You can make gooseberries much sweeter by adding potassium in the form of seaweed or banana peels, or putting the peel in water for a while and then watering the gooseberries with it. My green gooseberries grew huge berries, and they were sweet like kiwis after I tried this!
Elderberry trees are extremely common here in central europa. The berries aren't anything special and make a huge mess. The secret is to use the flowers instead of the berries to make a sirup, which has a very unique aroma. It can be mixed with soda water or applejuice to make a refreshing drink or mixed with sparkling wine to make a cocktail. The fresh flowers can also be put inside of pancake dough do make some unique tasting pankakes. You need quite a lot of flowers to make a bit of sirup but these trees are everywhere here.
Your channel has been a Godsend to me. We moved from an 80’x100’ suburban Seattle (Zone 7) yard to 20 acres in northern Vermont (Zone 3-4) and I have struggled to adjust. Our soil is amazing as our property was once a dairy farm, but it’s been a struggle to find truly cold hardy plants to add to our permaculture plan to benefit wildlife and to increase our self sufficiency.
Wow, 20 acres? Sounds like a dream! I'm so happy that we've been able to help you out. Let me know what you end up planting, and how you like it. We have many more videos with cold hardy fruiting plants to come, so stay tuned. Thanks for watching! Happy growing!
Check out Elmore Roots fruit tree nursery in Wolcott Vermont. ( very cold hardy varieties) Also check out Ben Falk Resilient Farm and Homestead, videos and book he's been doing permaculture in Vermont for a long time with great results
Dreaming of gardening as the snow storm starts. I found little cranberry bushes in my compost last year. Elderberries growing in the ditch and goose berries on an abandoned farm. Definitely going to try the others. Thank for the ideas.
Oh! I'm jealous of your compost cranberry plants! I've tried several times to grow cranberries from seed but they never germinated. I even cold stratified them. What gardening zone are you in if you don't mind my asking?
@@elizabethraworth64 We do have native cranberries in my region so maybe I should stop trying so hard and just dump some cranberries in my compost pile and let nature take it's course! 😁
Another great cold hardy list. Interesting about Elderberry, was told you need two varieties and takes two years, I planted in fall you gave me hope for this coming season. Still looking for goumi berry when I go to nursery they don’t have any left. Been thinking about Sea Buckthorn but size put me off, going to see about planting in spring.
An additional interesting thing about Elderberries is that I understand they are toxic until they are cooked, not to be eaten raw, and poisonous to pets & livestock.
Remember that the elderberries are actually toxic when raw. They contain a substance that turn to cyanide in the stomach. This substance is present in all of the plant, also flowers. There was a case in Denmark where a chef had thought to use elderberries in smoothies, due to their health benefits, and poisoned half a convention. Small amounts can be okay, but don’t risk it, cook them before eating. :)
Yes, and honestly the flavor of a fresh elderberry isn’t the best anyway. They taste better after cooked in my opinion. Thanks for sharing that information with everyone!
This is so helpful. I live in the Texas High Plains (zone 7a) and it gets very cold here every year. However, we also get incredibly hot. We can have triple digit dry heat in the summer and well below freezing in the winter. It has been difficult trying to find fruit bearing trees and perennials for my area.
Thank you for the kind comment! We made this channel to help as many people find the right plants and care for them as possible. Whats your favorite fruit tree that you have right now?
@@PlantFanatics we just purchased our first home in Amarillo. I just purchased a cocktail tree with peaches, plums and nectarines grafted onto the same tree. I'm hoping that the variety will ensure that I still have one harvest of fruit if we get a late frost. I have multiple varieties of raspberry plants and as well as blackberry and blueberry plant that are potted. I hope to be able to put them in the ground sometime this year.
Due to this video I will now be adding Gooseberry, Elderberry, Cranberry to my list. Also going to add Blueberries to that list 🍇🍓! Easy to find plenty of vegetable options, a little more difficult to find interesting fruit options which aren't in the form of trees, raspberries {which I have} or strawberries {which I will be growing}. Thank You!
Elderberry is basically a weed here in the UK... It gets everywhere. Tough as old boots, and will set root in the smallest of cracks. If you leave any plot of land for more than a couple of years to go wild,,,,, Elder will be there....
Elderberries mixed with cream & frozen make a delicious ice-cream & then there is the potential for making delicious Elderflower 'Champagne' of course.
