Fruiting shrubs for the Cold Climate Food Forest

Gardening in a Cold climate is difficult to say the least. From the late spring frosts and early fall frosts to the deep winter snows and extreme summer heat. You never know what you are going to get in a climate like ours. Have you typed into Mr. Google “cold climate food forests” and come up with advice that just won’t hack it in your cold climate? Don’t worry I’m right there with you. Fortunately I have been experimenting in the garden for many years and I have found five amazing fruiting shrubs that will thrive in your cold climate food forest or permaculture orchard. Sometimes you can grow the same fruits as others can in their warmer climate gardens - all that’s needed is a slight change in variety!

Some quick tips on finding hardy plants for your cold climate garden. First of all it’s not always the zone that matters most. Often times its better to look for descriptions that say things like “blooms late to escape late spring frosts”. I typically choose varieties that say they thrive in Canada or Russia. Another thing I look for is an early ripening variety - although you do have to watch those types because sometimes early fruit means an early bloom which will not work on things like fruit trees that have cold sensitive blossoms. I highly recommend searching out a nursery that will ship bare roots to you who is also familiar with you specific area. I have enjoyed working with Burnt Ridge Nursery the past several years. They are familiar with our fluctuating temperatures and cold weather. Though they are not local to me the owner has visited my area many times and knows what I’m up against. They have helped me select the best fruit trees for our area, which have done very well for us.

The last tip I have is to make friends with people who garden in your immediate area. Gardeners often have excess plants and are usually willing to share starts or seeds- and eventually you’ll be able to return the favor. The plants you get from your friends and neighbors are often the best suited for your garden because they are already hardy to your growing conditions. Plus how fun is it to look around your garden and see the plants from your friends. I have many plants in my garden that were given to me by friends who have since passed away and seeing them bloom each summer is a wonderful reminder of our friendship.

So without further ado here are my top five cold climate fruiting shrubs!! I think you will love them as much as I do.

#1 Haskcap or Honeyberry

Height: 3-8ft tall and wide

Many people refer to these little purple hourglass shaped berries as haskaps but I think honeyberry sounds much sweeter - so that’s what we call them. We even have a special location for them called “honeyberry hill”.

While our night time temps still dip in the 20s (Fahrenheit) and most other plants have yet to come out of their winter slumber the honeyberry is wide awake proclaiming spring is on its way! At first just a few leaves come out and then the shrub explodes with a display of small yellow flowers. The low temperatures and frosts do not bother the new leaves or flowers one bit. After this display of early blooms the flowers quickly give way to tiny green fruits which will eventually turn deep blue and their tart flavor changes to a pleasant sweet tart. This change will often take place before we have even tasted the first strawberry of the season! Now that’s an early fruit!!

Out of all the different shrubs and trees we have planted the honeyberry have done the best. They have thrived on neglect in our hugle mound without water even in the hottest summer days although these plants certainly thrive in the cool damp spring weather. Harvesting can be tedious as the fruit tends to hide under the leaves and when they are perfectly ripe they can fall off as you are picking. This is a benefit however in the way that birds who would usually devour the berries have a harder time seeing the fruit. This being said birds do love these berries and if they discover your stash you might want to have bird netting on hand to protect your precious fruits. These shrubs do not like competition or other plants growing directly under them so I use a nice deep Wood-chip or grass clipping mulch around the base. If you are using grass clippings be sure they have not been sprayed with chemicals.

Avoid heavy pruning - just keep these shrubs maintained by cutting out dead and damaged branches. Remember to keep good airflow and allow light to the center of the plants. This will ensure plenty of fruit come spring and also keep the plant vigorously growing. Pruning in late winter is best.

I do suggest to plant several varieties for good pollination. The varieties that have done very well for us are Indigo Treat, Indigo Yum, Blue Sky and Blue Bird. All except blue bird are extra early fruiting varieties.

