How to Grow Great Organic Berries

Growing great organic berries is what many organic gardeners do, especially in climates with good rainfall. Berries are generally very hardy and will grow without needing pesticides or chemical fertilizers This makes them a great choice for the larger organic garden.

You should choose berries that are native to your country or at least of a similar climate, and keep as close as possible to the wild variety.

Many cultivated varieties have been hybridized to produce large crops of heavy, watery fruit which means more profits for the large-scale grower but has very little of the flavor of the wild fruit. Stay away from these commercial varieties where you can.

Blackberry

Thorny wild blackberry bushes grow so well in the right climate that many people struggle to keep brambles out of their gardens. This is a very invasive plant and once introduced it is hard to control, with long trailing branches and far-spreading suckers.

The cultivated blackberry is almost thornless and non-invasive but the fruit does not have the same sharp sweet flavor.

Blueberry

Choose your variety carefully - there are many of them, and some are much more flavorsome than others. The two main strains of blueberry are Highbush (growing to about 6 ft tall) and Rabbiteye, but within each of those categories there are several different varieties. Highbush types will do better in cooler climates with regular frosts. Rabbiteye can handle hotter drier summers and heavier, less acid soil.

You can expect a small crop from the second year, steadily increasing until year five onward when the bush is mature. At that time it will start to need annual pruning. Blueberries can also produce a wonderful display of fall colors. Take this into account when you are selecting your site.

Cranberry

The cranberry is a very nutritious, sour-tasting fruit with well-documented health benefits especially for urinary tract infections.  It needs acidic, peaty soil. Like strawberries, cranberries grow close to the ground. The fruit makes good jelly, and you can also add it to juices, smoothies and desserts.

Chilean Cranberry

Despite its name, this plant is not related to the cranberry. It grows as an evergreen shrub producing a good crop of small sweet red berries with a flavor similar to strawberries. It is hardy, surviving frost well. It could make a very productive, delicious and unusual addition to your organic garden. Planting several bushes in a row will create a decorative low hedge.

The Chilean cranberry has many different common names including uni, murta and murtilla in Chile (its native country), New Zealand cranberry or tazziberry in Australasia, and Chilean guava. Look for the botanical names Ugni molinae, Myrtus ugni and Eugenia ugni.

Currants

Black currants, red currants and white currants all grow as bushes. They are very nutritious fruit with black currants in particular containing high levels of vitamin C.

Black currant bushes are not attractive and do not respond well to pruning, but the fruit has a stronger taste. Red and white currants can be pruned, even into a shaped topiary display, although topiary could look a little out of place in an organic garden.

The long sprigs of red fruit make the red currant very attractive at harvest time. White currants are more unusual. If you have enough space, mix red and white currant bushes, or even all three. The resulting fruit will make a delicious, healthy and very attractive mixture of berries.

Gooseberry

Gooseberry bushes were once a popular feature of many gardens in England but with the increase in other sweeter imported berries they are becoming less common. They can be an acid fruit unless picked very ripe, so home-grown gooseberries that you can eat right away are much better than store-bought. They are usually green but some varieties are almost yellow when ripe. There is also a red variety.

Raspberry

Raspberries are grown on canes and require a lot of care but will pay you back well with large crops of delicious fruit. There are several varieties, each suited to a different climate, so take advice on what is best for your garden. Expect to spend time tying branches, dealing with suckers, mulching, watering and getting scratched.

Raspberries will not flourish near plants of the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants or peppers) or in soil where those plants have been grown in the last couple years.

Strawberry

The wild strawberry is a tiny fruit with a strong, intensely sweet flavor that can grow well in sunny, rocky, well-drained sites, for example between the stones of a path.

Cultivated strawberries require more work but can produce a lot of fruit. For an organic garden you will probably want an old variety such as Captain Cook with medium to small sized flavorsome berries, closer to wild strawberries than the huge watery fruit that we often find in stores.

Managing Berries In Your Garden

Birds love most varieties of berries and will steal them before they ripen so if you want a good crop, you will have to cover your bushes with net while the berries are ripening. Strawberries are especially vulnerable and you may want to enclose them in a bird-proof cage.

When planting, choose your sites with care. Most berries prefer a sunny spot to ripen and develop their fullest flavor. You will want a place that is sheltered without being in constant shade. Do not plant bushes too close to a fence or hedge - you will need to be able to get all around them to harvest your growing organic berries, without being scratched to pieces!

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Peter Charalambos

Author: Peter Charalambos

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