@@sarahstrong7174 Please remember to always boil elderberries before use. Small amounts can be eaten raw, but the do contain a toxin that can kill or cause severe stomach cramps. This toxin is neutralised by cooking.
We have a wild cousin to goumi berries here in the Midwest called "Autumn Olive" (same genus) and I just ordered a Seaberry bush with a pollinator for this spring!! 😍
We grow the Autumn Olive as well. What a great plant. What variety of Seaberry did you get? I'm glad you were able to find the male pollinator, as they can be difficult to find at times.
Goumi- So delicious! This is one of my favorite fruits that I grow. I only have the one bush so maybe I should get another to increase the amount of fruit set Gooseberries- my second favorite! My bushes are only ripe for a few weeks and we eat every single one straight if the bush! They are pretty but I would add that they have some long sharp thorns. They are easy to avoid when picking fruit but it's not the friendliest plant! Elderberry and sea buckthorn - I have these two too but haven't gotten fruit yet even after 3+ years. The deer keep eating the elderberry down short to the ground before it can get big enough to fruit! Not sure what's up with the sea buckthorn since I have a male and female and the bushes are huge and beautiful. But I've never seen either one flower. 😢 All I have left to get from this list are some cranberries! Thanks for another great video!
@@kdccmb That would take hours. A mature gooseberry is a very compact and tangled bush. Picture dozens of stems coming from the ground arching upwards a few feet and then going back down to touch the ground in a circle around the base. Like a plant fountain. And also without thorns, then it would be more appetizing to the deer.
Awsome information and I grow lots of elderberry trees to give my animals shade in summer. Now I’ve seen your video I will plant my sea buckthorn outside as I was afraid to do before cheers matey 👍
Unfortunately it is a bit difficult to pick from seabuckthorn. The berries don't easily detach from the stem and the thorns get in the way. To harvest commercially, they freeze entire branches and then knock the berries off. On the plus size, the entire plant is suppose to be healthy for you. You can make tea with the leaves, and the berries have the rare Omega 7 in the flesh and seed.
Excellent video, Chad👍 I'm wondering if you would do a video on heat tolerant fruit selection? I'm in Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 I know Figs do well here, but your Great American Fig Company says zone 6 on the varieties. Is that the coldest it would take? It would be great to know the high range, too. Thanks for sharing 👩🌾👍
Hi Peggy! When we list on our site that the growing zone is 6 that means that it can tolerate temperatures down to zone 6. The heat tolerance for figs is out of this world. They don't require any chill hours to produce fruit, so they do great in warmer planting zones. I know people who grow figs in the deserts of Arizona where temperatures easily reach 115-120F on a regular basis. So figs would be a perfect plant to grow in your location. As far as other fruit trees that I typically talk about, the heat really won't be an issue. The issue would come with fruit set. Many cold hardy plants require a certain number of chill hours (temperatures below 45F) in order to produce fruit. So that's really the direction that I would come from in choosing plants for your hardiness zone. How many chill hours do you typically get in any given season? And then what are the common pest and disease pressures for fruit trees where you live? I don't list high temperature tolerances for the fruit trees I sell thus far because they won't be affected by the high temps. They could grow in the heat of the Arizona sun. Thank you so much for the great question!
Are you growing cranberries up in your area. Im down by little rock and considering getting a few bushes and planting them on east side of my house or under shade
I do get this question quite a bit. Typically if you live in anything more than a subtropical zone you won't want to grow a lot of these, as they require a winter dormancy or certain number of chill hours to produce fruit. I live in zone 6/7 and these plants are great here. I'd say you could grow them in zone 8 and 9 as well. Higher than that and you'd be pushing it. This is of course different plant to plant, but for the most part if you don't fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit for a few months a year I wouldn't grow most of these.
Just noting that not everyone likes the taste of seabuckthorne. I've heard several people refer to it as stomach acid berries, and I get where the yge t taht even though I personally love them. They are VERY acidic.
Do you have irrigation set up? Tested the soil to see if it’s conducive to growing plants at an optimal level? Do you have a decent helping of mulch surrounding the plant for water retention during the hot summer months? Zone 7 typically allows these plants to grow wonderfully. Is oils consider testing all these perimeters. I do believe if they aren’t growing well there’s a problem in one of these sectors. Thank you so much for watching the video!
If you see any Elderberry bushes I am sure you can get cuttings for free. They root very easily even in the winter. I prune mine seriously in fall and they come back fine.
