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My favourite advice is from Stephan Sobkowiak. "Grow things that grow like a weed". It's good to have a few experiments but the bulk of what we grow should be plants that flourish without much work.

I had goji berries on my property in northern Utah when I moved here. I tried to get rid of them 20 years ago, but they are very persistent. Not only do they keep coming back, they keep spreading! I finally did some research and found out what they are. It turns out there have been gojis in Utah since the 1800s, probably carried here by Chinese railroad workers who used to carry the dried berries. I find them too astringent when they're raw, but I really like them dried. I tried them in jam this year, too. Not bad! And, since I can't find sea buckthorn in Utah, I guess I'll stick with what I have! Also, I have a Chicago Hardy fig just facing its first winter. I'm zone 5/6, so hopefully it will do well in the microclimate where I've placed it. I love your work here, thank you!

Fascinating to see how much of an impact on nature nature we can have . We purchased our property with about 3 acres of grass and 7 acres wooded area 2 years ago and the amount of wildlife that is living and visiting now is mind blowing. After just the first year of planting the beneficial insect population exploded and then all different kinds of birds showed up.I have been planting trees ,bushes and flowers also grow a lot of annual vegetables . I totally understand your addiction 😂. Great video, I enjoy the other topics you talk about as well.

Zone 2a grower here and this was a great video for me on what to not bother planting. Thank you for sharing and saving me the heartache! I always feel so bad when plants don't survive our brutal winters. Looking forward to your videos this winter.

We are finally moving apartments here in Lebanon. I am so excited; after a year of having only a balcony, we are going to have a large yard (large yard for city living🌻) that has mature clementines, persimmon, quince, figs, jujubes, mulberry, olive AND a pecan tree! There is also a young avocado we'll certainly never see fruit from, but who knows, in 3-4 years it might have time to mature enough. So different from what we grow in France, but very exciting. Can't wait to get my hands back in the soil.

I live in New Mexico high desert (lousy dirt, HOT summers, COLD winter, high altitude) I have 3 goji berry bushes. They produce, produce, produce... but If i had to do it over again I would plant them far far away from any other plants or trees... or add a barrier at least 10" deep. They throw suckers EVERYWHERE!!! (My neighbors now have goji berry bushes from suckers) They have a woody and thorny stalk and need pruning from the inside out which means lots of scratches and eye pokes 😞.. but the birds love them!! we share

Hello from Brazil. As someone who is starting a food forest over here I can say with no doubt that you are making your mark far and away. Thank you!

I have an American Persimmon and find the texture of the fruit puts off some people. What I do with the fruit is mash it through a strainer. The seeds and skin are left behind and this removes even more of the astringent taste. The pulp processed this way make a nice topping for ice cream.

I really vibe with your shoutout of Parkrose Permaculture, that’s already a channel that i watch 😎

In Colorado (5b/6a) I had to move my Gojis a couple times as they seemed to want full sun and space to get started. Finally found a spot they liked next to concrete driveway with all day sun. I think they taste fine but end up freezing many of them and using in smoothies.

I have to be very selective in my planting. I'm not in a position to go full-on food forest. Part of my 1/8 acre is taken up by my house, my vegetable garden, my shed, and although I don't use a car, I have a small driveway for deliveries and emergency vehicles. I've learned to trust the native varieties of shrubs and trees and save my experimenting for annual fruits and veg.

Great video! I love it when you explane to us why some plants worked and others did not. It is sometimes hard to face the limitations our ecosystems have. But it frees our enegy for the things that work and bring us joy. ❤️👍🙂

Goji berry is not only a fruit, like black berry , it is a herb and dry out to make tea or soup. It's a very valuable plants. I have one in my garden and harvest every fall.

Thanks for doing this pioneer work. I too like to push the boundaries of plants in zones and it's a bit of a reality check. I also think it's cool to try to master a difficult problem though, like maybe you're just missing one component to success of growing figs in your climate.

Very happy to hear about the up coming content!! The gardening permaculture tips brought me to your channel, the science shares have kept me coming back.

