When we moved into this new house, we were delighted to find berry bushes growing in the garden. They are a blackberry of some sort, probably Marion berries, according to the old owner’s daughter. They were growing up against the fence, and clearly had not been trimmed for a while. Since there were quite a few chopped off pieces on the ground on the neighbor’s side of the fence, we concluded that he probably did not care to have them growing through to his side. Also, we could not access the back side of the berries. So, we decided to move them a couple of feet out away from the fence.
We started by digging up clumps of new, fresh vines. They were a nice bright green color, and we left the old, gray-brown ones to be taken away. We tried to make sure there was a nice clump of roots on each one we kept, and some even had a new bud growing. Rob, Lovana and myself all had plenty of turns digging. Once a good start was dug up, we planted it in the dirt and laid the vines out away from where we were working. What we did not want or need, we put in the yard debris can. We anticipate that the roots of the old vines will send out new shoots and we will need to kill them, but it sure looks great now.
A week or two passed, with plenty of rain to keep them alive. Rob went up to my sister’s farm and grabbed a few fence posts we had stored there, and got some wire. Today was nice and he pounded those fence posts into the ground and strung the wire between the posts. He put several posts in the row, about 5 feet apart, and strung a low wire and a higher one.
Then Patsy and I tied them up with baling twine. We tied each group of berries up to the lower and higher wire, and whenever the vines were long, tied them into a circle, using the wires to support them. Next spring, they will fill out and make a nice barrier between us and the neighbor, be where we want them, and easy to pick.
It looks amazing! As we were doing that, Rob was over on the left pounding in a few more posts for some raspberry plants I dug up at my old house. My aunt kindly kept them all summer under her automatic sprinklers. I got 6 good root “clumps” from my pot.
He strung wires for them, too, and I planted them. They are really small after a summer crammed into a pot, but we will see how they do. I have high hopes.
We both felt really good about getting these jobs done. I don’t think I’ll harvest much next summer, but in a couple of years………YUM! (The berries in the background are a project for another day–they are everbearing raspberries that were here–I need to trim and tie them up, and Rob needs to put in a better wire and maybe some more posts. They don’t have as much flavor as my old berries, so I am super happy some of mine survived.) It was great to get a nice day on a day we did not need to work.
Just catching up on all you’ve been doing. Things sound great. Love the replanted berries. It will be so pretty and taste so good when they hit their stride again. The 4H sounded like a great success and a lot of fun for the girls. The Y has turned out to be a great investment. So glad you have a place for the girls to take classes and to take advantage of the other opportunities the Y has. How’s the unpacking and garage sorting going since Rob has gone back to work. It will take time but it’s kind of like grown up Christmas – surprise – sheets again.
Barbara,
I’ll say the packing has come to a screeching halt, for the most part. This was the first day off for both of us for quite some time, and we chose to do outside things instead of unpack because it was nice. It has been storming and raining a lot lately. It WILL be like Christmas when we get to it!
He also finally got around to buying a lawn mower, and mowed for the first time since we moved here–long overdue.
Rob is adjusting to his new job, but it is not easy. Thursday was the best day yet, with the children being calm and quiet. Friday, they were back to having a rough time, which makes it harder on everyone. The thing he is having the most trouble handling is when they scream (literally scream and cry loudly) for several hours in a row. That bothers him more than the ones who kick or hit him or throw fits. I think he just wants to help them so bad, and by that point, no one can–only time. But, it’s going well, and he is still glad he got the job–WHEW!
Yes, we are very grateful that we can go to the Y. Putting the girls in classes ensures that I will show up down there at least twice a week to exercise. Like today–I wanted to go, but ended up helping with berries, cleaning, cooking, and driving to take Ja’Ana around 3 times (I was 1/2 way there at one point when she called to say she wasn’t actually done), shopping, etc. All good, but not really exercise to get those sugars down!! So, a schedule is good.
Wow, those blackberry bushes really DO look fabulous! Great job, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out next summer!
Thanks! I got a LOT of stickers in my fingers, but I’m thinking it’s going to be worth it. For whatever reason, that job was always done by the men in my life (father and then husband)–until now–we did it together this time, and so I’m learning what gentlemen they were:)