Hi BrandonD-

You really need to add some nice thornless blackberries like Triple Crown. I find my Chester blackberries even easier to care for than my raspberries, and theyÂre more productive too. If I had everything on your list, that would be the first thing I would add.

I planted my Goji berry plant about 3 years ago. I finally got my first little tiny berry about a week or two ago. It was very small, and not ripe (I picked it because a bird got the other berry). I'm hoping to start getting berries next year. Also, this plant after 3 years has gotten a bit out of control... I know it also likes to tip-root itself into new locations. Hopefully next year I will know if it's been worth it!

I also have "Wintergreen" (also called Gaultheria). I find it easy to grow in partial/mostly shade, and I usually give mine an acid fertilizer. But, as for the taste, theyÂre no raspberries. They taste a little like wintergreen LifeSavers, but a better description is think of a Pepto Bismol berry (Pepto uses a wintergreen flavoring apparently) . The texture is weird too. Almost like the texture of toothpaste with a berry skin on it. My daughter and I donÂt mind eating them, but the friends and family that come over prefer the raspberries. IÂd call them quite edible, but IÂm not sure about good.

Maybe a nice dwarf disease resistant apple tree like Liberty or Williams Pride?

Do you have any of the Yellow raspberries?

Strawberries?

I have cranberries, but I find them quite astringent for eating raw (though sometimes I still do). IÂm going to try Lingionberries next year. IÂm also going to try Tayberries, a Hinnomaki Red Gooseberrry, and Honeyberries.

Really, IÂd sign up for some nursery catalogs and just start browsing. Then, if you have a particular question about how good something is, just come back here to the forum and ask.

Good luck!
-Glenn

Thanks alot Glen. I do have the amber yellow raspberry in my garden. They are the best flavored by far to me. I also have the heritage and Jewel varieties. I also raise blueberries. I do have a few different varieties of blackberries apache, and arapho. THey are thornless and quite vigoress. I also have dewberries. They have thorns and trail on the ground. So have you heard if the goji berries are good eating raw, or whats the verdict on them. thanks again, brandon ps are you into composting

I don't have a very high opinion of Goji berries -- not very productive, sort of bitter tasting, invasive, and ugly/prone ot leaf fungal diseases.

Taste is subjective, of course, so what some people enjoy you may not. But personally, I love currents and gooseberries, elderberries, ground cherries (which are annuals, but very productive), shadbush/serviceberry/saskatoon blueberry, blue honeysuckle/honeyberries, and I consider all of the above very worthwhile.

denninmi,

Did you start with plants or seeds? Who was your source? I thought I read that the Goji, while closely related, is different from the wolfberry, which is the one with the more bitter taste.
"True Goji Berries are sweeter, better tasting, and contain extremely high levels of Antioxidants. The Wolfberry on the other hand, has a slight bitter taste." --http://www.timpanogosnursery.com/

I planted one in May this year from Timpanogos Nursery, who supposedly grows them where I live. I had been mulching with UCG and around this plant, apparently, it got too thick and hardened to the point of creating a barrier to watering. The UCG hadn't been an issue for my strawberry bed.

Luckily, although it looks weak, it didn't die (thanks probably to it's drought tolerance). We'll see how the recovery goes next year. This year there were hardly any new leaves and no new shoots from the roots. It must have been a rough transition.

Very interesting. Mine is (unfortunately?) a wolfberry. We'll see how it tastes next year. -Glenn

Mine is the L. barbarum Chinese Wolfberry as well. I got it from Forestfarm about 4 or 5 years ago.

Wikipedia says there are 2 species, L. barbarum and L. chinensis, but it doesn't really indicate the differences between them.

I will say that the commercially dried ones I bought at Costco aren't any better tasting, really. They're not inedible, just don't taste all that good, sort of like slightly dry, slightly chewey, slightly bitter raisins, or actually, sort of more like slightly dry and bitter Craisins (dried cranberries).

Dennis