Tag Archives: Blackberries

Blackberries!

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Looks like this is going to be the best blackberry harvest that I’ve had in several years. It takes two years from shoot to berry. A a lot that can happen during that time. Lack of rain, too much rain, disease, deer, wind and winter temps can thwart a berries journey into being. The weather this year will determine the canes that come up this year and next to some extent. Also the rain or lack thereof will contribute to the number and size of the berries. All of the good weather in the world is for naught if I don’t get them covered prior to ripening. The birds will pick them clean if given a change.

This is the second picking of the season. The batch I picked a couple of days ago was just enough for a cobbler.

Late Cleanup

This week is my well earned vacation week. We aren’t going anywhere this week but I am using it to catch up on some projects.

Today I cleaned out the raspberry beds, cutting one to the ground and the other to about 12-18 inches high. They are just starting to wake up. I normally do it before now but it is still early enough I do believe. The variety is Heritage and since they will fruit twice I alternate beds so that each spring a bed is fruiting and that fall the other bed is fruiting. It makes for a very long raspberry harvest.

I also cleaned out the blackberry patch. Well…half of it anyway. I keep threatening to get rid of one non productive row. I do believe this is the year for it.

I bought some basil seeds yesterday that I will start tonight in the basement. I have some tomato seeds on order. I like to get them started by April 1 so I am right on target with that. I ended up not getting the garlic in the ground last fall so I started some in the basement about a month ago. I will transplant it outside probably this week.

There is still a LOT of cleanup that is needed in the flower beds. I am still not sure what I want to do with it though. We haven’t had the rain we need to keep it looking decent so I may just take out some of it and turn it back into lawn. The jury is still out on that one.