Search
Latest topics
» Onions. Walk on?by sanderson Today at 6:02 pm
» Bokashi
by OhioGardener Today at 8:13 am
» New to SFG and in Virgina
by sanderson Today at 1:38 am
» Compost bins: Open vs. closed
by Scorpio Rising Yesterday at 10:38 am
» Recommended store bought compost - Photos of composts
by sanderson 3/26/2024, 5:56 pm
» 6 metal trellis frames
by docachna 3/25/2024, 4:31 pm
» N & C Midwest: March and April 2024
by Scorpio Rising 3/24/2024, 3:01 pm
» What Have You Picked From Your Garden Today
by OhioGardener 3/24/2024, 1:28 pm
» Senseless Banter...
by OhioGardener 3/23/2024, 6:02 pm
» Joann's fabric bankruptcy
by neefer 3/23/2024, 12:33 am
» New gardener from Santa Fe NM
by CantersVary 3/22/2024, 7:50 pm
» Kiwi's SFG Adventure
by KiwiSFGnewbie 3/22/2024, 5:07 pm
» Heat Mat Temperature Test
by OhioGardener 3/22/2024, 2:09 pm
» Victory Garden Reboot
by Scorpio Rising 3/22/2024, 11:53 am
» Mark's first SFG
by sanderson 3/22/2024, 11:43 am
» Commercial (bagged or bulk) compost question
by Mikesgardn 3/21/2024, 7:09 pm
» Think Spring 2024
by Scorpio Rising 3/20/2024, 10:34 am
» Fire Ring / Round Raised Bed Planter
by sanderson 3/19/2024, 4:51 pm
» Galvanized Fire Ring for Rhubarb Raised Beds?
by OhioGardener 3/18/2024, 10:34 am
» Happy St. Patrick's Day
by Scorpio Rising 3/17/2024, 5:54 pm
» Happy Birthday!!
by Scorpio Rising 3/11/2024, 10:28 am
» What are you eating from your garden today?
by Scorpio Rising 3/10/2024, 8:38 pm
» Why I love Oregano in the garden.
by OhioGardener 3/10/2024, 8:16 am
» Comfrey
by OhioGardener 3/9/2024, 6:07 pm
» Sealing Barrels Flowers Struggling-Need Ideas
by Turan 3/9/2024, 3:09 pm
» Hello again from a slightly different part of Central PA!
by sanderson 3/9/2024, 1:46 pm
» Chicken manure compost
by Oopsiedaisy 3/8/2024, 7:56 pm
» Chinese Broccoli
by sanderson 3/7/2024, 10:28 pm
» Heat Mat Lifespan
by Scorpio Rising 3/7/2024, 9:33 am
» Now is The Time To Take Seed Inventory
by OhioGardener 3/6/2024, 4:36 pm
Google
Free Blackberries
+2
AtlantaMarie
greatgranny
6 posters
Page 1 of 1
Free Blackberries
Living in a heavily wooded area has lots of benefits. Along the edges of the woods are many wild blackberry plants. They could be a nuisance because I don't control where they grow. I mow the lawn and let the rest grow.
This week I have picked only the large ones and have about 3 gallons. I leave the small ones for the birds and because they are mostly seeds. Love these for making blackberry syrup and also kefir smoothies.
One draw back, have to wear protective clothing. Yikes, the thorns are mean. My arms look like I have been in a cat fight. (but it's worth it)
This week I have picked only the large ones and have about 3 gallons. I leave the small ones for the birds and because they are mostly seeds. Love these for making blackberry syrup and also kefir smoothies.
One draw back, have to wear protective clothing. Yikes, the thorns are mean. My arms look like I have been in a cat fight. (but it's worth it)
greatgranny- Posts : 661
Join date : 2012-05-25
Location : Central Minnesota - Zone 4
Re: Free Blackberries
No jam. I prefer to freeze the berries until I need them for the syrup and smoothies. Love waffles and this syrup is so simple to make. I dislike the seeds so I strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer. The compost pile gets the seeds. (they have been cooked so no sprouting)AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh, I'm SO jealous!
Enjoy.... I see jam in your future......
Recipe
greatgranny- Posts : 661
Join date : 2012-05-25
Location : Central Minnesota - Zone 4
Re: Free Blackberries
greatgranny wrote:Living in a heavily wooded area has lots of benefits. Along the edges of the woods are many wild blackberry plants. They could be a nuisance because I don't control where they grow...
If your wild blackberries are just a 'nuisance', you must have a kinder, gentler variety. Around here, during 51 weeks of the year, they are an insidious scourge!
But come harvest time, hate turns to love. It's hard to beat blackberry syrup or warm blackberry pie ala mode.
Re: Free Blackberries
Yes, they can be a nuisance until I pull the blade of the mower to the highest setting in the spring and rid the yard outside the lawn of a few. I need a path even if it grows back almost immediately. I tend to stay at the edge of the lawn when harvesting but alas, I end up seeing large berries beyond and "bite the bullet". My forearms are proof.boffer wrote:greatgranny wrote:Living in a heavily wooded area has lots of benefits. Along the edges of the woods are many wild blackberry plants. They could be a nuisance because I don't control where they grow...
If your wild blackberries are just a 'nuisance', you must have a kinder, gentler variety. Around here, during 51 weeks of the year, they are an insidious scourge!
But come harvest time, hate turns to love. It's hard to beat blackberry syrup or warm blackberry pie ala mode.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/plant-low-maintenance-blackberries-zmaz07djzgoe.aspx?PageId=1
greatgranny- Posts : 661
Join date : 2012-05-25
Location : Central Minnesota - Zone 4
Re: Free Blackberries
Contrarily,
If you have property in the Pacific Northwest, there’s one plant you’ve most likely encountered … and battled – The Himalayan Blackberry. It’s enemy No.1 in the Northwest... Himalayan Blackberry is now classified as a noxious weed.
