[Madame Cholet]

Would like to expand my fruit or nut collection in the orchard area, for jam making mainly although some will be eaten what do people find most prolific and easy to grow any good varieties too.

Most are only young so will take afew years to produce.

I have enough of
raspberries 35 canes
7 apple trees plus friends with cookers
1 x damson
1 x fig
1 logan berry
Hazel nuts mix of cob nuts and wild ones in hedge.
redcurrant and whitecurrants tripple cordon
green gage fan
gogi
blackberries, elderberries walnuts ect from wild
rhubarb
mulberry

I also have
2 red goose berries cordon possibly one or 2 more bush?
1 conference pear  1 more variety?


Ideas

Vic plum
blackcurrant
jostaberry
almond
kiwi
strawberries
are they a lot of work?

more please.

[New shoot]

Victoria plums are very easy and prolific - our neighbour has a self seeded one that hangs over our fence and we pick pounds of them every year (OH prunes for her now and then, but that is all the care it gets).

Blackcurrants are also easy - I ripped mine out this year as they were old and getting unproductive, but will replace.  Mine were grown from hardwood cuttings and fruited for years.

Strawberries are pretty easy and if you get a big fruited variety (I grow Marshmello) you get plenty for jam.

Other stuff I grow is Tayberry, which would be a good companion to your Loganberry, a grape which I have used for wine, but would make a good grape jelly, Invicta Gooseberries - green fruits but amazingly productive and Autumn Bliss rasps - I know you say you have plenty but if you haven't got Autumn Bliss I would say get some    I make a 'no-cook' raspberry jam and raspberry vodka from the latter which are in huge demand for winter seasonal celebration presents 

[Willow_Warren]

I don't have one at the moment, but in previous gardens have had Victoria plums, they are gorgeous & plentiful!  It was a while ago and I was quite young but I don't recall them being difficult 

Hannah

[surbie100]

My mum has 3 35-year old blackcurrant bushes. She has never fed them and trims them back fairly severely each year. Each year they creak with fruit, enough for pies and about 10 jars of sieved jam. They took a couple of years to get going.

Quinces are really good too - quince jelly is amazing with cheese, or the quince cheese you make with jelly leftovers. Hers seem fairly prolific, and are generally neglected too.

I've got 1.2m x 2.4m of strawberries - not much work bar weeding so far, but I only have a half plot and that's quite a lot of space.

Very envious of all your fruit trees and bushes.

[TerryB]

Blueberries, cost a bit at first, but produces a lot of fruit and don't take up a lot of room.
I've got 4 bushes in there second year on the plot and have been picking them for 4 weeks with still a lot to go.

[Yorkie]

Bear in mind that blueberries need different growing conditions - acid and moist soil.

[fatcat1955]

Do you use the gooseberries as a natural pectin in your jam making? I read that 1 gooseberry has enough pectin to set 2lb of strawberries.

[Madame Cholet]

Do you use the gooseberries as a natural pectin in your jam making? I read that 1 gooseberry has enough pectin to set 2lb of strawberries.

thanks i'll try them use lemons normally

[lazza]

If I had the space, I would plant a quince. Impossible to find in supermarkets or even rare in market gardens, but just about the most delicious fruit ever (quince tarte tatin is just fantastic, and the smell of the fruits fills a whole kitchen as they ripen!)

[surbie100]

If I had the space, I would plant a quince. Impossible to find in supermarkets or even rare in market gardens, but just about the most delicious fruit ever (quince tarte tatin is just fantastic, and the smell of the fruits fills a whole kitchen as they ripen!)

Find out if you have a local Iranian/Iraqi community - our local veg shops almost always have them (imports though, not local fruit).

[Madame Cholet]

I bought some quince jelly to sell but it wasn't very popular I did enjoy it myself though.

Sounds like more gooseberries then, a blackcurrant a josta berry ( blackberry X gooseberry) and possiby another pear.
thanks for your help.

[BigPaddy]

I would draw attention back to the tayberries mentioned earlier. Very large and prolific fruits and I think a better jam than raspberries. My three have cropped over about a month and I have made tons of jam plus weekly summer puddings, not to mention the number I have given away.

BP

[lazza]

If I had the space, I would plant a quince. Impossible to find in supermarkets or even rare in market gardens, but just about the most delicious fruit ever (quince tarte tatin is just fantastic, and the smell of the fruits fills a whole kitchen as they ripen!)

Find out if you have a local Iranian/Iraqi community - our local veg shops almost always have them (imports though, not local fruit).

Thanks. That's good to know.

In fact, last year, I took the fruit from my parents tree, and then also found a huge espallier(?) quince at one of the local National Trust houses with tons of fruit on it, and they didn't mind me taking some for free!

[Madame Cholet]

I would draw attention back to the tayberries mentioned earlier. Very large and prolific fruits and I think a better jam than raspberries. My three have cropped over about a month and I have made tons of jam plus weekly summer puddings, not to mention the number I have given away.

BP

sounds good anything related to a raspberry is tops by me