30 Responses to “ 17 Hardy Fruits That You Can Grow On The Prairies ”

1. # 1 Amy Says:
   March 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 am

   I had never heard of haskap before. I just had a look at your past article. Wow! I’m going to be keeping an eye out for these in the spring. They sound so ideal. One of our gardening goals is to grow more of our fruits and veggies.

   I’ll be adding you to my collection of Zone 4 and under blogs. I’m always excited to find another garden blogger growing in a cold climate, as I have a lot to learn!

2. # 2 Dave Says:
   March 26th, 2008 at 3:39 am

   Exciting, aren’t they? Haskap has sooo much potential! I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of harvest I’ll get from them this year.
   Thanks for the link! We cold climate bloggers gotta stick together!

3. # 3 Alex Says:
   May 30th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

   I live in Edmonton. I bought 3 grape plants last year. One of them actually gave grapes inside the house (it was already in the process when I bought it).

   Of course, the intention is to have the plants outside, I have not being able to do it for the following things:

   1)I do not have my rough grade approve yet and I don’t want to plant them and have to replant.

   2) The backyard is facing north. I’m concerned if I should plant them at the front to give them more sunlight.

   3) I’m concerned with winter protection, I see you built a green house. How did it work in winter? Did you add any kind of heat? or your concern was only with windshield?

   4) Am I too late for transplanting? by the way, they are right know in a indoor trellis and in big pots.

   I appreciate your repply.

4. # 4 Alex Says:
   May 30th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

   I meant my final grade, I have my rough grade already

5. # 5 Dave Says:
   May 31st, 2008 at 8:04 am

   Hi Alex. My thoughts for having my grapes in my greenhouse was primarily for protection, thus the greenhouse was not heated. However, my grapes did die back quite a bit that year. This last winter I took down my trellis and covered the grape vines with hay. Grapes are quite slow to get started here, so I’m still waiting to see how they faired over the winter this year.

   Ideally, you should transplant when plants are dormant, but really you can transplant anytime if you’re going from pots to in the ground – that doesn’t disturb the roots nearly as much as if you were digging them out of the ground to move them somewhere else.

   Hope that helps!

6. # 6 Dianne Says:
   June 9th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

   Hi Dave,

   I planted a Valiant grapevine last summer. It is against the house in a south exposure, wind protected spot. It is coming up beautifully but … it has little white insects on it. The larger leaves are somewhat spotty with a white colour. I have tried to find out on the web what these insects are and how to get rid of them but have had no success. Any suggestions?

   Thanks,
   Dianne

7. # 7 Dave Says:
   June 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

   Hmmm. It’s hard for me to guess without actually seeing for myself, but if you look here – http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/03-039.htm – there is some information that might help you determine what the trouble is.

8. # 8 Jennifer Says:
   June 19th, 2008 at 8:12 am

   Dave, I think you have whitefly. I get it too. I just go by with a strong hose and knock them off periodically. They don’t seem to affect the health of my Valiant.

9. # 9 Jennifer Says:
   June 19th, 2008 at 8:13 am

   Sorry, meant Dianne.

10. # 10 Alex Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    Hi again.

    I finally got my final grade certificate.

    You mentioned I can transplant them anytime. I’m wondering in transplanting them now.

    What kind of trellis would you suggest?

    if I plant them next spring, is there a good chance I can get grapes that season? I read somewhere that grapes need to be in the cold prior producting grapes. is that true?

    Wow, I’m debating what to do because is August.

    Thanks,

11. # 11 Dave Says:
    August 13th, 2008 at 7:02 am

    I think I would plant them now. They’re probably eager to get out of the pots and spread their roots. Plus, that will give your roots a chance to become established before winter. I couldn’t verify the “cold required before fruit” theory, but that would be another argument for planting them now.

    Your style of trellis is up to you, just as long as it supports that weight of the vines. Commercial growers often just have a couple wires strung between between posts – kinda like our standard barbed-wire fence, but taller and with greater distance between wires (also not barbed.)

12. # 12 Alex Says:
    August 31st, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    Hi again,

    I just planted my valiant. I will plant the other two tomorrow.

    My first question is when should I start doing winter protection? and when should I free the plant from it?

    I’m planning to wrap the plant with a lot of old clothing plus a plastic paint container (4 gallons) and plastic Garbage container around it. Could this be enough?

    I don’t want to bury them because I read somewhere this increases the chances of diseases.

    I have read in many places that this plant will make it anyway but what I noticed last year is that the first cold kill one branch easily (so I put it inside right away). The same happen this year when I brought it outside too early and I brought inside again.

    Regarding the person asking about the “white insects”. I think they could be “mealy bugs”. just check.

13. # 13 Georgina Says:
    September 24th, 2008 at 6:11 pm

    Hi, I have a five year old Valiant that I just picked fruit from this morning, about 10 pounds I think. It was my Mother’s and we inherited it, the past two years we have laid the vines down early in November and covered them with about six inches of loose dirt, we have had no problems with disease.

14. # 14 jo feild Says:
    November 22nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    hey where are apples grown in alberta?

15. # 15 Dave Says:
    November 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Well, I know Sprout U-pick Apple Farm just outside of Edmonton has many apples. DNA Gardens southeast of Red Deer offers many kinds of hardy apples as well. Those are two places I know of.

16. # 16 Jason Says:
    November 23rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    How do I grow Kiwis?

17. # 17 Dave Says:
    November 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    I haven’t grow them myself, but you can look at this link for more information: http://usagardener.com/how_to_grow_fruits/how_to_grow_hardy_kiwi.php

18. # 18 Alex Says:
    December 1st, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Dave,

    Any updates on your grapes this year?

    Thanks,

    Alex

19. # 19 Dave Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 11:13 am

    Well, actually, I’ve moved. The place where I now live has no landscaping done, so I’ll be starting from a clean slate this spring.

