right up front what zone you are in. So many youtubers do not do that and it's frustrating when they say "you can plant THIS right now in January" when, say, they are in Florida or some other vastly different agricultural zone. Giving that information from the start is very useful.

[@bananamustache3071]

This is all great information! Very appreciated! Thank you.

[@yvonneknight6482]

This is my 2nd year growing gooseberry bush I have them in a large container happy growing from Maryland

[@hendyappleton5701]

Emphasis on the "shop carefully for saskatoons". A search yesterday uncovered lots of options for LARGE shrubs/small trees, but very few that emphasized fruit production!

[@jenniferg4380]

As I have been learning about how to grow my own little orchard, I was disappointed to learn that growing currants and gooseberries in North Carolina is illegal. Thankfully I have learned lots from you Angela, and am learning that there are other options. Thank you.

[@permiebird937]

Need to try Northline.

[@RiceTeaLover]

My current favorite KZbin channel!!! 😍

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Agh!! Thank you so much!!

[@esthercollins4215]

I am learning so much from you. I am taking a permaculture design course and watching your videos are helping to give form to what I am learning. Thank you!

[@nmnate]

My top 3 are bush cherries, jostaberries / currants and haskap. Blueberries don't really work here (too much sun + alkaline soil). I've had better luck with currants here than gooseberries (lost a couple of my black velvet gooseberries). Native currants are really robust, durable plants. Jostaberries are crazy vigorous, give them quite a bit of room. Our serviceberries are too young to fruit, but I think they'll be a nice option to add to a lot of landscapes. We have both Amelanchier alnifolia and Amelanchier utahensis (both spaced in the yard for tree size). Utahensis is supposed to be pretty drought tolerant, but slow growing.

[@alp8409]

I’m impressed with Josta berry I planted in my back garden last year. Vigorous grower this year laden with berry buds. (Kent, England)

[@AmelieHarms]

Yes, my jostaberry is looking great as well (South Sweden)!

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I used to have one but found it had tremendous hybrid vigor and was just an immense shrub compared to my black currants, so we took it out. I did really like the fruit, though!

[@taliag5018]

I love your videos! I'm just roughly 100 miles North of you and I find all your advice very helpful. Thanks!

[@victoriajohnson3034]

Thanks for this video. I'm getting ready for figuring out my bushes and trees.

[@trishwest1809]

Thank you for the education on these wonderful fruit shrub recommendations for fruit forest design.

[@darlenecameron622]

I am so happy to have found you! I am learning so much, thank you! Fairly new to the Central Willamette Valley from NW MT. Very different growing conditions!

[@RedneckHillbillies]

Wonderful- I have all of these except the Saskatoonberry coming next spring to start my food forest. It was probably in my cart at some point but didn't make the cut this time around. I appreciate the variety recommendation. Thanks!

[@howardfowler2255]

Very informative video. I grew a lone blueberry plant( Emerald) in Florida that produced a lot of berries without another blueberry nearby. I'm interested in the serviceberry as a fruiting shrub for my area of eastern Tenn. Thanks so much for your very helpful videos!

[@tyraeshields498]

My girlfriend might be going to med school in Oregon and if we move there it would be really exciting as permaculture is more popular there. And maybe if you ever do tours one day I can come check it out!

[@kittimcconnell2633]

If you live where there is cedar-apple rust, be prepared to spray serviceberries with the same fungicide you need for apple trees. (Copper sulfide is organic fungicide).

[@kittimcconnell2633]

I put LOTS of used coffee grounds around my blueberries!

[@TheGraemeH]

Going through your back catalogue, really enjoying your content. Can you share some resources you use to research plants when you’re thinking of adding them to your garden, please?

[@charlesbale8376]

This was very helpful, thank you.

[@O_U_No_It_2]

Great, in-depth information as usual. Thank you🌱

[@tgardenchicken1780]

Great ideas, thanks. I am adding more currants and haskaps this year. Now I know of a good service berry I can add next year too.

[@gardentours]

Last year I managed to taste the june berry for first time. It was so delicious and the birds are normally faster than me.

[@joannewolfe5688]

Thanks!

