# Transplanting Wild Fruit



## Sonnyjim (Sep 17, 2009)

I won't be able to do this next season because I will be out of country for 10 months but I always look to the future for planning and I plan on using that time to research for when I come back. While I was picking a large variety of berries I realized a few things and I thought of some questions....

#1. You are always waiting for them to be 'JUST' perfect. Not too soft, not unripe, but perfect. Animals don't really have a preference, infact I think bears like them harder. I go to pick and 9/10 of the plants I had mapped out in the spring are ravaged. I understand and appreciate the animals need them more than I do and I'm not disputing that. Where I live there are soo many plants, soo many animals, and because it's soo close to a massive wildlife sanctuary and a military base there are laws that prohibit hunting and there is an overpopulation of bears. So I don't feel as bad when I say they are eating all my berries . Solution? Transplant.

#2. Right now I don't have the land, but I plan on purchasing when I come back. With some room to plant, could I transplant the bushes/trees from point A - B in one foul swoop without the plant/tree dying? I have transplanted some wild edibles into my own garden, they looked like they were going to die at first but sprouted shortly after and did very very well because they were indigenous to this soil area.

#3. Most every berry plant/pin fruit trees if not all grow only on beaten paths. Blackberries I found grow at the bottom of hills on a path where I assume the soil is much richer. Now the question. If I were to transplant these plants to a garden would they survive and thrive to the same degree as on these paths? Do they all need a seperate soil condition or would a healthy soiled garden do the trick?

#4. These plants grow like the Wall of China on some paths. You need an android of metal to make it to that plant in the back sometimes. Would they get out of control? Would you just keep an eye on them and root up what you want to keep it tame?

#5. Sometimes I have driven up to 20 minutes to find a sideroad where they grow in large healthy ammounts. You can walk 5km down one road and and find a handful, or on another path find a bucket. This would just give me a more central location to get a good ammount of berries for drying/pie/topup for jams whatever. One of my thoughts. 

I know for a fact that to purchase these plants at a store it is severly overpriced. For two blueberry plants it was something like $35. I wouldn't transplant blueberries because they are soo numerous and wouldn't make sense because you need a whole field to cultivate enough for a handfull anyways. However, Blackberries/Raspberries/Thimbleberries/Strawberries are just soo much more flavourful and I would prefer the natural transplant than some genetically modified one that produced berries the size of my head. 

*Bit of a jumbled mess, but just a bunch of my thoughts and questions. Overall just wondering if anybody has done this, could share their thoughts, or if it's even worth it.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

If transplanting from crown-land, make sure that you do not get caught. If transplanting from private-land, make sure to ask permission.

Now, for the berries that grow at the bottom of a ravine. You will need to create a _mimic_ of that area. Water flows down, so, the plants that grow there will need significant water-flow in order to grow properly. Also, check the sun-pattern for that area. If the ravine is east-west are the plants growing better in the shade-side (south), the sun side (north) or is the ravine a north-south facing entity and the plants receive sun for the majority of the day.

Where I grew up in the mountains, blueberries grew naturally on the north-wall of the valley where the sun beat-down on them all day long (valley is an east/west valley). People living on the south-side of the valley (the shade-side) had a hard-time growing the same plants, but, they did well with others.


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## Sonnyjim (Sep 17, 2009)

Cheers Naekid thanks for the response. I know exactly what you mean when you say it matters where you plant. Literally one side of the path with be soo fruitful but the other just dorment because the sun only hits it at the end of the day and it's not as potent. I didn't know however that you couldn't take plants from Crown Land. There is soo much of it around it and soo many plants that I forage from ON the land I figured it wouldn't hurt if I took it anyways. I wonder if Ontario has a law where you can pay for it just like when you pay to cut a tree over a certain size.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Sonnyjim said:


> Cheers Naekid thanks for the response. I know exactly what you mean when you say it matters where you plant. Literally one side of the path with be soo fruitful but the other just dorment because the sun only hits it at the end of the day and it's not as potent. I didn't know however that you couldn't take plants from Crown Land. There is soo much of it around it and soo many plants that I forage from ON the land I figured it wouldn't hurt if I took it anyways. I wonder if Ontario has a law where you can pay for it just like when you pay to cut a tree over a certain size.


When I suggest don't get caught, it means that if a ranger sees what you are hauling, they will stop you and confiscate it or give you a fine. The original problem is from businesses attempting to "cash-in" on "free stuff" and trying to circumvent the system.

That is one of the reasons why most provinces have passed laws against trading hunted meat for products, favors, cash, etc ... but, some will allow for gifting to friends or sharing with family. At one point in time (late 1800's to early 1900's) - hunting food and selling it at a grocer was common - so common that there was almost no more bison (buffalo) left on the prairies ..

For private use, you could use cuttings to create roots and then plant in soil and hope that something good comes of it. Another would be to take a single plant and then use it (over time) to create cuttings and then allow the cuttings to take root. Doing it in such a way that there is zero impact on the area that you taking from is probably the greatest concern.


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## Sonnyjim (Sep 17, 2009)

That's also what I'm thinking. I know for a fact that one plant will lead to more. All the seeds from those aggrigate berries, the flowers, and broken branches will probably leave with with more than I can control. All I would need is one plant. You know...even just for a handful of berries for the homemade vanilla icecream on a hot summers day


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

If you make your own ice-cream - I have a few recipes that I created for "adults" to enjoy - children are not allowed to partake, if you know what I mean...


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## testhop (Dec 20, 2009)

NaeKid said:


> If transplanting from crown-land, make sure that you do not get caught. If transplanting from private-land, make sure to ask permission.
> 
> Now, for the berries that grow at the bottom of a ravine. You will need to create a _mimic_ of that area. Water flows down, so, the plants that grow there will need significant water-flow in order to grow properly. Also, check the sun-pattern for that area. If the ravine is east-west are the plants growing better in the shade-side (south), the sun side (north) or is the ravine a north-south facing entity and the plants receive sun for the majority of the day.
> 
> Where I grew up in the mountains, blueberries grew naturally on the north-wall of the valley where the sun beat-down on them all day long (valley is an east/west valley). People living on the south-side of the valley (the shade-side) had a hard-time growing the same plants, but, they did well with others.


 nothing is illegal unless you get caught.lol 
but seriously in surival you do what ever is neededto get by.


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