One difference between you and me. I'm not trying to push zones. That's why I don't have a greenhouse and started my channel with the series "What grows here?" WRT fruit, you probably already know, a tree may survive winters and grow just fine. But it'll never produce fruit if the growing season isn't long and hot enough. I currently have 3 max/min thermometers outside (there's 3 I want to add) to record temperature variations WRT surrounding landscape features. That way, I can match each plant to its preferred location.

I love Angela from Parkrose Permaculture! Cool that you watch her too

Weirdly, medlar is the one I was iffy about and just planted one. Now, I love it and have ordered 3 more varieties. Also, this winter I'm going to be grafting over three scab ridden quinces to medlar. The deep winter vitamin C kick is a bonus!

-40° is crazy! It is a very difficult climate, in which you cultivate your food forest. I appreciate all your videos a lot and as I know about your difficult climate now, I appreciate them even more. I am in zone 7b and I have always dreamed of being in zone 8. I think I should stop dreaming and just be thankful for my friendly winters (and still try to push the limits, just as you are). Thank you for all your efforts and all the best wishes for the future.

I too am not fond of Goji berry flavour, though it does improve a lot with several hard frosts. BUT, the wild bees, especially bumble bees, love Goji flowers. And the flowers bloom very late in the season, so the bees get a good final feeding before winter.

I follow your recommendations closely for my property here in Michigan....your insights are always very valuable and much appreciated -thank you. i will plant accordingly!!!

I would love to see a top 10 or even top 20 plants for a yard with limited space video from you. My yard is only 35 feet wide and is dominated by a massive elm tree. But I am curious what you would plant if you couldn't plant that much. Peace :)

I’m in Denmark, not nearly as cold as you are, because of the surrounding sea water. We’re far to the north, so too much light for too long in Summer, but zone 8 hardiness. I want to grow figs, but they’ll have to be in containers or pots that Ican move inside. We like smushy fruits. I think I can probably grow medlars outside here. I want that and dwarf mulberry, for everything’s life.

I have three figs that this is my first winter for! I’m being hopeful lol

I just love figs! You should try again. There's a technique where you tie down the fig tree along the ground and cover it with cloth and mulch. Check it out. It might work for you.

I have killed too many figs in zone 5 when we have a major snap down to -20 F and put them in garage, when got sick and couldn't lug it in put it by the compost bin and swaddled it in. didn't work. Hadn't put any in the ground but this year will get a baby and put it in the "resurrection bed" it is where the dying , the weak, the loved go and strangely do well. Yes is microclimate but also seems invisible to the critters. Did find a fig, petite negra, that is said to be nice inside tree so will get the medusa head grow lights and go crazier.

I'm a zone 6 gardener, so I'm actually using this video for ideas of what I COULD grow lol! Never heard of medlar and forgot about jujube. Would love to try both.

Even on the "wet coast" figs will just quit. Once they're established, the fruits can drop before becoming ripe. The seasons are getting more and more out of whack. Spring normally has 15°C temps in March, rising to 20°C by May 1. This year no temps above 10°C until June. Drought in a rainforest zone? Yep, water shortages right beside the Pacific ocean. Goofy. Geoff Lawton suggests, and I agree with him on this, plant different species that can tolerate different climactic changes. If a semi-tropical plant doesn't do well this year, it may thrive next. Goji berries were "fashionable" because of the nutrition, but aren't really a plant I want either. Experiment away, enjoy learning, and eat what tastes good to you. Maybe make a wine from the Goji, who knows? 🤷

Permaculture is the best kind of systems engineering. Nature is the ultimate feedback system. You'll learn a ton from the unexpected interactions. If you're passionate about activism, your audience will benefit. Of course, moderation with all things. Sugar (gardening tips) helps the medicine go down.

Your persimmon comment had me giggling. I love persimmons too, but once they go mushy, I won't eat them. I like them crunchy and I usually eat them with the skin on. My coworker thinks I'm weird for eating them that way. I remember not liking the American varieties because they were too astringent to eat while crunchy.

