Berry pickin'!!!

                 IT'S TIME TO HEAD FOR THE BERRY PATCH!!  --Dianne                        

     I grew up picking berries with my mother.  I have always had strawberries and raspberries at our place.  In the last few years, I have expanded and tried some new things.  Here is a picture of a tired me sitting with a gooseberry plant.  I'm showing you this to give you an idea of how big it gets; this is about a full grown plant.  The other great thing about gooseberries is that they take a lot of shade. This is in full sun in the morning, but by lunch, it is in deep shade for the rest of the afternoon.  Gooseberries grow wild in the woods of the midwest,  you've probably seen them when out hiking, you just didn't know what they were. If you know a farmer with a woodlot, maybe you could ask to dig up some.  I warn you that they are prickly, but not bad,  just don't try to reach right down into them to pick without gloves.

Sitting in my gooseberry patch.  I have two plants producing right now.  I need more. I want to make lots of lovely jam.  I think these could make a great low shade  hedge, or the back of a shade garden, if you have access to pick. 

This is what I picked from one plant.  Now, you have to pick off the ends, it is the remains of the flower, and then stem them if you want jam or for a pie.  I may try jelly, which involves cooking down the berries, without having to top and tail them.  Make juice by putting them into a jelly bag and letting them hang to drip.   The "fruit-jell" box should have instructions for how much to have ready to make jelly.

OH, one warning.  Unless you want to look like the funny guy with the rubber face, do NOT pick these and sample for ripeness.  I figure they are ripe when some start turning red, and they look marble size. I picked them over last night, and then froze them, to make jelly when it's not going to be 86 degrees. I recommend these berries for home gardeners because if you live on a small lot, or have a lot of shade, you can still grow your own berries and make some jelly. AND, another thing.  In our English-heritage family, we say "goozburies",  not GOOSE Berries.

Onward to the blackcurrants.  Also not a big plant, but you can get a load of berries from just a few plants.  I have them in full sun next to the asparagus.  Birds like these also, so try to get there first. Blackcurrants are loaded with vitamin C, and are used in Ribena, a popular bottled drink  in the UK.  I have seen it at Meijer, in the foreign food section, or at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati, the best place to grocery shop in the world!

from the website:

http://www.usagardener.com/how_to_grow_fruits/how_to_grow_black_currant.php

"Black currants are different in their growing habits to the red and white currant, in that the black currant produces most of its fruit on the previous years growth. Thus the bush should be pruned to encourage a supply of new wood each season. To do this, cut all stems of the newly planted bush to about two buds above soil level. New shoots emerge from these in the first season and will bear some fruit in the second. The bushes from a clump of canes which, each season, make new suckers from the base. Once the bush is established, (ie. in the second season), prune out some of the older canes by cutting back to just beyond a strong new shoot near the base to make way for new growth. Leave about six or eight upward growing main shoots to form the bush. Follow this routine each winter. No shoot rising from the base of the plant should remain in place longer than three years. Keep the centre reasonably open at all times. "

Since they fruit on last year's wood, I need to get out there and prune out old stuff, and be careful not to cut new growth. Also, another plant that could be used as a small hedge, AND you get to reap a harvest.  Better than any old evergreen or ugly privet, I say.

 Now to the tomatoes!!  Another fruit in my garden. This is a Red Robin.  I've never had this kind before, so I only bought one.  It is a smaller tomato, but I can just throw some into a salad and be healthy.  All my other plants have been pruned and tied to poles or fences in the garden.   We also bought a "beat your neighbor" plant marked down at a garden shop, ate one big tomato yesterday.  This is growing in a pot right alongside flowers on my deck steps.

The grape arbor has recovered from the early frost, but I don't think I'll have the same yield this year. The raspberries to the left have been covered with flowers, I hope to get a lot of berries this year! I was told the barn would be painted this year.  You can check later when I post late summer pics to see if it gets done.

If you are experiencing drought conditions in your area, let your grass grow. You save gas money, and you aren't stressing the plants.  Also, if you are going to water your lawn, do it about once a week, but deeply, so the roots will grow down, not to the side.  

Happy Strawberry Festival, Crawfordsville!!

Dianne, bugs and all!  (I hates them little black bugses!)