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A stroll through the berry patches
Hmmm going to have to think of a new name to talk collectively about the various berries as they definitely aren’t in a single patch. Topic for another day. The blackberries are having issues as last year’s growth failed to bud, note to self to look into why so it doesn’t happen next year. I am excited to see that the black raspberries are showing flowers and should give a small crop this year.
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The new and improved Strawberry Patch
After 2 years of first planting the ever bearing strawberries we haven’t managed to get a decent harvest. This probably has more to do with my own inability to keep the strawberries weeded and the high clay consistency in the soil than the plants themselves. Therefore this year we are restarting the patch in a slightly raised bed with some Honeoye variety and a few ever bearing transplanted from the existing patch. We’re going to need to build up the soil with compost to allow them to thrive. Looks a little sparse now but as we’ve seen strawberries like to propagate. Hopefully I can keep the patch weeded, physical distancing…
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Eye on the Red Raspberries
To date we haven’t had a full yield from our two red raspberry beds. Last year we planted 6 shoots that yielded a couple berries but as expected most of their energy went into growing new roots. This year we saw a few spring berries but nothing to note. Even though the canes are only 2 feet high it does look like we are going to have a pretty decent yield in a few weeks. Now if only I can keep the kids from eating all the berries before I can collect them.
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Fall crop of raspberries are looking good!
I’m a little behind in mowing the yard this year and haven’t been paying close attention to the raspberry patches now that the japanese beetles have gone on their way. What a pleasant surprise to find the fall crop is already underway. Here’s to the first raspberry of September. On a side note we’re also going to get a nice crop of traditional red raspberries that most are familiar with.
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Goji Flowers
I knew goji berries were a vibrant red but little did I know their flowers were a brilliant purple. Perhaps they were glad that I got the trellis stained and tied in place for them. Although I’ll probably take it down for this winter and cover the goji bush. In the end decided to go with a semi-transparent coat, gave it a nice gold sheen but without the brown tint that we have been using on the chicken coop and planting boxes.
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Goji Trellis – Random Weekend Project
Spent the morning down at Beard Park and had a free afternoon. I’ve been feeling the need to do something constructive with my hands so since I had all the odds and ends needed it was time to build a trellis for the goji berry bush we planted this spring. Making this trellis was relatively easy as I had some 6 ft trim strips so the most complicated part was matching the appropriate drill bit for the screws so there is no splitting. After anchoring the trims together on one end I used some scrap 2×6 ends to curve the boards and then finished by cutting some horizontal strips that…
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Blackberries! 1 a day….
The interesting thing about establishing berry bushes or beds is that you don’t want much fruit the first couple years so that the roots can establish themselves. However this means that when you do get a handful of berries they all ripen at different times. These blackberries are making us pick 1 a day so we can’t spoil our appetite. Unfortunately the deer are still having a field day with the thornless variety. If that keeps up we may just transplant some of these as the deer seem to not give them any attention.
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Eternally Multiplying Strawberries
Looks like I didn’t need to move the strawberry seedlings after all as the original plants are running. The migrated plants have twice as many runners as the original plants but I’m thinking we’ll go from 2 original rows (20) plants to 5 or 6 rows (~80) plants by the end of the year. I’ve been told strawberries grow like weeds but I’m just starting to grasp what that means. I’m seeing 100+ berries already on our just the original 20 plants so it boggles the mind how many we’ll end up with in a year or 2. U-Pick at the Ridge may just be in order. Currently we’ve got…
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We have Cherries!
Its official, I see little green cherries forming! I’ll have to figure out what netting to put up to keep the birds away but for today I’m going to enjoy the simple fact that we’re growing Cherries!!! The orchard is officially in business, so to say. I’m thinking we also have some blueberries as well but I’ll have to watch longer before making that call.
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Walkabout – May Edition
With all the plantings done for the year its great to be able to simply stroll the yard and take a moment to enjoy the miracle that is Mother Nature.