It’s always a good day when I see a new video from you. Cheers 💕🇨🇦

You shoulda used >The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch< 🤣 My Whole family can quote the "Killer Rabbit Skit".😁😁😁😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

I found the information you shared very useful.

it's already dark at 3pm for me. cherish your daylight :)

SOOO true about the cascade of insect and then bird life that comes as the food forest matures. It's astonishing and vivid proof of how important to nature even small footprints can make! And Goji - 👎, but Goumi - 👍👍👍

I plant what we like to eat. Good video!

Love the list and the perspective. So many people would make a video of all these interesting plants just to be cool, but I love how you are different and give us the real info. I agree with all of them. I love persimmons myself but they just don't grow well here. Gojis suck. Jujubes suck. HIpsters like to say they are all cool but I'm with you on these.

Mate I planted this fall 12 fruit trees: 3 cultivars with different ripening time of pears, asian pears, plums and apples and 3 cultivars of European hazelnuts. In spring I will add some bushes like blackcurrants, raspberries and blackberries, also some hardy kiwi and grapes. I also prepared 100sq meter of vegetable garden and I'm building right now a chicken coop for two garden chicken run system with compost run. Dude this journey just began. I'm so excited for next season. But I'm still wonder what to plant: haskaps or blueberries. I like blueberries but they need special soil, haskaps aren't so fussy but never tasted any.

Thank you for sharing!

Just joined your channel. Really appreciate what you're doing here, and so happy to be hearing from someone who lives in Ontario. Like me!

this is awesome, was thinking of whats most important to grow

Our goji berry tastes terrible, like a sweet tomato but with the acidity replaced by bitterness. It’ll probably go soon.

Im here for the pepper hair

Totally agree with the goji berry. I have a bush in the corner and they are doing okay but it was a mistake. I started growing it because a client raved about it. I heard they berries were healthy so I said why not. I hate how it just doesn’t seem to be a good fit. I may replace them with raspberries which my kids and I love so the more the better.

I just watched you first video on nuclear power. I'd be onterested in more on that. It's good to understand the science behind the why.

We have a Goji berry that does amazingly well here. But, they are pretty gross tasting and thorny and try to spread a lot so require heavy pruning. I keep it around for the chickens though. The chickens go nuts for the goji berries.

Thank you for this video. I live in a zone 4 climate, so I love hearing what grows well for you and what doesn't. I agree that goji berries taste too yucky to bother growing.

I had a huge interest in growing some more 'novelty' perennials in the yard that push the limits just because I could and, hey, it's diversity! Well, it turns out... it's not really thought out well. 🤣 Currently the only thing I have that are 'borderline' in terms of winter hardiness (USDA zone 6a/b here) are a couple fig trees in a slightly sheltered area and a pomegranate in a very sheltered area. My more novel fruiting plants are now more of a 'less common in this area' rather than pushing the limits for cold hardiness. I have some maypops in one garden bed that I'm really curious to see how they do, and a bunch of other north American native plants that just aren't regionally native. I did pivot quite a bit to finding more of the native plants that are way less common as landscape plants and use those for diversity. Native plants are pretty amazing, and some of them are truly useful when you broaden your definition beyond conventional thinking. Speaking of goji berries... I bought a very expensive pint of them at the farmers market... of which my wife and I ate about 5 berries. I think they're edible as dried, but fresh? Yuck! I wanted to find out if it was worth putting in the yard and that made the decision for me. At most I might try a different related native plant (lycium torreyi) as a plant for the wildlife. We'll see if I have space. I've been planting native black currants for the birds and those are fantastic, decorative plants here...I also think the fruit is pretty tasty. I'm not sure I'd plant honeyberries again. I can count the number of berries we've had on my fingers (approaching their 5th year now for 3 bushes). I don't think I'll pull out my bushes, as the rabbits in the yard like hanging out under them, but I probably won't plant any more. Maybe I'll propagate some in other parts of the yard to see if they'll grow any better. The other honeysuckles that we have (Lonicera sempervirens) grows fantastically and fruited well in our first year. Our jujubes are literally the easiest trees in our yard here. Man, they grow like weeds (for me). It's a shame that you can't get yours to survive. But... in terms of the fruit, they're not at the top of my list for taste. They're sugary sweet and crisp when green or mottled, and pick up a more interesting caramel flavor as they start to dry and shrivel up. But, they just aren't inherently complex in flavor. Rabbits love to clip the lower branches of our trees. They sorta leave my Sugarcane branches alone... but maybe that's the 1.5" long thorns it has. For some reason that variety gets gnarly thorns on the younger, more vigorous branches. I do expect in a scarce year, the thorns wouldn't slow the rabbits one bit. 😅

