MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Populate Your Property with Pomegranates

The best way to appreciate the berry some cultures call “the fruit of paradise” is to taste it. With up to 83 aromatic notes, pomegranate’s flavor profile combines the syrupy sweetness of Concord grapes, the refreshing astringency of cranberries, and the cooling quality of lemons. Each bite pops like tapioca.

Recent studies support historical claims that pomegranates promote health as much as they delight taste buds. For gardeners, the benefits are easy to harvest. Pomegranates bear early and suffer from few diseases or pests. Orchardists seeking a market niche can choose from among more than 1,000 diverse cultivars, nearly all of which are unavailable to grocery store customers.

Growing Pomegranates

Pomegranates should be on all lists of the best fruits for organic gardeners, because they’re so easy to grow. Animals and insects leave the fruit alone thanks to its tough rind. Unlike peaches and cherries, these tall deciduous shrubs rarely require

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from MOTHER EARTH NEWS

MOTHER EARTH NEWS5 min read
Chick and Duckling Imprinting
When poultry hatch, they quickly learn to stay close to a protective carer. This phenomenon, called “imprinting,” occurs in all bird species that have good eyesight and mobility, including domestic poultry, within a few hours of hatching. As ground-n
MOTHER EARTH NEWS9 min read
How to Make Garlic Scape Powder
Every fall, my husband plants 350 cloves of hardneck garlic, which means we harvest 350 heads of garlic the following summer. We prefer to grow cold-hardy hardneck cultivars instead of the softneck types typically found in grocery stores or growing i
MOTHER EARTH NEWS8 min read
Foster Phenomenal Fungi
I embarked on my agricultural journey by delving into indoor hydroponics. It all began with my homemade deep-water culture system housed in a Sterilite tote bin. To kick-start my indoor growing experience, I converted a closet into my first cultivati

Related