Book cover for "The Prairie Gardener's Go-to for Fruit" by Janet Melrose and Sheryl Normandeau. The background is a light tan and in the bottom half is a square watercolor image of yellow pears with their green, brown leaves still attached. The title, "Fruit" is in a large, black, bold, serif font and above that in a similar but very small font it reads, "The Prairie Gardener's Go-to for." At the bottom of the image is the two authors' names in a small, black, all caps, serif font reading, "Janet Melrose" on the left and "Sheryl Normandeau" to the right. Book cover is by Tree Abraham.

The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Fruit

ISBN 9781771513906
Softcover | Publication Date: March 21, 2023
Book Dimensions: 5.5 in. x 8.5 in.
160 Pages

About the Book

Lifelong gardeners Janet Melrose and Sheryl Normandeau tackle the tasty topic of fruit in the seventh book in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series.

Strawberries, blueberries, saskatoons, pears, plums, apricots, cherries, currants, kiwi . . . There are lots of great reasons to grow your own. There’s the unparalleled taste of fresh produce to consider, and the opportunity to help reduce ever-rising grocery bills. Then there’s the ornamental appeal (think grape vines and apple blossoms).

Whether you’re growing an orchard in a rural area, planting a couple of currant bushes or haskaps in a small urban yard, or a container of squash on a balcony, you’ll find help and inspiration here.

Janet and Sheryl answer your questions on things like

  • Placement for sun- and shade-loving plants
  • Pollination, propagation, and grafting
  • Mulching, hilling, trellises, and those oh-so-fancy espaliers
  • Troubleshooting pesky spots, scales, worms, flies, and other killjoys
  • Preventing weather damage and prepping your plants for winter
  • Harvesting and storage methods

With a primer on what exactly counts as fruit (scientifically and culturally) and Prairie-friendly lists of species and varietals for every space and inclination, you’ll soon know your drupes from your pomes, your berries from your pepos and be well on your way to harvesting the fruits of your own labour (yes, we went there).

About the Author(s)

Janet Melrose is a garden educator and consultant, and an advocate for Calgary’s Sustainable Local Food System. She is a life-long gardener and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate and Home Farm Horticultural Therapy Certificate. She has a passion for Horticultural Therapy and facilitates numerous programs designed to integrate people marginalized by various disabilities into the larger community. She is a regular contributor to The Gardener for Canadian Climates magazine. She lives in Calgary where she runs her education and consulting company, Calgary’s Cottage Gardener.

Sheryl Normandeau is a life-long gardener, and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate and a Sustainable Urban Agriculture Certificate. She is a freelance writer specializing in gardening writing with hundreds of articles published. She is a regular contributor The Gardener for Canadian Climates, The Prairie Garden Annual, Herb Quarterly, and many more. She lives in Calgary.