Oh man, this summer I was like "if Keith has figs, I can have figs"... now you've got me second guessing. We don't get the same cold gusts here though. Is it worth the $60 to experiment though... 😖

i agree with you on Gogi berries - not very palatable compared with other beneficial fruit. As for the Chicago hardy fig, I have one in a large pot and took in the house by the end of September. I did get to eat some fruit from this first year plant, but the figs were very small.

Thanks for sharing man! I'm sure you already know this but you can grow figs in pots, especialyl the Brown turkey, which is nice because it has really big figs and it grows kind of weeping style so it doesn't need to get tall. I have done it before on a 10 gallon pot and you just bring it into a garage or basement that doesn't get below 32 or so, and keep it in the dark. It will go dormant and then have a jump on the next growing season. It's a little extra work but if you just wanna have the experience of fresh figs then I think it may be worth it.

I’m zone 4 but -40 is actually very rare here so I wonder if I would have more luck with that variety of persimmon. I’ve only tasted persimmons a few times in my life but they are so delicious, I really want to be able to grow them

Have you considered growing figs in pots and storing in the garage for winter? They are so worth it. So many different flavour profiles in all the different varieties. If you set up a watering system they really aren’t much work. In the future I’d love to build a passive solar greenhouse to grow them in. I have 30 varieties and am starting 30 more in a grow tent over the winter. So much fun!! Some I started from a cutting and got fruit 9-10 months later. Just an amazing fruit in so many ways. I have also planted some in the ground and am trying a couple different over wintering methods. I am interested in some non gardening related content as well! Cheers!!

I'm planning on moving from Ontario Zone 6 to Ontario Zone 5 so I'm hoping figs can still work there. Currently they're first year figs in pots, and will likely remain that way for at least a couple years. Most other people I know of that are growing figs in Ontario protect their figs in some way shape or form during the winter, whether that's burying them in fig coffins, wrapping them with electric heated coils and home insulation, or keeping them in pots to bring into a greenhouse or garage.

Absolutely right on the goji berries.... my ran rampant, spreading like crazy. The thorns are so obnoxious!

I’m looking forward to the other content you’re planning. I love the gardening stuff, but I share some of the interests in alternative energies and backstop technology.

I have a similar problem, in the opposite direction, trying to plant things that don't like the heat. My comfrey survives, but struggles all summer.

I'd planted goji berries year ago, here in WI in zone 4 (moved 2 years later so don't have then anymore ), and I agree, they don't taste good anyways. I had tried them before, but dried, and knew they weren't that tasty, and yeah, they're maybe worse, fresh. Then, I read some article on how they may not be that healthy to eat after all, I don't recall why.

I live at latitud 62.5N and the light is beautiful but very short this time of year.

Love all of your video’s, all info is helpful ! Never giving up my Goji berries as I like to eat them fresh in the garden or dried and the deer don’t eat them 👍 but if I could only keep one medicinal it would be my elderberry bushes 😊 I am in the Kingston area and they do well on my property. I will not plant any of the ones you are speaking of, thank you for the info 😊🌻🪴

I grew gojis just got my chickens, they LOVE them.

It is dark at 4:30 pm in northern Maine.

Thanks for the daylight hour issue for figs. I am zone 5b but we are short daylight hours too. I think PEI is a little north of you so we get dark faster in the fall. Looking forward to the winter videos. Would love to see your take on how to live permaculture lifestyle.

As always, I'm looking forward to the opinion videos this winter.

