From the Garden or Orchard to the Table: Jams and Jellies from North Dakota Fruits FN-590, Revised and reprinted August 2006 Ron Smith, Horticulture Specialist Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist

Garden Fruits to Consider Strawberries Raspberries	Recipes Apples or Crabapple Jelly Apple Spread (Refrigerated and reduced-sugar) Blackberry-Huckleberry Jam Wild Plum Jam (Freezer Jam) Chokecherry Jelly with Liquid Pectin Chokecherry Jelly with Powdered Pectin Gooseberry Jam Wild Grape Jelly Grape Plum Jelly Juneberry Jam Raspberry Jam Strawberry Jam - Low Suger Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam Syrups General Recipe: Syrups made with Juice Blackberry Syrup Blueberry Syrup
Other Fruits to Consider Apples Grapes Cherries and Plums Juneberries Rhubarb Currants and Gooseberries
Making Jams and Jellies Ingredients Equipment Extracting Juice for Making Jelly Making Jams Preparing Jars and Lids Processing Jellies and Jams Remaking Soft Jellies Storage

 

Imagine this: a thick slice of homemade bread with homemade jam or jelly. It makes your mouth water, doesn't it? You can enjoy the delicious goodness of North Dakota fruits even in the dead of winter with homemade preserves.

What kinds of fruit can be successfully grown in North Dakota? What are some tested and tasty recipes for making the preserves? That's what this circular is all about; growing and preserving the fruits of summer!

Garden Fruits to Consider

Strawberries

The delicious, nutritious flavor of locally grown or area strawberries is universally loved. Key to good strawberry production is the selection of the site for planting: It should get as much direct sunshine as possible, the soil should be well-drained, and the site possess good air circulation for quick drying of the leaves to prevent disease problems. Many gardeners have had great success with raised-bed plantings of strawberries. This accomplishes two things: the blossoms are less vulnerable to low frost pockets in the spring, and the berry crop is much easier to pick.

Strawberry production is usually highest on first-year plants, that is, plants that have gone through just one winter. Here is how to get the highest fruit production: In the early spring, select a desirable cultivar to plant (refer to Table 1). Remove the blossoms that appear during the first growing season. This will produce stocky plants that will be doubly productive in year two. After harvest in the second year, mow the tops down after a hard frost or two. During the spring of the third season, clear out a two- to three-foot wide patch or path (depending on how you've organized the planting) with a tiller and leave another path or patch alone. The result will look like either a checkerboard or a runway system through the jungle. While it is clear, prepare the bared soil areas with mulch.

Table 1. Strawberry cultivars showing disease resistance. Cavendish Earliglow Gloosecap Lateglow Primetime Redchief Tribute Tristar

 

Over the summer, the remaining plants will send out new runners to the bare spots and become established. Don't worry about the poor fruit production from those new plantlets, but be prepared for a bountiful fruit set the following year! Then, of course, remember to clear out the adjacent patches or rows that had been cleared the previous spring. This action results in a continuous supply of robust plants producing plump, big and juicy berries!

Typical strawberry plantings go through a gradual decline in productivity and plant quality. This is due to a number of factors -- viruses, insect activity (especially the lygus or Tarnished plant bug), and in some cases, root knot nematodes.

If your strawberries never seem to get off to a good start, it could be a result of what was grown previously on that particular site. Crops in the tomato family (Solanaceae), including potatoes, peppers and eggplant, or members of the melon family, could harbor Verticillium fungus which could be having a negative impact on the strawberry planting.

Selecting strawberry cultivars to grow in your garden is a lot like trying to select a new car; all have some desirable features, but no one is absolutely perfect for all situations. Consequently, some experimentation is needed on your part, but only select those cultivars that are listed as resistant to diseases like red stele, verticillium wilt and fruit rot. The cultivars listed in Table 1 reflect those that possess these resistance characteristics.

Raspberries

In favorite fruit polls, fresh raspberries top the list for desirability. In addition to simply tasting scrumptious, they are high in fiber and vitamin C. Brightly colored fruits like strawberries and raspberries are high in a natural substance called ellagic acid, a compound which may help lower risk for cancer. In growing raspberries for making preserves, the toughest chore is to make sure they are not immediately eaten! Consumed fresh, they can be used on cereal, over ice cream, in pies, in tarts and in fruit smoothies. The remaining fruits make outstanding jams which can be enjoyed mostly through the winter months, teasing taste buds for another fresh crop of fruit in the upcoming growing season.

