Who Grows Berries/Fruit

[Kale]

I only have a small strawberry patch (moved this past fall) and 3 kinds of raspberries.
I should have enough to make preserves but I do not.
The Strawberries did better then Raspberries.

If you grow these and/or other fruit please join me. Would enjoy a chat



Kale

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

I do, I do!....Well did until we moved ...did bring a few raseberry plants...one Marv the horse dog eat one already .. then I have my goji berry bush I have hauled aorund for two year in al the moving...we have some typ eof berries in the back yard but have no clue what it is...not a blackberry ...well not the hymilai ones any ways...Will be putting in strawberries come spring.....also apple tree will go in and pear....grapes willl also go in hopefully this comeng year...

 

[sassmuffin]

I have strawberries!!! What started as a small (12 plants) 3 years ago gave me 20 jars of jam this year plus enough to eat for breakfast in the mornings.
I love taking my breakfast down in the early morning to eat in the back gardens!

 

[Kale]

Interesting goji berry bush!
What caused you to grow that! Do you harvest the fruit and make juice?

I understand strawberries produce their second year some their 3rd then you need to cut and pull the mother plant, it has completed her fruit stage.

Apple tree and pear, now do you need a male and female to produce fruit for either?
Grape vine..Bought one in02 (I think it was) got nothing but Im ok with that.
Learned it attracts the Japanese beetles my neighbor has one growing along the fence and every fence attached to hers.Those beetles love it until they loose their way and attack my poor BlueGirl rose.
I hope you don't grow roses! I think you have to spray the grapevines with something to help them become fertile,Hubby 's grandpa had several,that is what he recalled.I think you have to do lots of pruning to cause the roots to set in deep .I think pruning is done in the winter.
Have you grown these before? If so you probably know this already *lol
What variety of grape?
Oh you will need a trellis!(No kidden Kale*lol) Or just let it grow along your fence if that works.I know they grow until the season is ending they are a wonderful trellis plant for lovely shade.I love only the light green ones to pop in my mouth*lol For jellies probably any!

Raspberries..
I have old plants.I have a friendly neighbor that likes to bend and break them for some reason she feels she accomplished part of her life's journey by hurting my raspberries.I think she visits (she moved out and rents her home ) just to hurt those plants.That being said,do you think that is why my produce is tiny?
I was told to prune them down in fall every year so I have.I do not water them much they are in a good heavy mulched soil and we get gallons of rain which they receive the benefits from. I am getting ready to pull them all. They are about 10 years old now, (do not produce what I was told they did for the last owner) they do grow about or just under 10 feet per season.I do try to get to them to cover in case the birds are having a party with them.Still no bowl being filled from my plants.


I also have a fall producing berry it grows about 15 feet and has thorns that can kill a bull!
The berries were dark blackish the 1st season I had it .now...peachie colored. A beautiful blueish stems. Nothing much to harvest we just eat them as they ripen.


Now for the strawberries.I did get about a little over a 1/2 gal but not at the same time.
As the season went.Started out with one plant in May of 05.This past end of season I pulled tons,discarded the older ones and planted a new berry patch of about 14 plants gave the rest of the babies away to whoever would take them!

Sassmuffin....20 Jars of Jam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Im crying....
totally crying......
Can you help me

I would love to make strawberry jam with my daughter!

I have to be doing something wrong,I went as far as cutting stockings and covering every strawberry bud I saw,I knew the slugs were at them along with the birds,I was determined to make jam,but failed. We had almost a constant supply during the fruiting season we ate them with breakfast and picked throughtout the day for fun.
But...to actually make Jam...
Wow!

Any tips will go noted my friend! Info that may help you assit me .

