Plants in this group are edible members of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). Haskap is often used as a common name for honeyberry, but technically they represent two distinct subspecies. This fruit meets all Carandale’s criteria for a fruit crop that would fit into a diverse fruiting system and could be sustainably grown. Its economic potential is increasing as new cultivars are selected.

Seaberry is rich in genetic diversity as reflected in fruit size, shape, color and maturity, as well as in its plant size, form and shape. All seaberry plants share in common their thorniness, nitrogen fixing ability, dioecious nature and lack of an abscission layer, which makes fruit removal very difficult. Nutritional values can vary among cultivars, but all have a rich and diverse nutrient profile.

Carandale has observed three members of the family Actindiaceae, none of which have adapted to the site. Most species are winter hardy, but they all have demanding site requirements. Even cold-hardy species have short dormancy requirements and frost-tender foliage, which predisposes them to early spring freeze damage.

Magnolia vine has not adapted to site conditions at Carandale Farm, but its unusual phytonutrient qualities make it a worthwhile species for trial at other locations.

Members of the Amelanchier genus are widely distributed throughout North America and are known by many common names, including juneberry and serviceberry. Saskatoon refers to a specific species (alnifolia) native from the Northwest prairies up to the Southern Yukon.

Cherry prinsepia is a dense, spiny shrub is 4 to 6 feet tall at maturity, extremely cold hardy and drought tolerant. Carandale did not consider this plant worthy of further consideration. They were unsure if it would be an invasive threat in their environment, and they did not want to take the chance of birds and animals spreading seeds.

Buffalo berry was selected by Carandale Farm for a number of reasons, though there was little information about it and plant sources were limited. With an emphasis on integrated cropping systems, Carandale is looking for fruiting plants that contribute to the overall system without being a threat to the environment. A nitrogen-fixing fruiting crop in the Eleagnacea family that is native to the region seemed like a good fit. .

Service tree is a species of Sorbus native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. Known to live 300-400 years in parts of Britain, the tree typically grows 45-60 feet if not pruned. Self-fertile flowers are produced on cymes and pollinated by insects. The fruit is a pome about an inch long and can be either apple- or pear-shaped.

As the name suggests, American persimmon is a native fruit. Its native range is New England to Florida and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas. Asian persimmon has had centuries of improvement through breeding, but American persimmon has had very little breeding attention. Most of the named cultivars are chance seedlings. There is much room for cultivar improvement through selective breeding.

One of the earliest known fruits, quince is a pome fruit related to apples and pears. It is native to the Trans Caucasus area. For more than 4,000 years, quince trees have been grown in Asia and the Mediterranean. Today it is still widely grown in other parts of the world, especially the Middle East, the Mediterranean and South America, but is considered a specialty fruit in the U.S., having never caught on as a commercial crop.