[@BOVANATOR]

Just liked and subscribed! Great video(s)! I live in colorado zone 5b/6a. I would love to make a portion of my front yard into a food forest primarily consisting of berries. I already ordered my tillamook Goumi berries, but would also like to add grape vines, elderberry, service berry, and honeyberry (I got the idea from watching your videos lol 😂). Would there be any way I could send you some pictures of my landscape, and you could help me design the best placement for the plants?! TIA!

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Wow so your juneberries are in full sun? Maybe I need to get northline. Mine's leaves get really crispy really fast, even with supplemental water. Maybe my soil is just bad 😔. Would you recommend any kind of living mulch for these? Or are they like blueberries in that they don't want any cultivation around the base?

[@frogsofindia]

My Juneberries also get crispy in full sun. I am having to water almost daily in the summer to keep them alive! I live in Seattle area. Only one of my Juneberries is doing well, and that one is planted in the lowest part of my garden next to a fence - maybe the soil is more moist there and seems to get less sun. I'll be moving the other Juneberries this fall to a more shaded area.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

​​@@frogsofindiaInteresting! Mine is doing a bit better this year than it did last -- I've been giving it a lot of chop & drop mulch, and maybe the root system is getting better as it ages but I still water it pretty often. My soil was very bad super compacted clay when I first planted it. I planted a tree in a spot that I'm hoping will eventually shade it, so we'll see.

[@frogsofindia]

Ok good to know. I just did some chop and drop around it but maybe I need to do it more often. My soil is the same as yours.

[@victoriajohnson3034]

Do you have any videos on figs? I know they grow well here

[@bassoonrckr]

I’ll look into the northline/cultivated serviceberry varieties (only ever seen landscape/large plants of those). Especially since currants/ribes are illegal in NC :(

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

oof, good point. I always forget to mention that European currants are still illegal in some states. Thanks for the reminder!

[@TeaCupSimmer]

Do you think a serviceberry would work as a central plant in a guild?

[@formidableflora5951]

I have a well-established Northline juneberry, approximately 7 years in ground, that blooms beautifully every spring...but the berries dry up instead of ripening. Never eaten a single one, sadly. I believe I've sited it well, so I'm mystified--any suggestions appreciated. In contrast, blueberries, haskaps, and clove currants are highly productive here. New England 5b.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Goodness, I honestly have no idea...no signs of mildew? It's not mummy berry? That is so frustrating :( I find one or two berries with cedar apple rust on them here every year on my 5 bushes but that's really been the only issue I've had (I think it will always been present, especially as my neighbors have cedars, I have apple and quince...it makes the rounds).

[@formidableflora5951]

@@ParkrosePermaculture No mildew. I'll investigate mummy berry; I'm not familiar with it. Thank you for the suggestion!

[@shawns0762]

They don't like acidic soil, they won't be happy where blueberries will be happy

[@formidableflora5951]

@@shawns0762 It's my understanding that juneberries tolerate a wide range in soil pH, including the acidic soil preferred by blueberries, but that they don't REQUIRE acidic soil like blueberries. My juneberry is growing and flowering vigorously, leading me to believe the plant is well-sited. I think there is a yet unidentified pathogen at play.

[@shawns0762]

@@formidableflora5951 Maybe it's lonely, I would put some other serviceberries near it, maybe some cross pollination will help. I remember discovering them while hiking in Wisconsin, there isn't a better berry on the planet

[@Fragrantbeard]

Came back to watch this for inspiration...I'm exceedingly fond of my gooseberries, but constantly angry with the pest competition.

[@heidirexin5141]

Curious what the Juneberry varieties are that don't taste as good.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

I got my saskatoon from the native plant section, with no variety name so I wonder what I'm going to get. I wonder how they take to grafting, maybe you could graft better fruiting varieties onto a plant that doesn't taste as good? I planted mine after coming across one in the wild at a state park. Stupid me I thought it was a huckleberry until I tasted it; but I shocked at how good it was, fruity/nutty at the same time -- so I went out and got one immediately. But yeah, I wonder where the nursery stock was from.

