Canning & Preserving Favourites
This is certainly a broad topic, as there are so many ways to preserve the harvest, we would argue every plant belongs here! From fruit sauce and leathers to jams, jelly, freezing, fermenting, canning, dehydrating and powdering, there are many characteristics to look for, which makes this collection quite large!
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Species: Rubus sp
History: Chester Thornless was created and released as a collaboration between the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Station, and Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. It was first bred in Illinois in 1968 and was selected for its thornless nature and cold hardiness. It was later released in 1985.
Why We Grow It: Chester Thornless is easy to grow and rewarding. It produces a reliable bounty of firm, sweet, juicy blackberries that are great for a wide variety of uses.
Pictured on the left: top: Chester, bottom: Illini Hardy
History: Clapp's Favourite Pear originates from Massachusetts where Thaddeus Clapp discovered it as a chance seedling on his property in the 1850s. It was introduced commercially in the 1860s and continues to be grown in the UK and US today.
Why We Grow It: This old variety is hardy and regularly bears excellent medium-large fruit that are yellow with pink blush. They have good flavour but need to be enjoyed rather quickly since the fruit doesn't store long. The fruit needs to be picked about 10 days before completely ripe and allowed to ripen off the tree.
History: Compact Stella was developed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York where dormant Stella scions underwent X-ray irradiation in 1964. This caused a mutation to occur, creating a cherry tree that was smaller in stature when fully grown than regular Stella cherry trees. In 1973 this smaller version of Stella was given the name Compact Stella.
Why We Grow It: Compact Stella sweet cherry trees bear very dark red heart-shaped fruit that is of high quality for fresh eating, and equally well-suited for canning, drying, or freezing. This compact version of the popular Stella sweet cherry is great for anyone with limited space. The typical mature height is 8-10 feet (2.5-3.0m), though they can reach up to 12 feet in optimal growing conditions.
Species: Vitis labrusca x V. vinifera
History: Concord was created by Ephraim Bull in Massachusetts. In 1843, he began breeding wild V. labrusca grapes, occasionally hybridizing them with V. vinifera, in an effort to breed a good quality grape that could survive a colder climate. After growing 22,000 seedlings, he found one that fit what he was looking for. He named it Concord after the town where his farm was located and introduced it in 1854. In 1869, Dr. Thomas Welch created pasteurized Concord grape juice that prevented fermentation, marketing it as a non-alcoholic substitute for Communion wine. This business eventually became the Welch's company that still exists today. By 1923, Concord became the most commonly grown commercial grape in North America and although its status has fallen somewhat, it is still commonly grown and used in many grape products. The distinct colour of the grapes is also the reason why grape-flavoured products are coloured purple!
Why We Grow It: Concord produces dark blue slipskin grapes that are aromatic with a sweet flavour. This hardy, vigorous variety is great for fresh eating, baking, and jelly and is suitable for juice and wine as well. The grapes do contain a large seed.
Species: Prunus persica
History: These seedlings are grown from seeds collected from Contender peach trees growing in Ontario. Contender was developed at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station and released in 1988.
Why We Grow It: Seedling fruit trees are a great way to add some diversity and mystery to your garden or orchard! We expect that seedling peaches will be even hardier trees than their parents! The parent variety, Contender is a cold hardy variety that produces peaches great for fresh eating, canning, and freezing.
Please Note: Since peaches tend to stay true to type more than apples, these seedlings will likely bear a strong resemblance to their parent variety. However, any specific information listed on this page should be taken with a grain of salt as there may be some variation from the parent tree.
Species: Prunus pumila var. besseyi (Western sandcherry) x P. salicina (Japanese Plum)
History: Convoy was released by Boughen Nurseries in Manitoba in 1941. Like other chums, it was bred to produce a fruit with the hardiness of the western sandcherry but the fruit quality of a Japanese plum. Convoy was likely selected for being sweeter than most other chums.
