Our First Blueberries, Strawberries, Currants, and Raspberries of 2019

in #homesteading5 years ago

I'm loving having all these berry plants in our garden. It takes multiple years to get most berry plants established and producing fruit. Every year as the plants grow we get more and more fruit. Most of our plants are two years old so this is the first year most are producing berries. It's so much fun to walk outside and find food growing on all my plants.

We Got Strawberries Today!!!

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I actually forgot all about my husband's strawberry plants. He planted bare roots strawberries in his raised beds last summer. He planted them late so we didn't get any berries. My husband has let his raised beds go and the weeds moved in. I randomly walked down to look how bad the weeds were a few days ago and saw strawberries all over in between the weeds.

Today, my husband harvested his first handful of strawberries. It was so awesome! They taste so much better than the ones you buy at the store. The flavor of strawberries fresh from the garden is amazing. There will be more soon as they ripen and become ready for picking.

My Oldest Plant (4 Year Old Blueberries)

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I've had blueberries ready every June for the past three years. This year I'm not getting a ton of berries but I should get maybe two cups worth from this dwarf plant. I like the dwarf variety because it grows well in a container on the porch. Later this summer I'll plant full-sized plants out in the yard which will produce many more blueberries and can reach four feet tall.

The Raspberries (still in the flower stage)

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I have four raspberry plants in containers on my patio. They are packed with berries in their early flower stages. It'll be a while yet but we should get plenty of raspberries to eat. The best thing about raspberries is our types produce in both spring and fall so we get two raspberry crops each year for each plant!

We have around 13 raspberry plants total when you count the ones in the yard. My husband chose to plant most in the yard ON TOP OF OUR MOUNTAIN! I told him I wasn't climbing to pick berries and claimed four plants for my container garden. I think the ones in the yard have berries but I rarely climb the mountain to our extended land to check on them.

My Fall Gold yellow raspberry plant in a pot has done the best. It's grown so large I'm having to separate out new shoots to transplant into new pots. Fall Gold raspberries have a mild raspberry flavor. They aren't tart or sour like some varieties. This plant produced it's first berries last fall. I should have a much bigger crop in the next month. This fall after growing all summer I'll have even more berries hopefully. This plant is a beast at growing and producing so I'm happily transplanting new shoots to get more Fall Gold plants going.

My First Currants (They'll turn pink when ready)

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I had never heard of currants until I started shopping for raspberries and blueberries to grow. After a little research I was fascinated by currants. They produce small berries and seem to be popular for jam and wine making. I decided to get three different varieties. One produces pink berries. One has red berries and the last has black berries. This year I have my first pink berries. There aren't very many of them....maybe 10 total on the plant but I'm excited.

My black currant plant has tons of flowers on it at the moment and those flowers will become berries. Hopefully in the summer I'll get to try my first black currants.

Growing berry plants requires patience but it is a labor for the future. This year we are getting a great amount of raspberries. Next year we should have even more. I'll be adding more blueberries into the garden and transplanting the currants into the ground once they finish berrying to give them room to grow. I look forward to next year when we'll have even more fruit to enjoy.

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The best strawberries are the ones picked during the heat of the day. Something about sun-warm strawberries just makes them extra tasty! It's interesting you can actually grow currents, there. Are you going to dehydrate them, as you start to get more? They're very good as raisins. People also make current wine, but it's usually gross. I did have a black current desert wine that was spectacular, once...

Here in Minnesota, we have wild Raspberry and Blackcap (black raspberry) plants in the woods. If you can beat the animals to them, they're very tasty.

Anyway, it looks like your garden is off to a good start. I hope the cats can keep wrascally, menacing critters away!

I really don't know anything about currants lol. Dehydrating them could be an option. I've heard of red currant wine but didn't know what that was until I read about the berries. I'm not a wine drinker though. I hope we end up liking them because it looks like the bushes will produce lots of berries.

Wow maxrab superb .i love those berries .gave gud information from plant to fruit .thanks for the post.

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