[@shawns0762]

I discovered them while hiking in Wisconsin, could not believe how good they were

[@chelseavenable3678]

Regarding the haskaps, do they require a certain number of chill hours? I have not been successful researching exactly why they are not supposed to be successful in my zone (9b) but got some to experiment with anyway. Thoughts on what their requirements are that limit them from expanding into zone 9? Thanks!

[@muffininorbit]

I’d like list videos within-species, if there’s any kind of plant you collect it would be like “favorite strawberry varieties.”

[@imperfectlypermaculture]

I fantasize about finding a wild currant on my property, because it's likely the only way I'll be able to have one.

[@susankaempfer8427]

Why?

[@imperfectlypermaculture]

Illegal to purchase in Maine.

[@JocelynCampbell]

@@imperfectlypermaculture are all currants illegal in Maine, or just the black currant?

[@JocelynCampbell]

Nevermind - answered in several ways below! Such a bummer! I feel for you!

[@imperfectlypermaculture]

@@JocelynCampbell all ribes species are restricted in the state.

[@jabbaraedwards8395]

My problem with the ribes, besides the worms, is dealing with the tops and tails.

[@stacyk.3402]

Do you by chance have any idea how to deal with hazelnut weevil? I was so excited for all the beautiful hazelnuts last year and many of the clusters fell prematurely. When we opened one still on the tree there was a little weevil inside and then was told they can be a problem

[@chrij1987]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYvMkIewf76MbKc. I am not remembering if the weevils are discussed on this video of Angela's, but it is worth a look-see.

[@veelash3505]

Which plant gives you fruits and which blooms first in your garden?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

the first "fruit" I get out of my garden is rhubarb. the first berry are honeyberries.

[@veelash3505]

@@ParkrosePermaculture Thank you

[@janetbrewster680]

Do you know if haskap are deer resistant? I’d like to grow them in my un fenced front yard but we have lots of deer here who come grazing frequently.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

They are supposed to be deer-resistant. I don't personally have an issue with deer, so I haven't tested that out, but everything I've read says deer don't like to eat the shrubs.

[@jenn6838]

the herd of 16+ deer that visit my property near-daily don't bother the haskap bushes. They do seem to like Lupine and Lilac bushes (both supposed to be deer resistant) I would defiantly try haskaps! Good luck

[@nmnate]

If you're worried about survival, you can protect them for the first couple years. We had a bit of rabbit damage on ours the first couple years, but now that the shrubs are a bit bigger, the rabbits seem to be less interested (a couple canes disappear here and there, but not too bad). 'Resistant' is never 'proof' too a hungry animal.

[@mountainfigsperennialfruits]

Deer gobble haskap in West Virginia. I grow it inside chicken wire. Deer gobble most things here, though not goumi. I protect with sticks or chicken wire.

[@eulerizeit]

Currents aren't allowed in MA. It makes me sad

[@shredmetalshred7395]

red ones should be, the black ones are the banned ones, yellow should be a go too

[@eulerizeit]

@@shredmetalshred7395 all currents and gooseberries are a no go here.

[@tmac2166]

Try Nourse Farms. Not all towns in MA are banned. They are the only grower I've found that will ship to the unbanned areas. You can also do a search on which towns are ok.

[@RiceTeaLover]

Can you do more beekeeping videos!!? 🐝

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Sure thing!

[@tulsiramdagur9580]

हैलो दोस्त आप बहुत अच्छे हैं आपकी नर्सरी बहुत सुंदर है आपसे बहुत उपयोगी जानकारी मिल रही है। मुझे ब्लू बेरी प्लांट खरीद करने हैं, किस प्रकार खरीद सकता हूं। भविष्य में भी बहुत उपयोगी जानकारी चाहिए आप मेरे दोस्त बन सकते हैं। आपका इंडिया में स्वागत है व इंडिया घुमने आना चाहिए धन्यवाद

[@tulsiramdagur9580]

आपका वाट्सएप न मिल सकता है

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I don’t do WhatsApp

[@tulsiramdagur9580]

@@ParkrosePermaculture okay thanks

[@tulsiramdagur9580]

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[@tulsiramdagur9580]

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