Re: Free Blackberries
Just like some veggies, some years they're to die for, and some years they're blah.
Re: Free Blackberries
greatgranny wrote:Living in a heavily wooded area has lots of benefits. Along the edges of the woods are many wild blackberry plants. They could be a nuisance because I don't control where they grow. I mow the lawn and let the rest grow.
This week I have picked only the large ones and have about 3 gallons. I leave the small ones for the birds and because they are mostly seeds. Love these for making blackberry syrup and also kefir smoothies.
One draw back, have to wear protective clothing. Yikes, the thorns are mean. My arms look like I have been in a cat fight. (but it's worth it)
I guess I'm lucky GG,
I sought out some giant thornless Himalayan black berry plants three years ago.. they were very poor specimens . I had to keep them in buckets as the final garden landscaping stage was not quite ready to put them in .
This year I put them in 25 gallon tubs that I'd put drain holes in , then filled them with mother earth and some spent MM from the end of season green house raised tomatoes .
Giving them feeds and a reasonable amount of water , this year they look like they will be giving us a couple of pints of big juicy berries .
Come autumn I'll be trying to set the two tubs up along the back garden fence panels and put the new growth that arrives into the left side of a fan , cutting the current growth off once it has bore fruit .Next year the fan moves to the right side & so on.
plantoid- Posts : 4096
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 73
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
Re: Free Blackberries
Sounds quite ambitious plantoid. I am at the place in my life that makes me want to not add anymore structure to my gardens.
greatgranny- Posts : 661
Join date : 2012-05-25
Location : Central Minnesota - Zone 4
Re: Free Blackberries
We had an article here about what a fire hazard they are, too. Old dead canes stay in the interiors of the bushes and are soon all but impossible to get to. The bushes spread outward from each other so that there are all sorts of pockets that flames could develop in that can't even be seen, much less accessed. The only way to be sure you've put out a fire in an area overrun by blackberries is with a bulldozer.
Marc Iverson- Posts : 3638
Join date : 2013-07-05
Age : 62
Location : SW Oregon
Re: Free Blackberries
That's why you grow them as fans against a wall /fence and move the fan over each year cutting out the dead wood .
plantoid- Posts : 4096
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 73
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
Re: Free Blackberries
plantoid wrote:That's why you grow them as fans against a wall /fence and move the fan over each year cutting out the dead wood .
Is that the same with raspberries?
Re: Free Blackberries
Let me check some of my ancient Raspberry oracles .
Most of this info comes from a book circa 1964 by " Mr Percy Thrower " .
Note This applied to the general area of the UK
Plant canes Oct to Mar in deep rich soil .
Space canes 2foot apart ' 5 foot between rows that have 6 foot straining posts with the top wire 5 -6 foot up the straining posts.
Cut canes back to 6 " of the ground in the first year to promote root growth. Every year after that cut out the old wood out immediately the cane has given up its fruit to you .
once the plant has stopped giving fruit reduce the number of this years canes coming off each " stool " so that there are only 5 or 6 strong ones left on it .
Come Nov or Dec take out the tips of each of these over wintering canes so that they are just able to poke above the top straining wire
Apply a decent mulch of well decayed manure or home made compost in March or April each year
Water during the fruiting bearing season to get big fruits .
Propagate by division of roots in the Autumn before frost and what ever you do don't go digging around the plants unless you are propagating them lest you damage the delicate surface roots
use soft string or raffia to lightly tie the canes to the straining wires .
Yes indeed it does appear that it is the same for Black berry . The only differences I found is that to propagate you take 6 " long tip cuttings and plant them in deep loamy soil during may or June . The other differences are that you do not snip out any of the new emerging canes to redu ce the numbers of the growing new wood tips but encourage the plant to grow as long as it can . Neither do you snip the tops to to stop the cane growth .
You can also " Tip layer " im May or June using this current years canes to get new plants rooted then sever the new plant to make it independent of the host plant doing this in large plant post makes it easier to move the new rooted plant .
Most of this info comes from a book circa 1964 by " Mr Percy Thrower " .
Note This applied to the general area of the UK
Plant canes Oct to Mar in deep rich soil .
Space canes 2foot apart ' 5 foot between rows that have 6 foot straining posts with the top wire 5 -6 foot up the straining posts.
Cut canes back to 6 " of the ground in the first year to promote root growth. Every year after that cut out the old wood out immediately the cane has given up its fruit to you .
once the plant has stopped giving fruit reduce the number of this years canes coming off each " stool " so that there are only 5 or 6 strong ones left on it .
Come Nov or Dec take out the tips of each of these over wintering canes so that they are just able to poke above the top straining wire
Apply a decent mulch of well decayed manure or home made compost in March or April each year
Water during the fruiting bearing season to get big fruits .
Propagate by division of roots in the Autumn before frost and what ever you do don't go digging around the plants unless you are propagating them lest you damage the delicate surface roots
use soft string or raffia to lightly tie the canes to the straining wires .
Yes indeed it does appear that it is the same for Black berry . The only differences I found is that to propagate you take 6 " long tip cuttings and plant them in deep loamy soil during may or June . The other differences are that you do not snip out any of the new emerging canes to redu ce the numbers of the growing new wood tips but encourage the plant to grow as long as it can . Neither do you snip the tops to to stop the cane growth .
You can also " Tip layer " im May or June using this current years canes to get new plants rooted then sever the new plant to make it independent of the host plant doing this in large plant post makes it easier to move the new rooted plant .
plantoid- Posts : 4096
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 73
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|