Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I have been making wine for a few months now, and I just purchased a
house. I have a fairly good sized yard and would like to start a
garden or hedgerow to support my winemaking.

Does anyone have any good ideas about what I should plant? I don't have
huge amounts of space or disposable income, and I live in Saskatchewan
which is very cold in winter, very hot in summer and receives little
rainfall. Good growing season here, is generally from Victoria day
(May 22) to about Labour Day (early Sept).

My trees are fairly bare right now, but there is a lot of them so I
suspect there might be a direct sunlight issue.

Rubarb would grow well, and I know there are a few varities of
Saskatoons (local name, I don't remember what the rest of the world
calls them but they are much like blueberries) cherries, raspberries,
highbush cranberries, and apples which I could probably produce.

So my question is, what gives me the lowest cost, best volume, and most
pleasant wine. Also is there much difference between Wine Rhubarb and
the regular kind?

I am guessing the Sakahoons are serviceberries. they make decent wine
IIRC. I think Jack Keller has a recipe for them.

I would grow something that youlike making wine from, reguardless of
the amount of croppage you get. I would go and collect wild fruit,
making wine and trying each to see if you like it. Then you can start
the wild plant from seed. Ditto goes for the normal fruits....such as
raspberries.

Wine rhubarb is virtually interchangeable with all othter rhubarbs. IF
you tend to get too much oxalic acid you can titrate it out with
calcium carbonate.

I started my winemaking in Edmonton, which has a climate very similar
to many parts fo Saskatchewan, so I feel qualified to answer this.

The apples and crabapples that grew in Edmonton gave very tannic wines;
I have yet to find an apple wine that I particularly liked. A mixture
of chokecherries and apples, on the other hand, makes a glorious wine-
the apples mellow out the chokecherries like you wouldn't believe.
Black currant and apple is also a good mix, if you've the patience to
pick currants.

Straight chokecherry, on the other hand, is an acquired taste- my
mother loves it, I've never liked it. To each his own.

Wine made from saskatoons (don't capitalize the word- they're not named
after the city) is, to my mind, much better than chokecherry. And it
ages wonderfully- a twenty-year-old bottle of saskatoon wine is to die
for.

My favourite, however, is raspberry. They ferment well, clear rapidly,
and a small raspberry patch will give you enough for a large batch of
wine with just a few pickings.

Happy vinting!

My suggestions:

Blackberries
Blueberries
Gooseberries

> My suggestions:
> Blackberries

The original poster lives in Saskatchewan- blueberries and gooseberries
may do well, but I highly doubt you'll see blackberries anywhere in
that province.

Cheers,

Sometimes raspberries grow a bit too well. We spent years pulling
raspberry canes out of the yard, the back alley, the middle of the
garage floor, the eavestroughs, etc. after growing raspberries for a
few years. They also don't tend to be sweet unless they get a certain
amount of direct sunlight.

Saskatoons are an excellent all-purpose fruit - you can make wine, mead
(melomel), pies, cakes, juice, etc. from them - but they don't bear
that many fruit for the first few years. They're also bird magnets, so
if you want some fruit for yourself you have to chicken-wire them.

Most of the crabapple trees in Alberta and Saskatchewan were planted,
or are decendants of trees that were planted, in the early 1950s. The
variety of crabapple used by the nurseries at that time wasn't chosen
for its taste but for its foliage and bloom and for its low price. They
make pretty rough wines. If you don't use the fruit, it's important to
rake it up as soon as it falls, especially if you have a dog. As the
fruit ferments it becomes very appetizing but has unfortunate abdominal
consequences. A drunk dog with diarrhea is just a heaping helping of
fun, I can tell you.

I don't know if you can grow blackberries in Saskatoon. You can't grow
them in Calgary, but then again we have the cold summer nights due to
being high in altitude. Check with Lindeman's Seeds in Winnipeg and see
what they say - their staff seems to be very knowledgable about what
can and cannot be grown on the Prairies.

wd41

> I don't know if you can grow blackberries in Saskatoon. You can't grow
> them in Calgary, but then again we have the cold summer nights due to
> being high in altitude.

I was under the impression that blackberries didn't grow in Alberta due
to the lack of humidity, which would probably apply to Saskatchewan as
well. You certianly can't grow them in Edmonton, and Saskatoon's not
that far off, latitudilly.

> Most of the crabapple trees in Alberta and Saskatchewan were planted,
> or are decendants of trees that were planted, in the early 1950s. The
> variety of crabapple used by the nurseries at that time wasn't chosen
> for its taste but for its foliage and bloom and for its low price. They
> make pretty rough wines.

But they do make a delightful liqueur- a quart/litre mason jar of
washed and quartered crabs, a cup of sugar, and 3/4 cup of vodka. Let
it sit on its side for two weeks, rotating 90 degrees twice a day, then
filter out the crabs. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Cheers,