Grow Berries In Your Back Yard!

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

First, work plenty of organic matter (compost, rotted manure, or what have you) into the soil. Then drive sturdy poles into the ground about twenty feet apart and run No. 9 or No. 10 gauge galvanized wire between them (as shown in Fig. 4) so that one wire is six feet and a second is approximately three feet above the ground. Plant rootstocks eight feet apart along the length of this "fence".

As large side shoots begin to grow, prune away all but two branches from each trunk and train these two "arms" along the lowest-to-the-ground wire in opposite directions (Fig. 4). Then—at the end of the first season (i.e., in late fall)—prune the arms of the old vines and allow a second pair of main branches to develop over the first pair. Thereafter, prune the vines severely back to the four main arms each fall.

You can expect a good crop of grapes the second season after planting . . . and every year after that for at least a generation.

OTHER BERRIES

So far, I haven't even begun to talk about some of the other, more "exotic" domesticated berries—such as lingon-berries, currants, gooseberries, etc.—that home gardeners can (and should) grow in their back yards. Nor have I (for space reasons) talked about the joys of foraging wild berries . . . although—as I mentioned earlier—I'm so hooked on these fruits that I find it necessary to both grow and forage them.

I don't know which is more pleasurable . . . harvesting nature's bounty from the wild, or cultivating your own berries and grapes. I do know this though: Enjoying the best of both worlds is certainly a satisfying—and healthful—way to live . . . one I wholeheartedly recommend.

Where to obtain the fruit varietie's mentioned in this article

STRAWBERRIES

Fairfax Brittingham, Burpee

Guardian Brittingham, Burpee, Emlong

Midway Brittingham, Burpee, Emlong

Premier Brittingham, Burpee

Sparkle Brittingham, Burpee

Baron
Solemacher Brittingham, Burpee Burpee

RASPBERRIES

Heritage Burpee, Emlong

BLACKBERRIES

Thornfree Brittingham, Burpee, Emlong

Darrow Burpee, Emlong

BLUEBERRIES

Bluecrop Brittingham, Burpee, Emlong

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print