Feed Me Bonsai

[ShadyStump]

So, 2020 has been an interesting year, and I have no reason to suspect 2021 will be much better. In the interest of not being caught off guard my wife and I are planning a HUGE garden for the spring, including planting some fruit trees. This will undoubtedly take up almost all of my time, and be a higher priority than taking care of my bonsai.

But what if I could do both?
Let's talk about bonsai you can eat. Fruiting trees, rosemary and sage, whatever. We're dining in on our favorite pastime in this thread! Share growing zones, growing tips, and recipes are cool, too.

I just planted two avocado pits in pots with my four year old daughter, and I'm on the hunt for a bay tree. The weather here is turning cold so it's time for soups, and I'd hate to be caught without decent seasonings. We freed up a room with a very sunny southwest facing window that we're turning into the next best thing to a greenhouse, so they'll have a cozy home away from kids and animals in the winter. No guarantees of success, of course, but it'll be fun to try.

 

[W3rk]

As you noted Rosemary (I've heard you have to treat their roots very cautiously) has potential to be "bonsai'd" along with Thyme which I've seen some great pictures of from folks around the mediterranean.

Fruit of course you have lots of good options: Apple, Cherry, Apricot - I'm sure it's a very long and extensive list actually.

But Bonsai and fruit yields would put you at odds. You aren't going to get any useful fruit yields from small trees, you're going to want big full grown trees. So you'd still be looking at propagating smaller versions for bonsai.

 

[PA_Penjing]

don't forget about goji berry, they grow like 4 feet a day

 

[ABCarve]

Bay laurel- laurus noblis

 

[sorce]

Spruce tips in spring.

Sorce

 

[ShadyStump]

But Bonsai and fruit yields would put you at odds. You aren't going to get any useful fruit yields from small trees, you're going to want big full grown trees. So you'd still be looking at propagating smaller versions for bonsai.

There's the rub, as the bard would say.
Still, it's as much for fun as for food. A justification of the hobby that even the hardest times can't beat down.

don't forget about goji berry, they grow like 4 feet a day

We've actually been contemplating this. Didn't realize they grew so fast, though. Thanks for the heads up.

Bay laurel- laurus noblis

View attachment 340091

That's what I'm talking about! I researched it once and my understanding is you actually want the older leaves for cooking with, and don't use them fresh. Otherwise they're very bitter.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Spruce tips in spring.

Sorce

Yeah, they make good tea! High in vitamin C!

Juniper berries (excluding Sabina!!!) for stews or gin or Jenever.
Sassafras for gumbo file.
Citrus for desserts.
Bamboo shoots.
Hazel nuts.
Olives.
Grapes (leafs can be used too).
Beech leafs are edible and can be used if you want to ruin a salad, so are beech nuts, which are better.
Stone pine seeds, roasted is better.
Some pine shoots can be used for tea.
Figs (leaf and fruit).
Chestnut (not horse chestnut, use those for topical varicose vein creams)
Cherries, plums, quince, apple, pear, apricots.
Sage makes poor bonsai.
Chilli pepper make poor bonsai too, but they are rewarding.

A buddy of mine is genuinely angry about the fact that there are more ornamental 'inedible' apple cultivars than there are edible ones.

 

[ABCarve]

There's the rub, as the bard would say.
Still, it's as much for fun as for food. A justification of the hobby that even the hardest times can't beat down.


We've actually been contemplating this. Didn't realize they grew so fast, though. Thanks for the heads up.


That's what I'm talking about! I researched it once and my understanding is you actually want the older leaves for cooking with, and don't use them fresh. Otherwise they're very bitter.

Just one year old leaves are good. That’s about how long it takes them to hardened off and change color fully.

 

[ShadyStump]

A buddy of mine is genuinely angry about the fact that there are more ornamental 'inedible' apple cultivars than there are edible ones.

We'll, technically they're all edible, but palatable is whole different question.B BeforeI finally dove into bonsai about a year ago my area of greatest horticultural knowledge was wild edible plants. Mostly survival fare, but I could make you salad with what you ran over in the parking lot. It'd be a terrible tasting salad, but it'd keep you alive. Have to be careful about how you use the term, "edible," in some circles I've learned.
Though I imagine you could still make a decent fruit pudding of some sort with those crab apples. Maybe simmered in cider?

 

[dbonsaiw]

Old thread, but my 8-year fed me a portulacria afra leaf yesterday off one of his cuttings. He swore they were edible. The taste is meh, but I'm still alive to tell the tale.

 

[19Mateo83]

Old thread, but my 8-year fed me a portulacria afra leaf yesterday off one of his cuttings. He swore they were edible. The taste is meh, but I'm still alive to tell the tale.

They are edible. Good ol elephant bush

 

[Crazy Diamond]

As you noted Rosemary (I've heard you have to treat their roots very cautiously) has potential to be "bonsai'd" along with Thyme which I've seen some great pictures of from folks around the mediterranean.

Yes!! Thymes are very cool as bonsai, they look like mini junipers with the deadwood and live lines. Photos by Carthago

 

[ShadyStump]

I had this pop into my head again the other day while planning my garden.

I'm starting some white sage from seed this year. I'll need to keep some in a pot to see how they do for bonsai. Seems like they'd have similar habits as rosemary.

My ex gave me a bay tree for father's day last year. Not on the bonsai path yet, but as soon as I find something better for growing out than it's nursery can.

 

[ShadyStump]

Does anyone have an example of an old, big thyme plant? Purely for the sake of curiosity.

I've grown thyme before and know it gets fairly woody stems, but it's an annual around here so I have no idea how big these have the potential to get or just how much wood.

 

[Carol 83]

but it's an annual around here

Here too usually, but the thyme and chives in my herb bowl came back last spring.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

They dont get huge but they make nice gnarly trunks, definitely not annual, like rosemary I guess you guys must be used to small plants in pots here they can grow 6'6 ft and make really big trunks

 

[ShadyStump]

They dont get huge but they make nice gnarly trunks, definitely not annual, like rosemary I guess you guys must be used to small plants in pots here they can grow 6'6 ft and make really big trunks

I've seen people grow rosemary in big pots and keep them inside for winter, and there are some examples of it as bonsai, but thyme I've never seen as anything more than a scraggly little shrub.
If there are pics of them more mature, I'd love to see. I haven't been able to find anything online except gardening tips.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

 

[Crazy Diamond]

It duplicated the same video I wanted to post this one

 

[ShadyStump]

So the answer is YES! Thyme bonsai is a thing!
Thanks!