#2 Jostaberry

Height: 3-5 feet tall and wide

Jostaberry are a cross between gooseberry and currants. These hardy fast growing shrubs produce loads of sweet tart fruits that are similar in flavor to a currant but the size of a gooseberry! The best thing about these shrubs is that they do not have thorns like their gooseberry parents!! These shrubs grow quite quickly. I planted mine about four years ago and I have already made several new plants from the original one. I have only gotten to taste the fruit once since planting because I have dived the mother plant so many times - but what I did taste was so sweet and delicious. Without the thorns from its cousin the gooseberry harvesting fruits are easy and doesn't take long. I am anticipating a nice big harvest from this mother plant in mid summer. I can’t wait!

Jostaberry blossoms fully open

Jostaberry, currants and gooseberry all have exceptionally hardy blossoms. They can withstand the surprise late frosts ensuring a crop of berries. In my area we can expect a full harvest of these fruits just after the June strawberries and right before we taste our first summer raspberries. These shrubs produce fruit on last years canes so be sure to keep that in mind while pruning. Pruning is best done in late winter while the shrub is dormant.

I have noticed that the jostaberry is not plagued by the aphids that seem so attracted to the currents. -Though this could be more related to location of the plants than the actual attributes of the jostaberry. My currants are patiently waiting for my fruit trees to grow bigger and so for now they live in full sun while this jostaberry is located near a tamarack tree and gets dappled shade.

I’m not sure what variety I have growing because I bought it locally and the tag got misplaced… It produces a deep purple fruit. Just look for varieties that say they are excellent for fresh eating and that will put you on the right track.

#3 Currants

Height: 3-6ft high and wide

Currants are truly the most fun little cold hardy fruiting shrub to grow. Spring is often a time when I walk outside and look at my plants several times a day to see if anything is leafing out or flowering. There is this little window when it seems time actually stops. The last whisps of winter are still clinging and spring is holding out just a touch longer. Suddenly the currents have the beginning of leaves, then little tiny clusters of buds appear and soon the burst open. If you walk out just when the sun is dipping below the trees the golden rays seem to kiss these little clusters and they look as if they are glowing.

Currants come in black, red, white, golden and pink! I have several of each… because well…that’s just what a crazy plant lady needs. They each have a slightly different flavor - black being the most unique. I’ve heard that in England where currants are a big deal lots of Gardners grow red currants to distract the birds from their black ones. The black currants are slightly larger in size and more firm in texture.

Currants are very quick to produce a decent sized crop. I often find that we do not get to harvest all these abundant little shrubs have to offer. By the time these are fully ripened the raspberries are in full force and we seem to harvest these tart little delights a little more leisurely. They have a fairly long ripening time going about 4-6 weeks in our area which is nice when so many things are producing.

We tend to reserve our currants for jams, jellies, cordials and baking as they do have a very tart flavor. Our daughter however eats them fresh by the handfuls.

Currents, Jostaberry and gooseberry bloom later than the honeyberry which helps them escape the most severe spring weather, but their blooms can still survive even a late June frost. These types of shrubs are excellent in the food forest setting because they can still bear copious amounts in shady locations. I have my mother row planted where they will eventually be sheltered by apple, pear and plum trees. Unfortunately for now they are in full sun which they do not love. This can sometimes stress the plants and leads to droves of aphids attacking them each spring. I am diligent to spray them with neem oil, a natural pest killer. I also take care to spray when the pollinators are sleeping as to not affect them with the oil. Honeyberry, jostaberry, currants and gooseberry provide a nice early source of food for our pollinators.

#4 Summer Fruiting Raspberry

Height: 5ft (pruned) spreading as much as you will let it.

No northern food forest or garden would be complete without a well rounded berry garden. Berries are the “free money” so to speak for cold climate gardeners. What better shrub to add than the raspberry? I think if I absolutely had to choose a favorite fruit it would be the raspberry. Bright, juicy and wonderfully delicious! This shrub - although not a true shrub produces fruiting canes. Summer bearing raspberries produce fruit on the canes that grew last year, meaning if you plant them this year you will get fruit next year! It does take about 3 years to get a really really good crop though.