Hi you should research Geo thermal heating for a greenhouse ... temperatures at there lowest is about 50 degrees using 4inch PVC buried 8 foot deep going from one end of the building to the opposite end with a fan and thermostat turning on at below 50 degrees... Gogi berry you could use their root it is like ginger substitute...your zone is below zone five is crazy cold ! .. Geo thermal heating for a large green house would be a game changer....for you ....good luck!

I do want to hear more about topics that interest you, and tech, given that permaculture is more than just gardening, it's a whole way of life, ecosystems in nature and people. I'd argue it's even political. And I love that you reference Parkrose Permaculture, she's really inspiring! And I laughed at the Monty Python image when you referenced rabbits! They can be fearsome after all.

i hate the taste of goji berries. i have them and they grow but im probably not going to try to propagate them anymore. im glad you talked about your figs mine were also chicago cold hardy and they did great but the voles ate the roots and they never came back but i will grow again but in a more controlled environment like my greehouse and in raised beds or buckets. cheers keith stay safe stay warm

Have you tried growing Mulberry? I'm on my 3rd variety and hoping it makes it. There is a microclimate 20 miles from me where I saw a huge tree in an orchard, so I'm hopeful. But it's almost a full zone warmer because it's on a lake.

I tried Chicago Hardy figs too, on south facing slope, zone 5; they died and didn’t come back. It was s fun idea.

VERY HELPFUL VIDEO I LIVE IN Z 4 AND WAS THINKING ABOUT JUJU , PERSIMION TOO

My Gogi berry died after 1st winter. I hate my fig (fresh), I like dried (too much work to dehydrate). LOL "chubsie"

I am trying to grow all the same things in zone 6 with lots of growth but with little fruit. ha! Maybe this year will be my fruitful year! Do you wrap your figs? Good luck!

Keep an eye on your persimmon, I know they're late sprouting and late leafing. Perhaps late fruiting too

You never know till you try, a lot of this food forest game is trial and error. Although I don't envy you your very cold winters, and we can grow figs, medlar, persimmon and all sorts, our problem is super hot, dry summers, so we all have to say least try to push things and see what sticks. Personally I wish I could grow semi-tropical stuff like mango, avocado, pistachio, dates etc. but it just ain't gonna happen so you just have to live with it at some point.

Can't live without my figs. But I live in Oklahoma

I think it's a shame that a lot of people give up on a species just because of a bad experience with just one variety. I'm not saying this your case, because you've obviously tried different varieties of fig, persimmon etc, but it could be the case with the gojis. A lot of people talk in the comments about how terrible goji berries are, and I had the same experience a few years back, as my one goji bush was always covered in mildew, produced quite a few flowers but only about three berries each year, which were totally insipid, and it became so invasive that we've been trying to kill the thing for years without success. However, I learnt that when these things became so fashionable about a decade ago, the market was flooded with completely unselected varieties that often give dreadful results. This spring we've planted a variety which a nursery here in France has selected in order to address those points, and which is so far looking pretty good. It still might become invasive if it's happy, but if it produces good healthy berries that's not a problem for me. The berries aren't extraordinary, but as someone mentioned in the comments goji berries are much better dried than fresh, which is also my experience. Still, if they don't grow well in your soil/climate maybe you're right that it's not worth bothering. We have the same situation here as regards blueberries - as we don't have an acid soil, there's not much point in trying to force them to grow if it's simply not appropriate for our conditions; so we've planted saskatoons instead, which taste similar and also have similar properties. As concerns your persimmons, have you tried different rootstocks? Diospyros lotus seems to be a better bet sometimes than D. virginiana, because it's more suited to a wide variety of soils. Still, I don't imagine that any persimmon rootstock is likely to appreciate -40°. I've planted an interesting variety called Diospyros kaki 'Wilsonii', grafted on a D. lotus rootstock, which gives tiny date-like persimmons.

I'm looking forward to watching and listening to your future video on electric cars and other subjects.

Had a friend in NY and whos father waiting and he would wrap his Fig w blankets, then plastic and a bucket on top! Never died to my knowledge. PS Russians bend small trees to the ground, staple them down and bury even peach trees in leaf litter. Works!

