# Goji berries



## Galapoheros (Feb 2, 2018)

I'm going to try and grow some from seeds.  I just bought the shriveled raisen goji berries at a local grocer.  I assumed they may have been heated and so I thought the seeds were dead, but others say some will sprout.  I'll post again if any sprout.  Some say they like the fresh berries, others say they aren't good at all.  Has anybody here had any fresh berries, what did you think?


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## schmiggle (Feb 2, 2018)

I'm so jealous of your climate.

I haven't had the fresh berries, but the suggestion here seems to be that they don't taste good if they're picked too early, and also that the seeds are bitter. But it can't be that hard for you to try them yourself, and if you don't like them, to dry them. If you haven't used one, I can assure you that dehydrators are one of the easiest machines I have ever used. 

Good luck on getting yours to sprout. If grocery market fruits don't sprout for you, you can probably get seeds online. You may have better luck getting them to sprout if you remove the flesh from the seeds.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 2, 2018)

That's what I read earlier, that link.  It looks like it's going to be up to the eater.  One person said "sour-ish, tomato and orange taste".  But I like the sound of that.  I think the packaged berries I bought at the store were coated in sugar.  But whatever, if they are edible at all then I see it as a good thing.  I used to think it's a good idea to go rural in order to grow things, have a food garden.  But, ime, now it seems like it's best to be in a suburban setting.  When rural, you have to deal with things getting your food booty.  Deer are really destructive, I'm in the city limits here in central tx but it's a big lot and I have deer in my yard every day, they destroy gardens.  But if you go further east where deeper soil is and go rural, you have to deal with deer and often gophers.  I didn't realize that gophers are just as destructive as deer, I had to buy gopher wire and make cages to bury around roots, SUCKS!  And I've seen rabbits eating my stuff too.  But if you live in the city limits, in one of those cookie-cutter type of hoods, I'm now seeing that's a good place to grow food in back next to the fence, usually the deer, gophers and rabbits have been run off.


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## schmiggle (Feb 3, 2018)

The grass is always greener 

Maybe you should just shoot them all 

Suburbs are full of rabbits, I promise, and deer as well. I think it's pretty much a universal problem. I know part of the issue also comes from killing off all the wolves, which keeps deer populations artificially high. What people usually suggest with carnivorous plants (which are very vulnerable to things like deer, since deer in the wild basically don't go to bogs) is to surround them with chickenwire.


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## Draketeeth (Feb 3, 2018)

A gardener friend had a goji berry bush being supported by an arbor in her yard. She was shaping it over the top so the berries would hang down in easy reach. I had the opportunity to try them and didn't care for them _at all_. Sis and Ma thought they were decent, but nothing worth craving. I thought they seemed rather flavorless and had a peculiar after flavor. Gardener friend loved them to eat fresh or put in smoothies.

She said that cuttings rooted readily for her, and the plant had invasive tendencies.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 4, 2018)

hmmm, I keep reading similar things you said there.  Oh well I'm going to try it.  I have one from TractorSupply, it's about 6 inches high and a year old now, it was 6 inches high when I bought it but I bet it does something this year.

Reactions: Optimistic 1


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## MetalMan2004 (Feb 4, 2018)

I concur with most of whats been said above.  I tried some from the grocery store before commiting to growing one.  They were dried and tasted nice and sweet.

I grew one and the fresh berries were very tomato-like and not very flavorful at all.  I didn’t bother drying any at home, but if my plant survived the freezing temps then maybe I’ll try this year.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 7, 2018)

Well I don't like tomatoes much, I have to have them with something else, like ice-cream, haha, that sounds nasty.  I went out of town for a few days, came back and some have already germinated.  I have to let it dry out, too wet.  Even though I'm not a big tomato fan, I also germinated some heirloom seeds from a tomato I grew last year.
Goji





tomato


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