One of the most enjoyable minor projects in the past couple of years has been the raspberries. I picked up a couple of canes on Free cycle from someone whose raspberries were taking over. They’ve been a great success, providing a handful of fruit that first year, and a lot more than that last year. I expect them to be even more prolific this year. I haven’t really got the hang of pruning them – you’re supposed to remove the used canes as they won’t bear any more fruit, but I have trouble knowing which ones are used and which aren’t. I guess experience will help.
With the renewed garden interest, I have added some more berries to the collection this year, with a thornless blackberry (that sounds very exciting) and two loganberries. The loganberries in particular could use bigger pots than I have them in, but they had to go into something and I’m currently waiting for a big order of ‘Smart Pots’ which I hope to use myself but also sell as a new line in my online store. I’ve ordered a lot and worst case scenario I’ll have a lifetime supply of large pots I guess. They sound very interesting from the research I did. So when they get here (a week or so hopefully) I’ll probably transfer the Loganberries into them.
Also in the mix are strawberries. A few survivors from last year, and a bunch of new ones. Some are in a vertical garden gizmo, but I’m having doubts how well they’ll do there. I think it may depend on the irrigation factor. The gizmo has irrigation, so maybe once it is hooked up to the system I haven’t yet built, they might be OK in such small containers. I suspect the main problem with small containers for strawberries is they dry out so fast. We’ll soon see.
