Berries in My Urban Farm
(Mostly) native plants I am growing to support my local ecosystem while feeding me.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, where we have lots of delicious berries. Before moving to the area, I never cared for blackberries, but after eating them in the wild on bike rides or hikes, I have fallen in love with them.
A few years ago, when I bought a house in Portland, Oregon, the entire back fence was covered in blackberries. I love watching the flowers blossom in spring and enjoying the sweet fruit during the summer. Since I started developing my food forest (a biodiverse form of agriculture that can grow a lot of food in a small space), I have planted more berries.
Here are the berries growing in my backyard:
Blackberries.
Blackberries are yummy dark berries that can be eaten raw or cooked into desserts. I like to eat them raw with homemade probiotic coconut yogurt.
The blackberries that were growing when I moved in are invasive. If left to their own devices, they would take over the entire yard (or neighborhood). I have trimmed a lot of them back, and this year will be replacing the remaining ones with native blackberries, who will be just as tasty but play nicer with the rest of the ecosystem.
When I pull out the last of the invasive blackberries, I will make the roots and leaves into herbal medicine. Blackberry is helpful for women’s health, and the roots can help heal the gut.[i]
Raspberries.
Raspberries are delightfully sweet red berries that pair well with blackberries. I helped a friend thin out her raspberry patch, and she gave me several roots to plant in my yard where they are thriving. Even though they are brambles and have sharp points, I have them near a walkway because I like to snack on them when I am outside.
Raspberry leaves, like blackberry, are helpful for women’s health. I often make raspberry leaf tea, especially when I need additional support.
Strawberries.
Not only are strawberries tasty treats, but the plants also create an easy-to-care-for perennial ground cover in my plum tree guild.
A guild is a collection of plants with mutually beneficial relationships. Indigenous people have grown plant guilds for centuries. Three sisters’ agriculture, which includes corn, beans, and squash, may be the most ancient form of this practice.[ii]
My plum tree guild has flowers that attract pollinators, aromatic herbs that help keep pests from fruit, and the ground covering strawberries. The strawberry plants keep moisture in the soil and reduce weeds.
If I were growing them strictly for food, I would trim them more aggressively as each new daughter plant reduces food production. However, since I am growing them for ground cover, I want more plants. I’ll still get a few tasty berries, and the low-growing leaves save me a lot of maintenance time.
Goji berries.
Not native, but still good medicine. Goji berries are expensive in the grocery store, so I am excited to grow some of my own. My plants are young, and I only got one berry last year. It tasted more like a tomato than I expected! I am looking forward to more this year.
Salmonberries.
I have never grown salmonberries before but planted one from a native nursery last fall. Native plants feed local beneficial insects who pollinate our food. I am excited to support the local insects and enjoy some fantastic salmon-colored berries. I hope the plant will also spread and create a hedge for privacy and wildlife.
Huckleberries.
I have a shady corner of the yard and planted a huckleberry plant at the edge of the shade and another in the front yard to share with neighbors. This is also my first year growing huckleberries.
Elderberries.
Elderberries and elderflowers are great for the immune system. Although elderberries grow very well in this area, I have had difficulty getting them started in my food forest. I tried twice from cuttings but couldn’t get them to take root. Then I tried from seeds and didn’t get any germination.
I now have a red elderberry plant and three blue elderberry plants from native nurseries. Hopefully, these will take so I can enjoy the beautiful shrubs who also provide cover for wildlife.
Food forests grow more food per square acre than conventional farming practices. My urban farm is 1/6th of an acre and I have lots of produce to share with friends and neighbors.
It has taken me a few years to get to this stage, but I expect this year to be an even more delightful foraging feast than last year for the humans and non-human animals enjoying this corner of the earth. Growing food has been good for my body and soul.
Disclaimer: I am not a trained clinician, I am an innovator creating the future of health. Nothing in this article should be taken as medical advice.
References
[i] The Benefits and Uses of Blackberry, featuring Shana Lipner Grover, January 14, 2022, Mountain Rose Herbs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4P3VMtKrF0.
[ii] Kris Hirst, “The Three Sisters: the Traditional Intercropping Agricultural Method,” ThoughtCo., ThoughtCo., November 28, 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/three-sisters-american-farming-173034