20. # 20 Constance Says:
    December 28th, 2008 at 1:37 am

    What is (Rough Grade Approval)? I am about to start my spring garden indoors by incubation. I just moved in to an old character house in the Glenora area, downtown. Do I have to apply for some type of certificate to garden in my backyard? The backyard already has some gardening but nothing worth naming.

    I’m about to start a veggy and fruit garden for personal use, not for profit. My back yard faces east and gets huge amounts of east and southern light. In my front yard I get western exposure for my more shady plants.

    I’m going to garden peas, carrots, lettuce, tomatos, herbs, strawberries, blueberries, knuckles, sask berries, kiwi, and maybe even some lemon if I can.

    What do you think? INFO PLEASE thanks

21. # 21 Dave Says:
    December 28th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    I guess you’d have to check with your local authorities to be sure, but I sure can’t imagine that you need any type of certificate to garden in your backyard. If there is already an established garden (of sorts), you should be fine to continue.

    I do have to ask what knuckles are, as I’m not familiar with any plants by that name.

22. # 22 Carrie Says:
    February 8th, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Hi Dave!
    I am excited to find this blog and find it has lots of great info.

    I am living in Penhold AB and want to start growing grapes this yr. I have a few questions for you.
    What type of soil is best? what kind I should purchase being a first time grower? Does it matter?
    Do they require shade or sunlight? I have many places in which I recieve both but the place in which I would really like to grow them has sunlight till aft, then shade.

    Thanks for your help!

23. # 23 Dave Says:
    February 9th, 2009 at 10:59 am

    In a nutshell, grapes like to grow in a sunny location (protected from the wind) in sandy soil. There are several varieties of grapes around, but Valiant seems to be one of the more hardy ones. For a little more information, you can look at this page from the Alberta Agriculture website.

24. # 24 Greg Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Our yard, south of Calgary, produces excellent Nanking cherries; smaller, and pitted, but very tasty and make wonderful jam and jelly.

25. # 25 Monica Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    I have a great honeyberrie tree that is in it’s fourth year and has loads of berries which are very bitter-tasting;have I planted the wrong variety? any help wpild be appreciated.

26. # 26 Clayton Says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    Hi Monica. Do you have the name of your Honeyberry? Most of the selections of Edible Honeysuckle have a tinge of tartness as they are so very high in Antioxidants. Thus the dark colors for instance. If you bought Sweetberry Honeysuckle, you have gotten the ornamental plant which is indeed the worst flavour!
    I grow about 250 seedlings from a wide area of sources and there is such an abundance of flavours that can be found. Most are good and some are very good but still can have that unusual tang to them.

    Clayton

27. # 27 Carissa Halton Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    I planted Goji Berry last year and it thrived through the summer. We will see if it survived the winter! looking forward to saving some money- at $4/lb dried, these berries may be a little money tree on the south side of my house.

28. # 28 Janet Says:
    March 5th, 2010 at 12:57 am

    Carissa, if you are still about, where did you find your Goji Berry bush?

    I’m in northern Alberta (Peace River) with an extensive edible urban yard. Last year I harvested 2 gallons of Valiant grapes off my 5 year old vine (I moved it late in 2008 so it didn’t produce as well as it had the previous two years. I also harvested 5 gallons off my sister’s grape vine. it’s 7 years old but in an excellent location – good drainage, excellent protection about 2 feet from house foundation and superior sun. She directs rainwater to it as the ground slopes away from the house for good drainage. Neither get any more extra winter protection than heaping snow over them. They both benefit from the warming effects of being near concrete sidewalks and drives. Last year I had a bit of whitefly because I let it get water-stressed. Daily water hosings got rid of the infestation.

    As for my other fruit/nut bearing trees and bushes, I’m a bit of a fanatic. I have several blueberry bushes, three honeyberry and two haskaps, three kiwi vines (2 female & 1 male), a Golden pear, a Norland apple , two cherry trees (one Evans, a sour pie cherry and one Sweetheart), an elderberry tree, an almost dead rowan (mountain ash) and a very young one, two black and one red currant bushes, a baby gooseberry bush (we’ll see how it fares, it’s new), a Pembina plum, a hazelnut and a butternut (both planted 2009), a huge chokecherry bush, a aging pincherry and three volunteer pincherry saplings and a raspberry thicket. I also have a rhubarb – not sure what kind but it’s juicy and red.

    You’ll notice a lack of strawberries. I’ve found them a lot of work and space for little berry. My local market garden grow luscious berries which I buy in bulk and freeze. I do a lot of freezing, preserving, and drying as well as wildcrafting gallons of saskatoons and more chokecherries (great wine).

    This year I’ll plant an apricot, a Trebizond Date and some more nut trees if I can find them (Grimos Nuts by mail order, I think). I’d also like some Josta berries and some cranberries but have run out of room. Fortunately I’ve purchased some rural property this winter so will be planning a whole new forest soon.

29. # 29 Dave Says:
    March 5th, 2010 at 8:05 am

    Wow – Janet, you need to start your own blog! You’d certainly have a lot material! Here’s some questions for you: How’s your Kiwis doing? Harvest much? How’s eating? Easy to grow? You can reply here or just contact me here: http://www.albertahomegardening.com/contact-dave/

30. # 30 babka Says:
    March 8th, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    Goji (wolfberry) – zone 5 (maybe 4)
    get seeds from ‘Richter’s’, or plants from ‘Dominion’

    Kiwi – females thriving, males died off every winter
    i’m going to remove the females and transplant as vines
    and in their place, more valiant grapes, hopefully from cuttings

    if anyone has any pruning tips for valiant’s, that would be appreciated
    mine are 3rd year, fan trained

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