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Berry Containers 3/2011

Thanks to a gift from a work colleague the berry patch has been expanded for 2011.   We’ve added new raspberry and strawberry plants.

These additions have expanded the berry patch to three varieties of raspberry, two varieties of strawberry (one ever-bearing and one June bearing), and four varieties of blueberries.

All of the berry containers overwintered outdoors and are showing signs of life as springtime, ever so slowly, draws nearer.

2011 is going to be a great year for our berries!  I’m sure of it.

2010 was a wonderful year filled with plenty of lessons on what to do, what to avoid, and how to protect the harvest from our little feathered friends.

I learned some important lessons about cross pollination of blueberries; particularly the need to have multiple varieties in bloom at the same time.

Last year I gave the largest blueberry bush a head start by letting it leaf out in the garage before it was finally warmed up outside.  This resulted in it flowering very early in the season, all alone, before I finally bought another variety.

Seeing that blueberries need two varieties to pollinate properly, we ended up with a whopping ’two’ blueberries from the four plants.

The two blueberries in the green one gallon containers have a story of their own.  These were  single-season,  two-year old starts which I rescued from our highly alkaline Indiana soil last spring.  I planted these directly in the ground in spring 2009.  They struggled through that summer and fall, only to fall victim to some hungry bunnies which chewed them flush to the ground. 

They were rescued last spring, transplanted into some good potting soil and nursed back to health.  They made it through last year and are looking strong coming into this season.  They have had a hard life but should have a great 2011!

With all of the blueberries starting their seasons on the same timeline it will be interesting to see how closely the four varieties blossom to each other, and more importantly how well they bear.

With the raspberries I learned that birds love ripe raspberries as much as I do.  I have on numerous occasions come home from work to find partially eaten raspberries left on the canes.  I have since purchased some bird netting.  This should help protect this year’s crop.

Last, but not least, last year I had excellent success with the Quinalt ever-bearing strawberries.  This first year container produced fresh fruit all the way through late autumn, until I forgot to bring the container in and the unripe berries frosted.

The berries were very small to start but quickly grew in size as the plants developed throughout the summer.  The berries ended up being about the size of a quarter.  They were super sweet and juicy and never made it into the house.  They were usually picked and eaten right at the plant.

I am sooo looking forward to doing that again.   Come on spring, we’re waiting for you!