I now have them in a plot that I had zucc in.I did pull the plants early in the season because the annuals that I sowed germinated and I thought them to be more valued, they needed the room. Anyway, in Sept I tilled well and added over 5.5 cubft of this yr completed compost ion top after the till. .I had them covered for a little while say about 2week or so.They are in sun (if it is out) from about 10-3..My ph is about 7-7.5 which I believe is too high. I have been trying to lower it organically which is a chore especially when I buy manure/compost and it is 7.5! grrrrrrrr

I can water as much as I'm told. I do have excellent drainage and do not mulch that bed at all with anything other then the non seeded (*LOL) straw.
I usually use strictly rainwater in that area. or can use pond water(chemical free with fish )

Any tips will go noted.I just may do every single thing you tell me*LOL

Thanks a bunch!

I would truly enjoy growing berries if I recieved a jar about crop*lol


Thanks a Bunch!

Kale

 

[sassmuffin]

I found a way to contend with the slugs, *disclalimer* I do not own dogs! The neighbors do not own dogs and our yard is enclosed.
That said, I use cocoa bean hulls as mulch in the strawberries, about 2 inches worth. I also found that the birds like to eat the berries, so the area is enclosed on the sides and top with black plastic mesh fencing(like snow fence material). It keeps the small furry critters out from the bottom and the birds from the top, and I can just roll it back to pick, the replace it. I use fishtank water starting in April, and my berries are huge and plentiful. I would pick, mash and freeze them. A gallon size freezer bag was enough for one whole batch. The second batch was 2 days worth of berries that I just kept in the fridge. I'm hoping to start a second bed this spring on the south yard where I just made some new beds. Hope this helps a bit....

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

Well tim short so will hit on a few things and be back later...
On the slugs, we use crushes oyster shell....it works really well for me...put around base of larger plants and all through the beds of smaller plants...it adds calcium as it breaks down in your beds...so an added plus...

got the goji about 7 years ago and grew it in the greenhouse in CA...thanksfully as it took some time to get the plant....so far I just eat the berries...and mine is a goji berry not a wolfberry...I if direct got from Tibet...no easy task I might add...as I wanted to make sure all was legal ...once we get it in the ground I am in hopes to have enough over time to make some juice...but I love the berries...

Straawberries...when I have grown them I get fruit right off the back...now the runners will keep going and you should keep produce through the years...mind you this was my CA and southren OR growing...here in Northwest I willhave to see how it goes...all new to me...kinda fun..

I'll see ya all later

 

[Kale]

Interesting... thank you.


I do not know the cultivar. The original one I bought was from a farmer up north in MI.I bought it at the Eastern Market Flower Day Show.
No clue.He told me I was going to get strawberries that year *LOL He was a sales man.

It think it was always a one time producer but this year I had 2 rounds from my back bed patch.Nothing like what I am reading to say the least.
I took care of the slug problem by covering and landscape fabric.
They multiplied on it instead of under it ..pretty interesting.
What cultivars do you know and have?
Id like to have producers*LOL

Vegemm, I bet... Hope you enjoy a different world of gardening! Is the weather that much different? or just the altitude? What kind of soil did you have and is it different there? One town over from me and you have CLAY! NIGHTMARE BACK BREAKING CLAY!


Kale



Clay tripped me.

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

Yes, it is different all the way around, in California I was in zone 9 and most eall my flowers rgrew year round...one example is lantana...never died back...her I will have to replant every year if I want to have it...zone 6/7 here...mish shorter growiing season...harder winters here...on th eupside the lady that lived here had been in here sence 1958 and was a gardener...the soil is black gold...

 

[Kale]

OH MY You are going to have a challenge Black gold! Excellent!
Your season is still better then our 120 days here
We don't get fall or spring here, go from heat to cold no need for spring jackets.
I am aching to garden in California, my son is achin to have me go there.
I hope you can deal with the shorter season...

I would be in my glory with a longer one!

Kale

 

[deck chucker]

I'm in zone 5, Kale and my grandma had raspberries and peppermint growing in the front yard for a very long time. I don't think she ever did anything to it other than getting the Japanese beetles off the berry plants. We have a few inches of topsoil and then clay. I don't remember the canes ever being more than about waist high so they must have pruned them at some point. You might be doing too much to them. If you don't get answers on the net you might call your county extension office. Are the light conditions different? Grandma had a maple tree that blocked some of the light during the day, but not all that much. I have wild blackberries that usually do very well, but this past year they were horrible little things that dried up to nothing if the canes even produced. I think they produce on year old canes though.