Why We Grow It: Always on the lookout for unique trees, we are happy to offer chums! Convoy is a hardy shrub that produces a clingstone red fruit with yellow flesh. It has a mild sweet flavour that is good for fresh eating but it can also be used for baking, preserving, and canning. The shrub is generally resistant to plum diseases.
Species: Prunus persica
History: These seedlings are grown from Coralstar seeds collected from mother trees growing in Ontario. Coralstar was developed through the Fruit Acres Stellar Peach Breeding Program.
Why We Grow It: Seedling fruit trees are a great way to add some diversity and mystery to your garden or orchard! We expect that seedling peaches will be even hardier trees than their parents! The parent variety, Coralstar, is hardy and great for fresh eating and canning.
Please Note: Since peaches tend to stay true to type more than apples, these seedlings will likely bear a strong resemblance to their parent variety. However, any specific information listed on this page should be taken with a grain of salt as there may be some variation from the parent tree.
Species: Cornus mas
History: Cornelian Cherry (aka Cornel) is a dogwood species native to parts of Europe and Asia. The berries were traditionally used mainly in cooking and to make jams and alcohol and have also been used in traditional Chinese medicine along with the leaves. The wood is quite dense (it sinks in water!) and has been used to make tool handles, machine parts, weapons in Ancient Greece, and the sticks traditionally carried by the mounted herdsman in the Maremma region. In the UK there was some interest in its use as a garden plant starting in the mid 1500s but interest has mainly grown in the last century or so.
Why We Grow It: A novelty among the dogwoods, Cornelian Cherries produce small, red fruits that resemble cherries. The acidic fruit can be eaten fresh when they're quite ripe but are primarily used for cooking and preserves, similar to cranberries. They are also attractive ornamental plants, producing clusters of bright yellow flowers very early in the season.
History: Cupid is a part of the Romance series of dwarf sour cherry bushes developed and released by the University of Saskatchewan in 2004. Their goal was to create cold-hardy, dwarfing bushes with good quality fruit. Cupid was likely selected for its good flavour and unusually large cherries, the largest in the Romance series.
Why We Grow It: These dark red, cold-hardy cherries have a sweet-tart flavour that can be enjoyed fresh for fans of a more astringent flavour or used for cooking, baking, and preserving. Cupid has the largest cherries of all the dwarf sour cherries in the Romance series and also ripens the latest, helping to extend the season.
History: Cutie Pie was developed at the University of Saskatchewan using Mongolian cherry material donated by plant breeder Les Kerr who first created the dwarf sour cherry bushes. It was selected for its compact size, good flavour, and extreme cold hardiness and released as part of the university's 100 Years of Horticulture Celebrations in 2021.
Why We Grow It: Cutie Pie is a compact plant, even compared to the other dwarf sour cherry bushes. Only reaching about 4ft tall once mature, this is a great option for those with limited space. The small, red cherries have a more balanced sweet/tart flavour so they are great for eating fresh and using in baking or cooking! It is a reliable and productive variety.
Check our our blog post with some tasty sour cherry recipes!
History: D'Artagnan was developed by the University of Saskatchewan and shares the same parents as several varieties in the Romance series. It was bred for and selected due to its suckering habit which makes it suitable to form a cold-hardy fruit-bearing hedge. D'Artagnan is the fourth variety released in the Musketeer series and was named for the fourth musketeer in The Three Musketeers. It was released in 2021 as part of the university's 100 Years of Horticulture Celebrations.
Why We Grow It: D'Artagnan produces dark red cherries similar in flavour to Juliet. Like Juliet, it can be eaten fresh or used for cooking and baking. Its main feature, however, is its tendency to sucker heavily which makes it suitable for forming hedges. If individual d'Artagnan bushes are planted 1m apart, they will eventually fill in to form an edible hedge. For those in colder climate areas especially, this can be a unique addition to an edible landscape!
Check our our blog post with some tasty sour cherry recipes!
Species: Prunus sp
History: These seedlings are grown from Damson plum seeds collected from our orchard. Damson is a plum that may stem from antiquity!
