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Seamonkey84

Seamonkey84

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I’m thinking about getting some berries going with the idea of making wine of course. My favorite blend so far being blueberry, blackberry, raspberries, and strawberries. Of all the different varieties available, would anyone have any suggestions for varieties when given the choice? So far I’ve been looking for ones with lower acidity, as all of these berries (except strawberries) are rather acidic and require water to dilute or lots of sweetening to balance. I’m in growing zone 5 (5B) if anyone has any suggestions. Also, I’m going to be attempting some in raised beds as I don’t have any much planting space. So I’ve also been looking at all the dwarf varieties.
 
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I don't know much about the range of acidity in produce popular in fruit wines, but I think of those berries as being fairly acidic, just with some natural sweetness to balance it out. I've found that fruit like pears that are great for fresh eating but aren't very tart don't hold up as well through fermentation, at least IMHO.

Rhubarb is fantastic in wine and is pretty low maintenance to grow. Elderberry makes an interesting wine that I kind of like, but from what I understand it isn't something that people eat fresh-picked, and they grow wild in lots of places around where I live. Gooseberries, currants, and jostaberry is supposed to be good for winemaking, and are fairly low maintenance to grow after they're established. I've heard some people really dig black currant mead. I heard that some wineries making grape wine were adding a little jostaberry and got grief for not disclosing it. If you have lots of acidic soil and don't think you can fill all that space with blueberries, I've had lingonberry wine that was surprisingly good (they're kind of like cranberries).
 
I knew some places were jittery about black currants for a while. I didn't realize that they took it as far as to have laws against growing them.

Jostaberries are supposed to taste a lot like black currants, and they aren't supposed to have the same disease concerns. Do the rules stretch to jostaberries?

Edit, addition: I'm not endorsing this place, but I've done business with them and they're ok. It looks like they'd ship jostaberry to Maine: HB-USA Currant, Gooseberry, Jostaberry
 
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I never heard about this guy. I was aware that, after the science was reviewed, it didn't look like currants were going to be a threat to wild trees any more (if they ever were).

I actually planted one in my yard last spring. My in-laws in Iowa happen to know where they can find some wild gooseberries, and my FiL is a big fan of gooseberry pie.

I had a black currant mead when I was vacationing in the Black Hills, and I don't think it was all that tasty, but I'd still like the option of blending currants into some fruit wine eventually.

But I suppose there is no reason to keep talking currants if you can't grow them. I think it might be worth your time to look into jostaberries, though.
 
Jostaberries are apparently a currant cross, those and gooseberries are al banned in Maine:rolleyes:
Back to what’s feasible for me, I already picked up a bushel and berry’s dwarf raspberry, going to get one of their dwarf blackberries when the local nursery gets them in. The one I’m most interested in is starks black gem, it’s said to have the lowest acid content of all blackberry varieties.
 
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http://www.honeyberryusa.com/ribesrestrictions.html

All states below prohibit Ribes nigrum black currants. In addition... Maine prohibits red, white and pink currants as well as gooseberries in: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo, and parts of Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Aroostook, and Washington.
Click to expand...
 
Or something different, there’s a couple varieties of white or cream colored blackberries, golden raspberry, white strawberries, and pink blueberry. I could make a white version of my favorite mead (triple berry, strawberries, black currant), which I still need to try as a wine to cut cost and compare flavor.
 
Darn- my favorite wines have a mix of black currants (they are too strong on their own).

We grow chokeberry, elderberry, blackberries, beta X grapes, black currants, chokecherries (but they are more abundant wild than in our yard), sour cherries, and two varieties of crabapples for wine. The best wines are oaked chokecherry with a hint of black currant, and the one I call "Bob's 6 B" which is a blend of 6 of those.

Apples are very high in malic acid, so we try to use a mixture of apples with the crabapples, but my straight dolgo crabapple wine is fantastic!
 
I do wish I could have a one or two currant bushes. So far all my black currant has been using Knudsen’s juice, vinters base, and then I got a straight concentrate from CurrantC. Black currant certainly is very strong. From what I’ve read, the juice and vinters base is the natural juice watered down by half, then people use that as a base for mixing a must. So a 96oz can of Vinters is only half juice, then that is used for a 2.5-5gal wine. My favorite recipe so far uses a can of Vinters and 9lbs of mixed strawberries, blackberries, blueberry, and raspberry in a 2.5-3gal batch.
 
I guess I'll have to look into what legal here. as far as I know none of those are forbidden here, but I haven't really checked. For now I'm just waiting on the wild black raspberries here to start ripening.
 