Good luck with your plants. I hope you can get your older canes to get going.

 

[kozykitten]

I have strawberry plants. Don't know how many...they have multiplied without restraint for the last 3 years. I keep meaning to transplant and get rid of a bunch of them. Now they are so thick that only a weed or two makes it up through the plants in that 10x12 foot plot lol. I think I ended up with about 30 pints of jam/jelly from them in addition to all of the berries the kids ate.

I just planted some grape vines this year. They are concord. A friend of my mom's cut all hers down and wanted to be rid of them so I went over and dug up a bunch of the vine/roots. One piece of root was about 5 foot long lol. I planted all of them and have about 8 plants coming up on two separate runs.

I also have blackberries...only two plants of tame thornless though. I haven't harvested off of them yet but we have wild blackberries all over our property so I am good to go until I manage to get a good patch going.

I also have 5 Arctic beauty kiwi vines. They have not produced as of yet. I think one vine is about 3 years old and the other four are 2 years old.

I have a little peach tree that is just over 2 years old. Last year I did get 3 little peaches off of it lol. I planted a plum tree this past spring which has not produced yet of course.

That is all the fruit at this point. I am planning on getting some apple trees and cherry trees (hopefully this spring). I planted some wild plum seeds and am hoping they will grow. Next year I want to get some wild peach seeds to plant also. My mom's neighbor let me come in and pick his wild plums and wild peaches this year and I made jam.....best stuff I ever tasted. Tame peach and plum jam cannot hold a candle to this stuff. My 10 year old daughter loves the peach on her pancakes and will sit and eat a little dish of the plum for dessert. She cracks me up.

I am hoping to eventually have a nice little orchard along with patches of fruits (strawberries, blackberries and kiwi).

 

[Randy]

Kale, you are supposed to prune the raspberries, but not prune those canes that grew this year. It is the year old canes that produce the berries. The older canes need to be taken out as their fruit bearing is done.

 

[Randy]

Debe, I'm going to try and graft a Gravenstein Apple branch or two onto my Winesap tree this spring. If one of the grafts take, I will have a semi-dwarf Gravenstein that will be up for grabs (for free). I planted it close to the Winesap because I only intended to keep it long enough to get the grafting done. I have been derelict along that line though for a couple of years now and it's going to have to be moved in the next couple of years. I grafted Gala onto the Einesap and it has taken well. You can't even see the graft any more.

 

[Dale]

We have 5 grape vines, 7 trailing thornless blackberry bushes, 1 large fig tree, 2 pear trees and 2 pecan trees. I want to plant some blueberry bushes this year.

 

[prettylady]

I love berrries/fruit
I have 6 thornless blackberries
red raspberries--lots
3 each of 4 different kinds of grapes
hugh plot of strawberries
golden delicious apple
wild cherry
plum

 

[Kale]

Randy,
Not sure a cane would come out*LOL Pretty much settled in there. Not sure who would need to be removed or how to!*LOL!!!! Just pull the whole 30 foot row and is there a way to see the age through the root system….?
Or the size of the stem/cane? Will they die after they are completed in their cycle?
I am willing to whatever told I never wanted them and they have caused me nothing but trouble with the owner next door.
Maybe just pull them all and place them neatly again.