Raspberries need about the same physical conditions as strawberries: well-drained soil, full sunlight, free airflow and soil rich in organic matter. To be productive, raspberries need to have their fertility level maintained, as nutrient-starved plants are poor producers. Consequently, about five to eight pounds of a 10-10-10 fertilizer per 1,000 square feet need to be worked into the soil prior to planting of the brambles. At the onset of new growth, scatter about 1/4 cup of the same material in a circle 10-12 inches from each plant. Fertilizer applications should continue each year the crop is being managed: fertilize in April/May as new growth is just beginning, and again after harvest. With the right cultivar selection and proper care, the home gardener can expect up to 1,500 pounds from a half-acre of plants, or about two quarts per plant.

Good management efforts will keep the raspberries productive for five to eight years before viruses take the plants out completely, or reduce production to a level that isn't worth picking. Productivity can be maintained by continually replacing those plants that show a decline or viral symptoms, and replacing them with new offshoots from plants displaying vigorous growth and ample fruit production. Plants grown mostly on a north-facing slope will stay dormant longer in the spring and spread their bearing period out a little longer than those grown mostly on a south-facing slope. They also will be less subject to late spring frosts due to better cold air drainage.

While this is true for the red and purple summer-bearing raspberries, fall-bearing cultivars are better planted on a south-facing slope to allow for faster maturation and greater assurance of having a harvest. Refer to Table 2 for cultivar selections.

Table 2. Raspberry cultivars hardy for cold climates (Zone 3). Summer Bearing Boyne Killarney Latham Madawaska* Newburgh* Fall Bearing Fall Red Heritage Nordic* Reveille* * Trial in ND only; tested in WI and MN

Inquiries often come in about raspberry canes producing fruit in August or September from the same plants that produced fruits in early July. While they might be the same plants, they are not the same canes; the fall fruit production is actually coming from primocanes that would normally bear the following season. What happens is that the primocanes grow and produce a certain number of nodes. The growing tip then changes from a vegetative state to a reproductive one. Will those same canes produce the next season? Yes, just not from the same area on the cane. The fruit borne on the upper cane will be small; the fruit borne the following season in the mid-section of the cane will be much bigger and sweeter.

Other Fruits for Jelly or Jam Making

Apples

While not a commercial apple production state, North Dakota is none-the-less a good bet for growing some of the hardiest apples in home landscape settings. The biggest disadvantage of growing apples is the long wait -- five to seven years -- before enough fruit is produced to warrant harvesting. Apple trees should be purchased from local garden centers that handle cultivars having good hardiness, or from mail-order nurseries that grow cultivars hardy to Zone 3. The advantage of making a local purchase is that the money stays locally, and you get to select the tree, not someone else on a production line.

Apple trees need to be planted where cold air pockets cannot collect, so avoid planting them in low areas on the property. While they need free airflow, they need to be protected from the direct prairie winds, which could not only damage the trees physically, but keep the pollinating insects from doing their work at critical time. In much of the prairie region, apple trees, especially young ones, need protection from rabbits, mice and deer. Their damage can easily misshape a tree, and if the bark is girdled on the trunk, cause its death. There are several repellents on the market for this, so don't overlook this autumn chore, even as the trees mature to bearing age.

With home-grown apples, the trees need careful annual pruning. While impossible to give complete instructions on apple tree pruning in this circular, try to prune with two objectives in mind: to be able to reach the fruit for harvest without having to get an extension ladder, and to allow for as much sunlight and air circulation as possible to pass through the canopy. This will greatly reduce the incidence of disease and breakage. For more detailed information, check out the publication, "Pruning Trees and Shrubs" (H1036) or contact your local extension service office.

Table 3 lists some of the hardiest cultivars of apples that can be grown in the northern prairie region.

There are other apples that can be grown in North Dakota, but the intent in this publication is to use selections that are good for making sauces and preserves. All of the above make excellent applesauce. While some cultivars claim to be self-fruitful, fruit set is always better with two different cultivars planted in the landscape.

Table 3. Apple cultivars hardy in North Dakota. Haralson and Haralred Fireside Honeygold Beacon Prairie Spy Sweet Sixteen Hazen Dolgo Crabapple

 

Grapes

Grapes need full sunlight and high temperatures to ripen, so like the autumn-bearing raspberries, it is a good practice to plant them on south-facing slopes, the south side of a shelter belt or the south sides of buildings or fences. Like the other fruits, they thrive best in rich, loamy, well-drained soil. If more than one vine is to be planted, space them six to eight feet apart. After planting, remove all but the strongest cane, and shorten it to two strong buds. Each bud will develop into a cane.

Fruit production is best if the vines are not allowed to sprawl over the ground, training them instead to what is known as a four-arm Kniffen system (see Figure 1). This system is for grape cultivars listed in this circular that produce vines hardy enough to survive winters above ground. If marginal or tender cultivars are selected, their canes must be buried each fall before the arrival of winter. Grapes will benefit from annual applications of fertilizer (10-10-10 or something similar) at a rate of about one cup spread out in a circle at 10-12 inches from the base of the plant.