Well I just placed an order for the black gem plants, will see how that goes (estimated shipping in August )
 
I've made strawberry and raspberry wines....followed recipes from a very affordably priced book off Amazon...
They weren't too acidic for my tastes...
That being said, my favorite berry wine I ever had was on Victoria Island and it was an indiginous fruit closest to our boysenberry.
 
I have a 3'x10' patch of wild blackberries growing in my back yard, and I've used them in a few wines, but I've never made just blackberry wine. They make a decent pie, but the seeds are a bit larger than the domesticated blackberry, so wine is really the best use for them. Very low-maintenance, and I get about two gallons of blackberries every year.

Early in the spring we have a real sticky weed here that tries to grow amongst the blackberry vine. I throw on a thick long-sleeve shirt, grab some thick gloves, and pull the weeds out. It takes about fifteen minutes. Clearing the vines out makes it easier to find the blackberries in later months, and also keeps the blackberry from getting choked out.

When you pick the blackberries, the tiny thorns on the vines will grab your arm. Don't try to yank free or it'll rip a long scratch in your arm. Use your other hand to pull the vine off.

The blackberry tries so spread across the yard, so at the end of summer I mow half of it down. First-year vines also are the most productive, so it's a good idea anyways.
 
try blue berries or thornless blackberries. I love the thornless BBs. That's all I grow now. I have 10 bushes and harvest 40-50 lbs per year. We eat all of them we want, plus I make a great tripple berry wine (black, rasp and blue, all from my garden)
 
I’m attempting the same blend myself, only my favorite recipe also has black currant which aren’t allowed in Maine yet.
I have a thornless Primocane variety (starks gems)” and a thorny giant berry variety (Kiowa) on order. I’m going to try them in a raised bed since I don’t have a yard, just parking lot. I recently got a dwarf thornless “raspberry shortcake”, and a dwarf blue berry as well to try in containers. I did put two blueberry cuttings in a small plot of dirt that I do have, but I didn’t Test or adjust the soil to make sure its acidic, so fingers crossed. If they fail, I’ll put a black or raspberry in it. Though I’ll likely also make it a raised bed, since I don’t want it spreading under the fence into my neighbors garden. I also just picked up a couple strawberry plants, I want to try a vertical garden tower with them. It’s doubtful that I’ll be able to grow any real amount to put towards a wine, but I can dream. So far the plan is two 2X6ft raised beds, a few dwarf ones in containers, and that 2X5Ft patch of dirt, not much space to work with that gets any decent amount of full sun.
On the more “exotic” side, A white version of the triple berry would be very fun to attempt. However, My white Carolina strawberries didn’t sprout, and I didn’t grab the fall gold raspberry plant when I had the chance. The white blackberry “polar berry” is on my list, but the closest strain for a blueberry I could find was pink lemonade.
 
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Blueberries are very hard to start from cuttings, and without the right ph, they are hard to grow period. with blueberries, peatmoss is your best friend. If your soil is full of clay like mine, you need 100% peat. If it is good soil, try 50/50. But ph is really important to them.
 
By cuttings, I meant little packaged stem with just enough dirt to root. I guess they call those “bare” root plants since they aren’t potted. But even if they don’t take, I have the one to grow in a container, so that’s easy to adjust soil for. I was going to do 50/50 mix of potting soil and peat. If I can find them, I’m going to get more of the bushels and berries collection of dwarf plants.
 
Well I just placed an order for a pink blueberry and a live white strawberry plant, along with a “polar berry” white blackberry. The polar berry says it’ll ship in about a month, the others are all coming from the same place, so fingers crossed that I remember that they will be arriving, and have the beds built and filled by then.
 
As far as lower acid varieties of the berries you mentioned take a look at golden raspberries. They are sweeter and lower in acidity than red raspberries but may not pack as much flavor as their red counterparts. There are also some blueberry crosses or berries similar to blueberries that are not as acidic. I forget offhand what they are but they exist.
 
Well another step closer to my goal, I just got a fall gold raspberry plant at a nursery, and I ordered the dwarf blackberry among with a few different seeds on amazon.
 
Blacksmith1 said:
I have been looking around here, so far I only see very generic varieties. I may have to go further afield.
Click to expand...
Starks online has some nice varieties, just need to find ones that work for your climate. The problem is lots of stuff are out of stock right now, and will likely be taking orders for fall planting.
 
