From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible
On 5/3/2026 6:20 PM, T wrote:
On 5/3/26 09:39, Snag wrote:
-a-a Been a little slow here of late , so I thought I post my garden's
progress .
-a-aThe strawberries are starting to produce , I'm not expecting a
monster harvest because I moved them this spring . My green beans
(blue lake bush this year) are coming up nicely though spotty in
places . I've found several seedlings that have rotted off under the
surface , never seen that before . The squashes and cantaloupe have
recovered nicely from transplanting and are putting out new growth .
All 12 tomato plants - 6 Roma , 4 Beefsteak , and 2 cherry - are well
established and starting to take off . I lost a few of the smaller
bulb onion sets because I didn't realize they needed more water , but
still have close to a hundred yellow and white combined . Only 22 of
the 24 garlic cloves came up , but all are very strong and growing
madly .
-a-a In the berry patch we have some new residents . I got 4 red
raspberry bushes to add to the 8 blue and 14 blackberries . The well
established black and blue are loaded with fruit , the rest are going
to take another year or maybe 2 for some before they will be producing
well .
Awesome!
What variety of blueberry?
Any tips on getting the blackberries to fruit up?
The blueberries are tiff blue and premier and one other I can't
remember . I assume you're aware that this year's new blackberry canes
will bear next year's crop ? (there are varieties under development that
will fruit on first year canes) I don't do anything special other than
keep the weeds down . I seldom water them , but your climate* is a lot
drier so you probably will have to . Proper pruning is important . Main
canes should be pruned at 36"-48" above the ground , side canes are
trimmed to no longer than 24" . The side canes are where the fruit is .
I'm not sure if blackberries need more than one variety to pollinate
properly (blueberries do) but I've got 3 varieties . Two of them -
Navajo and Arapaho - were developed right here in Arkansas at the UA agricultural department . The 3rd is called triple crown and I don't
know it's provenance . All are thornless and produce large sweet berries
. All will propagate from root runners - we have a lot of wild
blackberries here so I have to check new shoots for thorns and cull any
that have them .
Hope this helps !
*I grew up in Box Elder County in northern Utah , I'm familiar with
that high (4400 ft elevation) mountain desert climate .
--
Snag
I appreciated foreign cultures more
when they stayed foreign ...
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