Elderberries are indeed classified as bushes, not trees, and their height does not typically reach 5 meters. It seems there might be a mix-up with another type of plant. Elderberry bushes usually grow to about 1.5 to 3 meters (5 to 10 feet) tall.
You can make gooseberries much sweeter by adding potassium in the form of seaweed or banana peels, or putting the peel in water for a while and then watering the gooseberries with it. My green gooseberries grew huge berries, and they were sweet like kiwis after I tried this!
I'm going to have to try this. I've never thought of putting banana peels under my gooseberries.
Very cool! Thanks so much for sharing. Happy growing!
Thanks for sharing that 😀
Elderberry trees are extremely common here in central europa. The berries aren't anything special and make a huge mess. The secret is to use the flowers instead of the berries to make a sirup, which has a very unique aroma. It can be mixed with soda water or applejuice to make a refreshing drink or mixed with sparkling wine to make a cocktail.
The fresh flowers can also be put inside of pancake dough do make some unique tasting pankakes.
You need quite a lot of flowers to make a bit of sirup but these trees are everywhere here.
My parents used to make elderflower champagne. By adding in some chunks of potato during fermentation, it tasted close to a carbonated liebfraumilch.
Thanks for the suggestions!
You always have such useful information! Definitely following! Thank you! 😊🌱❤️
Your channel has been a Godsend to me. We moved from an 80’x100’ suburban Seattle (Zone 7) yard to 20 acres in northern Vermont (Zone 3-4) and I have struggled to adjust. Our soil is amazing as our property was once a dairy farm, but it’s been a struggle to find truly cold hardy plants to add to our permaculture plan to benefit wildlife and to increase our self sufficiency.
Wow, 20 acres? Sounds like a dream! I'm so happy that we've been able to help you out. Let me know what you end up planting, and how you like it. We have many more videos with cold hardy fruiting plants to come, so stay tuned. Thanks for watching! Happy growing!
Same! Delighted I found this channel.
Check out Elmore Roots fruit tree nursery in Wolcott Vermont. ( very cold hardy varieties) Also check out Ben Falk Resilient Farm and Homestead, videos and book he's been doing permaculture in Vermont for a long time with great results
Dreaming of gardening as the snow storm starts. I found little cranberry bushes in my compost last year. Elderberries growing in the ditch and goose berries on an abandoned farm. Definitely going to try the others. Thank for the ideas.
Oh! I'm jealous of your compost cranberry plants! I've tried several times to grow cranberries from seed but they never germinated. I even cold stratified them. What gardening zone are you in if you don't mind my asking?
@@jwrightgardening zone 5 east coast Canada . cranberries and blueberries grow very well around here
@@elizabethraworth64 We do have native cranberries in my region so maybe I should stop trying so hard and just dump some cranberries in my compost pile and let nature take it's course! 😁
Gooseberries are my favorite fruit, especially greens with sweet centers and sour skins.
I would love to see some cold hardy vegetables or mybe some more cold hardy rare fruit trees .
More videos coming! Thanks for taking the time to watch. Glad to have you here. Happy growing!
Another great cold hardy list. Interesting about Elderberry, was told you need two varieties and takes two years, I planted in fall you gave me hope for this coming season. Still looking for goumi berry when I go to nursery they don’t have any left. Been thinking about Sea Buckthorn but size put me off, going to see about planting in spring.
An additional interesting thing about Elderberries is that I understand they are toxic until they are cooked, not to be eaten raw, and poisonous to pets & livestock.
Sea buckthorn is worth growing!
Wonderful information, appreciated the video.
I grow Elderberries for the birds.
nice thumbnail! good content, subscribed!
Thanks for the support!!
Remember that the elderberries are actually toxic when raw. They contain a substance that turn to cyanide in the stomach. This substance is present in all of the plant, also flowers. There was a case in Denmark where a chef had thought to use elderberries in smoothies, due to their health benefits, and poisoned half a convention. Small amounts can be okay, but don’t risk it, cook them before eating. :)
Yes, and honestly the flavor of a fresh elderberry isn’t the best anyway. They taste better after cooked in my opinion. Thanks for sharing that information with everyone!
@@PlantFanatics Totally agree on the taste. Have eaten a lot of elderberries as a child, but not much raw.
