Growing Pomegranates and Other Tasty Treats

I often mention that I’m planting more and more shrubs in my gardens. I like the big impact and I love the lower maintenance. But my first gardening love has always been vegetable gardening. Since there aren’t too many vegetable shrubs and, even if there were, I have too much wildlife to grow them out in the open, I’ve been turning my attention to fruits and berries. While I’ve managed to squeeze in apples, peaches, cherries, quince, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and currants, I haven’t had much to show for it this year. The critters are quick and they’re not so fussy about letting things fully ripen on the plant.

Still, I’m always looking for something new to grow. I think our Trees and Shrubs Guide, Vanessa Richins, shares my fondness for growing things you can eat. She has a profile of pomegranates that intrigued me. I don’t know how many pomegranates I’d actually want, but given my harvesting record, that shouldn’t be a factor in my decision. However Vanessa says that pomegranates are only hardy down to Zone 7. That could be a challenge for me, but I’m still not ruling the plant out. Especially since there are dwarf pomegranates that grow to only 3' tall.

I also happened to be reading Charlie Narodzzi’s Edible Landscaping column on "Unusual Edible Berries". The trendy Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) is hardy from Zone 5 - 9. Honeyberry (Lonicera caerulea) is even hardier and who wouldn’t be tempted to try a honeysuckle berry? All of the berries he lists also seem to be attractive plants. So I’ve got my work cut out for me this winter, trying to narrow down next season’s foray into suburban farming.

Photo Provided by logis / stock.xchng.com