Planting a few innocent blackberries

Blackberries are a bit of a sore spot for us, because at the other house we planted some on a trellis in our garden. They were bare root sticks (literally). We laughed when we put those sticks in the ground. But they grew quickly and beautifully! So many huge blackberries!

But then they KEPT growing, unstoppable, especially their roots. They took over the entire side of the garden. We realized our mistake and tore them out. They KEPT growing, those underground canes were out of control.

We sat in the dirt for days and hand dug the entire area down two feet pulling every single little tendril. We had to dig up paths and other beds, it was nuts. And, as you can guess, we STILL did not successfully eradicate them. We assume at this point the people who bought our house have thrown in the towel and are now a commercial blackberry farm.

So when three thornless blackberry plants showed up in the mail, you can imagine Steve was a little skeptical. Especially because the orchard three doors down from us grows tons of blackberries for the picking.

But we are giving it a try in the lonely corner between the goat pasture and the pump house/cistern. We have several propagated and purchased raspberries and a few other little fruity plants back there already. The plants haven’t really thrived there (they get very little attention), but they are still alive. Here’s hoping these little blackberries grow (but not TOO much!)