2022, 2023 Fruit seasons

[SwampDonkey]

Concord grape





red raspberry





Canada plum





Canada plum (super) ;)

[thecfarm]

I've got grapes here.
Well raspberries too, out in the woods.
We had a great spot to pick black berries. Big ones too. As big as your thumb.
Then he rented his field out to someone with some cows and the black berries got fenced in.

[21incher]

Lots of grapes started  on my vines also. Apple trees are loaded with  marble size  fruits. Been eating rhubarb  for weeks and I have thousands  of green strawberries on those plants I started last year. Not even one Flower  on the pear trees I put in last year. Great  time of the year.

[SwampDonkey]

I picked 2 - 5 gallon pales of grapes last year. I have 2 rows, only about 8 feet long. They were loaded, looks same this year. I let the birds eat some. The robins and blue jays eat'm. Never noticed the coons bother them, and we have plenty of coons.

Blackberries did not winter too great on one patch, but new shoots coming. I don't grow many of them, just two small enclosures for a taste. I mix them in with the elders, and probably will the black currents.

Black currents here have been blooming awhile. I only have 3 bushes. Planted last year, but loaded with blooms. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Black elder, the older bushes





These are the ones from cuttings, the 2 to the right are from the grow tent. The far left was was just stuck in the mud. ;D





Black currant





Raspberry patch, lots of new shoots for next year.





Grapes are going gang busters this year.









Butternut

[SwampDonkey]

In the photo of that bigger black elder, which is two root systems, the tallest shoot there is 6 feet of new growth from the ground up. It's over 1/2" diameter.

[kantuckid]

Black Elder same as what we call Elderberry? I'd never grow them as they are all along the roadsides here. Our vegan son drinks the juice.
 I'd make wine from them but it has a "whang" I dislike, even after fermenting. Oliver winery in IN makes a great commercial Concord wine with a better taste than I can match and I've tried. 

[SwampDonkey]

Raspberries

This makes two quartz since yesterday and a couple days before. This isn't rounded up but with the first picking added in it makes 2 quartz from 3 boxes. That's my math. :D Some seem to have a touch of rust on them, but edible. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

@kantuckid Yes same elder. I mix my elder with black berry or grapes. Last year I tried syrup. What is syrupy when hot turns to jelly in the jar when cool. :D

We have red elder here mostly, but not edible. It flowers as soon as the snow goes. I have seen black elder in places growing here, but any time I see it it is only in flower. :D That 6 footer is now an 8 footer. ;D

I freeze my elderberries as I pick them. This year I'm going to thaw them and put them through the press.

[Don P]

Elderberries go good in a clear liquid.
Blueberries are putting out 4 or 5 lbs per day now, good size and flavor this year. Michelle has been making blackberry, wineberry and blueberry sorbets for berry day at the farmers market this week. The sound of 3 freezers churning every night that past coupla weeks. It's all about quality control.

[kantuckid]

I've made wine from Marionberries, a tame blackberry and came out better than with the wild ones, probably because the sugar content's higher. My aunt made elderberry jam when I was a kid, we'd pick, she'd cook. They have a "whang" I'm not fond of but will eat them. Blueberries I have slopes full of them, but the critters get 99.9 % of them. We've been picking tame red raspberries here last few days, also wild ones but same as the blueberries-too much competition.
   

[SwampDonkey]

Blueberries are great, especially the wild ones, way tastier than cultivated. I used to sit on a stump and fill 5 gallon pales from bushes all around the stump. Old fire ground, sandy soil on jack pine ground. Biggest ones were a little shaded. None close by here, all way out in unsettled lands.

[SwampDonkey]

We've picked another 5 quarts of raspberries since the last update. I'm chomping them up as fast as I can. I think some went into the freezer when I wasn't around. :D

[SwampDonkey]

Cortland, first crop on this tree. More growing to do. ;) Might get 20 lbs of fruit.





Grapes to no end. :D But a couple months yet to grow. Already showing some color though.

[thecfarm]

I hope to have some grapes this year too.

[21incher]

After 3 years there are finally figs on my 2 Chicago hardy figs. Looks like the grapes will be small this year with the lack of water.
I made awesome elderberry wine several years ago. It took 4 years to mellow out and become  drinkable.  First  3 years it tasted like rocket fuel and then the next year it was awesome. Have a batch of Concord/ elderberry mix sitting  in the carboy 2 years now waiting to be bottled.

[SwampDonkey]

I like elderberry mixed with blackberry. Here I was experimenting last year. I got it syrupy, but when cooled it was jelly. :D

[woodroe]

We've put up 25 gts. highbush blueberries so far this year and still picking daily. 
Had some fresh in the pancakes w/homemade maple syrup this morning 
mmmmm good. Apples not so many this year after a bumper crop last fall.
Funny how that works with fruit. 
Also excited to have some of the 1st Hazelnuts this year. Planted five a couple years back and been nursing them along.....I see Japanese beetles like them pretty well so been picking them off and into a soapy water bucket they go. 
"Plant it and they will come"

[SwampDonkey]

Elderberries here are just hanging with fruit. Not ripe yet though. One clump seems to flower a couple weeks before the other.

[SwampDonkey]

Picked a cup full of blackberries tonight. Not a big patch and not a big crop this year. Had a bunch of winter kill. I'll take what I can get. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

I picked and froze 2 lbs of black elderberries this morning for later processing.

[thecfarm]

We went on top of Gordon Hill to pick black berries. Not a large amount in any one spot.
I have no idea how much we picked. 
Brenda made some turnovers and froze 2-quart zip lock bags.
We had some above the old farmhouse that came in when we were letting someone else cut the fields. They never mowed above the house for 2 years.
My Father and me took care of the berries for years. Then he passed away and I kept taking care of them like we always did. But I guess the black berries missed my Father, they died.
We had a real nice spot by a cow pasture. Berries as big as your thumb and did not have to move to get a lot. Then he let someone else put their cows in there and moved the fence. No more blackberries.
We saw one elder bush ready for picking, but saw many not ready.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah I have one mature bush here that is mostly green, the other was mostly ripe from which I picked. I'm making syrup from mine. Drizzle a little on the ice cream. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Picked and froze another 4 lbs of black elderberries this morning. More to harvest next weekend. ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Harvested the apples off the Cortland tree today, 11 lbs of big apples. Was the first ever harvest off this small tree. They are running large to, mostly.