New Blackberry Bed

A few weeks ago my grandparents gave me two new blackberry plants to put in my backyard garden. The plants were purchased via mail order and I believe they were bare root. My grandfather put them into pots with potting soil and let them grow. He gave them to me about a month later after they started growing leaves and canes. I have some pictures of the new plants in a previous post.

So far, to me blackberries are really easy to grow. They seem to be well adapted to the mid-Atlantic climate and are actually considered to be a native species. Wild blackberries can be found on the sides of country roads, railroad tracks, and edges of fields. I planted a store bought blackberry last year as well, and this year it is thriving. In fact, it has already started to form small berries...which seems early.



So now, I have two more plants and had to find a place to plant them. I decided to build a 2 ft by 6ft raised bed made out of 2x6 lumber and place the bed behind my current raised bed. The spot I placed it in gets good sun, especially in the afternoon. I also built a trellis out of T-posts and galvanized wire since the varieties I received are semi-erect. I filled the bed with garden soil, planted the berries, and covered everything with a good layer of shredded mulch. I fabricated some small cages to place around the small plants to keep the rabbits away. I'm not sure if rabbits eat blackberry canes and leaves, but would rather be safe than sorry. The cages will also keep the dog and kids from trampling the new plants.

It's Growing!!!

It's been a little while since my last post and since then, my fruits and veggies have really taken off. The weather here in the Baltimore region has warmed considerably with most days being in the 70s. Rain has also been fairly consistent but not overwhelming. I have many updates to provide and thought I would divide all of the updates into sections corresponding to the plant type and garden. As you know, I am growing two gardens in two different locations. The first location is in my backyard and the other location is at a community garden located 1 mile away.

Community Garden:
On Friday (the 13th...), my dad and I roto-tilled my community garden plot and planted veggies. We planted various varieties of tomatoes, squash and zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon. The ground was pretty hard and compacted so we made several passes with the tiller to loosen the soil. I also incorporated some compost and garden tone fertilizer before planting. Here are some pictures...



Backyard Garden:
In my backyard, I have an established 8ft by 6ft raised bed, some potted herbs, and some blackberry bushes. Earlier in the spring I planted various salad greens such as lettuce and spinach, as well as some radishes. The radishes and spinach are finished, however the lettuce is still in the garden and thriving. I have cut some leaves here and there for sandwiches and salads, but most of it is still in the garden.



In addition to the lettuce, I also have some green beans and edamame (soy beans) growing in the garden. The lettuce and beans were both grown directly from seeds planted in the garden. In the past, I have always been successful with green beans so I have decided to grow them again. They seem to be more tolerant to partial shade conditions then tomatoes, for example.



This year I took a stab at starting herbs from seed indoors. In the past, we have always bought starter plants and then grown them in containers on our front porch. I bought an herb planter kit from Burpee which came with a small planter, soil, and various herb seeds (chives, flat leaf parsley, basil, and oregano). I setup the planter in my dining room window and planted the seeds back in February. Around the same time I also started some seeds in pots in my basement which I planned on transplanting into the garden or into pots when they were ready. To make a long story short, I think my basement was too cold because most of the seeds germinated very slowly and overall were very small and puny. The herb planter in the window faired a little better but the herbs were still pretty small and did not have great color. When the weather warmed up, I moved everything outdoors. Since then, most of the plants have done well, with some being lost to birds and squirrels. In all, I ended up with 1 thyme plant (seeds bought separately), 3 basils, and 3 parsleys. Also, the herbs in the planter are doing very well now, especially after getting a small dose of liquid fertilizer.

Tomato starts and other seedlings...

With the arrival of May and warm weather comes the beginning of the summer growing season here in the Baltimore area. In a few weeks I will begin transplanting some veggie starts into my backyard and community gardens. Jared graciously provided me with some tomato starts (Big Boy I think) about a week ago and I have been keeping them under fluorescent lights and putting a fan on them for an hour a day. I've put them outside as well when the weather has been warm. They are coming along nicely and seem to be getting bigger everyday. Jared gave them to me about a week ago in small peat pots so when I got them home I put them into larger red cups, planting them to just below the leaves so that they could establish deeper roots.

I also attempted starting some herbs from seed, however this venture hasn't worked out as well as I hoped. I started parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, and chives from seed. The chives came up and grew fairly well and I have since transplanted them into my garden. The oregano germinated and fizzled out. The thyme did OK; I was able to transplant one peat pot into a standard size flower pot and now that plant is doing really well. The parsley and basil are doing OK but are small. I am keeping them outside for now and will probably transplant into larger containers soon.

My grandfather gave me two young blackberry plants that were purchased via mail order. They are coming along quite nicely. I will be transplanting them into my backyard in a few weeks to supplement my current blackberry production. I'm sure in a few years I'll be up to my ears in blackberries.