5:25 the liste starts here. 1) Goji berries. ( Digusting, won't grow well anyway) 2) figues ( climate is too cold. DUH!) 3) persimon (hard to grow. Don't eat them anyway.) 4) medlar ( too cold, can't grow them) 5)jujube ( too cold ,can't grow them)

Definitely down for more engineering vids - you have more value to provide , why deprive the world of it?

My jujubes are tall and thorny. Rabbits cant reach em well if they fruit.

There was a Goji berry hype some years ago here in germany until everybody noticed that the taste is... well 😖 Also looked at persimmons, but come to the conclusion that they will have a hard time to get ripe ever. Give Ficus afghanistanica a try, but they are very hard to get. I was surprised about your failure with medlars. In parts of germany winters can get very cold too and medlars are considered to be totally frost hardy here. Bear in mind that some plants get killed not by the frost itself, but by the dryness caused by the frozen water when its becoming warmer above ground. This is especially dangerous for young plants, because their roots don't reach to the frostfree area of the soil. The winter protection becomes sun protection in the spring.

You're lucky your soil wasn't good for gojis. I've seen several sites where they take over, could call them invasive. I'm not a fan of the taste either, & they are in the nightshade family. If someone gets inflammation from nightshades, it's better to focus on other berries.

Yeah I agree that goji isn't very good I planted one in a pot and figured out I didn't like them so I planted it in the shade because I read they didn't like shade and I have free space there but they got huge this past year sense I did that. The berries are decent in baked goods tho and the chickens like them so not completely useless I'm in zone 6 so maybe that's why I can't kill them from neglect. I read the leaves make a good healthy tea maybe that's a better use for them but I see why they are not very popular.

It is so tempting to push the zone. I've done it a number of times as I try to diversify my fruit plant crops as much as possible, and while some just about hang on and produce something, it is better to work within the limits of your location. Gojiberries don't work in my part of Scotland - but I think it's more to do with altitude rather than just soil alone, because I kept the plant potted and tried to imitate Tibetan mountain soil conditions as closely as I could, but the plant insisted on taking 3 years to die miserably. So, I think that, like Edelweiss and some species of Gentian, altitude is important for healthy plants fit to flower/fruit. I have no luck with figs either. I don't think I get enough light and the humidity in winter just makes the plants sitting ducks for frost damage. If it was a lot drier, I think I'd be in with a better chance. I'm giving up on Sea Buckthorn too. Tried 3 times and they just die in their first season. I think it's the humidity again. Walnuts grow really slowly here. I have had the one tree started as a 2ft high gift grown by a friend. It's been in the ground 5 years, and it is about 3ft high now. I can't see this producing walnuts in my lifetime. The saddest loss was the Sweet Chestnuts. It's one of my favourite foods, but the tree I obtained died in its first winter. Then I discovered 3 Sweet Chestnuts growing wild within a few miles of me - thought to collect the seed and grow some of my own, better acclimatised versions, but each seed was tiny and empty. So they're not going to work here. Alternatively, I'm finding that, after a long spell of acclimatisation, Aronias will produce a good crop of tasty berries here. For the most part, many different types of berries that will fruit sweetly in England will be less sweet in Scotland. Yet the Aronia produces some pleasant fruit up here - just have to wire it in to stop the pheasants, pigeons and blackbirds from raiding it. I was so impressed with this year's crop from my original plant, I bought another 5 to accompany it. I like the idea of bringing in other 'environment related' subjects for the winter months. One thing we've been considering is perhaps designing a partial heating system off hot composting. I have a book on the subject, we've discussed it in some detail, just a bit tricky working out where to site it to best effect. I'm not so interested in electric cars. I'm not trading in my petrol car for one anytime soon. I don't use my car much anyway. It does short journeys (once a week), and therefore I think it is better for the environment for me to keep it going rather than trade it in (it's 17 years old, small, economical, very well maintained, and has been 'lightened' to further economise on fuel. Helps that my hubby is a mechanic and a fuels expert). Also, I think car manufacturers are far from done when it comes to new innovations in battery storage. It seems to me that every week or month there is some new 'breakthrough.' At this rate, a good number of these breakthroughs are never going to see production, because they are quickly superseded by better technology. We're right at the beginning of an era of innovation with regard to electric vehicles, and I don't think it's sensible to get into it too soon. Wait until batteries are much more efficient, smaller, and the cars don't spontaneously combust and burn down a street at the same time.

