I am VERY excited to report that we have blackberry plants! Obviously having plants is an important part of planting a berry garden. The introduction of this garden is all thanks to the Home Depot – they sponsored its building and the plants.
We ordered them from homedepot.com and they came nicely packed and arrived on the big brown truck. The process was easy as pie and the plants were sent from Wisconsin so they know what to expect weather wise. That is something to consider when planting.
Planting a Berry Garden – Blackberries
Hubby was all set to plant in the prepared area so out he went. First he dug the four holes for the plants.
Then he removed the blackberries from their pots and loosened up the roots and put them into their new homes. I think they are going to be much happier in a place where their roots can spread!
Next he brought out some “magic elixir” – ie: goat manure mixed with hay. We have tons of it and it goes on anything that grows around here.
He spread a bit around all of the plants. It helps to keep moisture in and weeds down.
Of course he had observers – just like with any job that goes on around these parts. There is always at least one cat along to lend pawsistence.
Helping The Blackberries Grow
Now he was ready to set up the containment system for the blackberries. There are apparently many ways you can help your blackberries grow – the hubby chose one he thought would work best. The blackberry plants arrived with a sheet from the grower with several different ideas. It was very helpful – the hubby had already researched growing blackberries and had an idea of what he wanted to do and this sheet gave him a couple of new ways to go. He went with one on the sheet from the grower. I’ve made a video of the process so you can see how he went about it.
If you cannot see the video you can view it on YouTube HERE
Berry Garden Hopes
I am so very thrilled to have this berry garden in and I thank the Home Depot for having everything we needed to get it going. The strawberry plants that our neighbor gave us are doing very well:
Since we put in the berry garden we have added an additional strawberry garden and we harvest between 40 and 55lbs of strawberries a year. The blackberries are not quite so prolific but we get between 15 and 30lbs depending on the year. We have also added raspberries but they are not yet producing. I have also achieved my dream of having planted fruit and nut trees on the farm. Hooray!
The berry garden inspired us to also plant an herb garden! It’s set just off of what will be the back door to the yurt. It will soon have steps down so I will be able to go out and pick fresh herbs when I need them! I will also have plenty to freeze or dry for use all winter long. How wonderful is that!? We bought all of the supplies for this garden at The Home Depot as when we picked up the supplies for the berry garden! We also fenced in an area to plant asparagus.
If you would like to start a berry garden you can find a shopping list for the project and learn how to put up the fence and build the gate.
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