SMALL FRUITS FOR THE COASTAL EDGE
This is my third year as manager of the Alder Creek Farm permaculture garden, which is one of several garden projects within the Coastal Food Ecology Center here at the farm, on the north coast of Oregon on the Nehalem Bay.
Over time, I have found favorites among the fruits and vegetables; plants that are hardy enough to take the vagaries of our climate (high winds, low summer temps, salt, sandy soil, fog, rain, rain, rain, etc.), plants that produce very tasty produce and plants that have proportionately more output than input.
About seven years ago, "One Green World" nursery (www.onegreenworld.com) donated a generous selection of fruiting shrubs and trees which were planted and have been alternately nurtured and ignored.
I took over general care of the plants last year and have been grazing the fruits (my favorite way to eat them) during work breaks in the vegetable garden next to them.
Here's the list of what we have and my comments on flavor, suitability to our coastal climate and yield.
If you do not reside on the coastal edge (on the west side of Hwy 101) you may have a very different experience with these plants. If you live on the ocean side however, we may be of some help in your choices.
FIG: "Desert King": the tree is healthy and has managed to stay upright with staking but produces very little fruit; only a handful make it to ripening. If you have a sheltered place against a building with good sun, you may have better luck. It is a very pretty plant.
MEDLAR: this is a weird fruit tree popular during the Middle Ages, with largish leaves that are easily tattered in the late spring wind. It bears odd brown fruits in November that are mushy when ripe and really do taste like spiced applesauce. Output is small but I really love the strangeness factor and flavor even if it's yield is small. (Winner of the strange fruit award)
COLUMNAR APPLES: "Golden Sentinel", "Northpole", "Scarlet Sentinel"; there is a surprising amount of fruit produced by these tiny trees and they are small enough to be integrated into the vegetable garden beds where ours live. Wormy apples are a problem, but that's normal around here. Definitely well worth having and their small profile can handle the wind better than larger trees. (Winner)
ARONIA: an American native berry shrub that produced an enormous yield last year but along with most of our other small fruits, was gobbled by a plague of Robins. Bird netting would allow the fruit to ripen in peace. It's not tasty to me fresh; is said to make great juice. (Winner)
CURRANTS: Black, Red, Pink and White; these plants are some of the best adapted to our fickle climate. High yield, mostly carefree. Last season I did see some kind of rust. They blow over in the wind unless staked or planted behind a wind barrier. The Robins ate all but the white ones, which I'm guessing they considered unripe from the color. Currants are tart and tasty for fresh eating or jellies, cordials and syrups. (Winner)
GOOSEBERRIES: we have one reddish-pink gooseberry and I love it! It's sweet enough to eat fresh, unlike the old varieties and bears heavily every year. Gooseberries are related to currants and have long, nasty, bird-discouraging thorns. If you don't plan on using bird netting on your fruit plants, I recommend these or Sea Berries as the fruits most likely to be ignored by birds. (Winner)
PINEAPPLE GUAVA: they bloom, but don't bear. The blossoms are pretty and edible. The plant itself is a very handsome rounded silvery-leafed evergreen. Perhaps if you live on the coast a bit further away from the shore it would be happier and bear fruit. A great choice for the edible/ornamental garden.
CORNELIAN CHERRY DOGWOOD: This is a shrubby member of the dogwood family that bears small bright-red, pear-shaped fruit. Ours look wind-beaten by summer and may have Dogwood Anthracnose. They've had modest production of fruit so far and are tasty to us and the birds.
HONEYBERRY: the fruit is somewhat like an elongated blueberry that hangs hidden under the leaves.These are my favorite grazing fruit. Last year I brought granola and milk to the garden in the mornings and picked enough for breakfast until the robins came and wiped them out.The smaller, rounder bushes we have, which bloom later, do much better than the one we have that is a tall, early type.
Honeyberry plants are very handsome and make great ornamental shrubs and are a good choice for edible garden designs where aesthetics are a priority. (Winner w/bird netting)
GOUMI: these are a member of the Eleagnus family that bear tart, tasty bright-red fruits. Ours haven't produced heavily yet. I don't know why. They appear to be less attractive to the birds.
ELDERBERRY: European (Sambucus nigra) & Blue Elderberry (Sambucus caerulea). The black elderberries bloom really well (great for elder-blossom wine) but fruiting hasn't been as predictable, possibly due to under-watering in the summer. We have sandy, nutrient-poor soil. This year we're adding cow manure and a heavy mulch of wood chips to all of our small fruits. Elderberries probably prefer better soil and more shelter from the wind than we have.
Last year I purchased a one gallon native blue elderberry (which grows up near the summit of the coast range and in the Willamette Valley). It's too early to tell if it will adapt to the coast. I hope so; I grew up with these and my mother made jelly and wine from them.
SEA BERRY: of all the plants, these seem to be the happiest in terms of growing big and sending runners everywhere through the sand. They are a nitrogen-fixing pioneer-type of species, good for poor soils, but they are, in our garden, somewhat invasive. So far, unimpressive production, but they have mighty thorns which prevent the robins from snacking on them. Yay! If only I can figure out how to set more fruit. They are supposed to be good in coastal climates. I'm going to move one of the male plants that popped up, over next to a lonely large female plant as they are wind pollinated. Maybe that will help. I love the tasty, nutritious, tart, citrus-flavored bright orange fruits. (Win yet to be proven)
QUINCE: these trees are planted in a more protected area of the large fruit orchard and are clear winners. Everything about them says yes, yes, yes! Beautiful form and leaves. Spectacular, large, delicious (usually cooked) golden fruits. No pests! No bird problem! And they like our climate! What's not to love? (Big Winner)
Many thanks to "One Green World" for their generous donation.
Alder Creek Farm is part of the Lower Nehalem Community Trust and is located at the end of Underhill Lane between Manzanita and Nehalem off of Hwy 101. Open to the public every day. Gardens are located within the elk-fenced area next to the barn.Visitors, volunteers and new members welcome.
For more information about LNCT and Alder Creek Farm go to: www.nehalemtrust.org
Maia de Gaia's Garden Design
Maia Holliday
Edible, Native and Ornamental
Garden Consultation and Design
maiadegaia@gmail.com
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