This is so helpful. I live in the Texas High Plains (zone 7a) and it gets very cold here every year. However, we also get incredibly hot. We can have triple digit dry heat in the summer and well below freezing in the winter. It has been difficult trying to find fruit bearing trees and perennials for my area.
Thank you for the kind comment! We made this channel to help as many people find the right plants and care for them as possible. Whats your favorite fruit tree that you have right now?
@@PlantFanatics we just purchased our first home in Amarillo. I just purchased a cocktail tree with peaches, plums and nectarines grafted onto the same tree. I'm hoping that the variety will ensure that I still have one harvest of fruit if we get a late frost. I have multiple varieties of raspberry plants and as well as blackberry and blueberry plant that are potted. I hope to be able to put them in the ground sometime this year.
Due to this video I will now be adding Gooseberry, Elderberry, Cranberry to my list. Also going to add Blueberries to that list 🍇🍓! Easy to find plenty of vegetable options, a little more difficult to find interesting fruit options which aren't in the form of trees, raspberries {which I have} or strawberries {which I will be growing}. Thank You!
Hahaha, gardening is a rabbit hole. You'll always end up finding another fruit that you just can't live without. Happy growing!
Thank you for these very informative videos. Do you have experience with and/or info. for Salmonberries? Asking from Central PA Appalachians.
Unfortunately we don’t have any experience with those yet. Thanks for the comment!
Elderberry is basically a weed here in the UK... It gets everywhere. Tough as old boots, and will set root in the smallest of cracks. If you leave any plot of land for more than a couple of years to go wild,,,,, Elder will be there....
Elderberries mixed with cream & frozen make a delicious ice-cream & then there is the potential for making delicious Elderflower 'Champagne' of course.
@@sarahstrong7174 Please remember to always boil elderberries before use. Small amounts can be eaten raw, but the do contain a toxin that can kill or cause severe stomach cramps. This toxin is neutralised by cooking.
@@beakj Thankyou for your kind message.
Thankyou for sharing.
We have a wild cousin to goumi berries here in the Midwest called "Autumn Olive" (same genus) and I just ordered a Seaberry bush with a pollinator for this spring!! 😍
We grow the Autumn Olive as well. What a great plant. What variety of Seaberry did you get? I'm glad you were able to find the male pollinator, as they can be difficult to find at times.
Goumi- So delicious! This is one of my favorite fruits that I grow. I only have the one bush so maybe I should get another to increase the amount of fruit set
Gooseberries- my second favorite! My bushes are only ripe for a few weeks and we eat every single one straight if the bush! They are pretty but I would add that they have some long sharp thorns. They are easy to avoid when picking fruit but it's not the friendliest plant!
Elderberry and sea buckthorn - I have these two too but haven't gotten fruit yet even after 3+ years. The deer keep eating the elderberry down short to the ground before it can get big enough to fruit! Not sure what's up with the sea buckthorn since I have a male and female and the bushes are huge and beautiful. But I've never seen either one flower. 😢
All I have left to get from this list are some cranberries!
Thanks for another great video!
Instead of buying another goumi berry you could try and propagate the softwood branches.
@@jjcousin1 Oh yeah! Definitely cheaper. But maybe a different variety would be more effective. ?
Why don't you just cut the thorns off?
@@kdccmb That would take hours. A mature gooseberry is a very compact and tangled bush. Picture dozens of stems coming from the ground arching upwards a few feet and then going back down to touch the ground in a circle around the base. Like a plant fountain.
And also without thorns, then it would be more appetizing to the deer.
I really liked the brand new information about this plants and so I subscribe to the channel, well narrated and useful new information YEAH THANKS
Thanks for the sub! Glad to have you here!
Awsome information and I grow lots of elderberry trees to give my animals shade in summer. Now I’ve seen your video I will plant my sea buckthorn outside as I was afraid to do before cheers matey 👍
Thanks so much for taking the time to watch the video. It means the world. Happy growing!
Unfortunately it is a bit difficult to pick from seabuckthorn. The berries don't easily detach from the stem and the thorns get in the way. To harvest commercially, they freeze entire branches and then knock the berries off.
On the plus size, the entire plant is suppose to be healthy for you. You can make tea with the leaves, and the berries have the rare Omega 7 in the flesh and seed.
Thanks for sharing that information with us! Happy growing!
Beautiful and very informative channel❤
Keep posting
Thanks!
Thanks for watching! Happy growing!
