Wild Tater Wild Tater

After the arctic raspberry, this might be the next cold-hardiest of the blackberry/raspberry group. And, I mean… the fruit looks like a thimble. How cool is that? HERB LAYER Cold hardiness zones: 3 – 7 (can withstand cold to -40° F, -40° C) Soil PH: 6.0-7.0 Watering needs: Medium-low. Don’t overwater. But do keep them evenly moist long enough to […]

Being (quite possibly) the cold hardiest of trees, and a nut pine, and one of the few truly cold hardy nut pines that maintains a Christmas tree shape throughout much of its life, you might say that this is the most likely candidate species for the food forest owned by Santa Claus. UNDERSTORY LAYER* Cold hardiness zones: 1 – 9 […]

Queen of the food forest, this tasty “blueberries-in-a-tree!” favorite is easy to grow, is not too picky about its soil (unlike some plants I know… coughBLUEBERRYahem…), and will give you enough fruit to make pies, muffins, syrups, tarts, and a thousand other delights. SHRUB LAYER Cold hardiness zones: 2 – 7 (can withstand cold to -50° F) Soil PH: 6.0-8.0 […]

Also known as wild plum, this prolific dainty can produce from 100 – 150 pounds of fruit per year! And it just might be the most cold hardy, PH tolerant of all the food-worthy plum tree species. And yes, they’re even eligible for making prunes… or Christmas plum pudding… or any other plum recipe, for that matter. UNDERSTORY LAYER Cold […]

Probably the cold-hardiest of all tasty edible apricots. UNDERSTORY LAYER Cold hardiness zones: 3 – 7 (can withstand cold to -40° F, -40 C) Soil PH: 6.0 to 7.5 Watering needs: Medium. Drought tolerant once established. Blooming Season: Early spring.i Just be aware that Manchurian apricots only blossom every two or three years. This is healthy and natural, and doesn’t […]

I’m totally nuts for this tree. One of the few particularly cold hardy nut pines (AKA stone pines), and it grows to 100 feet and lives 1000 years! Plus it has some serious staple potential… CANOPY LAYER Cold hardiness zones: 3 – 7 (can withstand cold to -40° F), and sometimes listed as going down to zone 2. Soil PH: […]