Help with some fruit plants near Edmonton Alberta

8 years ago

Two questions, first I have found a ton of gooseberry? plants on my property, but i wouldnt call them bushes they look more like raspberry canes. Could they be some sort of cross or are they just grown so thick together that they cant gain any size. Also some have nice big single berries well others have large clusters of very small berries.what exactly are they and what should i do with them?

Secondly i have many Saskatoon trees on my property but they dont dlseem to make editable fruit they are small and seem to ripen to quickly a few are good but most are shriveled and dont taste good at all. Any idea why? I guess i have the same problem with the apple trees they make very small usless fruit there are some ornamental crab apple trees on one side of the property that produce large clusters of small usless fruit but the oother'sare quite far away and dont have the large clusters so im aassuming regular apple trees could they be crossing?

We also have plum, tart cherry and Evans cherries that seem to fuit just fine so i dont realy know what the deal is. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you

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Comments (6)

granolabar (Zone 2)
8 years ago
Native gooseberries are fairly small and thin although the plants thrive. When I was a kid I ate them green or ripe. Today I can't be bothered.

Wild Saskatoons vary a lot between patches and years. The tame varieties started as selections from the wild.
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years ago
Pictures would help..I find the small fruits are allot smaller this year due to the drought we have,...or they been like this all the time? Honeyberry this year isn't worth to pick for me,..first time in about 10 years, I can't water. What plum do you have.
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lauber13
Original Author
8 years ago
I cant seem to load any pictures. Im on a galaxy S3? i dont know why it wont work. Dont know what honey berries are but perhaps i have both. One plant has fewer larger berries that i dont doubt are gooseberries and the others have lots of small berries clumped together that look similar but smaller the plants look very similar. I just found them (this is our second summer here on a 10 acre parcel) so dont know how they were last year. I had suspected the minimal rain may have had something to do with it. I wish i could show you the patch its a disaster and im not sure how to go about reviving it.

Not sure what kind of plums we have closest i can figure out they're wild plums? But we had bucket loads last year and it looks like this year wont be much different. Looks like they started with the 3 tree's a number of years ago now there are about 10 of them that are producing to some degree. We jucied them last year made a neon pink juice would probably make great jelly or syrup but haven't gotten around to it yet. In the old root cellar under the old house there are some canned plums but I'm not about to try them to see kf there good. Lol
Sherwood Botsford (z3, Alberta)
8 years ago
There are multiple species of wild gooseberries and wild currants in Alberta. My ident skills are meager: If it has thorns and the right leaf it's a gooseberry. (Haven't really tried hard either, mind you.)

The domestic ones produce a lot more fruit. I carry Ben Nevis and Red Lake.

Named saskatoon cultivars are mainly selections from wild stock. In general the larger fruit is not as strongly flavoured. This can be an advantage. Some of the wild ones are overpowering. Sasks are self fertile. You don't need two.

When they get leggy and all the fruit is at the top, whack down in the dormant season and start over. They will come back from the root, but won't have any fruit the first year.
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years ago
I gave up on gooseberries and currants because of the currant fly/bugs.

>>In the old root cellar under the old house there are some canned plums but I'm not about to try them to see kf there good. Lol<<

Yeah..I'd be careful also but be temped to open! lol
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years ago
Photo..

below your text you see a photo icon, click and you can load pictures from your window.

Lauber, pictures from your plums/berries would be very much appreciated!

Help with some fruit plants near Edmonton Alberta

Comments (6)

granolabar (Zone 2)

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

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lauber13
Original Author

Sherwood Botsford (z3, Alberta)

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

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Help with some fruit plants near Edmonton Alberta

Comments (6)

granolabar (Zone 2)

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

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lauber13Original Author

Sherwood Botsford (z3, Alberta)

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta

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BUSINESS SERVICES

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lauber13
Original Author