Before I order fig cuttings, can you send them to Arizona… I am in the Northern part of the state. We have two fig trees I want more varieties!
Sorry for the late reply. We are able to send them to Arizona!
Excellent video, Chad👍
I'm wondering if you would do a video on heat tolerant fruit selection? I'm in Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸
I know Figs do well here, but your Great American Fig Company says zone 6 on the varieties. Is that the coldest it would take? It would be great to know the high range, too.
Thanks for sharing 👩🌾👍
Hi Peggy! When we list on our site that the growing zone is 6 that means that it can tolerate temperatures down to zone 6. The heat tolerance for figs is out of this world. They don't require any chill hours to produce fruit, so they do great in warmer planting zones. I know people who grow figs in the deserts of Arizona where temperatures easily reach 115-120F on a regular basis. So figs would be a perfect plant to grow in your location.
As far as other fruit trees that I typically talk about, the heat really won't be an issue. The issue would come with fruit set. Many cold hardy plants require a certain number of chill hours (temperatures below 45F) in order to produce fruit. So that's really the direction that I would come from in choosing plants for your hardiness zone. How many chill hours do you typically get in any given season? And then what are the common pest and disease pressures for fruit trees where you live? I don't list high temperature tolerances for the fruit trees I sell thus far because they won't be affected by the high temps. They could grow in the heat of the Arizona sun.
Thank you so much for the great question!
Great video
Thanks so much! Glad to have you here. Happy growing!
Are you growing cranberries up in your area. Im down by little rock and considering getting a few bushes and planting them on east side of my house or under shade
just subbed. great videos and information.
Do the plants have upper temp ranges?
I do get this question quite a bit. Typically if you live in anything more than a subtropical zone you won't want to grow a lot of these, as they require a winter dormancy or certain number of chill hours to produce fruit. I live in zone 6/7 and these plants are great here. I'd say you could grow them in zone 8 and 9 as well. Higher than that and you'd be pushing it. This is of course different plant to plant, but for the most part if you don't fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit for a few months a year I wouldn't grow most of these.
@@PlantFanatics Thanks. I'm pretty solid in zone 6 (MD/PA border passes through my back yard). I can't wait to try some of these.
You think should add honeyberries, jostaberry, aronia berry, kiwi berry, loganberry, Pineberry, and currant, to the list.
More videos are coming! Thanks for watching!
Kiwi = China gooseberry
Just noting that not everyone likes the taste of seabuckthorne. I've heard several people refer to it as stomach acid berries, and I get where the yge t taht even though I personally love them. They are VERY acidic.
Yes, very important to know that everyone has a different palate. Thanks for sharing. Happy growing!
I'm hoping to get fruit from my elderberry plants I put in last year!
So exciting! Elderberries are very quick to fruit, so I bet you'll get fruit this year! Keep me updated with how things go. Happy growing!
Goumi tastes awesome sorta like Hawaiian punch.
They are a wonderful plant to grow!
We're can I get these in Colorado?
I would just do a quick Google search and maybe call around your area.
My seabuckthorns do not do great, especially the males. I have 1 alive female that grows pretty good. I am in zone 7 maybe too hot in summer.
Do you have irrigation set up? Tested the soil to see if it’s conducive to growing plants at an optimal level? Do you have a decent helping of mulch surrounding the plant for water retention during the hot summer months? Zone 7 typically allows these plants to grow wonderfully. Is oils consider testing all these perimeters. I do believe if they aren’t growing well there’s a problem in one of these sectors. Thank you so much for watching the video!
@@PlantFanatics It is right next to a cherry tree that is doing amazing and an elderberry that is doing amazing. I use back to eden woodchips style.
Where is part 3?
Could you perhaps list possible sources ?
If you see any Elderberry bushes I am sure you can get cuttings for free. They root very easily even in the winter. I prune mine seriously in fall and they come back fine.
@@nancywebb6549 thanks
Honestly where you can find them will vary based on where you are. Just a quick Google search and maybe calling around will help
@@PlantFanatics ,I was surprized Google was pretty useless. But that's partly my problem, since I cannot see well enough to drive.
Elderberries are proper trees, they grow to like 5m tall, they arent a bush
Elderberries are indeed classified as bushes, not trees, and their height does not typically reach 5 meters. It seems there might be a mix-up with another type of plant. Elderberry bushes usually grow to about 1.5 to 3 meters (5 to 10 feet) tall.