The Edible Garden

Who said fruits and vegetables can’t be show-offs in the ornamental beds? Mix fruits and veggies into you flower and shrub borders to add drama, texture, color and food!

Blueberries
Displaying white flowers, tinged in pink, in little tassels during late spring, blueberries will grow only in moist, peaty soil with a pH lower than 5.5. The best way to grow them is in an informal border or along a woodland setting with other acid-loving plants like rhododendrons. To ensure good pollination, two different cultivars should be planted together. Plants should be protected from birds with netting when the fruit begins to ripen. Apply cotton seed meal to the soil in spring, water regularly during dry summers, and prune the plants in winter by cutting out dead or damaged branches. You can also lightly trim plants in spring to keep them compact. Blueberries are rarely attacked by insects or diseases, but will look chlorotic if the soil is not acid enough.

Brambles: Raspberries and Blackberries
Although not particularly ornamental, brambles, when trained on wires, offer a nice summer screen, or they can be grown against a fence or wall. Both Raspberries and Blackberries require slightly acidic soil, adequate moisture, and will need support. Plants will succeed in light shade, but prefer a sunny location. Mulch in early spring with manure or compost, then cut old canes down to the ground after fruiting in early to mid-summer. No more than 5 to 6 strong stems should grow from each plant. Protect fruit from birds and squirrels.

Strawberries
In the past few years, strawberry plants have been increasingly grown for their ornamental qualities. Beautiful white flowers with yellow centers become delicious, glowing red strawberries. When choosing cultivars, be sure to try some June-bearing and ever-bearing selections, as well as alpine varieties that are perfect for edging a path. Strawberries require deep, well-drained, nutrient-rich soil (see our article on “healthy soil” in the What’s Bugging You section of our site), plant in early spring and replace plants every three years for best results. Fertilize in spring and cut off runners as they form to keep plants fruiting well, unless you are starting new transplants. Spread salt hay around plants as fruit starts to develop to keep the berries free from soil and well ventilated. Protect from birds and watch for slugs and botrytis (moldy, grey fungus) with wet springs.

Grapes
Trained over an arbor or combined with clematis on a pergola, grapes add an elegant touch to any landscape. Plant grapes in well-drained, fertile soil where there is full sun. When growing on a trellis, limit your grapevine to a single stem or trunk. Train the leading shoot vertically and the lateral shoots horizontally. There are also various other ways to train and prune grapes, but do not let this task scare you. Grapevines are very forgiving.

Rhubarb
Offering beautifully colored stalks of pink, white or red, rhubarb can be grown in any kind of soil in a sunny spot. You can pick from this trouble-free plant from spring until early summer. Only the stems of rhubarb are edible, the leaves are to be discarded. Add plenty of manure to the soil, keep damp during dry summers, and remove tall stems before they produce flowers. Although decorative, they tend to reduce plant vigor. Divide every five years. Watch for “tunneling” insects on the leaves and treat with rotenone.

Figs
Adding an air of distinction, where space is limited, a fig tree can be grown in a large pot. Forgiving figs do well in poor soil, but need a sunny, protected area, which may mean a south-facing wall. These ancient trees tend to produce more fruit when their root systems are restricted. Therefore, when planting in the ground, it is a good idea to dig a hole about 3 feet wide and line with bricks. Mix plenty of bone meal in with the soil, too. Mulch fig trees in late spring with compost and water in dry weather while the fruit is growing. You can also encourage these trees to produce more fruit by pinching new shoots in spring.

Winter Composting

It’s cold outside and the compost pile is frozen. Do you really feel like hauling kitchen scraps out into the winter wasteland only to have them picked through by scavengers? There is an alternative. Keep your kitchen scraps cooking this winter producing buckets of black gold for the garden next spring while you stay warm and cozy. Try our three bucket system in your basement or heated garage. No odor, no pests, very easy!

Try these easy step for our 3 bucket composting system in your basement or heated garage. Five gallon painter buckets with lids work great or plastic trash cans with lids and wheels make the job a cinch!

1. Fill bucket #1 with sawdust or peat moss mixed with equal parts dry soil, add a little limestone and cover with lid.

2. On the bottom of bucket #2, place about one inch of dry straw, leaves, or shredded newspaper. Dump your kitchen scraps on top as they become available, each time sprinkling on some of the sawdust/soil mixture from bucket #1 to absorb odors and excess moisture. If you have a lot of scraps to add all at one time, portion out and add as smaller amounts and cover each addition with the sawdust/soil mixture. Replace lid after each addition. If there are any large pieces of scraps you may want to chop them smaller before adding. If your scraps are holding excess water, let them drain well before adding them to the bucket.

3. When bucket #2 is full start filling bucket #3. By the time bucket #3 is full, the contents of bucket #2 should be well on the way to becoming compost.

4. Use and enjoy in the spring!