To answer both of you. The wife and I recently moved to ten acres and are still getting it set up. Currently there are the wild black raspberries and wild muscadine (sp?) grapes growing here. I have one small, half gallon?, Pot with what we have always called a tomato cherry, but is actually a native fruit of Brazil( can't remember its real name, starts with a P) and a one gallon banana variety here. I want to plant a bunch of different fruits to make wines, preserves, and vinegar out of. I also have a small peppermint growing that if the chickens and ducks will leave it alone long enough I will try a mint wine.
Currently there is nothing fermenting. I have a banana, and watermelon aging and needing to be bottled, but they are both at my house in Pinellas county which is about 2 1/2 hours away. Since both of them need more aging, bottled or not, I'm in no hurry. Everything else has been drank... drunk... drinked? Whatever, it's gone.
 
Seamonkey84 said:
Starks online has some nice varieties, just need to find ones that work for your climate. The problem is lots of stuff are out of stock right now, and will likely be taking orders for fall planting.
Click to expand...
I have a large property and have been planting fruit trees, blueberry bushes and all kinds of soft fruits for more than 20 years.
I've ordered from on-line suppliers, including Stark's and have had success with their offerings, but some of the best varieties I've planted have come from local growers.
Diseases are a big problem and constant spraying is a PITA, so my first choice is disease resistance.
Maine has some pretty harsh winters and soft fruits like berries will freeze down to the ground. Adding straw or other protection on the top of your raised beds may be necessary for the plants to survive the winter.
Primocane berries bear fruit on first year growth and so those are a good choice for your area, but they may not be winter hardy in your climate.
Here's a hardy blackberry from Maine:
https://www.fedcoseeds.com/trees/nelson-blackberry-394 Here are some suppliers in Maine/New Hampshire you may want to check out:
https://wintercovefarm.com/product-category/shrubs_vines_other_fruits/
http://www.waysidefarm.com/great_northern_berries/berry_plants/honeyberries.php
Also, check Facebook marketplace and craigslist for plants.

Edit: You should consider honeyberry bushes. They are suited for cold weather, are resistant to diseases, have high yields for a small amount of space, and some varieties are being used by small wineries. Some varieties are better than others for wine and you need at least two for good pollination, so do your research before you order anything.
The downside is after the fruit is ripe they will go into dormancy in the summer, the leaves drop off and look like they're dead. Not the best look for a small yard. If you have very cool summers this may not occur.
 
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I looked at Honeyberry, sounds like it would be good in a mead, but I have never tasted one.
A new strain of blackberries was released by the Arkansas university, the Ponca thornless. it’s said to be the sweetest, most flavorful blackberry out there. They are talking about aromatics that aren’t present in other blackberries, and lowest acid yet. So something I’ve got to look for next season.
https://fruitgrowersnews.com/news/n...sity-of-arkansas-achieves-pinnacle-of-flavor/
 
It's been awhile since I had thimbleberry. It's pretty much a thornless raspberry that grows in a few spots in the northern US (probably also in Canada), and residents like to sell to tourists. From what I understand they're tricky to grow commercially.
 
Yea I looked it up, seems more of a west coast thing. It’s interesting, just limited space. I’m kind of narrowing down which type of the selected fruits to grow.
On that note, we may have to re-pave the entire driveway soon. Things have settled and cracked over the decades. I’m going to request a section that isn’t used for cars (at all) be torn up and left dirt.
 
Seamonkey84 said:
A new strain of blackberries was released by the Arkansas university, the Ponca thornless. it’s said to be the sweetest, most flavorful blackberry out there. They are talking about aromatics that aren’t present in other blackberries, and lowest acid yet. So something I’ve got to look for next season.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting, I never head of that variety.
They reportedly have the same cold tolerance as ouachita thornless blackberry, which is USDA zone 5-9. So depending where you are located, they may be ok.
 
It’s brand new this year, they only just released it to cultivators to start growing and selling them. They released Caddo last year, and I had heard nothing about it until I first read about Ponca. Of course I’ve only been looking into these for the past couple months. I have the black gems (Exclusive to Starks) on order, supposed to be similar but the berries are too fragile for commercial farming/shipping
 
If you have very limited space, experimenting with new varieties that haven't been tried in your area might be a waste of time and money. In addition, great tasting berries might not be the best for wine making. Note that table grapes aren't used for wine making and although wine grapes don't taste bad, they wouldn't be anyone's first choice as an eating grape.
How much space will be available?
 
2-3 2x6 raised beds and a 2x5 plot of dirt :p. I thought about the table grape vs wine grape issue. But with these berries, the acid contend is my main concern. I’ve used store bought Frozen fruits and made fruit bomb BOMMs (mead) with them, I love it but they need lots of sweetness (1.030 FG) to be drinkable. If I can find stains that are more flavorful and less acid, even better.
 

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