It is on the south side between my house and next door neighbors fence. Started out one row close to the house then all the others shot up. I think I got them at the spring PExchge of ’05…) (The lady told me they were 7-8 years old (my reply now…*LOL!!)
and she claimed she got tons of raspberries made so many pints/quarts of something.. she got tired of them (hubby thought he needed to have them, he hasn’t even picked up his clothes never mind a shovel*LOL)( jokin’)
When she gave them to me, I wasn’t getting any berries, I cut them down like a different person said his mom did and I got some. They are growing nicely nearly bore free. I covered them just in case it was a bird eating issue and still didn't get more then a cup


When I read semi dwarf I got mighty curious and excited *LOL but. to my surprise if these are what you are speaking of ..
http://www.arborday.org/Trees/TreeGuide/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=144
Apple, Stayman Winesap
Malus x domestica
A large red apple that is the most popular winter keeper with a tart, rich, wine like flavor. This is a triploid; it cannot pollinate other apple trees. (Pollinate with Lodi, Red Delicious, or Yellow Delicious) (zones 5 - 8)(Not sure if that means grafting isn't an option)

triploid- Having three sets of chromosomes rather than the usual two. As a result, the pollen is sterile.
I would love to see that semi-dwarf tree.
I'm trying to make a few semi-dwarf Privets Although I don’t reall y have a clue as to what I am doing *lol
Kale

 

[Randy]

Well, Kale, the canes that grow this coming year will have a reddish brown bark on the cane at the endo of the year. Last year's new growth will have that reddish-brown on them now. Those are the ones that need to be left to fruit. The older canes will be rougher and more of a gray caste to them. Those should be cut out.

Yes, that is a Staymen Winesap I was talking about. It will be a full-sized tree when it grows up. But I bought a semi-dwarf Gala to provide scionwood for grafting onto the Winesap. Once getting a good graft, I dug up the Gala and gave it to the neighbor across the road. It is doing well over there and I am getting some Gala apples from the grafted limbs. The Gravenstein next to it is also a semi-dwarf and I only bought it for scionwood. Once I have Gravensteins growing on the Winesap tree, the semi-dwarf will be relegated to someone. There are three other full size apple trees in my orchard there, so pollenation isn't a problem. The Sunset Garden Book describes the Gravenstein as making applesauce "with an attitude". I had a large Gravenstein tree at our last house that I planted there almost 40 years ago and that tree grew and produced abundantly some of the best apples you ever tasted. The other trees I have are McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Beaman, and King. The King is about 60 or 65 years old and is located in our back yard. The Beaman is a tree that I don't have a clue about. I tried to find out from expert apple people what kind it was but no one could tell me, so I just named it a Beaman after a friend of mine. It is a fall apple and is exceptional for apple pies. If I don't get sufficient applesauce made from the McIntosh, I can always rely on the Beaman to finish the job. I cut down a fully mature Red Delicious to make room for some other fruit trees (cherry and peach). We have so many apples that I can never utilize more than a small part of what they produce. But I do take buckets of apples to the nursing home that I visit and they use them too. But there are still so many that just fall off the tree and rot.

 

[Kale]

Must have missed the notification *LOL I get tons!!!!!! Sorry Randy,thank you for the discription.I think I am to cut them down come early spring I will inspect them then.

Wow! this must be extremely exciting for you; I know It isn't even me doing this and I am excited for you!
Excellent...I sorta tried to make a double color bfbush.
I sorta lost track of it.
Is grafting always done on a parent plant/tree?

Kale

 

[Randy]

Oh, no. Most grafting is done when the plants are quite small. If you look at the trees you buy at the nurseries, you will see the graft joint at the bottom where they have grafted the scion into the plant they use for root stock. In those cases the use either budding or a cleft graft most the time. I have tried budding a couple of times but haven't been successful yet. I bought a new tool from Lee Valley this last fall that is basically a conical drill that you use to drill the parent stock and then use a pencil sharpener to prepare the scion. Insert the scion into the drilled hole and match the cambium layers (that green layer) and then seal the graft with grafting wax. I'll be doing that about the 1st of March probably, maybe a little later. I want to try and anticipate when the sap starts running.

 

[Gloria]

Mr Randy, I recieved the package. Thank you bunches and bunches! I think for now I'm going to pot the Marion berry bushes till after all the threat of bad weather has past. We have some freezing mix of sleet and rain headed our way for Wednesday.
In the morning I'm going to have some of that blue berry conserve with my toast and if hubby is good, I might share! Thanks for thinking of me.