Oh so sweet!

This past week or so, I have been dutifully keeping watch over the veggies, herbs and flowers to make sure they didn’t fry in this summer heat.  And yes, I am still picking maple trees out of the flower beds. Those darn seeds are so sneaky.  I admit, my focus was on the veggies, meanwhile the raspberries were exploding! We have a fairly large raspberry patch that we planted years ago, but had been sort of neglected.  Not for lack of interest, just lack of time, to be perfectly honest.  I love having raspberry bushes, it brings me back to childhood – my parents always had raspberries growing, as did my uncle.  I will always have fond memories of picking those sweet berries at my uncle’s house while out in their backyard playing a game of bocce ball!  So I am thrilled to be able to have berries growing at our house.  But it seemed like we always ran out of time to really care for them, and although we would see a few berries pop, just as they were ripening, the birds were lurking, so we lost much of the harvest to our hungry avian friends.  But despite receiving minimal attention, the raspberry patch came back year after year, and spread like crazy.  The whole patch was actually originally intended to house raspberries and blueberries, but the raspberries totally dominated – the blueberries were completely choked out.  So we let the raspberries have their territory!  They’re very happy in this spot in our yard that receives partial sun at best.  Though it was sort of my joke that neglect was the key, we really wanted to give these little berries the attention they deserved this year.  After thinning out the bushes and getting rid of dead/damaged branches, we trained the canes along 2 rows, using garden stakes and wire to create a trellis.  By doing so, the canes were pulled towards the perimeter of the patch, which allowed for more light and air flow through the center of the patch (preventing damage and disease), plus it made it so much easier to reach the fruit for picking.  We also built a cage out of PVC piping and bird netting that covers the entire patch to protect the fruit.  Sorry, birds! My, how these bushes are thriving!  And the berries are ever so sweet – so much sweeter than the store bought ones, no comparison! It seems like every day, another pint is ready to be picked. It’s yet another example of how just a little bit of time and effort can result in outstanding crop.  And there was really no additional cost – we were able to use materials we had on hand to create the trellises and bird cage.  The only thing I need to buy is some vanilla ice cream to go with those berries! Oh, so sweet!