Berry Picking BY EILEEN SCHILLING

Whenever a customer asks us for advice on the best way to get a healthy plant we always give them the same answer… it starts with good soil preparation. The same is true with the berry patch. Begin by preparing the bed.

Berries should be planted in a deep bed that has been supplemented with loads of manure or compost. It should be loose and well dug so the roots can take hold quickly. Weeds and grass are unwelcome competitors so get rid of them at the start and mulch to keep them out. Brambles sucker aggressively.‘Volunteers’ will be sprouting up on the outskirts of your nicely prepared bed. Position the berry patch away from other gardens in a spot that can be mowed around. Mowing will keep the suckers under control. Do not plant raspberries or blackberries in your herb or vegetable garden. Do plant them in such a way that they can be easily harvested. The recommended width of a berry patch is 2 feet.

Raspberry and blackberry plants should be set out with 2 feet between the plants at the same depth as they are already growing in the pot. Water really well after planting initially giving each plant enough water so it sits in its own puddle. Newly set out plants should be watered well every 2-3 days for their first 2 weeks.

Both raspberry and blackberry plants have perennial roots and biennial canes. This means that the roots live for years and years but the canes grow for a year, bear fruit the following year and then dies. To avoid a crazy mess of dead and living canes, cut the old canes to the ground after they are done bearing fruit for the season (late summer or early fall). It is best not to compost old canes since they could carry disease. Instead you should burn them.

If you are just starting your berry patch, and you are starting with potted plants from a nursery, you can plant as described above and leave them. The second year you should cut all canes to the ground in early spring. This will encourage new, stronger canes to grow. That fall cut the canes to about 4 ft tall. The third year and from then on you should mulch and fertilize in the spring. Cut out any unwanted suckers. Keep the beds weeded. If any canes show signs of wilt or disease cut them out and burn them. After harvesting cut out all the old canes that are done bearing. Thinning the canes to 6 or 8 in. apart will ensure good air circulation, help prevent disease and allow for easier picking. In late fall cut all the remaining canes to about 4 ft.
Currents and gooseberries are easy fruit bushes to include in your garden since they
require little special attention beyond the usual spring fertilizing and mulching and the summer harvesting. They are self-fertile so you can get fruit from just one plant.

Both these fruits are sweeter if they are allowed to ripen on the bush. Harvest currants by the bunch like you would grapes. Gooseberries have thorns so you will want a glove to protect your hand.

A final fruit that we happened upon by accident is the serviceberry (Amelanchier or shadblow). Typically the service berry is planted for its ornamental spring flowers. But we have noticed that the birds and the chipmunks at the nursery love the berries. There is a huge shrub planted right behind a bench where the nursery crew eats lunch everyday. The thin branches were bobbing and swaying under the weight of the greedy chipmunks. Out of curiosity, someone reached up, picked a few and tasted them. Their sweet flavor is quite addictive. For the rest of the season the crew was chasing off the chipmunks which only forced them to climb higher and higher, bobbing and swaying all the more.