Garden berries for novice gardeners

[Dreams_of_Rural_Living]

Over the weekend, I was browsing seed catalogs and ran into a garden berry section. I would like to incorporate some other berries, but not sure what is the best fit for my zone (5-6) or what is easier for a novice gardener. I saw ground cherries and goose berries. I have no idea what they taste like, but which one is better for my zone and for someone still learning?

 

[Becky]

Gooseberries are very tart but lovely when cooked! What kind of fruit do you like to eat? Are you looking for something that can be eaten as it is or something that needs to be cooked first?

 

[Dreams_of_Rural_Living]

Well, I have a son and hubby who can be picky eaters. I would say they would prefer sweeter fruits. They typically only eat things like strawberries (which I have), blueberries (which I also have), cherries (just got 2 varieties), and bananas. I love cranberries, but they both dislike them. So would be definitely something on the sweeter side.

 

[dave david]

strawberries are one of the easiest to grow, reasonable prices and can be raised in raised beds, containers and plots. I got three great tasting berries from my year old plants, yesterday - about a month earlier than I expected.

I did make a fabric screen to cover the plants so that "I" get the berries, not the birds.

 

[Dreams_of_Rural_Living]

Dave thank you I do love my strawberries! I just went and bought a whole boat load of Quinalts and Ozark Beautys and I do have some boxes I made that I hope to have set up within the next couple of weeks. I think those are both everbearing, and will be on the prowl sooner or later to have a June bearing variety also. I am looking for fruits that are good both fresh eating, and that can be either canned or frozen or made into preserves. I am trying to be more sustainable and to try to produce my own food. It's slow going but I think I'm kinda getting there lol

 

[claudine]

As far as I know, most berries are very easy to grow I don't have a garden anymore, but I planted a strawberry plant in a container that I keep indoors. It's doing great! I also have four wild strawberries

 

[Dreams_of_Rural_Living]

My main issue and I hope this is not oversharing is my son has mild autism. I am really trying to find creative ways to get him to try new things. He has some food adversions, so it takes some time. But he loves the ideas of gardens, so I am hoping this can be my foot in to try to open up his realm a bit more in regards to food. So I really want to do things that I think would be easier for him to attempt to try. I don't expect him to love it right away, he never does LOL. But if it's something that is sweeter I have a better chance.

 

[claudine]

This is a beautiful idea, Dreams_of_Rural_Living. I hope your son will love berries. Growing plants can be very rewarding in many different ways Maybe you could try to grow some berries indoors as well? I keep all my wild strawberries in my living room. Observing them is a lot of fun, because they grow quickly.

 

[Dreams_of_Rural_Living]

Aww thank you Claudine! I am just trying to do the best I can to make sure he eats healthy. Right now, it's a lot of processed foods and I absolutely hate caving in and giving it to him. But dealing with food aversion has its own set of challenges, and it takes a lot of time. I am just hoping to find out what things he can tolerate and start growing those. It's been a lot of hits and misses. He wanted eggplants last year and gave it a go. To say the least, none of the eggplant was eaten and now I have eggplant seeds that I am not going to use lol. I want to do more indoor plants, but my kitty has a tendency to pee in the plants lol

 

[claudine]

Have you tried growing sprouts? Some of them are really delicious and they're very healthy. Also, they're easy to grow Maybe your son would like them. If you don't want to buy a special sprouter, you can use an old jar. All you need are seeds for sprouting. I buy mine in a supermarket