by Laureen Fagan
If you didn't get a chance to attend the Annual Growing Summit at IU South Bend in March, it was a great opportunity to learn on a variety of topics: beekeeping, solar energy, edible flowers, chickens.
And fruit.
Many of us are vegetable gardeners, and we think kale, tomatoes and zucchini. I never really thought about growing fruit until 2001, when I inherited strawberries planted at the house I bought. A few years later, a friend gave me some raspberry starters. Now I'm ready to try growing some grapes.
There's plenty of ways to enjoy growing fruit, and incorporate small fruit plants into your garden and landscape plans. Fresh strawberries from your garden are more than just delicious and full of Vitamin C in dishes as simple as salads or cereals. The berries make a great "edible lawn" ground cover, and mine are used as a design element in a perennial bed that includes lavender, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis and thyme. Even on patios and porch steps, strawberries do well in containers and are a great raised-bed option. Strawberries are also bee-friendly and a good choice to support bee populations and pollinators.
Raspberries are a friend to the bees, too, and easy to grow without extra time or attention. With the extra height raspberry plants offer, they may make a nice tall border element or screening - some of my plants were placed to shield some less-than-elegant utility service hardware. Raspberries are available in different colors, too, although red is most commonly recommended for northern Indiana. As an edible urban ornamental, imagine a row of raspberry bushes along the alley instead of hedges or a fence line.
Grapes are a little harder to grow, but the beauty of a well-established backyard arbor easily persuades. Careful site selection, cultivar selection and trellis training are the keys to success if you take the time and make the commitment. Concord grapes are the most widely grown in Indiana, and may be used as table grapes as well as for wine. I'm hopeful that grapes become another fruit, just outside my door.
Don't forget blueberries, although if you try them remember that they have their own "berry rules." They need to be planted with two different varieties for cross-pollination, and their soil needs to be more acidic than most of your other plants will appreciate. I may try them as a small project though.
Looking for a good shade plant? Try gooseberries, because they easily scald in the hot sun and do best when planted on a north side or other partially-shaded spot. The berries are good in pies or preserves.
If you want to learn more about growing fruit, try this link Small Fruits PDF to the "Small Fruit, Big Benefits" outline from the Growing Summit, sponsored by Unity Gardens and Purdue Extension Master Gardeners Program.
