The 3 autumn olive / Japansk sølvbusk (Elaeagnus umbellata) bushes at the Væres Venner Community Garden are now producing well. This is about 2/3 of the berries and I hope to harvest the remainder tomorrow. Apart from a few Aronia and Worcesterberries and apples we are near the end of the fresh fruit / berry harvest. See also my blog post “Late Fresh Berries” here: https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=29619 …and two pictures of the final fruit leather. Like sour cherries, they become sweeter on drying. Delicious!
I love the seasonality of fruit and berries and one group of berries that can be harvested in October and November are particularly valuable when you only eat fresh and, later in the winter / spring, dried fruit and berries. The blackberries (bjørnebær) are finished now and we will be eating fresh stored apples now until at least April. This week after the first heavy frost I was able to continue harvesting Worcesterberries (a selection of Ribes divaricatum) at the bottom of the picture, Aronia prunifolia (purple chokeberry) at left and autumn olives / Japansk sølvbusk (Elaeagnus umbellata)
1st November 2023: The Autumn Olive is really producing well now! Still some to havest in the community garden!
After 3 years, I’ve finally finished the last cultivated area in the garden on the steep slope below the pond. The soil is very shallow, so I’ve terraced with bare rock showing between the terraces.
I’ve planted mostly fruit and berry bushes here, but also Xanthoxylum piperitum (Japanese pepper), one of which is thornless. There are also 3 types of Jostaberry, two selections of “Green-berried Blackcurrant”, three golden currants (Ribes aureum), three different black raspberries, two Elaeagnus umbellatus, Gooseberry Xenia and a couple of unknown Ribes spp. from Bo Blomqvist and Knut Poulsen!
Good to meet Randy Gunnar Lange and Ingunn Bohmann of Eikeløkka in Hurdal on Sunday! Eikeløkka is a permaculture farm under development on the island group Hvaler in the far south east of Norway!
Randy and Ingunn are currently doing the PDC course in Malvik!
…and two pictures of the final fruit leather. Like sour cherries, they become sweeter on drying. Delicious!