Im in Ohio, zone 6 and have had very similar experiences with figs and persimmon (barely living).

Thanks for your patience and knowledge still trying. Planted Goji berries this year, we have pretty sandy soil here so i hope it will bring me something. Are you growing paw paws? Is that working for you if so?

It’s interesting that all but one are non-native plants. That’s been my contention with Permaculture. I don’t like to introduce non-native plants into the ecosystem. I’m trying to restore. I feel like it’s counterproductive. That said it is very tempting to grow some of these abundant non-native food sources. But I have so many other vases that I just can’t conscience adding another one.

Good stuff. Very tough to work with in-ground figs in your zone. My understanding is that Improved Celeste (not Celeste and not O'Rourke both of which it has been mistaken for) is the variety that zone 4 growers have the most success with - that's in pots though, not in ground. Very early ripening, great flavor. If you can't easily grow goji in your soil then probably not worth it. The Phoenix Tears goji variety functions like a perennial (tiny) vegetable in zone 5, northern PA, north slope, a bit elevated - zingy pepper-tomato flavor. Goji, red raspberry, elderberry held their fruit into November this year. I'm sure there's bushes/trees that you would grow more of along with goumi and sea buckthorn, would be interesting to hear. Elderberry is such a great grower and producer that it's worth leaning into in northern PA, plus ribes - gooseberry, currants - among others.

I love jujube. What variety do you grow? You need to grow Li with Lang. I am planning to grow them next year.

we love figs

Are you growing Arp Rosemary? How does if fair in your climate? We are in zone 6b and so far rosemary has not over wintered well for me here.

Gogis are fussy about there location. I planted 4 plants in varying locations on my property and 3 of the locations they withered and died. In the 4th location they have gone crazy to the point of being invasive (in a good way) I like the slightly medical taste of the berries mind you I'd never make a pie out of them. Best, in my opinion, nibbled fresh off the plant.

Bro goji berries all over my garden last year had to pull them by hand constantly

I have so many mixed feelings about gojis. The hummingbirds love the blossoms so much. And they produce prolifically with little work. But none of us like them fresh. I’d rather just eat tomatoes!

I'm interested in a video in which you give your thoughts re electric vehicles. We are hoping to get a plug in hybrid sometime in the next few years and power it with electricity from the solar panel system that is scheduled to be installed here this coming Spring (2023)

When you say "zone" do you mean USDA or AgCan? I think you should specify when using this term. e.g. I am in AgCan zone 6B which I believe to be equivalent to USDA zone 5B. If you truly want to be food-independent I am surprised that you haven't installed some form of greenhouse. You would need to install it with an insulated foundation so you could use geothermal heating in winter. I am currently examining the Chinese-style greenhouse. We may not like them taking control of Canada's resources and technology but they're no dummies in greenhouse design and use. I fully agree about e-cars. They are flimsy, weak and totally incapable of handling a Canadian winter. Just turning on the heater and defroster will cut your mileage by over half! don't believe we will see any useful replacement for petroleum until safe, reliable, inexpensive solar-generated hydrogen fuel becomes readily available. I would be quite happy to hear your thoughts on these matters. Thx.

I am "coming home" to Ontario (Midland) efter almost 30 years in Denmark (Europe). Do you have any advice as to where the best place to get seeds, seedlings, bushes and trees is? I am completely starting over on a lawn, and since I will be arriving in early May, I will need to hit the ground running. Thank you, for any advice you can give 🙂

Gardening is awesome, but it doesn't make full picture. I would love to hear more of non-gardening topics from you, believe they will be equally addictive 😀