/grow/ - Plants, Livestock & Crops

>>146
I love growing white currants. They are very shade and cold tolerant and are completely clear, like glass beads. Very sweet, even more so than red currants.

I also like the chinese five flavour berry. And passion fruit.

Don't have much going tree wise, apart from an old apple tree. I think it's just a wild. I always prefer growing from seed anyway.

>>147
i'm currently in the process of turning my backyard into a food forest and so far i have an apricot tree, a blueberry bush, and grapes handy. what other interesting plants should i include in my food garden?

>>149
Location? Nothing specific.
Are you temperate or dry?
Do you live near the coast?
What is your USDA hardiness zone rating?

>>150
sorry, i'm new to this planting stuff.
i live in zone 7b,near the coast at the very bottom of virginia and the climate is pretty temperate>>150

>>151
Sorry, I took so long. You may want to add some sand to the soil when you put these in as young plants.

Japanese Plum
Asian Pear
Fig
American Hazelnut
Apple
Apricot
Cherry (lapins)
Peach
Passionfruit
Pomegranate
Hardy Kiwi (Actinidia arguta)

Adaptability is what you want to aim for when you select your cultivars. Cool fresh air coming from the coast will be good to help you set fruit but depending on your soil the rainfall might cause acidity and moisture issues.

I found this site has some use cultivar suggestions:
http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/fruit-variety-recommendations/recommendations-usda-zones-5-9

I can't really tell you what to grow cultivar wise, firstly because I haven't grown them but also because it comes down to personal taste. I like very sweet fruit and colourful flowers.
Hope this helps.

>>155
Wow. I will assume you are from a zone 4 like "Gaylord"? You are very limited.

Pinus pumilio - pine nuts
Apple like gold or red delicious
Cherry like lapins, self pollinator
Pear like krazulya, it's fucking russian and damn hardy

>>162
thanks a lot! thats very helpful. i already put in a few trees without sand, but i dont think that should be too adverse. we're all gonna grow it, brah

>>163
I actually live in Port Huron and my family and I are going to start a garden this summer, so I thought I'd check this place out.
We were thinking of plating an apple tree, a cherry tree, and a pear tree on top of growing vegetables and hunting small game, as well as collecting rainwater and making home brew.
Being a /pol/ack, I thought self-sufficiency sounded good. Plus, it's something we used to do years ago and we stopped for whatever reason; I missed it.

>>185
And thanks for the advice!

>>185
>>185
Have you thought about producing your own barley and hops?

You could also keep bees. The European dark bee should be hardy in your climate.
Another option could be sugar beet.

Do you know what you want to produce on your land? Self sufficiency requires all the main crop groups; food, fuel, fibre and fun. And then each of those breaks down further. The long and short of it is that self sufficiency is a full time job.
If you were just thinking of food then you may also want to think about rape for oil, it is very cold hardy and I think you could plant a winter cultivar where you are.

Let me know what you are looking to grow and I would be happy to help you work out a rotation.

>>191
The strawberries and raspberries are perennials so they will need a fixed position, probably in partial shade depending on how hot your summers get.

As for the others it's very simple. Use a six year rotation of 2-2-2 as a minimum. You may want to go longer than that but no more than 5. That's Root Veg - Top Veg and cereals - Legumes. Remember to keep a compost heap also. Add to the soil when you take something away. That's harvest and even weeding.
Some veg you can over winter which will bring a higher yield the following year. For the other plots it's important to use a cover crop of winter legumes. They will keep the weeds down and add nitrogen to the soil. The nitrogen is only released as the roots breaks down. Don't dig the roots up else the nitrogen is released into the atmosphere. Just cut down the (probably unfinished) crop and leave the roots to rot in the ground and put the seed in.

With regards to the hops. I really wouldn't worry about growing tits. If you are keen on skipping hops you will need another herb to act as a preservative.
http://www.gruitale.com/botanicals_en.htm
Sage and wormwood I know to work well. Although careful not to kill yourself with the wormwood.
https://www.erowid.org/plants/wormwood/wormwood.shtml

>>192
Thanks for this. This is quite a bit of information that you're laying on to me.