I asked the same question of OGW/Raintree, and heard back honeyberries and silverberries. Any others?
Does anyone have (or have tried) either of these? How do they taste? How do they grow?
I'm making some long term plans about what I want to save space for in my yard and think it would be cool to see how much of my own fruit I could produce myself, so something to start the season as early as possible might be nice. Unless they're not really good eatin.
Never heard of silverberries. Tasted honeyberries once, not impressed at all.
I grow multiple sorts of black currants. Lots of flavor in those babies. I mash them up with a little sugar to taste and spread over my banana/greek yogurt invention to imitate a banana split, but more healthy!
Black currants are usually ready to pick end of June when only everbearing strawberries are the only competition. They are permaculture, being woody bushes, and after establishing need very minimal care. Deer do not like to browse them either, so you need not fence for them.
Plumfun,
I have a few honeyberries. the first couple of years I didn't like them very much, but I've had some that were pretty good. Overall they aren't as good as blueberries but the best I've had are better than poor blueberries.
I think the key was letting them hang a long time past turning blue, weeks. And so far the deer seem to be ignoring the one I've had sitting in a pot waiting for a place to plant.
I grow both honeyberries and silver berries. Neither are that great compared to other fruit. Silver berries are earlier than honeyberries. I am eating silver berries right now. Honey berries should be by in a couple of weeks. The main outstanding feature of silverberries, other than their evergreen foliage, is their outstanding fragrance in October and November. Think of fall daphne that you can eat. They aren't that productive.
Honeyberries are sour. I like sour. They're not nearly as good as say, pie cherries, but then again few things are. They are available in May, they are from a botanically different family, and they grow well in shade. I guess it depends on how excited you get about finding berries in May. They have new kinds of honeyberries that supposedly produce more fruit but they're in Late June or July. Hello-you just ruined the most outstanding attribute of the fruit! There are many better tasting fruits available in June and July.
Strawberries and cherries are the traditional answer to the question.
Goumi are ripe in June and July. They taste a lot better and are more productive than silverberries.
Loquats also ripen in the Spring. Good luck getting a reliable crop from them on the West side of the Cascades. :Maybe in Medford? I consider mine an ornamental.
John S
PDX OR
thanks that is good info!
I think I won't reserve space for them, but will keep the possibility open.
Growing OK in shade is a big plus for the honeyberries. And the smell of the silveberries sounds delightful.
(but it took all I had to merely get four blueberry bushes in the ground this year. apples, cherries and more strawberries are all higher up on the list than those two early season candidates
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
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