This year is my first ever year growing fruits/berries. I have spent my whole life eating fresh picked apples and berries at my parents house in Michigan. Like most children, I took that shit for granted! Now I am an adult and I see how cool it was that my parents had 2 HUGE apple trees and a giant mulberry tree in the backyard.

My goal is to share all of the fruits I am growing, the continued progress, and what I learn from it!

Apple trees

Last year when we bought our house, we made sure to find a place for some apple trees right away. We went to a local greenhouse and grabbed some apple trees that we think were 2-3 years old (we wanted more frankly but that shit is expensive.) We really aren’t sure how old they are, so we may have some fruiting this year but we don’t really know. They officially have started blooming for the season – so fingers crossed.

McIntosh – The classic. Honestly I am not a huge fan of just eating McIntosh – I am a basic bitch for Honeycrisps. That being said, I plan for these to be my cooking apples in the fall.

Esopus Spitzenburg – I had never heard of this tree type and I think it’s a weird flex that their top quality is that they were the favorite apple to Thomas Jefferson. Like there is no other fun fact about them to share? That being said, they sound delicious and I am hype to try them out.

Full disclosure we got them at the end of the Spring, so they were some of the last apple trees available. I am 100% planning on getting a Honeycrisp tree down the line.

Thimbleberries

Yay! My favorite berries of all time. Also, a berry type a lot of people haven’t heard of. The thimbleberry is native to northern temperate regions of North America – but more well known in the Pacific Northwest. A less well known area to find thimbleberries natively, is the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Hailey and I both went to college at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI. Wonderfully remote, very far north, and full of snow (averages 300″ of snow a year.) Our little isolated slice of heaven, with the most beautiful summers you could imagine. Once August hits, you will find Thimbleberries scattered in every nook and cranny available for them to grow.

We used to go spend hours picking thimbleberries. They taste like a bit tarter raspberries but in a good way. They look almost identical to raspberries but have very distinctive leaves.

If you want to try Thimbleberries, there is a small monestary on the Lake Superior shoreline full of monks that make fresh thimbleberry jam and other baked goods – check out the Jampots website and you can order some online to try!

I only got one bush of thimbleberries, because I am unsure how they will grow and I don’t want them to spread too much because they are not native to Maine. I ordered a live snipping and have planted it to grow more inside under a grow light, until it is warm enough to plant outside.

blueberries

Now for our new homes favorite berry! Maine is a blueberry haven (not gonna lie – Michigan is also mega full of blueberries) BUT there are way more blueberry products here with local blueberries – and I genuinely think they are somehow sweeter than MI blueberries.

Tifblue Blueberries – Apparently these blueberries are for zones 7-9 and I live in zone 5 lol but they are cold hardy. So we will see how they grow. If I am being honest I just grabbed there packs at our local Home Depot.

Jersey Blueberries – This is one of the more beloved blueberries in the Northern US, so I am excited to see how these work out. I figure if the Tifblue don’t work, I can make a graft of this bush to get another Jersey bush.

blackberries

Ebony King – Apparently these taste pretty good. I honestly know very little about blackberries. I just love them in Yogurt.

Jewel – My little asshole kitten (named Dawg) ripped part of the stem off of this. I am really hoping it keeps growing, so we will see. Apparently it is considered a black raspberry and taste “superb” says online – but it also needs to be planted at least 100ft away from my other raspberries because it makes them all more susceptible to diseases.

raspberries

Anne – These are some yellow raspberries. I have never had them, but my partner use to always pick them at his grandmas house! I guess they are a little more tart but I love that for me.

Brandywine – A purple raspberry? Apparently it is great for jams, jelly, and pies. I can NOT wait.

Red Amity – These seem like the traditional red raspberry and great for growing at home.

strawberries

Sequoia – “Large, glossy berries are plump and juicy” – they grow as perennials in our area. I got 2 berry plants and I am hype.

Quinault – Apparently these are everbearing berries? So they produce multiple times through spring-fall?

grapes

Somerset Seedless – I have never grown grapes and I honestly have never used them for baking/pies/jams. I mainly just eat them. But I am excited to give them a try and maybe come up with new recipes to share. Maybe make a nasty wine I make my friends try? Online says they have a strawberry-like flavor.

Stay tuned for next weeks addition of Steph’s Gardening Series 2023!

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