Not only common berry varieties such as strawberries, raspberries or currants are suitable for growing berries in the garden. After all, many wild berries also have decorative flowers and a rich berry harvest to offer.

Blueberries can also be grown in the garden

These wild berries are also suitable for growing in the garden

In addition to gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries and currants, the following forest berry varieties can be considered for berry cultivation in the garden:

  • hawthorn
  • Rose Hips (Hedge Roses)
  • elder
  • blueberries
  • juniper berries
  • Rowanberries
  • sea buckthorn
  • sloes
  • blueberries
  • cornel cherries

These berry varieties are usually referred to as forest berries because they occur as wild plants in the forest or on the edge of the forest and do not belong to the classic garden plants that can be found as cultivated varieties in almost every garden.

Forest berries as a basis for jams, juices and alcoholic beverages

Some forest berries, such as the wild forms of the blueberry or the dark berry cones of the elder, can be enjoyed fresh at harvest time. Other types of wild berries can also be eaten fresh from time to time, but they are traditionally used in jams, vitamin-rich juices or as a flavoring ingredient in home-made wine and sparkling wine creations and in brandies. In the case of the latter, the rowanberry schnapps should be mentioned in particular, in which around 100 liters of mash are required to produce two liters of brandy. Rose hips, cornel cherries, cranberries and blueberries are excellent for making jams. The fruits of the sea buckthorn can be processed into a juice with a particularly high vitamin C content.

Some forest berries are not particularly digestible fresh

While rowan berries, for example, are usually only harvested after the first frost due to the associated breakdown of bitter substances, juniper berries should be consumed with caution due to their ingredients. However, they can be used for the production of incense powder or as an important flavoring ingredient for gin. When it comes to elderberries, many gardeners only allow part of the berry cones to ripen, because months in advance they use the fragrant blossoms to produce fruity elderberry sparkling wine or prepare the blossoms with lots of sugar in water as a homemade beverage syrup. With the rose hips, care should be taken to carefully remove the nuts, which sometimes provoke allergic reactions, from the inside both for fresh consumption and before further processing.

tips

The cornel, which is still rarely found in private gardens, not only produces extremely tasty fruit, but is also an important bee pasture due to its early flowering period from February.

Category:

Vegetable garden