Food producing plants

[George in NH]

I am planning on doing some major lanscaping this year. I don't really need trees such as maples, birch, hemlocks, pine, flowering bushes etc... since I already have plenty of them on the property. I will be planting apples, pears, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb, grapes, strawberries, asparagus, and horse radish. At this time that is all I can really think of. I want to enjoy what I grow while I am still here and want to have the plants producing food when I get ready to sell. I have eight more years to pay for this place then I'd like to sell and move to a bigger place. I would like to plant the yard with plants that produce food crops year after year so that when I do sell, the property, the plants will be well established and producing.

Are there any food producing plants that produce year after year that you have tried and been successful with that I haven't thought of? I live in zone 5 and my property is on the southwestern facing side of a mountain.

Thanks
George

[tinknal]

Hazelnuts? There are shrub types that produce fairly soon.

[Pizza Guy]

Asparagus. Some beds have lasted 50 years. Here's a link to a lot of info:

http://www.asparagus.org/maab/homeGarden.html?id=771

[George in NH]

Tiknal, I love hazlenuts. Can you eat them right off the tree or do you have to prepare them a special way before eating them? Are hazlenuts covered with a prickly casing? If so then I think we have wild hazlenuts up here.

Pizza Guy, that was an interesting article on asparagus. I have a very sandy spot in the yard that I have been wondering for years what to do with, as a matter of fact there are two aparagus plants that shoot up spears in that spot every year and have since the first year we were here. I always wondered why someone planted asparagus in that sandy spot; guess now I know. Thanks for the link.

[tinknal]

George, I think they do have a bit of a husk, been awhile since I've seen one on the bush. No prep needed except they may need to be air dried a bit.

[Ravenlost]

Elderberries?

[Beltane]

I was thinking asparagus & elderberries! Good luck.

[fin29]

Jerusalem Artichokes--they produce so much you'll wish you hadn't planted them, and that's within a year.

[amwitched]

Herbs and lettuce mixes.

I know that these are not trees, but they sure do add alot of color to the landscape.

[Cara]

What about globe artichokes? They are pretty plants that produce food, but you can also let the fruit go to flower....of course, I am in Oregon where they are perrenial. I don't know about NH.

[Rita]

Red currants make a beautiful, delicious jelly or drink. Also gooseberries are easy to grow (we have them on the north side of the house) make nice jam, pies etc. if I can get to them before the chipmunks. Get the large size gooseberry, the smaller fruits are just too much trouble to get ready to use.

[kabri]

Any nut trees, we are especially wanting to plant Korean pine for their edible nuts once we have cleared our land and start building!

[Rocky Fields]

How about plum or peach trees? Reliance peach trees do well in zone 5. If you have deer in your area, you need to think about protecting young trees and plants.

[Bearfootfarm]

Fig bushes!!

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by George in NH

Tiknal, I love hazlenuts. Can you eat them right off the tree or do you have to prepare them a special way before eating them? Are hazlenuts covered with a prickly casing? If so then I think we have wild hazlenuts up here.

George my favorite is green hazelnuts- grab 'em before the squirrels do if you can. So much better than the old dry ones I got in Christmas unshelled nut mixes in the past. They call them cobnuts in England and filberts are related as well. I am trying to grow them now in Alabama I love them so much; you'll have much more success in NH (they like cool/cold). The wild English ones were very tough to crack and small. Grafted cultivars would be worth the cost. Can't tell you what kinds to get here- I got a few Italian named ones hoping they like heat but they're a few years from bearing.

[George in NH]

Originally Posted by Rocky Fields

How about plum or peach trees? Reliance peach trees do well in zone 5. If you have deer in your area, you need to think about protecting young trees and plants.

Hi Rocky and welcome.

I have reliance peaches. My trees (2) were loaded with fruit last year. One of the trees was so heavy with fruit that the branches reached the ground; it was never the deer I worried about, it was my dogs. My dogs would be in sight one minute then vanish the next; they could always be found eating peaches right off the tree. Thankfully they didn't eat any pits. One of the dogs would stand on his hind legs and bite into the peaches until he found one that was ripe enough for him.

Thanks to everyone else who has added to this too, it is helping me get a lisy going.

George

[MullersLaneFarm]

Horseradish!!

[Rocky Fields]

Hey George.

Thanks for the welcome. I enjoyed reading about your dogs. My Rottweiler never showed much interest in eating the peaches. She would jump up in the air and try to
bite the countless wasps going after the fruit. Luckily, she never got stung in the mouth. My peach trees tended to be fruitbound every other year.

I'm curious how fig bushes would survive the cold and snow of a NH winter. It seems like they would have to be dug up and brought inside shelter.

[bill not in oh]

Cranberries, George, cranberries!

[lonelyfarmgirl]

globe artichokes, I think would not survive, to cold!, how about pawpaw trees? native here, takes about 7 or 8 years to begin producing. you dont see too many around anymore.