Why We Grow It: Seedling fruit trees are a great way to add some diversity and mystery to your garden or orchard! The parent variety, Damson, produces small blue fruit that are sweet and a little spiced. They are suitable for fresh eating and great for jams, preserves, etc. For a more detailed description, see the Damson page on our website here.
Please Note: Since plums tend to stay true to type more than apples, these seedlings will likely bear a strong resemblance to their parent variety. However, any specific information listed on this page should be taken with a grain of salt as there may be some variation from the parent tree.
History: Debbie's Gold was introduced by Aubins Nursery in Manitoba in 1980.
Why We Grow It: Debbie's Gold is a relatively new but promising apricot variety for us. It is very cold hardy and late blooming, which improves the chance of a crop in our climate. It produces small fruit with a rich apricot flavour with spicy notes.
History: Delbarestivale was developed by Delbard, a nursery in France, in the 1950s. Likely named as a portmanteau of 'Delbard' and 'estivale' (translated from French as 'summer') due to its early ripening time, this variety goes by many other names including Delcorf, Monidel, Dalili, and Ambassy. It was bred in an attempt to create an improved version of Golden Delicious. Although not quite as popular as Golden Delicious, it is still grown commercially in parts of France and England and the Royal Horticultural Society awarded it the Award of Garden Merit in 1998.
Why We Grow It: This French apple is very sweet but balanced nicely with a sharp flavour. The flesh is aromatic and crisp and the skin is a lovely, stripey bi-colour with reddish streaks overlaying green. The apples store quite well for an early-ripening variety, although they do tend to bruise easily.
History: Dolgo is a variety of Siberian crabapple (Malus baccata) that originated in Russia. Due to the slightly elongated shape of the fruit, this variety was named 'dolgo' which means 'long' in Russian. They were brought to the United States by N. E. Hansen around 1897.
Why We Grow It: Dolgo is a classic crabapple with a vibrant flavour, very tangy and delicious right off the tree in the heat of summer- as refreshing as lemonade! The bright red fruits are about the size of small plums. These apples are excellent for making jelly or as a unique addition to a cider blend. Along with being exceptionally cold hardy, the trees themselves are quite pretty and are often planted ornamentally.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum, hybridized with V. ashei and V. darrowi
History: Draper blueberries were developed at Michigan State University by renowned plant breeder James Hancock who has also developed several other notable blueberry varieties and other fruits such as the Redhaven peach. He worked with Arlen Draper, a blueberry breeder from the US Department of Agriculture, for 14 years to breed and test different varieties for commercial use, picking Draper due to its many excellent qualities. Named for Arlen Draper, this variety has quickly become an extremely popular commercial variety due to the size and quality of the fruit.
Why We Grow It: Draper produces large, firm fruit with an excellent sweet flavour. They are great for eating fresh or can be used in baking, jams, etc like other blueberries! The large size of the berries makes them good for u-pick orchards and the bushes stay slightly smaller than other highbush varieties! They also store better and longer than other blueberry varieties and ripen at the same time.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum
History: Duke was developed in Maryland by Arlen Draper, a blueberry breeder working for the USDA, in collaboration with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. After ten years of testing it was released in 1987 thanks to its early ripening time, general disease resistance, reliable crops, and suitability for commercial sale. It was named Duke after S. Arthur "Duke" Galetta of the Atlantic Blueberry Company in honour of his support for blueberry breeding efforts over the years.
Why We Grow It: Duke produces good-sized crops of large, firm berries that are a good balance of sweet and tart. This is one of the earlier ripening blueberries and it has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Duke is an extremely reliable producer thanks to it's later bloom time that allows it avoid late spring frosts. Like other blueberries, it is great for a variety of uses including fresh eating, baking, and preserving!
Species: Prunus pumila var. besseyi (Western sandcherry) x P. salicina (Japanese Plum)
History: Dura was developed at the Morden Research Station in Manitoba and was released in 1942.