Figure 1. A vine before pruning (left) which has been trained to the Four-Arm Kniffin System. The same vine (right) after pruning.

Table 4 lists some of the hardy grape cultivars that can be grown in North Dakota. All will make excellent grape jelly.

Table 4. Hardy grapes. Beta Bluebell (southern half of state) Swenson Red (southern half of state) Valiant

 

Cherries and Plums

Many cultivars of cherries and plums can be successfully grown in North Dakota and nicely processed into tasty jellies and jams. Unfortunately, the Prunus spp. has some drawbacks that one should consider before growing these fruits for edible purposes. A fungal disease known as black knot has become quite widespread, especially with chokecherries, a common ornamental with edible fruit that is grown throughout our region. In addition, many of the species will sucker which could cause frustration with homeowners who attempt to keep everything in place in the landscape. That said, for some folks these disadvantages are worth the strugge to enjoy the tart, tasty fruit. Like apples, these plant species need full sunlight, well-drained soil, and, with two different cultivars, will set more fruit.

Hardy plums, sandcherry-plum hybrids, apricots, and Nanking and Korean cherries will produce crops on relatively young growth. In comparison to apples, these species will need more severe pruning to keep them highly productive.

Table 5 lists some members of Prunus group to consider for jellies and jams.

It should be noted that apricots most likely will not bear on an annual basis, but perhaps once every three to four years. The sour cherries should be planted with the graft union about four inches below the soil to prevent killing from low temperatures. A three- to four-inch application of mulch over the root system would aid in the survival of these two species.

Table 5. Alderman Plum Pembina Plum Underwood Plum Waneta Plum Toka Plum Bali Sour Cherry North Star Sour Cherry Meteor Sour Cherry Nanking Cherry Moongold Apricot Sungold Apricot

Juneberries

Juneberries, the "poor man's blueberry," can be treated from a growing perspective much like any other fruit discussed so far. Soil with good drainage, such as a sandy loam, will provide higher success with this crop than heavy clay soils. Plants can begin to produce a crop two to four years after planting, and can get to be quite large in size as a multi-stemmed shrub. Birds are a big problem with Juneberries; they will eat them slightly under-ripe for our picking objectives. One or two shrubs in a home landscape can be a 100 percent contribution to the robins that have returned after winter unless extensive protective measures are taken to keep them at bay with netting. To keep them productive, selective pruning should take place annually. Remove the oldest branches every three to five years, and pinch or nip back the vigorous shoots that appear the following growing season.

Eaten fresh, the fruits are tasty and may also be used for wine, pies, jams and fruit rolls. They can also be canned or frozen. To get to this fruit, keep the shrubs within reach of either a step stool or small folding ladder. Heights of eight to nine feet are suggested. Do the pruning in late winter or early spring before new growth begins.

There are many cultivars available on the market, with a fairly wide variation in fruit size, seed density and flavor. Commercial growers look for `Moonlake' or `Northline' because the seed size and weight are lower and the fruit is of a desirable flavor. Lacking the availability of either of these, the cultivars `Pembina', `Honeywood' and `Smoky' are usually available on the homeowner market and are of excellent quality.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is legally considered a fruit, even though it is grown as a vegetable. The reason for this is its end uses: sauces, pies and in combination with other fruits and in jams. Rhubarb can be harvested in early spring, the stalks diced and utilized in pies, or frozen for winter use. Two to three plants are usually enough for the average family's use. While the stalks are edible, the leaves never are, under any preparation regimen.

The soil for rhubarb should be fertile loam, well-drained and enriched with compost. Recommended cultivars to consider are `Valentine', `McDonald', `Canadian Red', and `Sunrise'.

Currants and Gooseberries

Currants and Gooseberries, both native plants to the Great Plains, are commonly grown as ornamental shrubs in the sub-canopy shade of larger landscape trees. Of the same genus (Ribes), these plants are known for sweet-tasting fruits that make excellent jellies and jams — provided the right ones are selected. The Clove, or Buffalo Currant (Ribes odoratum), is grown for it's edible fruit and very fragrant yellow flowers preceding the fruit. Keep in mind that this species is dioecious (meaning separate sexes), and that in order to have fruit, one must have the female of the species. The major difference between currants and gooseberries is the size of the fruit; currants are about pea size, while gooseberries are about cherry size.

Both the gooseberry and currant can be grown as either individual specimen plants or in hedge form. They will do well in our calcareous soil, in full sun or partial shade.

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FN-590, Revised and reprinted August 2006