Growing Great Fruit: Webinars, Videos, Podcasts, and Articles

 

June is here and our berry bushes and fruit trees are loaded. Many gardeners avoid growing berries and fruit trees for fear they will take up lots of space or are difficult to grow. But by selecting dwarf varieties, disease resistant varieties and varieties that are self fertile, you can have fruits even in a small yard.

In this newsletter, I highlight two webinars devoted to fruit growing. All About Berries is just that. It’s all about growing your favorite berries and some unusual ones, too. Foodscaping is a different way to approach fruit growing. It’s also called edible landscaping because you’re integrating fruits into the landscape so they can be beautiful and edible.

In this newsletter I also chat about blueberry and apple growing and discuss a fun topic on growing figs. Gardeners in warmer climate may not be excited about fig growing, but cold weather gardeners like myself, find it a treat to grow figs in our region. Check out these articles, podcasts, videos and webinars to up your fruit growing game.

Until next time I’ll be seeing you, in the garden.

Charlie

 

All About Berries Webinar 

 

 

In this webinar I cover many of the most common berries and how to grow them as well as some unusual ones, too. I start with the most popular ones such as strawberries, blueberries and brambles such as raspberries. I give you all the details you’ll need to know to be successful. Then I add in some unusual berries, such as elderberries, currants and gooseberries. I talk about the best varieties of the various berries to grow in your area, how to choose a good site to grow berries and how to prepare the soil.

I highlight how to plant berry bushes and plants using different designs, how to care for plants in the critical first year including watering, fertilizing and weeding tips, pruning berry bushes and using supports and insect pest and animal controls and how to use them safely.

 

 

 

Foodscape Gardening Webinar and Book

 

 

Many gardeners want to grow more of their own food, but feel like they don’t have the space, time or resources to do it. Plus, they don’t want to sacrifice their flower gardens. The solution is Foodscaping or edible landscaping. In this webinar I talk about the different places you can integrate edible plants, especially fruits, into your landscape so they fill multiple functions. And I talk about all the various edibles to grow that are beautiful to look at as well. I discuss where to grow foodscape plants in your yard, how to substitute ornamental plants with foodscape plants and not sacrifice beauty and some design techniques to make your foodscape more beautiful. You’ll also see some examples of some foodscaped yards and some of my favorite veggies, flowers, herbs, berries and fruits for your yard.

Check out my webinar on Foodscape Gardening here.

 

Learn more and purchase my Foodscape Gardening Webinar here

 

Learn More about My Foodscaping Book Here

 

 

More on Fruit Gardening……

 

How to Grow: Blueberries

 

 

I think the most rewarding berry bush to grow in your yard is the blueberry. There are Highbush Northern and Southern varieties so they grow across the country. The plants can live for decades, if you care for them properly, and they consistently produce fruit each summer. You can grow early, mid and late season varieties to extend the harvest window and grow dwarf varieties for small space yards and in containers.

In this article, podcast and video I talk about selecting varieties, growing them well, amending the soil, pruning and protecting the berries from birds. Learn more about blueberry growing here.

 

Learn How to Grow Blueberries here

 

 

Grow Heirloom Varieties of Apples

 

Apples are as American as, well, pie! While many of us love to support local pick-your-own orchards, you can also grow a few varieties in your yard for fresh eating, sauce making or making cider. Some of the tastiest varieties are not ones you’ll find in the grocery store, but older varieties such as ‘Northern Spy’ and ‘Winesap’. These varieties may not produce like modern ones, but the flavor and uses for these apples is unique.

In this article and podcast learn about some famous older varieties and ways to grow them in your yard.

 

Learn more on Growing Heirloom Apples here

 

How to Grow: Figs

 

I’ve been growing figs for years in our Vermont, zone 5 climate. I started by growing ‘Brown Turkey’ and ‘Celeste’ varieties in large containers. They produce well each year and the containers keep the plant size dwarf. Now, I also grow ‘Hardy Chicago’ in our unheated greenhouse. Even with -20F temperatures last winter and little protection for my greenhouse fig, it survived the winter. The container figs end up in our basement sleeping each fall until spring when we move them first into the garage and then later outdoors.

 

If you’d like to give fig growing a try, check out this article and podcast. I talk about soil, fertilizers and pruning as well. Enjoy those fresh figs!

Learn more about Growing Figs here