Why We Grow It: Dura produces small red fruit with sweet mauve flesh. They are good for eating fresh along with cooking/baking, preserving, and juice! This hardy shrub is generally disease resistant and is naturally dwarfing.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum
History: Elliott originated in 1947 when Dr. George Darrow of the USDA first bred it. Elliott, and the other blueberries Dr. Darrow bred, were first evaluated by Dr. Arthur Elliott and then by members of the USDA such as Arlen Draper who has bred numerous blueberry varieties. It was released in 1973, over 25 years after the it was originally grown. Elliott was selected for the good quality of its fruit and its exceptionally late ripening time, making it a great variety for extending the blueberry season. It was named Elliott to honour Dr. Elliott's contributions to blueberry breeding efforts.
Why We Grow It: Elliott produces large berries with a mild sweet flavour late in the season. They are great for fresh eating, cooking, baking, and preserving! The bush is very productive and the firm fruit stores well. For those who want to enjoy fresh blueberries for as long as possible, Elliott is an excellent choice due to its very late ripening time!
History: Érdi Bõtermõ is a Hungarian variety of sour cherry that is a cross between Pangy and Nady Angol. It was bred by the Hungarian Research Institute for Fruitgrowing and Ornamentals and remains popular in Europe. It was brought back to the US by Michigan State University biologist Pr. Amy Iezzoni who is researching and breeding new sour cherry cultivars. It was given the name "Danube" in North America, named after the river that flows through Hungary, since it was considered easier to pronounce and spell.
Why We Grow It: Érdi Bõtermõ is unique in that it has a surprisingly sweet flavour compared to other sour cherries, making them suitable for fresh eating along with baking and preserving. It ripens early and produces large fruit that are deep red with firm red flesh.
History: Ernie's Favourite was grown as a seedling on a homestead in Mt. Pleasant, ON. It is believed that the seed came from Eastern Europe but it has thrived in our climate for decades and been a family favourite for the original growers. When we asked the farmer what he wanted to call the variety, he requested we name it 'Ernie's Favourite' after his father.
Why We Grow It: Ernie's Favourite produces a medium-sized quince with good flavour. It has dependable crops and does well in our climate - a good, tried-n-true variety!
History: Ernie's Favourite was grown as a seedling on a homestead in Mt. Pleasant, ON. It is believed that the seed came from Eastern Europe but it has thrived in our climate for decades and been a family favourite for the original growers. When we asked the farmer what he wanted to call the variety, he requested we name it 'Ernie's Favourite' after his father.
Why We Grow It: Ernie's Favourite produces a medium-sized quince with good flavour. It has dependable crops and does well in our climate - a good, tried-n-true variety!
Species: Prunus sp
History: These seedlings are grown from plum seeds collected from our orchard. We missed labelling this particular batch, but we know their parents are a blue prune plum similar to German and Late Italian plums.
Why We Grow It: Seedling fruit trees are a great way to add some diversity and mystery to your garden or orchard! The seedling of a classic prune plume like German or Late Italian, these plums will be good for fresh eating but great for baking, drying, etc.
Please Note: Since plums tend to stay true to type more than apples, these seedlings will likely bear a strong resemblance to their parent variety. However, any specific information listed on this page should be taken with a grain of salt as there may be some variation from the parent tree.
Note: Our Evans sour cherries are grown from cuttings so they will be smaller and bushier than the grafted and seedling sour cherries we offer. Please see 'Size at Purchase' below for more details!
History: Evans (aka Bali) was originally grown by a Mrs. Borward living near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. This was quite notable since, at the time, it was believed that it was impossible to grow any cherry trees in the prairies! She had been growing the cherries since the early 1920s and the cold hardy tree was eventually brought to the attention of horticulturalist Dr. Ieuan Evans by a friend. In 1976, her garden was slated for destruction due to the pending construction of a federal prison so she invited Dr. Evans to take suckers to propagate the tree. He gave the suckers out to a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who were all impressed and the variety was dubbed 'Evans' in his honour by another Alberta Agriculture horticulturalist. Dr. Evans tried to bring the variety to the attention of local nurseries who turned it down, refusing to believe cherries would grow in the cold prairie climate. Eventually, it was picked up by nurseries and Evans became the number one selling cherry tree in North America.
