of currants that go from very tart to sweet respectively . Aside from their intense flavor , the currant boasts five times the vitamin C of oranges by weight , as well as twice the potassium of bananas and antioxidants of blueberries . My recommendation for the easiest cultivar to grow in the Mid-Atlantic is “ Consort .”
Aronia : Medicinal Wonderberry
The black aronia is an ornamental shrub that boasts a handsome upright habit , creamy white flowers , red flame autumn foliage , and abundant dark berries . It is very excepting of challenging site conditions and easy to harvest . High in antioxidants , polyphenols , minerals and vitamins you can see how this edible landscape allstar earns the name wonderberry !
Mature plants reach about 8 feet tall and 4 - 5 feet wide , make great foundation plantings or an attractive fedge ( fruiting hedge ). Large droops of hanging berries
ripen in August , are easy to pick , and not favored by birds , offering an easy harvest period .
Berries need to be steamed / cooked to extract the deep rich berry flavors within . If eaten raw you will quickly learn why it is commonly called chokeberry ! The extracted juice makes excellent jelly , wine , cocktail syrups , sorbet , and growing popular as a hard apple cider additive . Our family ’ s favorite use of aronia is to make a juice with elderberries and goumi berries for tasty healthy smoothies and frozen popsicles . The cultivars “ Viking ” and “ Nero ” are recommended .
On that fruitful note I leave you to your food forest dreaming !
Michael Judd has worked with agro-ecological and whole-system designs throughout the Americas for over two decades , focusing on applying permaculture and ecological design . His projects increase local food security and community health in both tropical and temperate growing regions . He is the founder of Ecologia Edible & Ecological Landscape Design , Project Bona Fide , an international non-profit supporting agro-ecology research , and cofounder of SilvoCulture , a Maryland-based nonprofit which is helping plant one million nut trees in the Mid-Atlantic region . Author of Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist and For the Love of Pawpaws . www . ecologiadesign . com
If space allows , I will pace off 15 to 20 feet from the center of the patch to the center of another one , and then triangulate another , and so on . Keep making patches , and over time , sheet mulch between ; they will merge and create the dynamics of a multi-layered food forest . When you ’ ve knitted together enough patches , you ’ ll need to leave just enough space between them to push your harvest-loaded wheelbarrow through !
12 plenty I Spring sowing 2021