You can plant a few canes in a pot and keep them on a patio - though you will have to refresh the canes occasionally - when they become root bound. I have mine planted in a 40 foot row. It is about 6 feet wide. I do suggest planting it in two rows rather than one single wide one. It will make harvesting much easier. I have meant many times to go through and make mine into two separate rows as I originally planned but I just can’t seem to bear to do it. For now I have many children in my life who enjoy getting lost in the raspberry hedge and they pick the berries adults can’t get to. Our sweet berry loving dog gets the ones the kids miss as well as the occasional gift from mommies hand.

Raspberries spread by runners under the ground. This is wonderful if you’d like to expand your patch a little each year. You original raspberry patch can keep producing fruit for over 30 years!!! If you do not want to continue to expand your patch you can always share starts with friends! We also use the extra canes to provide plenty of fresh leaves for drying for tea in the winter. You can plant your patch in a lawn and simply mow over the areas where you do not want canes to grow large. They will invade the lawn area for sure and that may not be appreciated by bear foot guests. It is also recommended to trellis your patch. There are a ton of ideas on Pinterest! I have a t-post at either end of my patch and a long cable holding the canes upright ….it works…sorta. lol! If you are going for the food forest garden then a rambling patch might suit your needs just fine. We have our patch located on the edge of the chicken run. They keep one side in check and eat the fruit that grows through the fence.

Raspberries are such a versatile fruit. You can make shrubs (an ancient probiotic drink), wine, desserts, devour them fresh by the handfuls as my children do, bake with them, freeze them on a tray and store them frozen for winter enjoyment use them even in a salad!

Raspberry Meringues

Raspberries could double as a swamp plant, the more you water them the larger the fruit will be. They can tolerate shade which makes them ideal for the food forest setting. They benefit from pruning. Just remove last years fruiting canes to the ground and it will freshen your patch right up. We tend to burn the pruning to keep disease and pests from becoming a problem. With that being said wasps in the heat of summer love any soft fruits. We harvest our berries in the cool mornings to beat the bugs and the heat.

#5 Blueberry

Height: 6-12 feet

All of the fruiting shrubs I have mentioned this far have been very easy to grow. This one does not fit that bill. Blueberries are extremely slow to grow, are picky about their soil and light requirements and do not like to be pruned heavily. You may think why grow them at all? Well I will tell you. I grew into adulthood thinking I did not like blueberries. I had only ever had them from the grocery store. Bland and mushy or mealy… not yummy that’s for sure. My firstborn LOVED blueberries! When I was first planting our garden I was offered an amazing deal on some blueberry bushes through a co-op deal. The more we bought the cheaper the plants. So I bought 5 and they became known as Eli’s blueberries. The second year after purchasing these older bushes we got to taste our first fruits…. Oh my! These were nothing like the ones in the store!! We’ve been picking blueberries and freezer gallons for winter consumption ever since.

I suggest even if you don't have room in your own garden find a local blueberry farm to support! We freeze many gallons of blueberries along with other fruits and veggies which we use in baking and smoothies all year long.

Growing blueberries. They thrive in acidic soils… this is why you should plant them in the north. Our acidic pine filled forests are the perfect growing medium! They will still benefit from the occasional fresh coffee grounds or simply pour out your leftover cooled coffee right at the base of the plants every day. They will love it! These shrubs have a shallow root system - do not plant things to close to them… eh hem… yes I did this and learned by way of hard knocks…. I sacrificed 3 years of fruit because of this mistake. whoops. Since they have such shallow roots they benefit from light frequent watering and a nice layer of mulch - we use woods chips.

We have since added many more blueberry bushes to our food forest and plant to continue to add more and more. I don’t think you can every plant enough to satisfy a child’s berry appetite.

We have enjoyed growing Reka, Early blue and Duke - each have their own benefits like flavor, size and time of ripening. I suggest choosing early, mid and late varieties to extend your berry season as long as possible.

Well there you have it! My list of cold climate fruiting shrubs!!!! I hope this inspires you to choose something outside the box and helps you produce berries from the first possible fruit to the very end of the season!

I would love to hear what you grow in your gardens!!! Please let me know in the comments!

Until next time! Enjoy drooling over seed catalogs I know I sure will be.