Why We Grow It: Evans produces bright red cherries that are excellent for pies, jellies, jams, and juice. This naturally dwarfing variety only reaches about 12-14ft tall compared to to a full-size tree which can reach up to 25ft. Evans tends to grow as more of a bush but can be pruned to maintain a tree form. It produces a profusion of white blooms in the spring which makes it quite attractive as an ornamental plant as well.
Check our our blog post with some tasty sour cherry recipes!
Species: Vitis sp. (hybrid)
History: Frontenac was bred by renowned cold hardy grape breeder Elmer Swenson at the University of Minnesota. It was released in 1996 and since then has become commonly planted in Canada and northeastern America where other wine grapes will not perform as well.
Why We Grow It: Frontenac produces a blue grape that is best used for wine-making. It is suitable for rosés, dry red wines, and fortified wines such as port. It is high in both acidity and sugar, producing a balanced wine with a nice colour.
Species: Aronia melanocarpa
History: Galicjanka was developed in Poland where Aronia berries are a common agricultural crop. It is one of the most popular varieties grown there due to its suitability for commercial plantations.
Why We Grow It: This variety produces large berries with good flavour. While the berries ripen in August, they can hang onto the bush for a couple months and tend to sweeten over time. Despite its popularity in Poland, it is unfortunately not very common in North America.
History: The Geneva crabapple was developed in the 1930s in collaboration with the Ottawa Experimental Farm and the New York State Agricultural Research Station based in Ottawa. The creation of this crabapple was head by Isabella Preston who specialized in creating cold-hardy ornamental plants.
Why We Grow It: This attractive crabapple has deep maroon flesh. The tree itself is quite visually appealing, sporting red leaves and bright pink flowers in the spring. The taste is reminiscent of rhubarb and is suitable for cooking as well. As it is a low sugar/high acid juice, it is best blended with another high sugar variety for cider. It also adds a nice red hue to blends.
Species: Prunus sp
History: These seedlings are grown from German plum seeds collected from our orchard. Likely a few centuries old, German plums are a classic prune style plum that are great for traditional German desserts.
Why We Grow It: Seedling fruit trees are a great way to add some diversity and mystery to your garden or orchard! The parent of this variety, German plum, is sweet and aromatic. It is good for eating fresh and great for drying or baking. For a more detailed description, see the German plum page on our website here.
Please Note: Since plums tend to stay true to type more than apples, these seedlings will likely bear a strong resemblance to their parent variety. However, any specific information listed on this page should be taken with a grain of salt as there may be some variation from the parent tree.
History: Ginger Gold has quite the dramatic origin. In 1969 Hurricane Camille hit Virginia and brought awful floods, devastating the orchards of Clyde and Frances "Ginger" Harvey. As Clyde Harvey went to save the few remaining trees in his Winesap orchard, he discovered a mysterious seedling that produced yellow apples instead of red. Genetic testing showed it was a seedling of Golden Delicious, Albermarle Pippin, and an unknown third variety. Clyde named the variety after his wife and it was introduced commercially in 1982. Since then, it has become a commercially popular early variety! In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly proposed a bill to make Ginger Gold the official state apple, although this bill was sadly tabled.
Why We Grow It: It is easy to see why this such a popular early apple! Ginger Gold produces lovely bright yellow apples that sometimes sport a red blush. These medium-large apples have are firm and juicy with a pleasant sweet flavour that has a nice tart finish. The fruit is slow to brown which makes them even better for fresh-eating along with drying. For fans of feeding wildlife, Ginger Gold apples are known to hang onto the tree well after they are ripe.
History: Glowing Heart was bred in Toronto by Fred Jansen, one of the founders of the North American Fruit Explorers (NAFEX). This unique apple is still in its early years.
Why We Grow It: This variety has a unique pink and white flesh and is quite acidic. One bite will make you pucker! Although not the best option for fresh eating, this apple creates an aromatic jelly with rich flavour and can be used in ciders as well. It does well in organic orchards.