Strawberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries

It is berry time at the Bell House, and Little Joe has been enjoying a big handful of strawberries everyday. When I get home, he runs to the edge of the deck, points at the garden, and starts grunting with excitement. I go pick whatever strawberries the mockingbirds haven't already eaten, and he gobbles up them as fast as I can pick them. It feels pretty good to be able to give him home-grown organic fruit everyday, which is my ultimate goal with our edible backyard landscape. If my strawberry plants live their full 3 years, that means I'll be able to give Joe approximately 10-15 quarts of fresh-picked organic strawberries for a total cost of ~$15. Not bad.

Joe with his mouth full of strawberries

The blueberries have also begun to ripen. So far we've only picked around 10 or so, but they're very good. Joe is slowly discovering that they are edible. At first he just treated them like pebbles (he plays with the pebbles in the bottom of the planters), but now I think he knows. He still seems to prefer the strawberries though. I've been very pleasantly surprised not to have seen any bird damage to the berries yet. I hung an inflatable bird-scare from a sturdy-stake near the berry bushes, and it seems to be doing the trick. I move it every few days to keep the birds wary of it. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to just eat the berries with Joe, or if I want to freeze the berries as they ripen and make a blueberry pie. If I can keep the birds away, I should have a few quarts of berries by the end of the season. Not bad for year #2.

First Fruits

The blackberries are finally ripening as well. The kind we grow are called 'Kiowa', and I think they're delicious. Dr. B thinks they're a little too tart, but I like them that way. I imagine I'll be picking a half-pint or so from the two large brambles every day for the next week or so. I just need to decide what to do with them: eat them, cobbler, or jam?

Blackberry Bramble

Once I've picked all the berries, I'll cut down the old fruiting canes, and tie up the new ones. The two mature brambles already have canes 5' tall that are falling over under their own weight. I'll get them tied up and trimmed, and with any luck we'll have many more berries next year. They really seem to like it on the east side of the house. They only get half a day of sun, but they get plenty of moisture there, and I've got them under 8" of composted leaves. Volunteers keep popping up all over the place, so if anyone wants a transplant, let me know.

Bowl of Blackberries